Hendiadys
One idea by two words
Hendiadys is the figure in which one concept is expressed by two nouns (or verbs) joined by “and,” instead of by a single noun qualified by an adjective or genitive. The Greek ἓν διὰ δυοῖν (hen dia dyoin) describes the mechanism literally: “one by means of two.”
Etymology
From the Greek ἓν διὰ δυοῖν (hen dia dyoin): hen (one) + dia (through/by means of) + dyoin (two; genitive dual of dyo). Latinised as hendiadys. Bullinger treats Hendiadys as a figure of change (Wave C) because the normal syntactic structure (noun + adjective) is transformed into a coordination of two nouns.
Definition
In Hendiadys each of the two words carries equal grammatical rank, but the meaning is: one word qualifies the other. Translation exposes the connection: “signs and seasons” = “appointed signs” or “seasonal signs”; “water and Spirit” = “spiritual water” or “the water of the Spirit.” Bullinger emphasises that recognising Hendiadys has hermeneutical importance: in Christological and covenant expressions the figure often reveals a precisely defined theological content.
Biblical Examples
Creation — appointed times and signs:
- Gen. 1:14 — “and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years” — “signs and seasons” = appointed seasonal signs
The new birth — water and Spirit:
- John 3:5 — “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” — “water and Spirit” = the spiritual water, the Spirit as life-giving water (Bullinger’s interpretation: the Spirit as the living water, cf. John 7:38-39)
The hope of resurrection:
- Acts 23:6 — “of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” — “hope and resurrection” = the hope which consists of the resurrection; one thing
The great God and Saviour:
- Titus 2:13 — “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” — “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” = “our great God-Saviour Jesus Christ” (one person; a key Christological text)
- 2Pet. 1:11 — “the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” — same pattern
The pain and labour of the woman:
- Gen. 3:16 — “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” — Hebrew itstsabon and herayon may be read as Hendiadys
Related Stylistic Figures
- polysyndeton — also multiple elements joined by “and,” but without merging into a single concept
- metonymy — also a transference of name; Hendiadys is a structural figure
- zeugma — one verb joined to multiple clauses; Hendiadys joins two nouns into one concept
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 657-672.