λαλέω

lalevw lalevw,
lalw'; imperfect 3 person singular
ejlavlei, plural
ejlavloun; future
lalhvsw; 1 aorist
ejlavlhsa; perfect
lelavlhka; passive, present
lalou'mai; perfect
lelavlhmai; 1 aorist
ejlalhvqhn; 1 future
lalhqhvsomai: (from Sophocles down); found in Biblical Greek much more frequent than in secular authors, in the Septuagint times without number for rBeDI or rB,DI, more rarely for rm'a;; properly, to utter a sound (cf. (onomatop. la-la, 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
lego refers to the meaning and substance of what is spoken; hence
lalei'n 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;
lalou'si
mevn,
ouj
frazousi
dev, of dogs and apes, Plutarch, mor. ii., p. 909 a.), and so of inanimate things (as trees, Theocritus, 27, 56 (57); of an echo, Dio C. 74, 21, 14). Accordingly, everything
legovmenon is also
lalouvmenon, but not everything
lalouvmenon is also
legovmenon (Eupolis in Plutarch, Alc. 13
lalei'n
a[risto",
ajdunatwtato"
levgein); (the difference between the words is evident where they occur in proximity, e. g.
o{sa
oJ
novmo"
levgei,
toi'"
ejn
tw'/
novmw/
lalei', and the very common
ejlavlhsen ...
levgwn, , etc.). Moreover, the primary meaning of
lalei'n, 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
lalei'n 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, sec. lxxvi.; (and on classical usage Schmidt, Syn. ). But let us look at the N. T. usage in detail:1. to utter a voice, emit a sound: of things inanimate, as
brontaiv, ; with
tav"
eJautw'n
fwnav" added, each thunder uttered its particular voice (the force and meaning of which the prophet understood, cf. f); ;
savlpiggo"
lalouvsh"
met!
ejmou',
levgwn (Rec.
levgousa) followed by direct discourse ; of the expiatory blood of Christ, metaphorically, to crave the pardon of sins, ; of the murdered Abel, long since dead, equivalent to to call for vengeance (see , and cf.
kravzw, 1 at the end), according to the true reading
lalei'; (G L T Tr WH; the Rec.
lalei'tai must be taken as passive, in the exceptional sense to be talked of, lauded; see below, 5 at the end (
pra'gma
kat!
ajgoravn
lalouvmenon, Aristophanes Thesm. 578, cf.
pavnte"
aujthvn
lalou'sin, Alciphro fragment 5, ii., p. 222, 10 edition Wagner)).2. to speak, i. e. to use the tongue or the faculty of speech; to utter articulate sounds: absolutely ; of the dumb, receiving the power of speech, ; ; ; ; ; (
touv" (T Tr WH omit))
ajla