Bible Word Studies
A How-To Guide
Edited by John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord
Bible Word Studies: A How-To Guide
Copyright 2014 Lexham Press
Adapted with permission from content originally published in Bible Study Magazine.
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission, or email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.
Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (kjv) are from the King James Version. Public domain.
Scripture quotations marked (les) are from the Lexham English Septuagint (les), copyright 2012 by Lexham Press. Lexham is a registered trademark of Faithlife Corporation.
Scripture quotations marked (net) are from the NET Bible ® copyright 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (nlt) are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (nrsv) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Academic Editors: Michael S. Heiser, Douglas Mangum
Assistant Editors: David Bomar, Rebecca Brant, Lynnea Fraser, Jake Mailhot, Abigail Stocker, Joel Wilcox
Contents
Introduction
A professor of mine once quipped that after studying biblical Greek for a year, we would “know just enough to be dangerous.” He meant that after spending a little bit of time learning the language, we would feel empowered to draw exegetical conclusions based on the language, but that we would still lack the knowledge and experience necessary to evaluate those conclusions.
The tendency to draw inappropriate conclusions from limited information makes many Bible scholars wary of word studies. Even people who have studied the biblical languages and have had advanced training in theology and exegesis can easily make mistakes with word studies. D. A. Carson’s book Exegetical Fallacies begins with an entire chapter on “Word-Study Fallacies.”1 Many of his examples derive from the published work of professional Bible scholars and theologians—including himself—showing that no one is immune from these potential pitfalls....
|
About Bible Word Studies: A How-to GuideIf you’ve ever studied another language, you know just how hard it can be to understand the nuances of words. Defining words from ancient languages is even more challenging, since we are separated from an author by both language and time. Dictionaries can provide us with cut-and-dried answers, but studying a passage in context breathes history, culture, and life into each word. In Bible Word Studies, you’ll find a collection of Hebrew and Greek word studies that have been published in Bible Study Magazine. The expert scholars who write these studies don’t hand you the definition on a silver platter: They let you in on the steps they take to analyze a word in context. We hope their hard work will inspire you to continue yours as you seek to understand God through his Word. |
| Support Info | bblwrdsthwtgd |