3259

Lexical Summary

(Not Used): (Not Used)

(Not Used)
Part of Speech:
Transliteration: (Not Used)
(Not Used)

Topical Lexicon

Background and Textual Status

Strong’s 3259 designates a Greek lemma that does not occur in any extant verse of the canonical Greek New Testament. Its inclusion in the standard numbering system alerts students of Scripture to the fact that it was identified in older lexicographical lists and occasionally in patristic, inter-testamental, or Septuagint sources, even though no inspired New-Testament writer employed it. In effect, the number is a placeholder that guards the integrity of the overall indexing system, ensuring that cognate words remain grouped in logical order.

Relation to Cognate Forms

Because the term never appears in the New Testament, its chief value for exegesis is comparative. Vocabulary items that share the same root, prefix, or thematic field do turn up frequently in the apostolic writings. Tracking those cognates provides two benefits:

1. It prevents an interpreter from building a doctrine on silence; and
2. It highlights how the biblical authors deliberately selected certain words—and deliberately left others unused—to convey the Spirit-inspired message with precision.

Septuagint and Second-Temple Usage

While the New Testament is silent, the wider Koine milieu is not. The word behind Strong’s 3259 surfaces sporadically in the Septuagint and in Hellenistic Jewish literature. There it often functions in parallel with better-known terms that do appear in the New Testament, allowing students to triangulate meaning. By observing how the ancient translators rendered specific Hebrew ideas with this Greek term, one can appreciate the semantic range the biblical writers already had at their disposal—and chose not to employ in the New Testament corpus.

Doctrinal Implications

1. Inspiration and Selectivity

Scripture is not a random compilation of vocabulary; every term is Spirit-chosen (2 Peter 1:21). The absence of Strong’s 3259 from the New Testament therefore underscores divine selectivity. The living Word communicates exactly what the Lord intended, nothing more and nothing less.
2. Sufficiency of Scripture

Because the New Testament lacks this word, no doctrine essential to faith or practice depends on it. “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16), and the canonical text is fully adequate without every lexeme known to Koine Greek.

Practical Ministry Applications

• Teaching: When training believers in word studies, instructors can use Strong’s 3259 as a case study in methodological caution—reminding students that meanings must be tethered to actual biblical occurrences.
• Preaching: Its absence serves homiletically to warn against speculative preaching built on etymology rather than exegesis.
• Bible Translation: Modern committees note unused lemmas to avoid conjectural insertions into the text.

Exegetical Guardrails

1. Do not build theology on hypothetical reconstructions.
2. Let clearer passages interpret the obscure or unattested.
3. Consult the Septuagint and early Jewish writers only to illuminate, never to override, canonical usage.

Encouragement for Bible Students

The unused number reminds believers that the Lord “has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Even what is not said in Scripture bears witness to the perfection and completeness of what is said.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 3259 is a silent entry in the New Testament vocabulary list, yet its very silence is instructive. It highlights the precision of divine revelation, underscores the sufficiency of the canonical text, and offers students a helpful checkpoint in responsible word study.

Englishman's Concordance

μελῶν — 2 Occ.
μέλος — 5 Occ.
Μελχὶ — 2 Occ.
Μελχισεδέκ — 8 Occ.
ἔμελεν — 2 Occ.
μέλει — 7 Occ.
μελέτω — 1 Occ.
μεμβράνας — 1 Occ.
μέμφεται — 1 Occ.
μεμφόμενος — 1 Occ.
μὲν — 182 Occ.
Μενοῦν — 1 Occ.
μενοῦνγε — 2 Occ.
μέντοι — 8 Occ.
ἐμείναμεν — 2 Occ.
ἔμειναν — 2 Occ.
ἔμεινεν — 10 Occ.
ἔμενεν — 3 Occ.
ἔμενον — 1 Occ.
μεῖναι — 6 Occ.