# Rhema

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Utterance or thing said; the action of utterance

This article is about the Greek word. For the Christian radio station, see [Rhema FM](/source/Rhema_FM). For the technical usage in linguistics, see [topic–comment](/source/Topic%E2%80%93comment).

Plato and Aristotle

***Rhema*** (ῥῆμα in [Greek](/source/Koine_Greek)) literally means an "utterance" or "thing said" in Greek.[1] It is a word that signifies the action of utterance.[2]

In [philosophy](/source/Philosophy), it was used by both [Plato](/source/Plato) and [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) to refer to [propositions](/source/Proposition) or sentences.[3]

In [Christianity](/source/Christianity), it is used in reference to the concept of *Rhemata Christou*, Jesus Christ's sayings.[4]

## Etymology

The Greek noun [ῥῆμα](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BF%A5%E1%BF%86%CE%BC%CE%B1) "saying, utterance, word, verb" is analyzed as consisting of the root ἐρ-/ῥε- (er-/rhe-) "say" (cf. [εἴρω](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B5%E1%BC%B4%CF%81%CF%89) "I say"; ἐρῶ "I will say") and the suffix -μα (-ma), a suffix used to form nouns from verbs.

## Greek philosophers

LOGIC ARISTOTLE GRAMMAR subject onoma noun predicate rhema verb proposition logos sentence

Both [Plato](/source/Plato) (c. 428–347 BC) and [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) (384–322 BC) used the terms *logos*, *rhema* and *onoma*. In Plato's usage, a [logos](/source/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*.[3] 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*.[5]

## Septuagint usage

The [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint) translation of the [Hebrew Bible](/source/Hebrew_Bible) into Greek uses the terms *rhema* and *logos* as equivalents and uses both for the [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew) word *[dabar](/source/Dabar_(Hebrew_word))*, as the Word of God.[6][7][8]

## In Christianity

Main article: [Rhema (doctrine)](/source/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](/source/Christian_theology), with *rhema* at times called "spoken word",[9] referring to the revelation received by disciples when the [Holy Spirit](/source/Holy_Spirit) "speaks" to them.[9][10] In this usage, "Logos" refers to Christ.[11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *The handbook of linguistics* by Mark Aronoff, Janie Rees-Miller 2003 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-4051-0252-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-4051-0252-7) page 83 [\[1\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=rl8LDiR11nYC&dq=rhema+utterance&pg=PA83)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *The Sophists (A History of Greek Philosophy, Vol. 3, Part 1)* by W. K. C. Guthrie 1977 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-09666-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-09666-9) page 220 [\[2\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=pDOqZfQ5tqUC&dq=rhema&pg=PA220)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Dinneen_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Dinneen_3-1) *General linguistics* by Francis P. Dinneen 1995 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87840-278-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87840-278-0) page 118 [\[3\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=H8njxDzC450C&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA118)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Engberg-Pedersen, Troels (2017). [*John and Philosophy: A New Reading of the Fourth Gospel*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XVnjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA250). Oxford University Press. p. 250. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-879250-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-879250-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *The history of linguistics in Europe from Plato to 1600* by Vivien Law 2003 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-56532-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-56532-4) page 29 [\[4\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=M_ooh9Q9cDMC&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA29)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** *Theological dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 1* by Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, Geoffrey William Bromiley 1985 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8028-2404-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8028-2404-8) page 508 [\[5\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=ltZBUW_F9ogC&dq=dabar+rhema&pg=PA508)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** *The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Q-Z* by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1995 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8028-3784-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8028-3784-0) page 1102 [\[6\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&dq=dabar+rhema&pg=PA1102)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *Old Testament Theology* by Horst Dietrich Preuss, Leo G. Perdue 1996 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-664-21843-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-664-21843-1) page 81 [\[7\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=aL6ahptzNiIC&dq=dabar+word&pg=PA81)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rogers_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rogers_9-1) *What Every Christian Ought to Know* by Adrian Rogers 2005 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8054-2692-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8054-2692-2) page 162 [\[8\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=W0os7ZiHsf0C&dq=rhema+utterance&pg=PA163)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** *The Identified Life of Christ* by Joe Norvell 2006 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-59781-294-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-59781-294-3) page [\[9\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=3FAhz_eshkMC&dq=rhema+logos&pg=PA142)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** *The Trinitarian controversy* by William G. Rusch 1980 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8006-1410-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8006-1410-0) page 4 [\[10\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ0lrSi9McYC&dq=christ+logos+word&pg=PA4)

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