Skip to content

Greek notes

Fourteen words carry most of the lexical weight in this debate. Each note gives a form, a gloss, the usage, and — the part usually left out — what it does and does not prove.

Two rules govern the page. The lexicon gives the range; the context gives the sense. And a word study is not an argument. "The Greek means X" begins a case; it never ends one. You must still show that the author uses sense X here, and that the sentence needs it.

to teleion — "the perfect, the complete"

Form and gloss. Neuter of teleios, used as a substantive: "the complete thing"; perfect, complete, mature. Usage. Of persons: "the mature" (1 Corinthians 2:6; 14:20), "the mature man" (Ephesians 4:13), "solid food is for the mature" (Hebrews 5:14). Of things: "the perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2), "perfect and complete" (James 1:4).

What it does not prove. The range is maturity and completeness, not "canon" — Paul had graphē for Scripture — and the neuter points to a state of affairs rather than a document. The state is identified by verse 12, not by the word.

katargeō — "abolish, bring to nothing"

Form and gloss. Verb, "make idle, render inoperative, abolish"; future passive katargēthēsetai (1 Corinthians 13:10). Usage. "Prophecies will pass away" and "the partial will pass away" (13:8, 10); "I gave up childish ways" (13:11); Christ "destroys... death" (15:26); "abolished the dividing wall" (Ephesians 2:15); "nullify the faithfulness of God" (Romans 3:3).

What it does not prove. That the thing stops functioning — not when or why. Paul uses it of a voluntary setting aside (13:11), so the verb itself carries no decree; the cause comes from the sentence, which gives the coming of the perfect.

pauō — "cease"

Form and gloss. Verb, "cease, stop"; future middle pausontai (1 Corinthians 13:8). Usage. The wind "ceased" (Luke 8:24); the uproar "ceased" (Acts 20:1); Paul did not "cease" praying (Colossians 1:9); sacrifices would have "ceased" (Hebrews 10:2).

What it does not prove. Some infer from the middle voice that tongues cease "of themselves." The middle is the ordinary intransitive — "cease" versus "stop something" — and encodes no causation; the shift from passive verbs is rhythm, not chronology.

ek merous — "in part"

Form and gloss. Prepositional phrase, "out of a part"; partially, fragmentarily. Usage. "We know in part and we prophesy in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9); "the partial will pass away" (13:10); "now I know in part" (13:12); "individually members of it" (12:27); "a partial hardening" (Romans 11:25).

What it does not prove. That the gifts are false or nearly over. It marks the mode of present knowledge as fragmentary and gives no percentage; the contrast is part versus whole, not error versus truth.

ainigma — "riddle"

Form and gloss. Dative en ainigmati, "in a riddle"; riddle, enigma, dark saying. Usage. The Greek Old Testament uses it in Numbers 12:8 — God speaks with Moses "mouth to mouth... and not in riddles" (ou di' ainigmatōn) — and for the "dark sayings" of the wise (Proverbs 1:6).

What it does not prove. That present knowledge is unintelligible. Paul echoes Numbers 12: the church stands where the ordinary prophet stood, and its future is Moses' position. The word names the manner of knowledge, not its reliability.

esoptron — "mirror"

Form and gloss. Noun, "mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12). Usage. James uses it for the word showing a man his face (James 1:23); Paul's related verb katoptrizomai describes beholding the Lord's glory "as in a mirror" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Corinthian mirrors were polished bronze: a true but imperfect image.

What it does not prove. That the mirror is Scripture. James uses the image that way; Paul does not, and the argument must not borrow James's application for Paul's sentence.

prosōpon pros prosōpon — "face to face"

Form and gloss. Accusative phrase, "face toward face"; face to face, in person. Usage. Of direct encounter with God: "the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face" (Exodus 33:11); "whom the LORD knew face to face" (Deuteronomy 34:10). The New Testament uses the same idea — "mouth to mouth," stoma pros stoma — for a visit rather than a letter: "talk face to face" (2 John 12; 3 John 14, ESV).

What it does not prove. By itself, that Paul's "then" is the parousia. It proves that the phrase means presence, not clarity of information. The contrast with writing in 2 and 3 John is what defeats the canon reading.

epignōsis / epignōskō — "full knowledge"

Form and gloss. Noun epignōsis and verb epignōskō, "full knowledge, recognize"; future middle epignōsomai and aorist passive epegnōsthēn (1 Corinthians 13:12). Usage. "Did not see fit to acknowledge God" (Romans 1:28); "the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7); "the knowledge of the Son of God" (Ephesians 4:13).

What it does not prove. That the knowledge is exhaustive or immediate: epi- intensifies but does not define. The weight falls on kathōs, "even as I have been fully known." Note that 1 Corinthians 8:3 and Galatians 4:9 use plain ginōskō.

charismata — "gifts"

Form and gloss. Plural of charisma, from charis, "grace"; free gifts. Usage. "Gifts that differ according to the grace given to us" (Romans 12:6); "varieties of gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:4); "gifts of healing" (12:9); the list of 12:28; "earnestly desire the higher gifts" (12:31); "stewards of God's varied grace" (1 Peter 4:10). Paul also uses it of eternal life (Romans 6:23).

What it does not prove. That the word means "sign gift." It covers eternal life, teaching, generosity, and tongues; any division of the gifts must come from the lists.

diairesis — "varieties, distributions"

Form and gloss. Noun, "division, distribution, variety"; plural diaireseis (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Usage. "Varieties of gifts... service... activities" (12:4-6); the verb diaireō describes the Spirit apportioning "as he wills" (12:11). The noun appears nowhere else in the New Testament.

What it does not prove. Which gifts continue, or that gifts authenticate. "As he wills" supports distribution as well as diversity — the Spirit's sovereignty, not a taxonomy.

glōssa — "tongue, language"

Form and gloss. Noun, "tongue, language" — the organ, a human language, or the Corinthian phenomenon. Usage. "Began to speak in other tongues" (Acts 2:4); "in our own tongues" (2:11); the gift (1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 30); "tongues of men and of angels" (13:1); "every tribe and language" (Revelation 5:9).

What it does not prove. That every occurrence is a known language, or that every Christian must speak in tongues: Paul says not all do (12:30).

prophēteuō — "prophesy"

Form and gloss. Verb, "speak forth, prophesy." Usage. "The one who prophesies speaks... for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation" (1 Corinthians 14:3); "earnestly desire... that you may prophesy" (14:1); "do not despise prophecies" (1 Thessalonians 5:20); Joel's sons and daughters prophesy (Acts 2:17-18).

What it does not prove. That prophecy is inerrant, or that it is mere preaching. The New Testament defines it by purpose and source, which is why it can be weighed (14:29) and tested (5:21).

hapax — "once for all"

Form and gloss. Adverb, "once, once for all." Usage. "The faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3); Christ "has appeared once for all at the end of the ages" (Hebrews 9:26); "sanctified... once for all" (10:10).

What it does not prove. That the canon closed, or that the Spirit stopped speaking. The "once" qualifies the gospel entrusted to the church, ruling out a different gospel.

kanōn — "rule, measure"

Form and gloss. Noun, "measuring line, rule, boundary." Usage. "The area of influence God assigned to us" (2 Corinthians 10:13-16); "walk by this rule" (Galatians 6:16).

What it does not prove. That the New Testament uses kanōn for the list of books — it does not; that usage is later, and reading it back is a semantic anachronism. The word means a standard or limit, not a doctrine of closure.

The fallacies to avoid

  1. The root fallacy. Epignōsis does not mean "exhaustive knowledge" because epi- is attached; charisma does not mean "miraculous" because it comes from charis.
  2. Semantic anachronism. Kanōn does not mean "the canon of Scripture" in the first century, and teleion does not mean "the completed Bible."
  3. Totality transfer. A word's full range does not apply in every occurrence. Glōssa can mean "the organ" or "a language"; only context says which.
  4. The lexicon-as-argument. Showing that a word can mean something is not showing that it does here. The sentence, the paragraph, and the book decide.

See also