logion

English

WOTD – 15 June 2017

Etymology

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

Derived terms

• menologion

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

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Pronunciation

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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

Swedish

Noun

logion n

1. logion (saying attributed to Jesus)

   Synonym: Jesusord

   • 2004, Bo Frid, Jesper Svartvik, Thomasevangeliet: med Jesusorden från Oxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 1, 654, 655), 2nd edition, Arcus förlag, page 16:

     Thomasevangeliet [...] består [...] av 114 jesusord, [så kallade] logia (eller försvenskat »logier«; sing. logion).

     The Gospel of Thomas consists of 114 sayings of Jesus, so-called logia (or Swedified "logier"; sing. logion).

   • 2006, Seth Erlandsson, “Jesus och de gnostiska evangelierna”, in Biblicum‎, number 2, archived from the original on 26 June 2024, page 70:

     Omkring hälften av logierna [i Thomasevangeliet] anknyter mer eller mindre till nytestamentliga Jesusord.

     About half of the logia in the Gospel of Thomas are more or less related to neo-testamentary sayings of Jesus.

   • 2010, Tord Fornberg, “Harald Riesenfeld”, in Signum‎, number 5, archived from the original on 16 June 2021:

     Jag minns, hur han till oss studenter sade, att logiet "Människosonen har inte kommit för att bli tjänad utan för att tjäna och ge sitt liv till lösen för många" i Mark 10:45 är det närmaste vi kan komma den historiske Jesus.

     I remember, how he said to us students, that the logion "The Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" in Mark 10:45 is the closest we can get to the historical Jesus.

Declension

Declension of logion

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	logion	logions
	definite	logiet	logiets
plural	indefinite	logier, logia	logiers, logias
	definite	logierna	logiernas