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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #249 - ἄλογος
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- destitute of reason
- contrary to reason, absurd
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
ἄλογος, ον, without λόγος, hence,
I
1. speechless, Pl. Lg. 696e. Adv. -ως without speech, S. OC 131, Isoc. 3.9: — ἄ. ἡμέρα, = Lat. dies nefastus, on which no business may be done, Luc. Lex. 9. lacking in eloquence, LXX Exodus 6:12.
2. inexpressive, Pl. Tht. 203a; unutterable, = ἄρρητος, S. Fr. 262.
II
1. unreasoning, ἡδονή, ὄχλος, etc., Pl. R. 591c, Ti. 42d, etc.; τὰ ἄλογα brutes, animals, Democr. 164, Pl. Prt. 321b, X. Hier. 7.3; esp.in late Greek, ἄλογον, τό, = horse, POxy. 138.29 (610 A.D.), PGen. 14 (late).
2. not according to reason, irrational, ἄ. δόξα, opp. ἡ μετὰ λόγου δ., Pl. Tht. 201c; ἀλόγῳ πάθει τὴν ἄ. συνασκεῖν αἴσθησιν, instinctive feeling, in appreciating works of art, D.H. Lys. 11; ἄ. πάθος Id. Comp. 23.
3. contrary to reason, absurd, Th. 6.85, Pl. Tht. 203d; unaccountable, unintelligible, Lys. 26.19; unfit, unsuited to its end, Th. 1.32; groundless, Plb. 3.15.9; ἀηδία PRyl. 144.15 (38 A.D.). Adv. most freq. in this sense, Pl. R. 439d, etc.; οὐκ ἀ. οὐδ' ἀκαίρως Isoc. 15.10: Sup. -ώτατα Phld. Ir. p.44 W.
III without reckoning:
1. not reckoned upon, unexpected, Th. 6.46 (Comp.).
2. not counted, null and void, ἡμέραι LXX Numbers 6:12.
3. Act., not having paid one's reckoning, of an ἐρανιστής, EM 70.31.
1. of magnitudes, incommensurable, περὶ ἀλόγων γραμμῶν, title of work by Democr., cf. Arist. APo. 76b9, LI 968b18, Euc. 10. Def. 10, etc.
2. in Rhythm, irrational, of feet or syllables whose time-relations cannot be expressed by a simple ratio, χορεῖος Aristox. Rhyth. 2.20; ἄλογοι, sc. συλλαβαί, D.H. Comp. 20: — in Music, ἄ. διαστήματα Plu. 2.1145d: — of the pulse, unrhythmical, Herophil. ap. Ruf. Syn.Puls. 4.3.
ἄλογος, (λόγος, reason);
1. destitute of reason, brute: ζῷα, brute animals, Jude 1:10; 2 Peter 2:12 (Wis. 11:16; Xenophon, Hier. 7, 3, others).
2. contrary to reason, absurd: Acts 25:27 (Xenophon, Ages. 11, 1; Thucydides 6, 85; often in Plato, Isocrates, others).
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ἄ -λογος , -ον ,
[in LXX: Exodus 6:12 (H8193 H6189), Numbers 6:12 (H5307), Job 11:12, Wisdom of Solomon 11:15-16, 4 Maccabees 3:1-21*;]
1. without reason, irrational: ζῷα , 2 Peter 2:12, Judges 1:10.
2. contrary to reason: Acts 25:27 (v. MM, VGT, s.v.).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
The adverb occurs in the curious acrostic papyrus of early i/A.D., P Tebt. II. 27830 f., where the story of the loss of a garment is told in short lines, beginning with the successive letters of the alphabet—
ζητῶι καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκωι .
ἦρτε ἀλόγως .
";I seek, but do not find it. It was taken without cause."; In P Fay 192 ff. (Hadrian’s letter) the writer asserts that his death took place ο ]ὔτε ἀω ̣[ρεὶ οὔτ ]ε ἀλόγως οὔτε οἰκτρῶς οὔτε α ̣̓π ̣[ροσ ]δοκήτω [ς οὔτε ἀνοή ]τως , the sense of ";unreasonably"; seems clear, ἀλόγως being emphasized by ἀνοήτως , as ἀωρεί is by ἀπροσδοκήτως . So BGU I. 74.8 (A.D. 167) καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἄλογον εἴη κτλ ., P Lond 973 b.11 f. (iii/A.D.) ( = III. p. 213) μὴ δόξῃς με ἀλόγ ̣ω ̣̓[ . . ., P Tebt II. 4205 (iii/A.D.) ἀλόγος (l. -ως ) ἐξήλθατε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ . Later examples are P Lips I. 11120 (iv/A.D.) and P Amh II. 14516 (iv/v A.D.) ἐ ]λ ̣υπήθην διότι ἀπεδήμησας ἀλόγως , ";I am grieved because you went away without cause."; There is a curious use of a derived verb in P Tebt I. 138 (late ii/B.C.), where an assailant σπασάμενος ταύτην (sc. μάχαιραν ) βουλόμενός με ἀλογῆσαι κατήνεγκε [πλ ]ηγαῖς τρισὶ κτλ .—a rather aggressive ";neglect"; or ";contempt";! Cf. BGU I. 2214 f. (A.D. 114) ( = Selections, p. 75) ἄλογόν μοι ἀηδίαν συνεστήσατο , ";picked a senseless quarrel against me,"; and similarly P Ryl II. 14415 (A.D. 38), P Lond 3426 (A.D. 185) ( = II. p. 174), ib. 2148 (A.D. 270–5) ( = II. p. 161), χθὲς ἀλόγως γενόμενος εἰς ἀμπελικὸν χωρίον , ";entered violently"; or ";without authorisation."; Similarly P Flor I. 58.7 (iii/A.D.) α ̣̓λόγως ἐπελθ [ό ]ντες δίχα παντὸς νόμου , a ";brutal"; assault. We shall see a similar activity developed in καταφρονεῖν . On the other hand BGU IV. 1024vi. 15 (iv/v A.D.) ἔδοξεν τῷ Ζ . ἄλογον εἶναι τὴν ἀξίωσιν shows the sense ";unreasonable."; P Grenf II. 779 (iii/iv A.D.) ἀλόγως ἀπέστητε μὴ ἄραντες [τὸ σ ]ῶμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἡμῶν is not far from ";unfeelingly."; P Oxy III. 526.4 (ii/A.D.) οὐκ ἤμην ἀπαθὴς ἀλόγως σε καταλείπιν , ";so unfeeling as to leave you without reason"; (Edd.). And so on, always with a sense going decidedly beyond ";unreasonably"; and shading into ";brutally."; Hence the noun use of the modern Greek ἄλογο , ";horse"; : it is nearly approached in P Oxy I. 138.29 (early vii/A.D.), χορηγῆσαι ἄλογα εἰς τὰς γεουχικὰς χρείας , where animals in harness are meant, if not horses exclusively. Prof. Thumb remarks that as early as Dion Cassius the word = ";animal"; : cf. Hatzidakis Einl., p. 34 f. Psa. 32꞉9 [MT Psalms 33:9] supplies the line of development.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
