IMPOTENT . This word, now obsolescent in common speech, means literally ‘without strength.’ It is used as the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of Gr. words which mean ‘without power’ ( Bar 6:28 , Acts 14:8 ) or ‘without strength’ ( John 5:3; John 5:7 , Acts 4:9 ). ‘When religion is at the stake,’ says Fuller ( Holy State , ii. 19, p. 124), ‘there must be no lookers on (except impotent people, who also help by their prayers), and every one is bound to lay his shoulders to the work.’