The Expository Times2014, Vol. 125(12) 583 –592

© The Author(s) 2013Reprints and permissions:

sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.navDOI: 10.1177/0014524613512921

ext.sagepub.com

Is ‘Spiritual Gift(s)’ a Linguistically Fallacious Term? A Lexical Study of Χάρισμα, Πνευματικός, and Πνεῦμα

Hughson T. OngMcMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

AbstractThis article argues that the term ‘spiritual gifts’ is a theologically loaded English concept that is often used to catalogue certain gifts, abilities, or ministries. It also argues that ‘spiritual gifts’ should be seen and used more broadly to refer to any kind of gift (including eternal life, for example) that is of/from the Holy Spirit. This article employs some basic theories from modern lexical semantics to analyze χάρισμα, πνευματικός, and πνεῦμα, three Greek lexemes that have been rendered as ‘spiritual gifts’ in Rom 1:11, 1 Cor 1:7, 12:1, 14:1, and 14:12.

Keywords spiritual gift, Holy Spirit, lexical semantics, Rom 1:11, 1 Cor 1:7, 1 Corinthians 12–14

Article

Introduction

‘Spiritual gifts,’ which often refers to a cata-logue of gifts or abilities, has been a subject of great interest for many people, especially in the context of church service and ministry.1

1 The bibliography here for both academic and popular audience is large. For a good overview, see Kenneth Berding, What Are Spiritual Gifts? Rethinking the Conventional View (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006); Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1998), esp. 261–85, 361–68 (bibliography); Max Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics and Word Study in the New Testament,’ in Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation (ed. Joel B. Green; 1st and 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995, 2010), 136–74, 198–209; Max Turner, ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (eds. Desmond T. Alexander, Brian S. Rosner,

Corresponding author:Hughson T. OngEmail: hughsonong@yahoo.com

The term translates three distinct Greek lexemes in five instances in the New Testament.2 The only instance where it appears to be a proper

D. A. Carson, and Graeme Goldsworthy; Downers Grove: IVP, 2000), 789–96; and Hughson T. Ong, ‘Reconsidering the Meaning (and Translation) of Πνευματικός and Πνεῦμα in the Discourse Context of 1 Corinthians 12—14,’ in Modeling Biblical Language: Studies in Theory and Practice (Linguistic Biblical Studies; Leiden: Brill, forthcoming).

2 Spiritual gift is a term or concept that is only familiar to the New Testament. Cf. Victor P. Furnish, ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ in Harper’s Bible Dictionary (ed. Paul J. Achtemeier; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 989.

584 The Expository Times 125(12)

translation, however, is in Rom 1:11, where ‘spiritual gift’ translates the phrase χάρισμα πνευματικόν. In this particular instance, we see a one-to-one correspondence for the noun χάρισμα and the adjective πνευματικός. While ‘spiritual gifts’ appears four more times in the New Testament, it is worth noting that the term only translates either one of the three Greek lexemes πνεῦμα (1 Cor 14:12), πνευματικός (1 Cor 12:1; 14:1), or χάρισμα (1 Cor 1:7).3 The distinct grammatical function and lexical meaning of these Greek lexemes, however, indicate that they cannot all mean, and thus be translated as ‘spiritual gifts.’ So the question is why did trans-lators translate them as such. Translating these Greek lexemes as ‘spiritual gifts’ implies either that Paul has these three Greek lexemes at his disposal when he speaks about ‘spiritual gifts,’ that meaning in context has determined it to be the case, or that translators and commentators have only assumed it to be so. Because the lin-guistic evidence shows that ‘spiritual gifts’ seems to be a concept foreign to Paul and that the lexical and contextual meaning of these three Greek lexemes suggest against such a notion, I have argued in this article that the term is a theologically loaded English concept that has been mistakenly and haphazardly used to translate χάρισμα, πνεῦμα, and πνευματικός. For this reason, I want to propose in this article that ‘spiritual gifts’ should be seen more broadly as any gift or blessing of/from the Spirit (incl. eter-nal life, the ability to remain chaste, gracious favor, etc.) and not as a technical term, denoting a catalogue of gifts or abilities or ministries. What follows are three sections—word meaning vs. conceptual meaning, lexical semantics, and a lexical analysis of χάρισμα, πνευματικός, and πνεῦμα—that will address my thesis and subse-quently clarify the notion of spiritual gifts.

3 See, for example, the NASB, NIV, NRSV, TNIV, and LEB. Except for 1 Cor 14:12, where the translation is either ‘spiritual gifts’ or ‘spiritual manifestations,’ the translation ‘spiritual gift(s)’ appears in these four passages.

Word Meaning vs. Conceptual Meaning

Using ‘spiritual gifts’ to translate three distinct Greek lexemes suggests that there is a similar sense or connotation shared by these lexemes. The lexical sense of a word refers to the mean-ing, representation, or content in a language user’s mind invoked by a specific word or a lin-guistic symbol.4 Connotation refers to the special meaning of a word to a particular group of speak-ers.5 To be specific, each of these three Greek lexemes may have a similar or shared semantic feature or meaning within a specific context. But if this similar or shared semantic feature is absent, then ‘spiritual gifts’ would appear to be an inaccurate or ambiguous translation for these Greek lexemes in 1 Cor 1:7, 1 Cor 12:1, 1 Cor 14:1, and 1 Cor 14:12. Ambiguity happens when a particular word within a specific text and con-text has two or more possible meanings.6 It can be deliberate or unintentional, since the choice of a particular word rests solely upon the

4 Lexical sense could also be understood as the relation-ship shared by a word with another word or group of words. A similar lexical sense, then, refers to the com-mon meaning shared by two or a group of words. See Stanley E. Porter, Studies in the Greek New Testament: Theory and Practice (ed. D.A. Carson; SBG 6; New York: Peter Lang, 1996), 69; Peter Cotterell and Max Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove: IVP, 1989), 77–78; Moisés Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics (Rev. and exp. ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 102–3; and Alan D. Cruse, Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (3d ed.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 46–47.

5 This type of meaning intrudes itself in the actual use of language. This is in contrast to denotation, which refers to the ‘ordinary’ meaning of a word that is generally understood by everyone in a particular linguistic com-munity. See Black, Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek: A Survey of Basic Concepts and Applications (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 130–1; and Cotterell and Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove: IVP, 1989), 46.

6 Cf. Silva, Biblical Words, 148–61; and Black, Linguistics for Students, 129–30.

Ong 585

prerogative of the speaker or writer, which could be a matter of the person’s style or preference.

Some instances that can cause semantic ambiguity are unfamiliar, polysemous, and homonymous words, and the conflict between authorial and audience meaning. For example, whereas some have argued for ‘spiritual gifts’ as a translation for τῶν πνευματικῶν in 1 Cor 12:1, others have opted for ‘spiritual people’ or ‘those who are spiritually mature.’7 This tells us that τῶν πνευματικῶν in 1 Cor 12:1 is ‘ambiguous,’ which, when translated as spiri-tual gifts, may be in conflict with the authorial meaning of the text (i.e., the author’s train of thought).8 A quick look at the semantic domains of these three Greek lexemes indi-cates that a shared or common semantic fea-ture between them is absent. Whereas χάρισμα belongs to the semantic sub-domain ‘Give,’9 πνεῦμα and πνευματικός are categorized under various sub-domains depending on its usage in context.10 The possible instances where πνευματικός and πνεῦμα may have shared a common feature are when πνευματικός refers to a ‘thing’ that is said to be ‘from the Spirit’ (e.g. Rom 1:11; 1 Cor 2:13; 12:1; Eph 1:3; see

7 John David Ekem, ‘“Spiritual Gifts” or “Spiritual Persons”? 1 Corinthians 12:1a Revisited,’ Neot 38 (2004): 54–74, argues for ‘spiritual people’ as the correct translation for the genitive τῶν πνευματικῶν in 1 Cor 12:1, suggesting that the interpretation and translation of 1 Cor 12:1a as a reference to spiritual gifts needs ‘serious rethinking.’

8 See Silva, Biblical Words, 151–52; cf. Turner, ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ 790.

9 J.P. Louw and E.A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (2d ed.; 2 vols.; New York: UBS, 1989), 1:565, state that the sub-domain ‘Give’ ‘involves the transfer of some object of benefit from one person to another with the initiative resting with the person who gives and without incurring an obligation on the part of the receiver to reciprocate.’

10 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 2:200–1, identify eight sub-domains of πνεῦμα: (1) Holy Spirit, (2) spirit, (3) evil spirit, (4) ghost, (5) inner being, (6) way of thinking, (7) wind, and (8) breath. They also provide five senses or meanings for the lexeme πνευματικός: (1) from the Spirit, (2) spiritual, (3) of spiritual conduct, (4) not physical, and (5) supernatural.

Appendix 2), although it is still difficult to identify in these instances what that ‘thing’ that comes from the Spirit actually is. In fact, the instance in Rom 1:11 may not even neces-sarily refer to the gift as coming from the Spirit. Paul was clear: ἵνα τι μεταδῶ χάρισμα ὑμῖν πνευματικὸν (in order that I may impart to you a spiritual gift). Similarly, some opt for seeing the πνευματικά in 1 Cor 2:13 as teach-ings that are beneficial to people’s spirits, rather than as truths revealed by the Spirit.11 In the case of χάρισμα, there is no indication that it shares any similar features with either πνευματικός or πνεῦμα. All these ambiguities necessitate further lexical investigation of these Greek lexemes to see whether the trans-lation ‘spiritual gift’ is appropriate in their respective contexts. To this end, I employ a minimalist approach to lexical semantics,12 which theorizes that words have only a ‘single’ or ‘minimal’ meaning apart from the context in which they are being used.13

11 Cf. Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:142.

12 Lexical semantics is a branch of modern linguistics that focuses on the study of the meaning of individual words. Over the last several decades, significant innovations in modern linguistics were applied to the study of the New Testament. For a quick survey, see Porter, Studies in New Testament Greek, 7–99; Stanley E. Porter, ‘Studying Ancient Languages from a Modern Linguistic Perspective: Essential Terms and Terminology,’ FN 2 (1989): 147–72; Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts, ‘New Testament Greek Languages and Linguistics in Recent Research,’ CBR 6 (2008): 214–55; Stanley E. Porter, ‘Greek Grammar and Syntax,’ in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research (eds. Scot McKnight and Grant R. Osborne; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), 76–103; David A. Black, ‘The Study of New Testament Greek in the Light of Ancient and Modern Linguistics,’ in Interpreting the New Testament: Essays on Methods and Issues (eds. David A. Black and David S. Dockery; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2001), 230–51.

13 Stanley E. Porter, ‘Greek Linguistics and Lexicography,’ in Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday (eds. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough; Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 27–37, esp. 32.

586 The Expository Times 125(12)

Lexical Semantics

Imputing concepts to a word’s meaning is a lin-guistic fallacy known as ‘Illegitimate Totally Transfer,’ to use Barr’s language.14 The English translation spiritual gifts is most likely a clear case of such linguistic fallacy, which may be corrected by analyzing these Greek lexemes using some basic theories from modern lexical semantics. Semantic minimalists claim that a word’s meaning is primarily gleaned from its relationship with other words in a given con-text (a specific language utterance by a speaker or writer).15 One of its main objectives is to make the distinction between the word as a lexical unit and the concepts associated with it. The possible semantic relationship (or shared meaning) of these three Greek lexemes, there-fore, can be determined by analyzing their col-locational (or syntagmatic) relationship with other words in their respective co-texts and contexts.16 For instance, since the use of the noun χάρισμα (gift) normally involves the pres-ence of a giver and/or a receiver of the gift,

14 See James Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), 222, 263. For instance, ἀγάπη is a word that is often equated with love, which is a concept. But ἀγάπη is only one of the words that are associated with the concept of love. Cf. Porter, Studies in the Greek New Testament, 61–62; D.A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies (2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 53, 60; and Black, Linguistics for Students, 123–25.

15 See Porter, Studies in the Greek New Testament, 54–55; Silva, Biblical Words, 44–45, 103–8, 202; and Black, Linguistics for Students, 97.

16 According to Cotterell and Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation, 16, cf. 72, ‘the understanding of utterances requires some measure of understanding of the text, the actual words used; the cotext, the sentences, paragraphs, chapters, surrounding the text and related to it; and the context, the sociological and historical set-ting of the text [based on the specific language utterance by a speaker or writer].’ Along this line, Geoff Thompson, Introducing Functional Grammar (2d ed.; London: Hodder, 2004), 180–5, esp. 181, defines co-text as the textual context that is gleaned from endophoric (point-ing inwards) references within a specific text or passage, which can either be anaphoric, meaning gleaned from texts already mentioned, or less often, cataphoric, mean-ing that will be specified later in the text.

there is tendency for the noun to collocate reg-ularly with verbs of giving and receiving (see Appendix 1) in its co-texts. This, along with other contextual information, may help us define more accurately the ‘kind of gift’ trans-acted once we know the identity of the giver and/or receiver; hence, whereas the giver of the gift in 1 Cor 12:4 is clearly the Spirit, the giver in Rom 1:11 is most likely Paul. This kind of collocational analysis, then, can give us a clue to the nature of Paul’s gift in Rom 1:11 and the Spirit’s gift in 1 Cor 12:4. And obviously, there certainly is a difference between the nature and characteristics of a human and a divine gift.

The contextual meaning of a word can also be derived from the presence of ‘opposites’ in the word’s co-text. In Rom 6:23 (cf. Rom 5:16) we know that χάρισμα (gift) refers to eternal life because of its direct correspondence to eternal life—χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος—as well as its opposition in meaning (a contiguous rela-tionship) to ἁμαρτίας (sin), both of which may speak about something that relates to the human spiritual condition.17 But χάρισμα in Rom 11:29 does not refer to eternal life, but rather to cove-nantal benefits, since both its collocates, κλῆσις (calling) and ἐκλογὴ (choice; vv. 5, 28), and its context pertain to Israel’s covenantal benefits (see Romans 9—11, esp. 9:4–5).18 Here we see that analysis of the meaning of a particular lex-eme may be directed not only to examining its collocates within the clause (e.g. Rom 6:23), but also to its contextual meaning within an entire discourse (e.g. Romans 9—11).

Aside from collocational relationships, words also form a substitutional (or paradigmatic)

17 Opposites, including antonyms, are words that have some sort of opposition in meaning, which suggest that they share at least one semantic feature with each other. This relationship is said to be a contiguous one—sharing a common border but not overlapping each other. Thus, in our example here, eternal life and sin share the complementary semantic feature that relates to the spiri-tual condition of a human being.

18 Cf. Gordon Fee, ‘Gifts of the Spirit,’ in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid; Downers Grove: IVP, 1993), 340.

Ong 587

relationship with other words, which may signify why an author specifically chooses a word over its synonyms.19 For instance (here I deviate from my typical use of examples within the confines of this study to avoid confusion), since Paul uses the three Greek lexemes χάρισμα (2 Cor 1:11), δόσις (Phil 4:17), and δώρημα (Rom 5:16) for ‘gift,’ these lexemes are said to be in paradig-matic relationship with each other.20 To illustrate this relationship, in the case of 2 Cor 1:11, both δόσις and δώρημα can actually fill in the slot of χάρισμα in the clause, since all three terms were used interchangeably by Paul to refer to or to convey the sense of ‘gift.’ This shows that Paul had three lexemes at his disposal that he could use for ‘gift.’

With these theories in mind, and referring to Appendices 1 and 2, I now analyze the co-text and context of each of these Greek lexemes, and thereafter, give my concluding remarks by pro-viding an analysis of the semantic relationship between these three Greek lexemes. It should be noted that πνευματικός does not appear in LXX, but it is found six times in the works of Philo (Opif. 67; Her. 242; Abr. 113; Praem. 48; Aet. 86, 125) and fifteen times in the works of classical writers, mostly in Plutarch (De com-munibus notitiis adversus Stoicos 49; De soller-tia animalium 1.27; Placita philosophorum 4.22; Plat. 7.7; Aetia Romana et Graeca 1.95, 1.111), as well as in Atheneaus (Deipnosophistae 2.44, 3.83, 7.37), Strabo (Geo. 1.3.5), Greek Anthology 2.432, 2.476, and D. L., Vit. Phil. 10.90. χάρισμα, on the other hand, also does not appear in LXX, but it is found twice in Philo (Leg. III.78) and once in Greek Anthology 1.48. For my purposes, I have confined my study to their usage in the New Testament, from which it further shows that both πνευματικός and χάρισμα are virtually exclusively Pauline terms.

19 Substitutional (or paradigmatic) relationship refers to the author’s choice of a lexical item that is suitable to fill in the slot of another word in a particular context. For a description and discussion of the different types of syn-onyms, see Silva, Biblical Words, 119–35; and Cotterell and Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation, 156–61.

20 These three lexemes fall under the semantic domain ‘Give’ in Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:565.

χάρισμα

There are three important things to consider that can lead to a proper understanding of the mean-ing of χάρισμα. First, as many have otherwise assumed, χάρισμα is a lexeme derived from χαρίζομαι,21 and not from χάρις.22 This miscon-ception is often a result of falsely equating the term’s etymology with its morphology.23 Χάρις, plus the suffix ‘μα,’ which usually denotes the result of an action,24 is an issue of morphology and therefore most likely relates to the verb χαρίζομαι, rather than the noun χάρις.25 In other words, χάρισμα is not transparent to the word χάρις.26 As such, χάρισμα (gift), which is from χαρίζομαι (to give), simply means gift.27 This meaning, secondly, is evident in the related verbs with which χάρισμα is almost always col-located. In the seventeen occurrences of χάρισμα in the New Testament (fourteen in Paul, two in the Pastorals, and one in 1 Peter), the term, when used as a predicator’s complement,28 normally collocates with verbs that denote giv-ing, possessing, appointing, laying on, and receiving (e.g. μεταδίδωμι, ἔχω, τίθημι, δίδωμι, ἐπιθήσω, λαμβάνω), all of which indicate a

21 ‘To give, grant, bestow graciously,’ (Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:568).

22 For a detailed discussion of the word formation of χάρισμα, see Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics,’ 156–59; and Turner, The Holy Spirit, 264–65. He explains the miscon-strued derivation of χάρισμα from χάρις.

23 Etymology refers to the study of the origin and deriva-tion of words. Morphology refers to the study of the smallest meaningful units of language (morphemes) and their composition.

24 See Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics,’ 149; and Black, Linguistics for Students, 65.

25 Cf. Turner, ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ 792.

26 Transparency refers to the idea that words ‘reveal their meaning through the composition of their component parts’ or have some natural relation to their meaning (Silva, Biblical Words, 48).

27 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:568, 2:262.

28 A predicator’s complement is a word group that com-pletes the predicator, which is traditionally referred to the categories of direct and indirect object.

588 The Expository Times 125(12)

directed action between a giver and a receiver. The only instance where χάρισμα deviates from its regular verbal collocates is in 1 Cor 1:7, where it collocates with the verb ὑστερέω (to lack or be lacking; to fail to attain).29 This is also the instance where χάρισμα is used as a predicator’s adjunct and is translated as ‘spiri-tual gift.’30 This deviation may indicate ambi-guity in meaning. As such, not only is χάρισμα variously translated in this passage (e.g. spiri-tual gift, gift, grace, blessing), the question as to its referential antecedent is also disputed.31

With reference to its collocation with other lexical items, χάρισμα in some cases collocates with παράπτωμα and ἁμαρτίας, words that are opposite to its contextual meaning (Rom 5:15, 16; 6:23). In other cases, it collocates with words relating to covenantal benefits, ἐκλογὴ and κλῆσις (Rom 11:29), celibacy (1 Cor 7:7), and prophecy, προφητείας (1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6). In most cases, it is closely associated with words that are related to service, ministry, worship, and speech in the church context as a body of many members (Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:4, 9, 28, 30, 31; 2 Cor 1:11; 1 Pet 4:10). In all these cases, χάρισμα unequivocally meant a gift transacted between a giver and a receiver, and the specific context or its definer or qualifier dictates its particular meaning.32 In sum, χάρισμα simply means ‘gift’

29 See Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 2:254, who list four dif-ferent senses for ὑστερέω but gives the meaning of ‘to fail to attain’ for 1 Cor 1:7. By contrast, William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3d ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1043–44, give the meaning of ‘to experience someth[ing] advantageous or desirable.’

30 A predicator’s adjunct is a word group that modifies the predicate by indicating the circumstances associated with the verbal process. Common adjuncts are preposi-tional and adverbial phrases.

31 See the various positions in Ronald Trail, Exegetical Summary of 1 Corinthians 1—9 (2d ed.; Exegetical Summaries; Dallas, TX: SIL, 2008), 25.

32 A definer modifies, attributes features to, or further defines the word it modifies (e.g. adjectives, appositional words or phrases). A qualifier, which is a type of modi-fier, limits or constrains the scope of the word modified

(not ‘spiritual gift’) and its sense or connotative meanings (e.g. eternal life, gifts of healing, celi-bacy, etc.) are derived from its usage in context.

Πνευματικός

The term πνευματικός, which occurs twenty-six times in the New Testament (all in the Pauline let-ters, especially the undisputed ones, and once in 1 Peter), is a derivative of πνεῦμα. The suffix ‘ικος’ when added to a noun usually expresses charac-teristic or tendency;33 thus, πνευματικός is simply an adjective that conveys the characteristic of being ‘spiritual.’ Depending on the context, it could pertain to (or has the sense of) (a) one who has received God’s Spirit and has lived accordingly,34 (b) the spiritual nature or being of a person,35 (c) a pattern of life controlled by God’s Spirit,36 or (d) something that is not physical,37 all of which could be translated as ‘spiritual.’ This usual translation is both appropriate and evident in all its occurrences in the New Testament, when πνευματικός is used as a definer both in the attrib-utive and predicate structure. In these instances, there is no ambiguity in the sense of the word, since πνευματικός, as an adjective, merely attri-butes the ‘spiritual feature’ to the noun it modi-fies, while at the same time, its collocation with other lexical items corroborates the sense it con-veys in that particular context.

This is not always a straightforward case, however, when the word is being used as a sub-stantive. In most instances, the sense of the word is derived from its collocation with its opposites, σαρκικος and ψυχικὸς (Rom 15:27, 1 Cor 2:15; 9:11; 15:44, 46), and in one instance with παραπτώματι (Gal 6:1). Both σαρκικος and ψυχικὸς belong to a similar semantic domain

(e.g. words in the genitive and dative cases, negative par-ticles at the word group level).

33 See Black, Linguistics for Students, 68–69.

34 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:142.

35 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:322.

36 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:508.

37 Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:693.

Ong 589

with πνευματικός;38 hence, they share a common semantic feature (an overlapping relationship) when denoting ‘world(ly) behaviors.’ These opposites not only make clear the meaning of πνευματικός in these instances, but they also highlight the contrast Paul is making between the spiritual and the worldly. In other cases, the sense of the word is derived from its collocation with a referential antecedent ἀδελφοί (1 Cor 3:1), a possible play of words (alliteration or assonance) with πνευματικὰ and πνεύματος (1 Cor 2:13),39 and a possible appositional phrase with κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους (Eph 6:12).

The remaining two cases (1 Cor 12:1; 14:1) are found in a pericope (1 Corinthians 12–14) that is usually known to be dealing with ‘spiri-tual gifts.’ The meaning or sense of the word in both cases is ambiguous, for the lexical items with which πνευματικός are collocated are either terms that are not its usual collocates, ἀγάπην and προφητεύω (1 Cor 14:1), or are placed far-ther apart from it, χαρισμάτων, διακονιῶν, ἐνεργημάτων (see 1 Cor 12:1, 4–6). Nonetheless, the frequent occurrences of ἀγάπην in 1 Corinthians 13 and προφητεύω in 1 Corinthians 14, and the parallel phrases in 1 Cor 12:4–6, are perhaps our only clue to the appropriate transla-tion of the lexeme at 1 Cor 12:1 and 14:1. Paul seems to be countering the Corinthians’ pride in exhibiting tongues, prophecy, and healings (i.e., various manifestations of abilities) by saying that these are merely God’s gifts to his people, although it is not altogether necessary (or per-haps even appropriate) to translate πνευματικός as spiritual gifts in both instances.40

The translation ‘spiritual gifts’ for τῶν πνευματικῶν at 12:1 is probably taken from either the χαρισμάτων at 12:4 or from the entire context of 1 Corinthians 12—14. If the latter is the case, then 12:1 would appear as the topic

38 Πνευματικός, σαρκικος, and ψυχικὸς all belong to the sub-domain ‘World(ly) Behaviour’ (Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:508).

39 Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics,’ 164–65, while denying a semantic relationship between χάρισμα and χάρις, points out that the only instance where these two words collo-cate is in Rom 12:6, and perhaps, for assonance.

40 Cf. Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics,’ 163.

sentence of 1 Corinthians 12—14. This, then, would require an analysis of the entire discourse unit of 1 Corinthians 12—14 to determine Paul’s intended meaning, so as to provide an accurate translation for τῶν πνευματικῶν at 12:1.41 On the other hand, if it is possible to choose the χαρισμάτων (gifts) in 12:4 to render τῶν πνευματικῶν as ‘spiritual gifts’ at 12:1, it is also equally possible to render it as ‘spiritual ministries’ (12:5) or ‘spiritual workings’ (12:6), for these parallel phrases are undoubtedly in paradigmatic relationship with each other.42 Or perhaps, a more general term, such as spiritual things/matters or manifestations/workings of the Spirit are all good candidates. The case in 1 Cor 14:1 is also similar; any of these terms, χάρισμα, διακονία, or ἐνέργημα, can be used as a substitute to πνευματικά, since they would all make sense in collocation with προφητεύω. Again, context plays the key role in determin-ing both the sense and the translational equiva-lent for these inflected forms of πνευματικός.

Πνεῦμα

Unlike χάρισμα and πνευματικός, which do not appear in LXX, and are found only a small number of times in Philo and some classical writers, πνεῦμα appears 379 times in the GNT, 354 times in LXX, 141 times in Philo, and 1021 times in the works of classical writers. This large number of occurrences, without mention-ing its multiple meanings in various contexts, makes it impossible for the purpose of this

41 See Ong, ‘Reconsidering the Meaning (and Translation) of Πνευματικός and Πνεῦμα,’ forthcoming.

42 The grammatical structure of 1 Cor 12:4–6 indicates that these lexemes are clearly in paradigmatic relationship, even though each of them belongs to different semantic domains. Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:460, 511, 568–570, categorized χαρισμάτων under the domain ‘Possess, Transfer, Exchange,’ διακονιῶν under ‘Help, Care For,’ and ἐνεργημάτων under ‘Perform, Do.’ Nonetheless, χαρισμάτων and διακονιῶν may share a common semantic feature, since both are classed under the subdomain ‘Give.’ It seems clear that, in Paul’s mind, these words must have shared some similar semantic features, in order for him to lump them together in this particular context. In fact, I strongly think that these three terms (or better, lexemes) can all be classi-fied under Domain 53 ‘Religious Activities.’

590 The Expository Times 125(12)

study to examine the word in these corpuses, and therefore, only a quick and straightforward analysis can be provided here.

It is not difficult to think that πνευμάτων (lit. of spirits) can be translated as ‘spiritual gifts’ at 1 Cor 14:12, if the subject matter of Paul in 1 Corinthians 12–14 is about ‘spiritual gifts,’ and where its cognates πνευματικῶν (lit. of the spiri-tual) and πνευματικά (lit. spiritual, plural) at 12:1 and 14:1, respectively, are also translated as ‘spiritual gifts.’ However, context again is the determining factor for such translations. And it appears that Paul is not dealing with ‘spiritual gifts’; whereas Paul at 12:1 might be referring to the general ‘spiritual matters’ that he wishes to address in the church of Corinth (i.e., the abuse of tongues and maintenance of order in worship), and at 14:1 might be implor-ing the believers to seek for ‘spiritual gifts or ministries or practices’ that are motivated by love (chapter 13) and aimed at the edification of the church (chapter 14), at 14:12, he might be zeroing in to the ‘spiritual practice of tongues’ of the Corinthians by virtue of the immediate co-texts of πνευμάτων. After all, that was his main concern.43 Moreover, the terms χάρισμα, διακονία, and ἐνέργημα all collocate well with οἰκοδομὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας (see 14:3, 4, 5, 17, 26). Thus, if both χάρισμα and πνευματικός, which can be considered as exclusively Pauline terms in the New Testament, cannot mean spiritual gifts apart from context, attributing this sense of meaning to πνεῦμα is even harder to justify. Paul most likely was referring to the practice or manifestation of tongues in 1 Cor 14:12 (which the Corinthians may have thought to be the superior gift or manifestation of the Spirit).44

43 It should be recalled that Paul in 1 Corinthians 12—14 is addressing the third and final problem regarding church worship in Corinth—the abuse of tongues. The first two problems concern women’s head covering in public worship (11: 2 – 16) and the abuse of the Lord’s Supper (11:17 – 34).

44 Cf. Turner, The Holy Spirit, 267–68; and Christopher Forbes, Prophecy and Inspired Speech in Early Christianity and Its Hellenistic Environment (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995), 175–81, 260–5.

Conclusion

This lexical study has shown that the term ‘spir-itual gift’ is an inaccurate translation, for the three Greek lexemes that were translated as such do not carry such a technical meaning (or sense). Χάρισμα, for instance, simply means a gift transacted between a giver and a receiver. It could mean eternal life, God’s covenantal ben-efits to Israel, gifts of healing, the gift of chas-tity, etc., depending on its context. Similarly, πνευματικός generally means ‘anything that pertains to the “spiritual”.’ In the five instances (Rom 1:11, 1 Cor 1:7; 12:1; 14:1, 12) where these Greek words are translated as ‘spiritual gift(s),’ the translation is quite ambiguous, and one wonders how two distinctly unrelated words (χάρισμα and πνευματικός) could be translated as ‘spiritual gifts’ in these instances. Similarly, translating πνεῦμα as spiritual gift is odd. Perhaps, if Paul indeed did mean ‘spiritual gift’ for his use of πνεῦμα in 1 Cor 14:12, then this could be a usage of the term in an idiolect sense, but this perhaps is very unlikely.45 In sum, the notion of ‘spiritual gifts’ is entirely a theological concept that has been haphazardly introduced to the meaning of these Greek lex-emes, even when these lexemes do not actually share any common semantic features as well as carry such a concept. This is clear when transla-tors provide ‘spiritual gifts’ as the translation for πνευματικός (1 Cor 12:1; 14:1) and for πνεῦμα (14:12) without making any distinction between their co-textual and contextual mean-ings in these various instances, and when schol-ars make the assertion that Paul has used these lexemes interchangeably.46

45 Idiolect sense is basically the same as connotative sense, which is the sense of meaning that is particular to a group of people. Cotterell and Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation, 166, suggest that Paul uses χάρισμα in an idiolect or special sense.

46 See Fee, ‘Gifts of the Spirit,’ 339.

Ong 591

Appendix 1χάρισμα

USED AS THE SUBJECT OF A CLAUSE

Text Co-text

Rom 5:15 χάρισμα παράπτωμα, ἁμαρτίαςRom 5:16 χάρισμαRom 6:23 χάρισμαRom 11:29 χαρίσματα ἐκλογὴ, κλῆσις1 Cor 12:9 αρίσματα ἰαμάτων πνεῦμα (2x)

1 Cor 12:4 διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων πνεῦμα, διαιρέσεις διακονιῶν (v. 5), διαιρέσεις ἐνεργημάτων (v. 6)

2 Cor 1:11 χάρισμα εὐχαριστηθῇ

USED AS THE COMPLEMENT OF A PREDICATOR (VERB)

Rom 1:11 χάρισμα πνευματικόν μεταδῶRom 12:6 χαρίσματα διάφορα ἔχοντες, δοθεῖσαν; χάρις, μέλος, σῶμα; διακονίαν, διδάσκων,

παρακαλῶν, μεταδιδοὺς, προϊστάμενος, ἐλεῶν1 Cor 7:7 χάρισμα ἐκ θεοῦ ἔχει, ἄνθρωπος, ἀνήρ, γυνή, ἀγάμοις, γαμῆσαι, ἀφιέτω (vv.

1–14, 16, 27–29, 32–34, 38–39)

1 Cor 12:28

χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων ἔθετο; ἀντιλήμψεις, κυβερνήσεις, γλωσσῶν

1 Cor 12:30

χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων ἔχουσιν, ζηλοῦτε; γλώσσαις λαλοῦσιν, διερμηνεύουσιν

1 Cor 12:31

χαρίσματα μείζονα

1 Tim 4:14 χαρίσματος ἀμέλει, ἐδόθη; προφητείας2 Tim 1:6 χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναμιμνῄσκω, ἐπιθέσεως, ἔδωκεν; πνεῦμα δειλίας, δυνάμεως,

ἀγάπης, σωφρονισμοῦ1 Pet 4:10 χάρισμα ἔλαβεν; διακονοῦντες, λαλεῖ λόγια θεοῦ

USED AS THE ADJUNCT OF A PREDICATOR (VERB)

1 Cor 1:7 ἐν μηδενὶ χαρίσματι ὑστερεῖσθαι; λόγῳ, γνώσει (v. 5)

592 The Expository Times 125(12)

Appendix 2πνευματικός

USED AS A DEFINER (IN ATTRIBUTIVE POSITION)

Text Co-text

Rom 1:11 χάρισμα πνευματικόν 1 Cor 10:3 πνευματικόν βρῶμα φαγεῖν; ἄρτον (cf. 10:4, 7, 16–18,

21, 25, 27–28, 31; 11:20–21, 25–28)

1 Cor 10:4* πνευματικόν πόμα πεῖν; ποτήριον

πνευματικῆς πέτρας ὁ Χριστός, κυρίου

1 Cor 15:44* σῶμα πνευματικόν σῶμα ψυχικόνEph 1:3 εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ Εὐλογητὸς, ὁ εὐλογήσαςEph 5:19 ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοιςCol 1:9 σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει

πνευματικῇἐπίγνωσιν

Col 3:16 ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις1 Pet 2:5* πνευματικὰς θυσίας ἱεράτευμα (cf. v. 9)

οἶκος πνευματικός λίθον ζῶντα (cf. vv. 4, 7, 8)

USED AS A SUBSTANTIVE (SUBSTANTIVAL ADJECTIVE)

Rom 15:27 τοῖς πνευματικοῖς τοῖς σαρκικοῖς1 Cor 3:1 πνευματικοῖς ἀδελφοί1 Cor 2 13 πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ πνεύματος1 Cor 2:15 ὁ πνευματικός ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος1 Cor 9:11 τὰ πνευματικὰ τὰ σαρκικὰ1 Cor 12:1 τῶν πνευματικῶν χαρισμάτων, διακονιῶν, ἐνεργημάτων (vv. 4, 5,

6)

1 Cor 14 :1 τὰ πνευματικά ἀγάπην, προφητεύω (cf. 13 passim); (cf. 14 passim)

1 Cor 15:44* πνευματικόν σῶμα ψυχικόν1 Cor 15:46* τὸ πνευματικόν τὸ ψυχικόνEph 6:12 τὰ πνευματικά τῆς πονηρίας κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότουςGal 6:1 οἱ πνευματικοὶ παραπτώματιUSED AS A DEFINER (IN PREDICATE POSITION)

Rom 7:14 ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν σάρκινός, ἁμαρτίαν1 Cor 14:37 τις δοκεῖ εἶναι πνευματικός προφήτης, προφητεύω

(ch. 14 passim)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that πνευματικός appeared twice in that verse.