Utterances (3051) logion by Greek Word Studies

Oracles (3051) (logion from lógios = an orator) was a saying, a pronouncement, a declaration. In Classical Greek logion was used to describe oracular utterances of heathen deities. See related study on graphe - Scriptures Harper's Bible Dictionary notes that an oracle was... a message from a god, usually in response to an inquiry; also the sacred precincts whose powers made it possible for the oracle-prophet to consult the god. The Greco-Roman world knew three types of oracles: the oracle obtained through the casting of lots; the dream oracle obtained by sleeping in the sacred precincts, usually connected with healing; and the inspired oracle by which an oracle-prophet responded to inquiries. Though oracles were associated with a place, other prophets, diviners, and soothsayers might be employed by the state to give advice and to travel with the army, or they might set up practice in the local marketplace. (Achtemeier, P. J. Harper's Bible Dictionary. Harper & Row) MacArthur writes that... Logion (oracles) is a diminutive of logos (note), which is most commonly translated word. Logion generally referred to important sayings or messages, especially supernatural utterances...In many pagan religions of that day, mediums and seers gave occultic predictions of the future and other messages from the spirit world through supernatural “oracles.” By observing the movements of fish in a tank, the formation of snakes in a pit, or listening to the calls of certain birds, fortune-tellers would purport to predict such things as business success or failure, military victory or defeat, and a happy or tragic marriage. Such a connotation could not have been further from Paul’s use of logion in this passage. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press) Paul uses logion as a striking synonym for the Holy Scriptures, referring to them as "the oracles" (his use of the definite article in the Greek -- "the" -- indicates they are not just any oracles but a specific set of oracles, and in context are the Old Testament writings). Logion was used four times in the NT stressing the fact that the Words in Scripture actually constituted the very utterances of God. Acts 7:38 received living oracles (refers to Mosaic Law) to pass on to you Ro 3:2 entrusted with the oracles of God (refers to entire OT). Heb 5:12 elementary principles of the oracles of God (basic doctrines), 1Pe 4:11 the utterances of God (utterances of God through Christian teachers) These oracles were given to and through the Jews and are preserved for us now in the OT. Vine adds that... Note: Divine oracles were given by means of the breastplate of the High Priest, in connection with the service of the Tabernacle, and the Sept. uses the associated word logeion in Ex. 28:15, to describe the breastplate. Logion is used 32 times in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek OT (Nu 24:4, Nu 24:16, Dt 33:9, Ps 12:6, Ps 18:30, Ps 19:14, Ps 105:19, Ps 107:11, Ps 119:11, Ps 119:38, Ps 119:41, Ps 119:50, Ps 119:58, Ps 119:67, Ps 119:76, Ps 119:82, Ps 119:103, Ps 119:116, Ps 119:123, Ps 119:133, Ps 119:140, Ps 119:148, Ps 119:158, Ps 119:162, Ps 119:169, Ps 119:170, Ps 119:172, Ps 138:2, Ps 147:15, Isa 5:24, Isa 28:13, Isa 30:27). Note the 24 uses in Psalm 119 which extols the virtues of God's Word, law, precepts, commandments, ordinance, etc (see the use in Ps 119:11 which shows one potential advantage the Jew possessed because he had access to God's Word) Ta logia or the oracles are important sayings or messages, especially supernatural ones. In this verse Paul uses logion as a synonym for the entire Old Testament. He is saying that what the Jews received in the logion were the living words of the living God. Thus the Jews had a great advantage in having the Old Testament Scriptures, because these oracles expounded the way of true salvation, Paul recording for example... And the Scripture (OT "oracles"), foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, (Scriptures are personified as a "preacher" who) preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED IN YOU. (see Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18)" (Galatians 3:8) If both Jews and Gentiles are equally guilty, what is the advantage of being a Jew? Paul claims numerous benefits through Judaism but is content to mention one of the chief advantages. The Jews were the custodians of the "oracles" of God. Some indication of the importance ascribed to the Scriptures can be discerned from the fact that of all the advantages which are attributed to the ancient Jew, the only one mentioned by Paul is possession of the "oracles of God." William Cowper extolled this Jewish advantage in poem... They, and they only, amongst all mankind, Received the transcript of the Eternal Mind; Were trusted with His own engraven laws, And constituted guardians of His cause; Theirs were the prophets, theirs the priestly call, And theirs, by birth, the Savior of us all. Paul will later expand on the advantage of the Jew in Ro 9:4, 5 (see notes), explaining that Israel also had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises (contrast the disadvantages of the Gentiles - Eph 2:12). We know that after the first advent of Christ and the beginning of the Church in Acts 2, many of these Jewish "advantages" became a hindrance to anyone who might enter the New Covenant by grace through faith. In Philippians Paul enumerates seven advantages of being a Jew... although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: (#1) circumcised the eighth day, (#2) of the nation of Israel, (#3) of the tribe of Benjamin, (#4) a Hebrew of Hebrews; (#5) as to the Law, a Pharisee; (#6) as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; (#7)as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.. (Phil 3:4-6-see notes) These were on the profit side of Paul’s ledger from a Jew's perspective, but when the Spirit opened His eyes to see Jesus as His deliverer, Paul gladly transferred these "benefits" to the "loss" side of the ledger writing... "whatever things were gain (an accounting term that means “profit”) to me, those things I have counted (perfect tense) = this verb is a mathematical term which says "Think about it and come to a conclusion." In the account book of his life his entries on the gains side were transferred to the side of loss. After reflection he considered them loss) as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count (present tense = continually = Paul continually reflected on what he had had in the past and what it might mean to him now but still came to the same conclusion...if it was not Christ's righteousness, it belonged on the loss column) all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Is there anything in this short earthly life which surpasses the value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord?), for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ," (Phil 3:7-8-see notes) Romans 3:2 although addressed to the privileged Jews, should cause us as believers today to ponder how great is this benefit of being entrusted with the oracles of God in our day. What Paul is doing her to his Jewish brethren in the flesh, is destroy their belief that they could ever attain to God's requirement of perfect righteousness. In so doing Paul was much like the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez who landed at Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1519 intent on conquest. To assure the devotion of his men, Cortez set fire to his fleet of eleven ships! With no means of retreat Cortez’s army had only one direction to move -- into the Mexican interior. Cortez understood the price of commitment and he paid it. So here at the beginning of one of the most difficult to comprehend and expound oracles of God in all of Scripture, Romans 3:1-8, we are reminded by God that having the oracles of God entrusted to us in a Book is a great thing. Olshausen on oracles explains that No doubt in the first place the promises (Acts 7:38; 1Pe 4:11, etc.), and indeed esp those of the Messiah and the kingdom of God, to which all others were related ... but the whole Word of God is also indicated by this expression. The Divine promises were confided to the Jews, since in what follows it is just this faithlessness (apistia) in the possession of these promises which is spoken of. The mention is made of Divine faithfulness (pistia) only in connection with this faithlessness. Alford adds that... Not only the law of Moses, but all the revelation of God hitherto made of Himself directly, all of which had been entrusted to Jews only. Meyer explains that... Paul means the Holy Scriptures and especially the prophecies of the Messiah and the kingdom. These are not destroyed by the Jews’ unbelief. Ray Stedman gives an interesting illustration of the Jew's great advantage: Just imagine, for instance, an island in darkness, populated with people. There is only one way to escape the island, a narrow bridge over a deep chasm, but the darkness is so great that only a few find their way over that bridge. Everybody on that island has been provided with a little penlight that enables them to dimly illuminate a small space around them, barely enough to avoid the more obvious obstacles in their path. But a certain group of people is given a powerful searchlight that can shine thousands of yards into the darkness. It is given to them not only so that they can find the bridge, but also so they can show others the way out. Yet these people, who have so much more light than the others, spend their time utilizing this powerful searchlight to look for needles in a haystack. They turn that searchlight on a mound of hay and search for needles. That, in essence, was what the Jews were doing. The rabbis were arguing constantly over infinitesimal theological differences. Jesus called this "straining at a gnat, but swallowing a camel," {cf, Mt 23:24}. They argued over how many steps constituted a violation of the Sabbath and whether spitting on a rock is permissible on the Sabbath, or whether spitting on mud is a violation (cp Mt 23:23, Mic 6:7, 8, Ho 6:6, 1Sa 15:22, Isa 1:11, 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, Ps 51:16, 17). One would be right, and the other wrong. This is what they used the Law for. Though the Jews had a tremendous advantage in having the Law, Paul says, they failed to use it properly. (Read the full sermon Romans 3:1-20 Total Wipeout ) Romans 3:3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? (NASB: Lockman) Greek: ti gar; ei epistesan (3PAAI) tines, me (me expects the negative answer) e apistia auton ten pistin tou theou katargesei (3SFAI) Amplified: What if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity [to His Word]? (Amplified Bible - Lockman) KJV: For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? NIV: What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? NLT: True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Phillips: Some of them were undoubtedly faithless, but what then? Can you imagine that their faithlessness could disturb the faithfulness of God? (Phillips: Touchstone) Wuest: Well then—if, as is the case, certain ones did not exercise faith? Their unbelief will not render the faithfulness of God ineffectual, will it? (Eerdmans) Young's Literal: for what, if certain were faithless? shall their faithlessness the faithfulness of god make useless. WHAT THEN? IF SOME DID NOT BELIEVE: ti gar ei epistesan (3PAAI) tines: (Ro 9:6; 10:16; 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; Heb 4:2) Paul rejects the assumption that if some Jews were unbelieving or unfaithful and perish, this indicates that God is unfaithful. May it never be! Perish that thought! For God to be unfaithful is unthinkable! (Ro 3:4) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_31.htm#oracles

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Utterances (3051) logion

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