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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Reason; Reasonable; Reasoning
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rē´z'n, rē´z'n-a-b'l, rē´z'n-ing (×™×›×—, yaÌ„khahÌ£, etc.; λοÌγος, loÌgos, διαλογιÌζομαι, -ισμοÌÏ‚, dialogıÌzomai, -ismoÌs, etc.): “Reason†with related terms, has a diversity of meanings, representing a large number of Hebrew and Greek words and phrases. In the sense of “cause†or “occasion†it stands in for daÌ„bhaÌ„r, “a word†(the Revised Version margin “accountâ€), but in most cases renders prepositional forms as “from,†“with,†“because of,†“for the sake,†etc. As the ground or argument for anything, it is the translation of ta‛am (, the Revised Version margin “answers discreetlyâ€), of yaÌ„khahÌ£, as in , “Come now, and let us reason together†(compare ; ); in , the word is shaÌ„phatÌ£, the Revised Version (British and American) “that I may plead,†etc. The principal Greek words for “reason,†“reasoning,†are those given above. The Christian believer is to be ready to give a reason (logos) for the hope that is in him ( the King James Version). “Reason†as a human faculty or in the abstract sense appears in Apocrypha in The Wisdom of Solomon 17:12 (logismoÌs); Ecclesiasticus 37:16, “Let reason (logos) go before every enterprise,†the Revised Version (British and American) “be the beginning of every work.†In , “reason would†is literally, kataÌ loÌgon, “according to reasonâ€; in , for “reasonable (logikoÌs) service,†the Revised Version (British and American) has “spiritual,†and in the margin “Greek 'belonging to the reason.' “ In the Revised Version (British and American) “reason,†etc., occurs much oftener than in the King James Version (compare ; ; ; ; , etc.; ; ; , etc.).