λέγω

levgw levgw (in the N. T. only the present and imperfect active and present passive are in use; 3 person plural imperfect
ejlegan, Tdf. (cf.
e[cw, at the beginning));I. in its earliest use in Homer to lay (like Latin lego, German legen; cf. J. G. M?ller in Theol. Studien und Kritiken for 1835, p. 127ff; Curtius, sec. 538); to cause to lie down, put to sleep;1. to collect, gather; to pick out.2. to lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate. describe; (cf. English tale, German z?hlen).II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. "to say (how it differs from
lalei'n, see under that word at the beginning); once so by Homer in Iliad 2, 222 (yet cf. Schmidt, Syn. , sections 20; 48, 2; Liddell and Scott, under the word, B. II. 2); often in Pindar, and by far the most common use in Attic; the Septuagint more than thirteen hundred times for rm'a;; often also for !aun? (saying, dictum); very rarely for rBeDI; and so in N. T.1. universally, a. absolutely, to speak: ; ; to say, foll. by direct discourse, ; ; (here T brackets WH reject the passage); ; (WH brackets the clause); ,; ( L T Tr WH); , and very often; the direct discourse is preceded by
o{ti recitative, (T omits
o{ti); (T omits; WH brackets
levgwn); (L and WH brackets
levgonta"); f; ; f,35; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ,; ; ; ; ; , etc.; followed by the accusative with an infinitive, ; ; ; ; , etc.; followed by
o{ti, ; ; ; (for other examples see 2 a. below); followed by an indirect question, ; ; . b. The N. T. writers, particularly the historical, are accustomed to add the verb
levgein followed by direct discourse to another verb which already contains the idea of speaking, or which states an opinion concerning some person or thing; as
tov
rJhqevn ...
profhvtou
levgonto", ; ; ; ;
khruvsswn ...
kaiv (L T WH omit; Tr brackets
kaiv)
levgwn, ;
kravzein
levgein, ; ; ; (here L T Tr marginal reading
kraugavzein); ;
prosfwvnein
kaiv
levgein, ; ;
ajpek