semaino
Definition
Semaino (Gr. ĻĪ·Ī¼Ī±ĪÆĪ½Ļ = to indicate, to signify, to make clear by a sign) is the Greek verb that Noordzij uses for the communicative mode of the Holy Spirit through Scripture: a symbolic, typological āsignal languageā that is audible and visible to those who have the Spirit as key. The Bible is not primarily a study book or history book but a āhearing bookā ā a medium of signal language that the Spirit interprets to those who know Him. The semaino concept marks the difference between literal reading and spiritual understanding.
Usage in the Corpus
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij explains the semaino principle as Godās fundamental communicative mode through Scripture: āIn everything Godās Spirit points in symbolic language to heavenly realities and spiritual processes.ā The Bible is thereby a āhearing bookā: āThe Bible is then not only a reading book or a study book, but a āhearing bookā ā what the Spirit says to the churches. That applies to the whole Bible.ā
The believer who does not know the Spirit can read the Bible but misses the signal language: āThe readers of the Bible must therefore understand Godās āsignal languageā in order to āhearā and āseeā (= know) from it the stories and prophecies, the signs and wonders, the parables, the types, rites, and symbols.ā Semaino is closely connected to the hermeneutical priority of the Spirit over the intellect: āFirst spiritual communication, then interpretation of the Bible.ā Paul first received his revelations from God and afterwards found them confirmed in Scripture ā not the other way around.
The semaino concept also underlies Noordzijās distinction of the Bible as a āconfirmation bookā: āPaul often used quotations from the Old Testament to illustrate what he had received from God. What was revealed to him, he found confirmed in Scripture.ā The Spirit speaks in signal language; Scripture confirms and illustrates. [Noordzij, The Word of God and Scripture, sections āThe Language of Godā and āScripture: useful for teachingā]