Article

The Expository Times

2014, Vol. 125(12) 583–592
Is ‘Spiritual Gift(s)’ a © The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0014524613512921
A Lexical Study of Χάρισμα, ext.sagepub.com

Πνευματικός, and Πνεῦμα

Hughson T. Ong
McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Abstract
This 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

Introduction The term translates three distinct Greek lexemes

‘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
The bibliography here for both academic and popular
1
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

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,
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.
Corresponding author:
Hughson T. Ong
Email: hughsonong@yahoo.com
584
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.
The Expository Times 125(12)
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
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.’
10Louw 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.
585
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.
12Lexical 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.
13Stanley 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
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,
14See 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.
The Expository Times 125(12)
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.
18Cf. 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
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.
19Substitutional (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.
20These three lexemes fall under the semantic domain
‘Give’ in Louw and Nida, Lexicon, 1:565.
587
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.
24See Turner, ‘Modern Linguistics,’ 149; and Black,
Linguistics for Students, 65.
25 Cf. Turner, ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ 792.
26Transparency 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.
28A 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
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.
31See 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
The Expository Times 125(12)
(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
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
38Πνευματικός, σαρκικος, and ψυχικὸς all belong to the
sub-domain ‘World(ly) Behaviour’ (Louw and Nida,
Lexicon, 1:508).
39Turner, ‘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.
589
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
41See 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
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).
44Cf. 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.
The Expository Times 125(12)
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
45Idiolect 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 1
χάρισμα

USED AS THE SUBJECT OF A CLAUSE

Text Co-text
Rom 5:15 χάρισμα παράπτωμα, ἁμαρτίας
Rom 5:16 χάρισμα
Rom 6:23 χάρισμα
Rom 11:29 χαρίσματα ἐκλογὴ, κλῆσις
1 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 μεταδῶ
Rom 12:6 χαρίσματα διάφορα ἔχοντες, δοθεῖσαν; χάρις, μέλος, σῶμα; διακονίαν, διδάσκων,
παρακαλῶν, μεταδιδοὺς, προϊστάμενος, ἐλεῶν
1 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 χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων ἔθετο; ἀντιλήμψεις, κυβερνήσεις, γλωσσῶν
12:28
1 Cor χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων ἔχουσιν, ζηλοῦτε; γλώσσαις λαλοῦσιν, διερμηνεύουσιν
12:30
1 Cor χαρίσματα μείζονα
12:31
1 Tim 4:14 χαρίσματος ἀμέλει, ἐδόθη; προφητείας
2 Tim 1:6 χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναμιμνῄσκω, ἐπιθέσεως, ἔδωκεν; πνεῦμα δειλίας, δυνάμεως,
ἀγάπης, σωφρονισμοῦ
1 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 2
πνευματικός

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,
1 Cor 10:4* πνευματικόν πόμα πεῖν; ποτήριον 21, 25, 27–28, 31;
11:20–21, 25–28)
πνευματικῆς πέτρας ὁ Χριστός, κυρίου
1 Cor 15:44* σῶμα πνευματικόν σῶμα ψυχικόν
Eph 1:3 εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ Εὐλογητὸς, ὁ εὐλογήσας
Eph 5:19 ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις
Col 1:9 σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει ἐπίγνωσιν
πνευματικῇ
Col 3:16 ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις
1 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 σαρκικοῖς
1 Cor 3:1 πνευματικοῖς ἀδελφοί
1 Cor 2 13 πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ πνεύματος
1 Cor 2:15 ὁ πνευματικός ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος
1 Cor 9:11 τὰ πνευματικὰ τὰ σαρκικὰ
1 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 ψυχικόν
1 Cor 15:46* τὸ πνευματικόν τὸ ψυχικόν
Eph 6:12 τὰ πνευματικά τῆς πονηρίας κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους
Gal 6:1 οἱ πνευματικοὶ παραπτώματι
USED AS A DEFINER (IN PREDICATE POSITION)
Rom 7:14 ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν σάρκινός, ἁμαρτίαν
1 Cor 14:37 τις δοκεῖ εἶναι πνευματικός προφήτης, προφητεύω
(ch. 14 passim)
Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that πνευματικός appeared twice in that verse.