Bible Lexicons

λόγιον, λογιου, τό (diminutive of λόγος (so Bleek (on Hebrews 5:12), et al.; others, neuter of λόγιος (Meyer on Romans 3:2))), properly, "a little word (so Schol. ad Aristophanes ran. 969 (973)), a brief utterance, in secular authors a divine oracle" (doubtless because oracles were generally brief); Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Euripides; Polybius 3, 112, 8; 8, 30, 6; Diodorus 2, 14; Aelian v. h. 2, 41; of the Sibylline oracles, Diodorus, p. 602 (from 50:34); Plutarch, Fab. 4; in the Sept. for חֹשֶׁן the breast-plate of the high priest, which he wore when he consulted Jehovah, Exodus 28:15; Exodus 29:5, etc.; (once for אֹמֶר, of the words of a man, Psalm 18:15 ()); but chiefly for אִמְרָה of any utterance of God, whether precept or promise; (cf. Philo de congr. erud. grat. § 24; de profug. § 11 under the end); of the prophecies of God in the O. T., Josephus, b. j. 6, 5, 4; νόμους καί λόγια θεσπισθεντα διά προφητῶν καί ὕμνους, Philo vit. contempl. § 3; τό λόγιον τοῦ προφήτου (Moses), vit. Moys. 3:35, cf. (23, and) de praem. et poen. § 1 at the beginning; τά δέκα λόγια, the Ten Commandments of God or the Decalogue, in Philo, who wrote a special treatise concerning them (Works edition Mang. ii., p. 180ff (edited by Richter iv., p. 246ff)); (Apostolic Constitutions 2, 36 (p. 63, 7 edition Lagarde)); Eusebius, h. e. 2, 18. In the N. T. spoken of the words or utterances of God: of the contents of the Mosaic law, Acts 7:38; with τοῦ Θεοῦ or Θεοῦ added, of his commands in the Mosaic law and his Messianic promises, Romans 3:2, cf. Philippi and Umbreit at the passage; of the substance of the Christian religion, Hebrews 5:12; of the utterances of God through Christian teachers, 1 Peter 4:11. (In ecclesiastical writings λόγια τοῦ κυρίου is used of Christ's precepts, by Polycarp, ad Philipp. 7, 1 [ET]; κυριακα λόγια of the sayings and discourses of Christ which are recorded in the Gospels, by Papias in Eusebius, h. e. 3, 39; Photius c. 228, p. 248 (18 edition, Bekker); (τά λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ) of the words and admonitions of God in the sacred Scriptures, Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 53, 1 [ET] (where parallel with αἱ ἱεραι γραφαί), cf. 62, 9 [ET]; (and τά λόγια simply, like αἱ γραφαί of the New T. in the interpolated Epistle of Ignatius ad Smyrn. 3 [ET]). Cf. Schwegler ((also Heinichen)), Index 4 ad Eusebius, h. e. under the word λόγιον; (especially Sophocles Lexicon, under the word and Lightfoot in the Contemp. Rev. for Aug. 1875, p. 399ff On the general use of the word cf. Bleek, Br. a. d. Hebrew iii., pp. 114-117).)