Word-Logos-Rhema1
Word Study – We translate two different Greek words (logos and rhema) into one English word of “Word”. I will present the information for your review.
Read John 1:1 – note “Word” John 1:1 (ESV) – 1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word was God. (Same Greek word used in John 1:14 ESV – 14 And the Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.)
Below and frequently in this article is the following image to show you the Greek Word and the “surface” word in English. It also show the Strong’s Number and the Louw Nida Number for the word. Note the G3056 for Strongs Lexicon and LN33.100 for Louw Nida Lexicon. (See Blue Shaded area below:)
Strong Lexicon G3056
3056λόγος[logos /log·os/] n m. From 3004; TDNT 4:69; TDNTA 505; GK 3364; 330 occurrences; AV translates as “word” 218 times, “saying” 50 times, “account” eight times, “speech” eight times, “Word (Christ)” seven times, “thing” five times, not translated twice, and translated miscellaneously 32 times. 1of speech. 1aa word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea. 1bwhat someone has said. 1b1a word. 1b2the sayings of God. 1b3decree, mandate or order. 1b4of the moral precepts given by God. 1b5Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets. 1b6what is declared, a thought, declaration, aphorism, a weighty saying, a dictum, a maxim. 1cdiscourse. 1c1the act of speaking, speech. 1c2the faculty of speech, skill and practice in speaking. 1c3a kind or style of speaking. 1c4a continuous speaking discourse—instruction. 1ddoctrine, teaching. 1eanything reported in speech; a narration, narrative. 1fmatter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law. 1gthe thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed. 2its use as respect to the MIND alone. 2areason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating. 2baccount, i.e. regard, consideration. 2caccount, i.e. reckoning, score. 2daccount, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment. 2erelation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation. 2e1reason would. 2freason, cause, ground. 3In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world’s life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man’s salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds. Additional Information: A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John’s purpose in John 1.
“Word” in
Louw-Nida Lexicon – LN 33.100
33.100λόγοςe,οῦ m: a title for Jesus in the Gospel of John as a reference to the content of God’s revelation and as a verbal echo of the use of the verbs meaning ‘to speak’ in Genesis 1 and in many utterances of the prophets—‘Word, Message.’ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν ‘the Word became a human being and lived among us’ Jn 1:14.
For “Logos” (the last line of the clipping states) that “the Sense” is: Jesus = Word of God
Compare: John 5:24 …He that hearth my words (Logos) and believes…..”
Romans 10:8 (ESV) – Here the translators have used the English “Word” as a translation for the Greek word (rhema).
8 But what does it say? “The word (rhema) is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word (rhema) of faith that we proclaim); –
Strong: G4487 and Louw-Nida 33.9 (Note the blue highlighted area below:)
(Review and compare these with the two above from the Lexicon for “logos” G3056 and LN 33.100)
Strongs G4487
4487ῥῆμα[rhema /hray·mah/] n n. From 4483; TDNT 4:69; TDNTA 505; GK 4839; 70 occurrences; AV translates as “word” 56 times, “saying” nine times, “thing” three times, “no thing + 3756” once, and not translated once. 1that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word. 1aany sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning. 1bspeech, discourse. 1b1what one has said. 1ca series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one’s mind made in words). 1c1an utterance. 1c2a saying of any sort as a message, a narrative. 1c2aconcerning some occurrence. 2subject matter of speech, thing spoken of. 2a so far forth as it is a matter of narration. 2bso far as it is a matter of command. 2ca matter of dispute, case at law.
Reference: John 14:10 that Jesus said He had given unto them the “words” “Rhema”…. (Compare: John 17:8)
Louw-Nida LN33.9
33.9ῥῆμαa,τος n: a minimal unit of discourse, often a single word—‘word, saying.’ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ πρὸς οὐδὲ ἓν ῥῆμα ‘he refused to answer him a single word’ Mt 27:14. In place of a rendering such as ‘refused to answer a single word,’ it may be more idiomatic to say ‘said nothing’ or ‘refused to speak.’
The bottom line of the above clipping provides ‘The Sense’ and for ‘rhema’ it is “Message = word”
Acts 10:36 (ESV) – Uses the Greek word Logos – (Note the blue shaded area below:)
36 As for the word (Logos) that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
Strong uses the same i.d. number G3056 in Acts 10:36 as in John 1:1 (above clipping).
LN 33.260 (Different from John 1:1 where it used LN33.100)
33.260λόγοςc,ου m: the content of what is preached about Christ or about the good news—‘what is preached, gospel.’47ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ‘what is preached concerning Christ’ or ‘the good news about Christ’ Col 3:16; ὁ λόγος ηὔξανεν καὶ ἴσχυεν ‘the message about the good news kept spreading and growing stronger’ Ac 19:20.
Compare with LN33.110 that was used for John 1:1. (LOGOS)
33.100λόγοςe,οῦ m: a title for Jesus in the Gospel of John as a reference to the content of God’s revelation and as a verbal echo of the use of the verbs meaning ‘to speak’ in Genesis 1 and in many utterances of the prophets—‘Word, Message.’ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν ‘the Word became a human being and lived among us’ Jn 1:14.
Acts 10:37 (ESV) – Translates the Greek word rhema to “word”
Here one see the difference between the translators use of the sentence structure and words, yet same Greek word “rhema” was the base word. Take time to read the two versions below and compare the translation from each.
Acts 10:37 (ESV) you yourselves know what (rhema) happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: (Note the Blue shaded area below in the ‘clipping’ display inthe English word “What” but is from the Greek “ho rhema” .) Note this is how the ESV translators translated the Greek word: “rhema”.
NKJV Acts 10:37: 37that word (rhema) you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: (Note the blue area below in the ‘clipping’ – This is for the NKJV – how that set of translators translated “rhema“
Strongs G4487 – The translators found the Greek Word “rhema” and translated it into different English Words in trying to provide as accurate a meaning to the scripture text.
4487ῥῆμα[rhema /hray·mah/] n n. From 4483; TDNT 4:69; TDNTA 505; GK 4839; 70 occurrences; AV translates as “word” 56 times, “saying” nine times, “thing” three times, “no thing + 3756” once, and not translated once. 1that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word….
LN 13.115 – definition:
13.115λόγοςh,ου m; ῥῆμαc, τος n: a happening to which one may refer—‘matter, thing, event.’
λόγοςh: οὐκ ἔστιν σοι μερὶς οὐδὲ κλῆρος ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ‘you have no part or share in this thing’ Ac 8:21.
ῥῆμαc: ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων ἢ τριῶν σταθῇ πᾶν ῥῆμα ‘every matter may be upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses’ Mt 18:16.
The Louw Nida reference number is 13.115 and this is different from the other in Acts 10:36….(LN 33.260)
REASON: The Louw Nida does a more extensive breakdown of Greek words and thus different i.d. numbers for the Greek word.
Acts 11:16 (ESV)
16 And I remembered the word (rhema)of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Note the Blue Shaded area...
Strong: G4487 – using same Greek word number, but Louw Nida has new number.
Louw Nida 33.98 in this passage:
33.98ῥῆμαb,τος n; λόγοςa,ου m(derivative of λέγωa‘to say,’ 33.69): that which has been stated or said, with primary focus upon the content of the communication—‘word, saying, message, statement, question.’
ῥῆμαb: ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ ‘but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ Mt 4:4.
λόγοςa: πολλῷ πλείους ἐπίστευσαν διὰ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ‘many more believed because of what he said’ Jn 4:41. In Mt 21:24 λόγοςmay be rendered as ‘question’ in view of the preceding ἐρωτάω, but the meaning of ‘question’ is, of course, derived essentially from the verb ἐρωτάωa‘to ask’ (33.180).
Any difference of meaning between λόγοςa (Logos)and ῥῆμαb (Rhema) would be only a matter of stylistic usage.
The Breakdown of the different Louw Nida numbers are:
Louw Nida – uses LN33.98 (Acts 11:16) – LN13.115 (Acts 10:37) – LN33.260 (Acts 10:36) (Look back for the written definition of each in the Louw Nida Lexicon.
Using two different dictionaries – reference to translation: “rhema”
The ANLEX dictionary: (single) word, saying, utterance; prediction; prophecy; command; direction; threat; sermon; etc…
The BDAG Dictionary: word, saying, expression, or statement of any kind; thing, object, matter, event
Below shows the Greek word “rhema” and how the ESV translated that word into the following different English words. Note that most frequent was – the diagram below shows the % portion of the English Word(s) used when the Greek word “rhema” appears in the Greek text.
“Word, words” – (39 of 67 times)
“say, saying, sayings” – (10 of 67 times)
“thing, things” – (8 of 67 times) – Total
The above Total is 57 of 67 times (Below – the three major English Word(s) used and then the other 7 show the ‘color’ of the word Greek word “rhema” – it has hard to select the English Word to fit the sense of the text and be accurate in translating it.)
The word “rhema”is found in 67 verses and occurs 70 times in the NKJV….
Matt. 4:4 NKJV – 14But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
ESV – 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
The two words “word” and “charge” are translated from the Greek word: “rhema”.
Compare Luke 2:17-19
NKJV- 17Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
ESV – 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
“Saying” and “things” translated from the Greek word: “rhema”. The “Sense” is ‘matter’.
ESV – Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things (rhema), pondering them….”
Eph. 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word (rhema),
This word is “rhema”
Sense is: “word of God”
Looking at the two words in reference to translation: “logos”
The ANLEX dictionary – arrange in order; speaking; word, speech; deed; question; prophecy; command; report; message…etc
The BDAG dictionary – word; computation, reckoning; the Logos
AGAIN – note that the majority of times (2) Logos is translated as “word, words” (the majority in itself) – 2nd “say, saying, saying,” – the other 8 reflect the ‘color’ for the word “Logos” – an implied meaning…
329 “Logos” is found in the Greek NT – translated:
Word, words – 231 or 329
Say, saying, sayings – 22 of 329
Speech – 11 of 329
Total 264 – leaving 65 for the other words above…
Eph. 5:6 NKJV – Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. This word is “Logos”
Sense: “message (communication)”
It would appear that “logos” and “rhema” can be translated “word” – “saying”
Logos: Jesus – anyone can read – every word – talk/speech – message – report
Rhema: More hidden treasure (marvel at) – command – instruction – to make known