TR: qowl → phone (Voice/Sound)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT            LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
───────────          ───────────────           ────────
קוֹל (qôwl)      →   φωνή (phōnē)          →  φωνή (phōnē)
H6963, 436x          388x as translation       129x in NT
"voice, sound"       of qôwl                   "voice, sound"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H6963	קוֹל (qowl)	436	voice, sound, noise, thunder

Key OT passages: - Gen 3:8 — "they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden" — first occurrence; divine voice in Eden - Psa 29:3–9 — sevenfold "voice of the LORD" — theophanic thunder-psalm - Deu 28:1 — "if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God" — covenant-obedience formula - Isa 40:3 — "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness" — prophetic herald

Library: H6963-qowl.md

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
qowl (H6963)	φωνή (G5456)	388	33.20	Primary — near one-to-one
qowl (H6963)	ἀκούω (G191)	151	16.86	"Hear the voice" → hearing verb
qowl (H6963)	εἰσακούω (G1522)	51	14.70	"Hearken to the voice" → obedience verb
qowl (H6963)	��ραυγή (G2906)	20	13.50	When qowl = outcry/weeping
qowl (H6963)	σάλπιγξ (G4536)	20	11.89	When qowl = trumpet sound

Other Hebrew words also mapping to φωνή: | Hebrew | Strong's | Co-occ | Score | |--------|----------|--------|-------| | שָׁמַע (shama) | H8085 | 228 | 18.87 | | שׁוֹפָר (showphar) | H7782 | 22 | 13.13 | | תְּרוּעָה (truah) | H8643 | 13 | 11.45 | | קָל (qal, Aramaic) | H7032 | 7 | 11.81 |

Semantic continuity in translation: The qowl → phone bridge is exceptionally stable. φωνή captures all the major senses of qowl: articulate speech/voice, inarticulate sound, thunder, and instrumental sound. The Hebrew "obey the voice" formula (shama + bqowl) sometimes triggers LXX translators to use the hearing verb (akouo/eisakouo) instead of phone, but this is a collocational shift, not a semantic one.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G5456	φων�� (phone)	129	voice, sound, tone
G5455	φωνέω (phoneo)	—	to call out (verb cognate)

Key NT passages: - Mat 2:18 — "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping" — quotes Jer 31:15 (qowl → phone) - Mar 1:3 — "The voice of one crying in the wilderness" — quotes Isa 40:3 (qowl → phone) - Jhn 1:23 — "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness" — John the Baptist self-identifies through Isa 40:3 - 1 Th 4:16 — "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" - Rev 1:10 — "I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet"

Library: TODO(need G5456 study)

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Mat 2:18	Jer 31:15	qowl → phone	"A voice was heard in Ramah" — lament quotation
Mat 3:3 / Mar 1:3 / Luk 3:4 / Jhn 1:23	Isa 40:3	qowl → phone	"The voice of one crying in the wilderness" — messianic herald
Act 2:6	—	phone	Pentecost: "every man heard them speak in his own language" (phone as spoken voice)
Heb 3:7, 15; 4:7	Psa 95:7	qowl → phone	"To day if ye will hear his voice" — covenant-obedience warning

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - The core semantic range is fully preserved: articulate divine voice, human voice in prayer/lament, trumpet/thunder sound - The covenant-obedience formula "hear/obey the voice" continues from Deuteronomy through Hebrews - The prophetic-herald "voice crying in the wilderness" passes directly from Isaiah to the Gospels - Theophanic voice-as-power imagery (Psa 29 → Rev 1:10, 1:15)

What shifts: - NT phone acquires christological specificity: the voice at baptism (Mat 3:17), transfiguration (Mat 17:5), and Revelation's "voice as of a trumpet" (Rev 1:10) are identifiable as Christ's or the Father's voice, extending the OT theophanic pattern - Eschatological intensification: the "voice of the archangel" and "last trump" (1 Th 4:16, 1 Cor 15:52) build on the OT trumpet-voice pattern of Josh 6 and Exo 19 - The Johannine distinctives: "My sheep hear my voice" (Jhn 10:27) applies the covenant-obedience formula to the Good Shepherd

Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-05-03