New Testament Words Explained: Speak - Thief

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 8
Speak, Say.
Amongst the many Greek words thus translated, we may consider two, laleo and lego.
The former word refers to the power of speech itself (Matthew 10:3333But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:33); Mark 7:37;1637And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. (Mark 7:37)
17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17). 17; Luke 11:1414And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. (Luke 11:14); Acts 2:44And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4); 1 Corinthians 12:3030Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:30)); lego is not only to articulate but to speak words, and it is rather the mind that speaks, than the fact of uttering words, which a parrot might do. Thus in Revelation 13:1515And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Revelation 13:15), where the image of the beast speaks, it is not that it uses the mind (lego), but merely that it utters words like an automaton (laleo). We find the meaning of the two words beautifully distinguished in John 8:4343Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. (John 8:43), “Why do ye not understand my speech (from laleo)? Even because ye cannot hear my word (from lego).” The true meaning of this remarkable passage being that they who do not in their hearts lay hold of the meaning, the spirit, the power of the truth cannot understand the letter or the speech by which the word is conveyed. Thus while in one sense we understand the spirit by the letter of the word, in another it is equally true that we can only rightly understand the letter by having His word abiding in us.
Temple.
Two Greek words are thus translated in the New Testament —the one, hieron, meaning the whole of the temple, its courts, and all buildings connected with it; the other, naos, meaning the proper dwelling-place of God. This distinction is interesting and helpful in many places. Zacharias (Luke 1:99According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. (Luke 1:9)) entered i nto the naos, those that waited without were still in the hieron. We often find Christ teaching in the latter, but into the former He never entered, none but priests being allowed there. “Between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:3535That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:35)) is naos, and there means between the temple itself, and the altar in the court. Judas, in his despair, rushed into the naos itself to cast down the money. A third word, oikos, is translated “temple” in Luke 11:5151From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. (Luke 11:51). The usual meaning is simply house, and it is so translated everywhere else.
Thief or Robber.
There are two distinct words in the Greek as in the English. In our translation, however, the distinction has not always been strictly preserved. We find both in John 10:88All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. (John 10:8), the word thief meaning the secret stealer, and robber the violent and open plunderer. Thief occurs Matthew 24:4343But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. (Matthew 24:43); John 12:66This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. (John 12:6); robber Matthew 11:13; 26:5513For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (Matthew 11:13)
55In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. (Matthew 26:55); Luke 10:3030And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30); John 18:4040Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. (John 18:40); 2 Corinthians 11:2626In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; (2 Corinthians 11:26); Matthew 27:38,4438Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. (Matthew 27:38)
44The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. (Matthew 27:44). It will be observed that the word thief is always so translated, whereas the second word is sometimes rendered thief, sometimes robber. In no place is the distinction more important than in the last passage we have quoted. These two were probably fellow-insurgents with Barabbas (Mark 15:77And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. (Mark 15:7)). He was a robber, but by no means a thief, and possibly in the first place a mistaken zealot, of whom there were many at that time who undertook to deliver the nation from the Roman yoke.