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.