The word “despised” is a compound word consisting of the preposition “from” and the noun “to bring to naught”, meaning “treat with scorn, jeer at, look down on”. Those whom the people in the world disregarded, God regarded them. They are precious in God’s sight.
The National Geographic magazine July 1997 in the article “The Power and Glory of the Roman Empire” written by T.R. Reid, it is observed interesting the spread of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire, “In the empire where human life was held so trivial, we should perhaps not be surprised by the rapid growth of a new religious cult centering on a young man executed as a criminal in an unimportant province. When Jesus of Nazareth and a minor procurator named Pontius Pilate came face-to-face in the basilica of Jerusalem – it was around A.D. 30 – all the power lay on Pilate’s side. But Jesus had the power of an idea. His message, that every life was precious, addressed a human need that the caesars could not fill. Assisted greatly by the ease of travel and the general tolerance of new religions within the empire, the early Christians gradually converted the entire Roman Empire. The historian Eusebius tells of the civil war of A.D. 312, when two Roman leaders, Constantine and Maxentius, battled for control of the empire. Gazing up into the noonday sky, Constantine saw a brilliant flaming cross above the sun. Emblazoned on it were the words “In hoc signo vinces” – In this sign you will conquer…Emerging victorious, Constantine issued his famous edict of toleration. Much later, as he lay on deathbed, he was baptised, becoming the first Christian emperor of Rome.”