Program / Course 5: Biblical Languages / Lesson 6.3
What you will learn
- Carry out a word study in nine stages, from choosing a word to stating limits.
- Find every occurrence of a word and sort the uses by author and context.
- Weigh the evidence of lexicons, the Septuagint and commentaries.
- Write a conclusion that matches the evidence and admits what remains uncertain.
The big idea
A word study traces one Hebrew or Greek word through the Bible to learn what it means in a given place. A sound study gathers all the occurrences, sorts them by author and context, checks lexicons and ancient translations, and lets the verse itself decide among the possible senses. The result is a modest statement of the word’s range and of the likely sense in the passage. A word study is not a way to discover a hidden meaning behind the English, and it needs checking against scholars.
Key terms
- Word study
- An investigation of how a single word is used in a text or body of texts, in order to understand its sense in a particular passage.
- Context
- The words, sentences and setting around a word that help show which of its senses is meant.
- Parallel passage
- Another passage that treats the same event, saying or theme in similar words.
- Semantic field
- A group of words that cover an area of meaning, such as the Greek words for love or the Hebrew words for sin.
- Usage
- The way a word is actually used by speakers and writers, which is the evidence for its meaning.
- Commentary
- A book that explains a biblical text verse by verse, often discussing the original words.
Background
Word studies are very popular in preaching and in personal Bible study. They can be of real value, because many questions about a passage turn on the sense of one word. They are also easily done badly, because the tools are easy to use and the method is subtle. The most common error is to take a single dictionary gloss, or the etymology of a word, as its meaning. The next lesson lists the common errors. This lesson sets out the method that avoids them.
The method has nine stages and is simple in outline: gather the evidence, sort it, weigh it and conclude with care. It is slow. A thorough study of a common word such as pistis can take days. A beginner should expect to study a rare word first, or a word with a small number of uses, and should treat results as provisional.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Choose a question, not just a word (stage 1)
Begin with a question about a passage, such as what does Paul mean by righteousness in Romans 3:22 or what is the sense of hesed in Psalm 136. A word study serves a question. It should not be done only to find an interesting meaning. Write the question in the notebook and note why the word matters to the passage.
Step 2: Identify the word and gather its occurrences (stages 2 and 3)
Use an interlinear or a reverse interlinear to find the Hebrew or Greek word behind the English. Note its dictionary form. Then use a concordance of the original language, or an electronic Bible tool, to list every occurrence. Do not rely on the English word, because the same English word may translate several originals, and the same original may be translated by several English words.
Record the number of occurrences, the books in which it appears and any forms of the word, such as the verb and noun that come from the same root. The distribution is already informative. A word that appears in one author only has a limited range.
Step 3: Sort the uses and read in context (stages 4 and 5)
Sort the occurrences by author, book and type of writing. A word may have one sense in the poetry of the Psalms and another in a legal text. Then read each occurrence in its sentence and paragraph. Write a brief note on the sense it seems to have there. Group the notes into senses. The groups may match the lexicon’s senses, or may reveal differences.
Pay particular attention to the author of the passage you are studying. Writers have their own habits. A study of Paul’s use of a word should weigh his other letters most heavily, then the rest of the New Testament, then other writers.
Step 4: Check lexicons and ancient translations (stages 6 and 7)
Consult at least two lexicons and compare their senses with yours. Where they differ, note the reason. Check how the Septuagint translates a Hebrew word, or what Hebrew word lies behind a Greek word that a New Testament writer takes from the Old Testament. Check also how other ancient writers use the word, where editions allow. The Greek of the papyri, of Josephus and of the early fathers is evidence.
Look also at related words in the same field. If a writer uses two words for love in the same passage, ask whether they differ in sense or are used for variety. Do not assume that they differ.
Step 5: Consult commentaries and state your conclusion (stages 8 and 9)
Read what scholarly commentaries say about the word in your passage, and in particular commentaries based on the original languages. Notice where they agree with your results and where they do not. Then write a conclusion: the range of senses found, the most likely sense in the passage, the reasons, and what remains uncertain. State the limits, including that you do not read the language and that a specialist should check the conclusion before it is taught to others.
An example: a student studying hesed finds it used of covenant loyalty, of kindness and of God’s steadfast love. In Psalm 136 the word is repeated with God’s acts in creation and history. The student concludes that the repeated phrase asserts the enduring loyalty of God to his people, notes that English translations vary, and records that a Hebrew specialist might add more.
- What question about the passage is this word study meant to answer?
- Have I found every occurrence, in the original and not only in English?
- Have I sorted by author and context?
- What do two lexicons say, and where do they differ?
- What do the Septuagint and commentaries add?
- Does my conclusion claim only what the evidence supports?
Examples
A rare word
A student studies a Greek word that appears only three times in the New Testament. She reads the three passages, checks two lexicons and finds that the word appears elsewhere in Greek writing with a clear sense. She concludes that the sense is secure in two passages and doubtful in the third, and she says so.
A common word
A student sets out to study the Greek word pistis everywhere in Paul. She narrows the question to Galatians, lists the occurrences and sorts them. She finds that most are plainly trust, while one or two are debated. She realizes that a full study would take much longer and that she needs a commentary.
An old translation as evidence
A Hebrew word in Isaiah is hard. The student checks how the Septuagint renders it and finds a Greek word with a clear sense. This does not settle the matter, because the translator may have been guessing. The student records it as one piece of evidence.
Different perspectives
Protestant
Word study is especially popular in Protestant preaching and personal study, where careful attention to the text is prized. Many Protestant teachers publish guidance on the method, and many also warn against its misuse.
Catholic
Catholic exegesis uses word study within a wider reading of the passage, the whole of Scripture and the tradition of the Church. The Catechism teaches that Scripture is to be read in the light of the unity of the whole and of the Church’s living tradition.
Orthodox
Orthodox readers look to the way the fathers understood a word. The patristic interpretation, with its attention to the Septuagint, is part of the evidence for the sense in the church’s reading.
Jewish
Jewish interpretation traditionally attends to words closely and to their other uses in the Bible. Medieval commentators such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra paid close attention to the senses of Hebrew words, drawing on comparison and tradition.
Scholarly
Scholars generally agree on the outline of the method. They differ on how much weight to give to etymology, related languages and later traditions, and on how to define a word’s range.
Why it matters
Word studies are one of the main ways that people try to get closer to the text, and they are also one of the main ways that errors enter preaching and teaching. A careful method protects the student and the audience. It also makes clear what a beginner may say and where a scholar’s help is needed.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: A word study means looking the word up in a dictionary.
Correction: The dictionary is one of many steps. The uses of the word in context are the main evidence.
Misunderstanding: The English word used in my translation is the word to study.
Correction: The original word is the object. The same English word may render several originals, and one original may be rendered several ways.
Misunderstanding: A word study can show what the Bible teaches on a doctrine.
Correction: Doctrines involve concepts, and a concept may be expressed by many words or by none. A word study is a limited tool for such questions.
Misunderstanding: If my study finds a surprising meaning, I have discovered a hidden truth.
Correction: A surprising result is more often a sign of a mistake. Check it with lexicons, commentaries and a specialist.
Knowledge check
List the main steps of a word study.
Choose a question, identify the original word, gather all occurrences, sort them by author and context, read each in context, check lexicons, check the Septuagint and other ancient evidence, consult commentaries, and state a conclusion with its limits. The aim is to let the evidence decide among the possible senses.
Why should a student sort occurrences by author?
Writers have their own habits and vocabularies, and a word can have different senses in different books or types of writing. The writer of the passage under study is the best guide to the sense in that passage, followed by closely related writers and then the wider evidence.
What is the role of the Septuagint in a word study?
It shows how Jewish translators understood a Hebrew word in the third and second centuries before Christ, and it supplies the vocabulary many New Testament writers drew on. It is evidence but not a final authority, since the translators could err or interpret.
What should the conclusion of a word study include?
The range of senses found, the most likely sense in the passage and the reasons for it, together with what remains uncertain. It should say that the student does not read the language and that a specialist should check the result. A modest conclusion that follows the evidence is better than a striking one.
Think it through
- What question about a passage would you most like to answer with a word study?
- How might you know that you have enough evidence?
- Why is it wise to include a statement of limits?
- What would you do if your conclusion disagreed with every commentary?
Independent assignment
A short word study
In your own notebook, write 500 to 800 words. Choose a word that appears about ten to thirty times in the Bible, and a passage where it matters. Follow the nine stages: state your question, identify the word, list the occurrences, sort them, read them in context, consult two lexicons, check the Septuagint or another ancient source if you can, read a commentary and write your conclusion with a statement of limits. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Read the chapter on how to read the epistles and Old Testament narrative for method in context.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hermeneutics A philosophical background on interpretation.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church The section on interpreting Scripture in the light of the whole.
- Psalm 136:1 Hesed in a repeated refrain.
- Romans 3:22 A passage where pistis is debated.
- John 21:15 Two words for love.
- Matthew 6:11 A rare word, epiousios.