Hapax Legomenon
I am…
I am a writer, an author, a poet.
But in my “other” life, I am a missionary, a linguist, a Bible translator (mostly vicariously through my hubby).
But in both these lives, I am a lover of words. So, when I come across a word or phrase I think is cool but don’t necessarily understand, I go digging. Why?
Because I’m curious! My curiosity often jump-starts my imagination, which leads to inspiration.
That’s what happened a few days ago in my morning Bible reading time. I read 1 Peter 1:20 in the New English Translation. I like the NET for its notes on certain words. In the NET, this verse reads:
“Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination,”
I looked at the notes under the word “imagination” and came across a Greek term I’d never heard before — hapax legomenon (HAY-pax Luh-GO-muh-nawn). Well, that’s a cool phrase. What does it mean? Lo and behold, it’s a term used in corpus linguistics.
As a linguist, I’m familiar with corpus linguistics. In layman’s terms, it’s the study and analysis of a language based on a large body of written and spoken texts. Sometimes in these bodies of texts, a word or phrase is used only once.
That’s hapax legomenon.
Wow — one word used only once in a large body of text.
According to the NET notes, the Greek word Peter uses that we translate as “imagination” in 1 Peter 1:20 is used only this one time in the whole New Testament.
And that set my mind a whirling, pondering the greater wonder and mystery of God in His Word. Which led to a poem and MY interpretation of hapax legomenon. I offer it here for your pondering and enjoyment:
Hapax Legomenon
Down through history
man
has attempted to define
man
by corpus linguistics
that is, by
analyzing ourselves
through large collections
of words, spoken & written,
of actions played out
through time.
All of humanity
studied and analyzed
in an attempt
to understand
to explain
to predict
my inner self,
your inner self,
our actions
in the present
in the future.
Descriptions
on paper
we are corpus —
part of a whole,
interdependence
our need.
And yet —
You and I
are unique:
physically
mentally
emotionally
spiritually.
In a single breath
with one Word
we came to be
my life,
your life,
created
beautiful
glorious
timeless.
I am hapax legomenon.
You are hapax legomenon.
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:13,14, NLT)
