I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day (when it doesn't time out)
POST ISSUE: Multi-part lexical units (MWLUs)/Multi-words expressions (MWE’s)
In Logos/Verbum we generally deal with:
morpheme — The smallest grammatical unit of a language that conveys meaning.[1]
lexeme — A lexical unit apart from any specific forms the word may take. For example, dābār (“word”), debar (“word of”), debārim (“words”), and debārāv (“his words”) all reflect the same underlying lexeme: dābār (“word”).[2]
sememe (ˈsiːmiːm) n linguistics1 the meaning of a morpheme 2 Also called semanteme a minimum unit of meaning in terms of which it is sometimes proposed that meaning in general might be analysed [c20 (coined in 1933 by Leonard Bloomfield (1887–1949), US linguist): from Greek sēma a sign + -eme][3]
Multi-part lexical units (MWLUs) are two or more words that function as a single grammatical or semantic unit. They often have meanings that cannot be entirely derived from their individual components. Think idioms, fixed expressions, phrasal verbs . . .
Phraseme refers to any multi-word or multi-morphemic expression where at least one component is constrained by linguistic convention. They made be non-compositional i.e. the meaning cannot be derived from the parts (bucket list) or compositional where meaning aligns with the parts but is standardized (stark naked)
In this post we consider the various types of MWLUs that relate to Biblical texts, first looking at a definition and example in English, then examples in Biblical Hebrew or Koine Greek. While a preference for temporal examples is presence, I have chosen examples that broadly illustrate the use of lexical units above the “word”.
QUESTION: Define “fixed phrase”; give examples in English, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Koine Greek
SOFTWARE: A smart search on “fixed phrase” will find a number of entries in grammars and dictionaries along with the related Bible references.
ANSWER: Definition: A fixed phrase is a set combination of words that functions as a single unit of meaning and cannot be altered without sounding unnatural or losing its intended meaning. These phrases are "fixed" in their wording, meaning that changes to the order, choice of words, or grammatical structure will make them sound odd or incorrect, even if the literal meaning remains similar. English Example: To whom it may concern.
From Vos, Geerhardus. The Eschatology of the Old Testament. Edited by James T. Dennison Jr. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001.
Just as we say the end of all things will be judgment and salvation (or judgment and resurrection), so Israel of old affirmed the same two-sidedness: darkness and light were combined in their consciousness about it, although it seems that by some the two aspects were distributed over the two main groups of the people. Since that time, “Day of Jehovah” remained a fixed phrase in biblical eschatology. It passes over from the Old into the New Testament. Paul and the early Christians were just as familiar with it as was Amos. Isaiah (2:12; 10:3; 13:6, 9; 34:8; 61:2), Zephaniah (1:14–16), Joel (1:15), and Malachi (4:1, 5) carry on the tradition to the very end of the old dispensation. To be sure, afterwards, it becomes wedded to messianic eschatology. Hence in the New Testament it is sometimes difficult to tell whether “the Day of the Lord” means the Day of God or the Day of Christ.[4]
From Talbert, Betty J. “Homily Form in Hellenistic and Early Christianity.” In The Concise Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021.
Lawrence Wills sees the phrase “word of exhortation” (logos parakleseos) in Acts 13:14–41 and Heb 1–4, 8–12 as combining three elements that “can be traced to innovations in Greek oratory in the fifth century bc” (e.g., Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War; Plato’s Menexenus). The three elements are:
exempla (introduction, Scripture, exegetical argument)
conclusion (the point)
exhortation (encouragement to action)
He argues that these elements can appear alone in the New Testament (Acts 13:13–41) or stand as “building blocks” of a cyclical pattern in a longer sermon (e.g., Heb 1:5–4:16; 8:1–12:28). Wills further notes that Hellenistic Jewish literature like 1 Maccabees 10:24 and 2 Maccabees 7:24 also contains the phrase “word of exhortation.” He thus suggests the New Testament used this fixed phrase in a way that was unconventional for earlier Greek or Roman rhetoricians (Wills, “The Form of the Sermon,” 280).[5]
From Balz, Horst Robert, and Gerhard Schneider. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990–.
b) In the NT only Acts 5:21 uses ὑπό temporally: ὑπὸτὸνὄρθρον, “toward / just at daybreak” (cf. Jos. As. 11:1). Ὑπό does not occur in the NT writings in fixed phrases and idioms such as ὑφʼἕν, at one stroke (cf. Wis 12:9; Barn. 4:4), or ὑπὸχεῖρα, continually (Josephus Ant. xii.185; Herm. Vis. iii.10.7; Man. iv.3.6; cf. BAGD s.v. 2.d).[6]
From Seybold, K. “חָפַךְ.” In Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, translated by David E. Green, III:423–27. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978.
1. Idioms. Characteristic of hāphakh is its use in more or less fixed phrases and idioms. Flat bread is turned when being baked (Hos. 7:8), bowls are turned upside down (2 K. 21:13), chariots are overthrown (Hag. 2:22); sometimes the word is used of a throne (Hag. 2:22; CTA, 6 [I AB], VI, 28; KAI, 1.2), more frequently of a city (Gen. 19:21, 25, 29; Dt. 29:22 [Eng. v. 23]; 2 S. 10:3 [par., see below]; Jer. 20:16; Jonah 3:4; Lam. 4:6). In combination with yādh, “hand,” it is an idiom for changing the direction of a chariot “by twisting the hand that holds the reins” (1 K. 22:34 par.; 2 K. 9:23); as a repeated action (with shûbh) it is a gesture of rejection (Lam. 3:3). Used absolutely, it usually means “turn around” (Jgs. 20:39, 41; 2 K. 5:26; etc.; cf. Josh. 7:8); occasionally, as in Aramaic, it can mean “wander about” (in a place), the probable meaning in 1 Ch. 19:3 (2 S. 10:3?). In the context of archery, it can refer to the twisting of the bow (Ps. 78:57; cf. v. 9 conj.). The infinitive absolute serves to indicate the reversal of an action (“vice versa”; Est. 9:1; cf. Ex. 10:19).[7]
Note: Fixed phrases are set expressions where the wording is fixed, and the meaning is usually literal or transparent. They are often used in specific contexts or as conventionalized expressions. Whereas Idioms are multi-word expressions whose meanings are non-compositional, meaning they cannot be understood by interpreting the individual words literally. They often have figurative or cultural significance.
[1] Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[2] Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[3]Collins English Dictionary. (Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006).
[4] Geerhardus Vos, The Eschatology of the Old Testament, ed. James T. Dennison Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001), 38.
[5] Betty J. Talbert, “Homily Form in Hellenistic and Early Christianity,” in The Concise Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021).
[6] Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990–), 402.
[7] K. Seybold, “חָפַךְ,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. David E. Green (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978), 423–424.
