Theological

Wordbook

of the

Old Testament

R. Laird Harris, Editor

Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Associate Editor

Bruce K. Waltke, Associate Editor

Moody Press

Chicago

© 1980 by
The Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

Includes bibliographies and index.

1. Bible. O.T.—Dictionaries—Hebrew. 2. Bible. O.T.—Theology—Dictionaries. I. Harris, Robert Laird. II. Archer, Gleason Leonard, 1916– III. Waltke, Bruce K.

BS4490.T49 221.4’4’0321 80–28047

Introduction

The value of books for theological word study of the Old and New Testaments has long been recognized. W.E. Vine’s word studies are well-known in the New Testament field. The major work, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, is now being matched by an extensive Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, which will run into many volumes.

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament follows in this tradition, but approaches the matter from a practical and less exhaustive viewpoint than the major studies. The busy pastor or earnest Christian worker who has neither the time nor background for detailed technical study should yet have a tool for the study of the significant theological words of the Hebrew Bible. The editors and Moody Press are of the conviction that essential to the right understanding of the theological terms of the Old Testament is a belief in the Bible’s truth. Spiritual things are “spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). Therefore, about thirteen years ago, they enlisted the help of some forty evangelical scholars who would write essay definitions of the important theological terms in the Old Testament that would be helpful to their brothers in the work of interpreting Scripture.

Word study does not lead to total understanding of the Old Testament text-or any text. Words must always be taken in context. They have an area of meaning, thus ʾāmar may sometimes mean “speak,” sometimes “command.” Thus, it overlaps with dābar on the one hand and sāwâ on the other. Also, the etymologies of words are not always determinative of meanings. In English we use words every day that are of pagan origin but no longer bear any such connotation. We derive the names of our months from Roman deities and our weekdays from the Norse mythologies, but we believe in neither. The Hebrews also did not invent their language. It was used in Canaan before the Conquest. Therefore, some Hebrew words may be of Canaanite origin, which is not to suggest that the Hebrews used them with the original Canaanite connotation. Biblical usage is therefore the best criterion of the meaning of a word, and to that end our authors have depended heavily on their concordances. But usage is often limited, and all the evidence available was evaluated, we think judiciously. There will be ...