Hapax legomena! What’s that?! Friends, a seminary professor called a word in the verse we were considering a “hapax”(“once”) “legomena’ (“being said”). How intriguing!
But, surprise, surprise! The approximately 3,414 hapaxes in the Bible comprise nearly 25% of the Bible’s total vocabulary. Note: 36% of New Testament words are hapaxes. Remarkable!
God, you have impressively revealed yourself not only in nature and providence but most authoritatively with written words. And these written words creatively disclose your clearest revelation, Jesus Christ.
Friend, note, as translators seek to communicate Scripture in people’s heart languages, they study Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic – the source languages of the Bible.
But, since a significant number of words are hapaxes, what shall translators do when they encounter these absolutely unique expressions?
Of course, linguists have their own approaches – grids of criteria – to help them understand the meaning of these words. But, that is not our purpose here.
Let’s begin with wonder. We marvel that we speak at all. Attempting to define our phenomenal verbal ability, evolutionists’ work falls short. Ironically, jungle natives’ linguistic formation swamped what had been prevailing evolutionary theory of linguistic development.
Now, let’s not wander from wonder! The Bible’s hapaxes declare God’s creative glory. As the Holy Spirit and authors of Scripture partnered, they reflected God’s artistry. No run-of-the-mill-yada-yada here. Instead, so many unique words arrest our attention.
For example, I complimented a friend on her compelling poetry. She replied: “It’s a luxury to hear that something I wrote found a landing place, a great reward to be heard and acknowledged. I’m very encouraged, and grateful for your words.”
Friend, imagine the Holy Spirit enjoying the luxury of his words, even a hapax legomena, finding a landing place in us – like a helicopter carrying a surgical team with a donated organ being welcomed to a heliport!
Now, let’s look at a hapax.
Here’s our text. Mark 3:1“Again (Jesus) entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2And (the Pharisees) watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” (Mark 3:1-6)
Friend, try to choose the hapax.
First guess, if you assume that Jesus rarely provokes people, then plans like the one here: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to ‘destroy’ him,” would be rare. (Mark 3:6)
Not so, Matthew (2:13), Mark (11:18), and Luke (19:47) also use ‘destroy’ to capture the murderous rage Jesus goads.
What is rare is that archenemies, Pharisees and Herodians, found a mutual foe in Jesus.
Note: “destroy” could be rendered “kill-and-absolutely-ruin-and-destroy.” Used 92x in the NT, our word reveals the brutal devastation of which we are capable – even sanctimonious self-righteous Pharisees!
Second guess, if you selected “anger” in verse 5, you would be close. (Jesus) “looked around at them with ‘anger.’” Only here in the Gospels is this word for “anger” used of Jesus. But, it is not a hapax, it is used 36x in the NT.
Thirdly, what about “restore?” No, it is used 8x in the NT. Still, when Matthew, Mark, and Luke record this story, somehow they each use this infrequent word.
Friend, take a moment to bask in Jesus’ power to “restore.” He can bring someone back to full freedom of vital health. Now, that person may enjoy what previously had been taken away by a destructive, life-dominating power.
Note, our Anglo-Saxons forebearers understood the connection between “holiness” and “health.” The early crafters of our language used “hal” as the same source word for “holiness” and “health!” What a connection!
Enough guessing – our word is: Jesus “‘grieved’ at their hardness of heart.” It could have been enough for Jesus to be ‘grieved.’ But, our word adds a prefix to show Jesus was ‘deeply’ ‘grieved.” His grief literally ‘joined with,’ ‘doubled-down with,’ what multipliers? – other griefs he had, other griefs he shared with the Trinity? We don’t know.
But, Mark makes it clear Jesus grasped the unstated Pharisee’s “hardness” of heart toward the man with the withered hand. Such lethal disregard triggered Jesus’ grieving grief. Instead of feeling sympathy for this man, Jesus saw that their hearts were hard like marble, petrified, insensible, numb. Our word “callous” comes from a callus formed on fractured bones. The Pharisees callously betrayed a needy neighbor whose body had already callously betrayed him.
However, Jesus, the vivid poly-syllabic NT word, “splanknidzomai”, ”kicked in the gut”, describes only you and only you use it in stories. What a stark contrast to the hard-hearted-Pharisees!
And, Holy Spirit, when Paul warns us to not grieve you, we realize you are a Person who can be grieved. And you are Jesus’ Partner in grief – like the Good Samaritan.
In that story, Jesus you tell us greedy thieves robbed and beat a man. They believe “What’s yours is ours.”
Then two religious leaders each notice the beaten man and cruelly pass by. They put distance between themselves and the target: “What’s mine is mine.”
But, truth-telling Jesus, in your story, you bless the Good Samaritan with your heart. “When (the Samaritan) saw” the victim, “he ‘was kicked in the gut’ (‘had compassion’).” And, like you, Jesus, the Samaritan’s compassion took sustained neighborly action demonstrating: “What’s mine is yours.”
Friend, connect the dots. Do our withered hearts incite Jesus’ grieving grief?
Jesus, transform us so that sharing your GRIEF moves us from robbery/indifference to your compassion. Jesus, teach us one word – this word.
Steve Bostrom is ordained by the Presbyterian Church in America and lives in Helena, MT.
Note 1: The percentage of hapax legomena comes from: https://cateclesia.com/2022/10/24/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-examining-biblical-hapax-legomena-one-word-at-a-time/#footnote_9_4189
Note 2. “It pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare his will unto his Church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.” (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, 1646)
