Bible Dictionary
UTTERMOST
Uttermost means the farthest, greatest, or most distant extent. It is an emphatic form related to “utmost” and “outermost,” used in older English Bible translations for extreme limits or distance.
Definition
Uttermost means farthest, outermost, or at the greatest extent. It is an emphatic older form related to “utmost” and “outmost.”
Biblical Usage
Older English Bible translations use the word for extreme limits or distance. Later revisions sometimes replace it with “utmost” or “outermost” for accuracy or consistency.
Historical Background
The word is a pleonastic compound combining a comparative form meaning outer or farther with the superlative “most.” Revised translations retained it in many passages but altered some forms for uniformity.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ut'-er-most: A pleonastic compound of a comparative ("utter"; compare "outer") and a superlative ("most"), in the King James Version used interchangeably with the ordinary superlative forms "utmost" (compare Mt 12:42; Lu 11:31) and "outmost" (compare Ex 26:4,10). The Revised Version (British and American) adds still another form, "outermost," in 2Ki 7:5,8 (the King James Version "uttermost"). the Revised Version (British and American) has made a few changes to secure a more accurate translation (Jer 9:26; Joe 2:20, etc.) or to give uniformity (Ex 26:4; Mt 5:26; 12:42, etc.), but for the most part has left the King James Version undisturbed.</p>