I have recently
received a letter from a valued friend asking me to send him a "discussion
of the Greek words λαλέω (laleō) and
λέγω (legō) in such passages as I Cor. 14: 33—39, with special reference
to the question: Does the thirty-fourth verse forbid all women everywhere to
speak or preach publicly in Christian churches?" The matter is of
universal interest, and I take the liberty of communicating my reply to the
readers of The Presbyterian. It
requires to be said at once that there is no problem with reference to the
relations of λαλέω (laleō) and
λέγω (legō). Apart from niceties of
merely philological interest, these words stand related to one another just as
the English words speak and say do; that is to say, λαλέω (laleō) expresses the act of
talking, while λέγω (legō)
refers to what is said. Wherever then the fact of speaking, without reference
to the content of what is said, is to be indicated, λαλέω
(laleō) is
used, and must be used. There is nothing disparaging in the intimation of the
word, any more than there is in our word talk;
although, of course, it can on occasion be used disparagingly as our word talk
can also—as when some of the newspapers intimate that the Senate is given over
to mere talk.
