Syllogismus
Omission of the Conclusion
Syllogismus is the figure in which the premisses of an argument are stated but the conclusion is suppressed — not because it is unknown, but because the reader is meant to draw it. Bullinger places it among the figures of omission: here no word is left out as in Ellipsis, and no layer of meaning as in Meiosis, but a whole logical step. The rhetorical gain is paradoxical: the unspoken conclusion speaks louder than the stated premise.
Etymology
Greek συλλογισμός (syllogismos), “a reckoning together”, from σύν (syn, “together”) + λογίζεσθαι (logizesthai, “to reckon”). The English word logic derives from the same root. The ordinary logical form comprises three propositions: a major premise, a minor premise, and the conclusion that follows. Bullinger gives the figure this name precisely because it breaks that rule — lawfully and deliberately. The Romans called it significatio (because something is signified without being expressed) and emphasis (for the underlined weight that the unspoken conclusion acquires).
Definition
The figure operates by logical-rhetorical incompletion. The speaker states facts or premisses and stops before the conclusion — the hearer must take that step. The effect is akin to Aposiopesis (sudden silence), but logical rather than emotional: not a line of thought is cut off, but a chain of reasoning is deliberately left unfinished, so that its implication lands more sharply than a statement could have.
Biblical Examples
- 1 Sam. 17:4-7 — The description of Goliath’s armour and weapons is given; the reader is left to conclude how immense his strength must have been.
- Isa. 2:3-4 — “Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks”. The facts are stated; the conclusion about the marvellous workings of this Word — the same Word by which the heavens and earth were created — is left for the reader: peace and prosperity to the nations.
- Isa. 4:1 — “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach”. This is the continuation and conclusion of chap. 3 (from v. 18, the punishment of the pride of the “daughters of Zion”): the solemn conclusion is left for the reader — how great the desolation must be that the legal claim of the wife is renounced.
- Isa. 49:20 — The greatness of Zion’s blessing and prosperity is shown by the facts in vv. 18-21; the conclusion remains unstated.
- Matt. 10:30 — “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” — i.e. therefore how infinite must be the knowledge of our “Father”! How then should I not fear Him!
- Matt. 24:20 — “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day”. The implied conclusion: for then your troubles and distress would be increased beyond the power of tongue to tell.
- Luke 7:44 — “Thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head”. What is implied: how much greater is her love than yours! Cf. vv. 45-46.
- 1 Cor. 11:6 — “If the woman be not covered, let her be shorn also”. But she is not shorn; therefore the conclusion is: let her be covered.
- 2 Thess. 3:10 — “If any would not work, neither should he eat”. The conclusion is to be supplied: every man must eat; therefore every man must work — the text does not literally mean that food is to be withdrawn.
Related Figures
- enthymema — the counter-figure: in Enthymema one or both premisses are omitted while the conclusion is stated
- aposiopesis — related figure of incompletion, but emotional-rhetorical rather than logical
- ellipsis — related figure where words, not conclusions, are missing
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 165-166.