Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 30:2 (Spring 2016)
Article: On The Significance Of "Kephalē" (“Head”): A Study Of The Abuse Of One Greek Word
Author: Richard S. Cervin

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PP 30:2 (Spring 2016) p. 8

On The Significance Of Kephalē (“Head”):
A Study Of The Abuse Of One Greek Word1

Richard S. Cervin

There has been, and continues to be, a great deal of confusion, consternation, and perhaps grief, over the meaning of the Greek word kephalē (“head”) in the NT. Some claim that the word means “source”;2 others claim that it means “authority over”;3 still others have different ideas regarding the meaning of this Greek word.4 A great deal of ink has been spilled defending this or that position while attacking the others, yet the debate continues. There are many issues related to the understanding of words in general (semantics), and to kephalē in particular, that have either been ignored, downplayed, or misconstrued by various proponents of the meaning of kephalē in the NT. Essentially, traditionalists argue that kephalē means “authority over” whereas egalitarians argue that the meaning of this Greek word is “source.” Authors on both sides of this debate have committed errors in the form of arguments used, in the method of semantic analysis, as well as in the citation of their primary Greek sources.5 In this article, I will review some general principles of semantic analysis and some other related background issues which bear on the meaning of kephalē in the NT. I will also discuss how the Septuagint (the translation of the Hebrew OT into Greek in the third to second centuries BC) and some other Greek authors (notably Plato, Plutarch, and Philo) have been misappropriated in the discussion of kephalē. Because there are so many various passages in Greek literature which have been invoked as “proof” for this or that side in the debate, I cannot possibly review them all. Rather, I have selected only certain passages for discussion in order to illustrate the points I wish to make.

1. Issues Pertaining To Methodology

It is widely understood by linguists, lexicographers, and philosophers that words do not have one and only one meaning; they have several meanings, some of them quite distinct. Words have a variety of denotations (things they represent) as well as connotations (implied or associated meanings).6

One of the many problems that are characteristic of some of the studies about kephalē in the NT is that some modern authors have confused possible or proposed connotations with denotations. Some claim that “source” is the primary denotation of

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