{{Short description|Utterance or thing said; the action of utterance}} {{about|the Greek word|the Christian radio station|Rhema FM|the technical usage in linguistics|topic–comment}} {{italic title}} [[File:Sanzio 01 Plato Aristotle.jpg|thumb|200px|Plato and Aristotle]]
'''''Rhema''''' (ῥῆμα in [[Koine Greek|Greek]]) literally means an "utterance" or "thing said" in Greek.<ref>''The handbook of linguistics'' by Mark Aronoff, Janie Rees-Miller 2003 {{ISBN|1-4051-0252-7}} page 83 [https://books.google.com/books?id=rl8LDiR11nYC&dq=rhema+utterance&pg=PA83]</ref> It is a word that signifies the action of utterance.<ref>''The Sophists (A History of Greek Philosophy, Vol. 3, Part 1)'' by W. K. C. Guthrie 1977 {{ISBN|0-521-09666-9}} page 220 [https://books.google.com/books?id=pDOqZfQ5tqUC&dq=rhema&pg=PA220]</ref>
In [[philosophy]], it was used by both [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] to refer to [[proposition]]s or sentences.<ref name="Dinneen"/>
In [[Christianity]], it is used in reference to the concept of ''Rhemata Christou'', Jesus Christ's sayings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Engberg-Pedersen |first=Troels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVnjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 |title=John and Philosophy: A New Reading of the Fourth Gospel |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-879250-5 |pages=250 |language=en}}</ref>
==Etymology== The Greek noun [[wikt:ῥῆμα|ῥῆμα]] "saying, utterance, word, verb" is analyzed as consisting of the root ἐρ-/ῥε- (er-/rhe-) "say" (cf. [[wikt:εἴρω|εἴρω]] "I say"; ἐρῶ "I will say") and the suffix -μα (-ma), a suffix used to form nouns from verbs.
==Greek philosophers== {| align="right" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" | LOGIC || ARISTOTLE || GRAMMAR |- | [[Subject (grammar)|subject]]|| onoma || [[noun]] |- | [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]]|| rhema || [[verb]] |- | [[proposition]]|| [[logos]]|| [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] |- |}
Both [[Plato]] (c. 428–347 BC) and [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BC) used the terms ''logos'', ''rhema'' and ''onoma''. In Plato's usage, a [[logos]] (often translatable as a ''sentence'') is a sequence in which verbs are mingled with nouns and every logos must have an onoma and rhema. For Plato, every logos was either true or false and in a logos, names included rhema ''which denotes actions'' and onoma a ''mark set on those who do the actions''.<ref name="Dinneen">''General linguistics'' by Francis P. Dinneen 1995 {{ISBN|0-87840-278-0}} page 118 [https://books.google.com/books?id=H8njxDzC450C&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA118]</ref> Aristotle identified three components as central to the proposition: ''onoma'', ''rhema'' and ''logos''. These terms are translated differently depending on the context of the discussion—grammar or logic, as in the table on the right. But it was only in the 12th century that grammarians began to think in terms of units we understand as ''subject'' and ''predicate''.<ref>''The history of linguistics in Europe from Plato to 1600'' by Vivien Law 2003 {{ISBN|0-521-56532-4}} page 29 [https://books.google.com/books?id=M_ooh9Q9cDMC&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA29]</ref>
==Septuagint usage== The [[Septuagint]] translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]] into Greek uses the terms ''rhema'' and ''logos'' as equivalents and uses both for the [[Hebrew]] word ''[[dabar (Hebrew word)|dabar]]'', as the Word of God.<ref>''Theological dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 1'' by Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, Geoffrey William Bromiley 1985 {{ISBN|0-8028-2404-8}} page 508 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ltZBUW_F9ogC&dq=dabar+rhema&pg=PA508]</ref><ref>''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Q-Z'' by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1995 {{ISBN|0-8028-3784-0}} page 1102 [https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&dq=dabar+rhema&pg=PA1102]</ref><ref>''Old Testament Theology'' by Horst Dietrich Preuss, Leo G. Perdue 1996 {{ISBN|0-664-21843-1}} page 81 [https://books.google.com/books?id=aL6ahptzNiIC&dq=dabar+word&pg=PA81]</ref>
==In Christianity== {{Main article|Rhema (doctrine)}} In Christianity, the Greek word ''rhema'' is useful to distinguish between two meanings of ''word''. While both ''rhema'' and ''logos'' are translated into the English ''word'', in the original Greek there was a substantial distinction.
Some modern usage distinguishes ''rhema'' from ''logos'' in [[Christian theology]], with ''rhema'' at times called "spoken word",<ref name="Rogers"/> referring to the revelation received by disciples when the [[Holy Spirit]] "speaks" to them.<ref name="Rogers">''What Every Christian Ought to Know'' by Adrian Rogers 2005 {{ISBN|0-8054-2692-2}} page 162 [https://books.google.com/books?id=W0os7ZiHsf0C&dq=rhema+utterance&pg=PA163]</ref><ref>''The Identified Life of Christ'' by Joe Norvell 2006 {{ISBN|1-59781-294-3}} page [https://books.google.com/books?id=3FAhz_eshkMC&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA142]</ref> In this usage, "Logos" refers to Christ.<ref>''The Trinitarian controversy'' by William G. Rusch 1980 {{ISBN|0-8006-1410-0}} page 4 [https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ0lrSi9McYC&dq=christ+logos+word&pg=PA4]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Christian theology]] [[Category:Christology]] [[Category:Ancient Greek philosophical concepts]] [[Category:Greek words and phrases]] [[Category:Linguistics]] [[Category:Sayings of Jesus]]