elachistoteros

"He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle." 
William Shakespeare

I was reading in chapter 3 of Ephesians not long ago and came across verse 8 where Paul says he is less than the least of all the Lord's people. What an odd and illogical thing to say, I thought. How can something be less than the least? The phrase caught my attention, but I was later frustrated to read other versions which said "the very least of all saints" or "the least deserving of all God's people". This didn't sound as catchy, didn't fit with my thought on humility as I originally anticipated. So which one is it, I wondered.

My Greek knowledge is really on the level of something like Biblical Greek for Dummies, but I must go to Greek if I am to avoid one of my pet peeves, the folly of extracting some special point off of a specific phrase only to find the translation unreliable and not accurate to the original intent, and thereby making mute of the wonderful lesson that I had imagined to be there.

To Greek I went and in this case I was thrilled by what I found.

Paul used one word for this phrase, elachistoteros, which was said to be improper grammar for prose. Hmmm...that made me ask myself if Paul might not have invented a word here much like Shakespeare did with the English language in the 16th century.
His improper use of grammar was adding a comparative to a superlative, like combining lower and lowest together. Aha! That meant that "less than the least", or smaller than the absolutely smallest, was exactly what Paul was saying. It seems he couldn't find a regular word to say how low he was willing to go, so he had to make one up. He is emphatically emphatic that he is lower than the lowest, and therefore no one can get below him.
Paul creates a single word, "elachistoteros", that perfectly describes the mindset of humility that we should be striving for.

If I were to think of this striving as a competition, I would be striving to go lower than you.
Imagine if we were fighting each other for the lowest position rather than the highest or higher one. What kind of attitude would I have if I was always trying to out do you for the lowest position. Instead of always "one upping" you, I would be "one undering" you.

Hey, maybe I should coin a new word!

one-undering: the act of always seeking to be lower than the lowest.

Naahh, it will never catch on.