logion

English

WOTD – 15 June 2017

Etymology

Sermon on the Mount (1889) by Ivan Makarov

From Ancient Greek λόγιον (lógion, “oracle”), from λόγος (lógos, “word; the word or wisdom of God”) (from λέγω (légō, “I say”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”)) + -ιον (-ion, suffix forming diminutive nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊ.ɡɪ.ən/, /ˈlɒ-/, /-ɒn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈloʊ.d͡ʒi.ən/
• Hyphenation: lo‧gi‧on

Noun

logion (plural logia)

1. (theology) A traditional saying of a religious leader.
   • 2006, William Tabbernee, “‘Recognizing the Spirit’: Second-generation Montanist Oracles”, in F. Young, M. Edwards, P. Parvis, editors, Studia Patristica: Papers Presented at the Fourteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies Held in Oxford 2003, volume XL, Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, →ISBN, part VIII (First Two Centuries), page 525:

     It is clear from Origen's wording that he is not referring to a logion of the original Montanist leaders, but to a statement made by later adherents of the New Prophecy. […] The logion is probably authentic.

   • 2016, Devin J. Stewart, “Wansbrough, Bultmann, and the Theory of Variant Traditions in the Qu’rān”, in Angelika Neuwirth, Michael A[nthony] Sells, editors, Qu’rānic Studies Today (Routledge Studies in the Qu’rān), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:

     Influenced by scholarship on the sayings of Jesus and the redaction of the Gospels, [John] Wansbrough assumes that the Qu'rān was edited and constructed from a plethora of short texts that he terms "prophetic logia." These logia draw on monotheistic imagery and are related to forms familiar from the literature of prophetical expression. […] The goal of the critic is to identify these logia by examining the canonical text in which they have been edited and spliced together

2. (specifically, Christianity) A saying that is attributed to Jesus in ancient or reconstructed texts that was (originally) handed down without narrative context.

   The Q materials are often thought to have almost exclusively consisted of logia.

   • 1904, Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 23, [Boston, Mass.]: Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 195:

     The Gospels are evidently independent in their use of their source in the Logia of Matthew; but they all give the logion the same place in their Gospels.

   • 2002, Rudolf Schnackenburg, “Jesus’ Proclamation and Works of Healing (4:17–9:34)”, in Robert R. Barr, transl., The Gospel of Matthew, Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 70:

     It is in this context that the difficult logion in Matthew concerning the eye (vv. 22–23) is to be understood.

   • 2011, Samuel Zinner, “The Gospel of Thomas: A Contextual Commentary”, in The Gospel of Thomas: In the Light of Early Jewish, Christian and Islamic Esoteric Trajectories: With a Contextualized Commentary and a New Translation of the Thomas Gospel (Matheson Monographs), London: The Matheson Trust for the Study of Comparative Religion, →ISBN, page 261:

     The central key to unraveling the perplexities of the Thomas gospel is contained basically in the first three logia. According to logion 1, which is actually a statement by the apostle Thomas, not by Jesus, the one who finds the interpretation or meaning of Jesus' secret sayings will not taste of death.

Synonyms

• (saying attributed to Jesus): agraphon

Translations

a saying that is attributed to Jesus but which is not in the Bible

• Czech: logion
• Danish: logion n
• French: logion (fr) m
• Galician: loxión f
• German: Logion (de)
• Italian: logion
• Norwegian: logion n
• Polish: logion
• Spanish: logion Iesu
• Swedish: logion n

Further reading

• logia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• looing, olingo

Norwegian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

logion n

1. logion

Inflection

Inflection of logion

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural
Bokmål n	logion	logionet	logia/logier	logiene
Nynorsk n	logion	logionet	logia/logier	logiene

Synonyms

• agrafon
• Jesus-ord

References

• “logion” in The Ordnett Dictionary of foreign words