λαλέω: Difference between revisions

|txtha=λαλῶ; imperfect 3rd person singular ἐλάλει, plural ἐλάλουν; future λαλήσω; 1st aorist ἐλάλησα; perfect λελάληκα; passive, present λαλοῦμαι; perfect λελάλημαι; 1st aorist ἐλαλήθην; 1future λαληθήσομαι: (from Sophocles down); found in Biblical Greek much more frequent than in secular authors, in the Sept. times without number for דִּבֵּר or דִּבֶּר, more rarely for אָמַר; properly, to utter a sound (cf. (onomatop. Lamentations - Lamentations , etc.) German lallen), to emit a voice make oneself heard; hence to utter or form words with the mouth, to speak, having reference to the sound and pronunciation of the words and in general the form of what is uttered. while λεγο refers to the meaning and substance of what is spoken; hence λαλεῖν is employed not only of men, especially when chatting and prattling, but also of animals (of birds, Mosch. 3,47; of locusts, Theocritus, 5,34; λαλοῦσι μέν, οὐ φραζουσι δέ, of dogs and apes, Plutarch, mor. ii., p. 909a.), and so of inanimate things (as trees, Theocritus, 27,56 (57); of an echo, Dio C. 74,21, 14). Accordingly, everything λεγόμενον is also λαλούμενον, but not everything λαλούμενον is also λεγόμενον (Eupolis in Plutarch, Alc. 13 λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατωτατος λέγειν); (the difference between the words is evident where they occur in proximity, e. g. ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει, τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ, and the very common ἐλάλησεν ... λέγων, λαλεῖν, to utter oneself, enables us easily to understand its very frequent use in the sacred writers to denote the utterances by which G o d indicates or gives proof of his mind and will, whether immediately or through the instrumentality of his messengers and heralds. (Perhaps this use may account in part for the fact that, though in classic Greek λαλεῖν is the term for light and familiar speech, and so assumes readily a disparaging notion: in Biblical Greek it is nearly ff not quite free from any such suggestion.) Cf. Day. Schulz die Geistesgaben der ersten Christen, p. 94ff; Tittmann de Synonymis N. T., p. 79f; Trench, Synonyms, § lxxvi.; (and on classical usage Schmidt, Syn. 1:1). But let us look at the N. T. usage in detail:<br /><b class="num">1.</b> to utter a voice, emit a sound: of things inanimate, as βρονταί, τάς ἑαυτῶν φωνάς added, each thunder uttered its particular voice (the force and meaning of which the prophet understood, cf. σάλπιγγος λαλούσης μετ' ἐμοῦ, λέγων ( λέγουσα) followed by direct discourse to crave the pardon of sins, to call for vengeance (see κράζω, 1at the end), λαλεῖ; (G L T Tr WH; the λαλεῖται must be taken as passive, in the exceptional sense to be talked of, lauded; see below, 5 at the end (πρᾶγμα κατ' ἀγοράν λαλούμενον, Aristophanes Thesm. 578, cf. πάντες αὐτήν λαλοῦσιν, Alciphro fragment 5, ii., p. 222,10 edition Wagner)).<br /><b class="num">2.</b> to speak, i. e. to use the tongue or the faculty of speech; to utter articulate sounds: absolutely τούς (T Tr WH omit)) ἀλάλους λαλεῖν, ἐλάλει ὀρθῶς, Prayer of Manasseh , μή δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι, στόμα ἔχουσι καί οὐ λαλήσουσι, to speak, i. e. not to be silent, opposed to holding one's peace, λαλεῖ καί μή σιωπήσῃς, ποιεῖν (as λόγος to ἔργον which see 3), to talk; of the sound and outward form of speech: τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ, ἑτέραις καιναῖς γλώσσαις, Tr text WH text omit καιναῖς), from which the simple γλώσσαις λαλεῖν, and the like, are to be distinguished, see γλῶσσα, 2.<br /><b class="num">4.</b> to utter, tell: with the accusative of the thing, to use words in order to declare one's mind and disclose one's thoughts; to speak: absolutely, ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος, κακῶς, καλῶς, ὡς νήπιος ἐλάλουν, ὡς δράκων, στόμα πρός στόμα, face to face (German mündlich), εἰς ἀέρα λαλεῖν, ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας τό στωμα λαλεῖ, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, namely, so that it expresses the soul's thoughts, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖν, to utter words in accordance with one's inner character, τί λαλήσω, λαλήσητε, etc., what I shall utter in speech, etc., T Tr WH ἀποκριθῇ); τί, anything, L T Tr text WH; οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί λαλεῖ, what he says, i. e. what the words uttered by him mean (WH brackets τί λαλεῖ), ταῦτα, these words, τό λαλούμενον, τόν λόγον λαλούμενον, Buttmann, 302 (259) note); λόγους, ῤήματα, παραβολήν, βλασφημίας, L T Tr WH βλασφημεῖ); ῤήματα βλάσφημα εἰς τινα, ῤήματα ( adds βλάσφημα) κατά τίνος, σκληρά κατά τίνος, ὑπέρογκα, Theod.) τά μή δέοντα, ἅ μή θέμις, εἰς τινα τά μή καθήκοντα, Winer's Grammar, 480 (448))); διεστραμμένα, τό ψεῦδος, δόλον, ἀγαθά, σοφίαν, μυστήρια; ὅτι (equivalent to περί τούτου, ὅτι etc. to speak of this, viz. that they knew him (see ὅτι, I:2 under the end)), L text T Tr WH; ἐλάλησε λέγων (in imitation of Hebrew לֵאמֹר יְדַבֵּר (cf. above (at the beginning))), followed by direct discourse: λαλοῦσα καί λέγουσα, λαλῶ with the dative of person to speak to one, address him (especially of teachers): to speak to, i. e. converse with, one (cf. Buttmann, § 133,1): WH marginal reading only); ἑαυτοῖς (the dative of person) ψαλμοῖς καί ὕμνοις (dative of instrument), οὐ λαλεῖν τίνι is used of one who does not answer, to accost one, λαλῶ τί τίνι, to speak anything to anyone, to speak to one about a thing (of teaching): ἀρχή, 1b.); ῤήματα, οἰκοδομήν καί παράκλησιν, things which tend to edify and comfort the soul, promulgating a thing to one, τόν νόμον, passive λαλῶ πρός τινα, to speak unto one: L marginal reading T WH); R G), 26,31; אֶל דִּבֵּר, λόγους πρός τινα, ἐλάλησαν πρός αὐτούς ἀυαγγελιζόμενοι ... Ἰησοῦν, ὅσα ἄν λαλήσῃ πρός ὑμᾶς, σοφίαν ἐν τισίν, wisdom among etc. λαλεῖν μετά τίνος, to speak, converse, with one (cf. Buttmann, § 133,3): λαλεῖν ἀλήθειαν μετά etc. to show oneself a lover of truth in conversation with others, λαλεῖν περί τίνος, concerning a person or thing: τίνι, dative of person, added, τί περί τίνος, εἰς τινα περί τίνος (the genitive of the thing), to speak something as respects a person concerning a thing, R G; εἰς τινα περί with the genitive of person, ibid. L T Tr WH. Many of the examples already cited show that λαλεῖν is frequently used in the N. T. of teachers, — of Jesus, the apostles, and others. To those passages may be added, παρρησία added, ἐπί ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ, ἐπί, B. 2a. β.; τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου (where L T Tr WH prefix ἐν), of the prophets, ὄνομα, 2f.); τίνι (to one) ἐν παραβολαῖς, ἐν παροιμίαις, ἐξ ἐμαυτοῦ, to speak from myself (i. e. utter what I myself have thought out), ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ (see ἀπό, II:2d. aa., p. 59{a}), ἐκ τῆς γῆς (see ἐκ, II:2 under the end), ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, κόσμος, 6); ἐκ Θεοῦ, prompted by divine influence, λαλεῖν, τόν λόγον, to announce or preach the word of God or the doctrine of salvation: T WH marginal reading followed by εἰς τήν Πέργην; see εἰς, A. I:5b.); τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τίνι τόν λόγον, παραβολαῖς added, τίνι τόν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου (WH text Θεοῦ), τίνι τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τά ῤήματα τοῦ Θεοῦ, τά ῤήματα τῆς ζωῆς, πρός τινα τό εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, λαλεῖν καί διδάσκειν τά περί τοῦ Ἰησοῦ (R G κυρίου), τό μυστήριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, λαλεῖν is used of the O. T. prophets uttering their predictions: Buttmann, § 144,20, and p. 301 (258)); λαλεῖν ἐν τίνι: διά στόματος τίνος, διά Ἠσαΐου, λαλήσειν what it will teach the apostles, ὁ νόμος as a manifestation of God is said λαλεῖν τίνι what it commands, λαλεῖν, R G); to make known by speaking, to speak of, relate, with the implied idea of extolling: (see 1at the end above)).<br /><b class="num">6.</b> Since λαλεῖν, strictly denotes the act of one who utters words with the living voice, when writers speak of themselves or are spoken of by others as λαλοῦντες, they are conceived of as present and addressing their readers with the living voice, λαλεῖν is used in the sense of commanding, λαλεῖν is not found in the Epistles to Galatians and 2Thessalonians. (Compare: διαλαλέω, ἐκλαλέω, καταλαλέω, προσλαλέω, συλλαλέω; cf. the catalog of comp. in Schmidt, Syn., chapter i § 60.)