Introduction

When interpreting the Word of God, great care needs to be taken to understand words.  If we as interpreters believe in verbal, plenary inspiration (and I do), then we must conclude that every word in the text appears as part of the plan of God.  Even down to the exact tense and form of a word, God planned the grammar to convey the truth He wanted to convey.  Given this understanding, I would like to address a common approach to studying the languages that oftentimes misses the mark: word studies.  I believe that individual word studies can have benefit, but not as much as many believe.  Certainly, one can find instances where chasing a word’s meaning and usage beyond the use of the Scriptures and into classical Greek, for instance, can have value.  But these scenarios are by and large not the normal situation.  Earlier generations of men in ministry were trained to rely heavily on word studies.  I recall one of my seminary professors noting that “back in the day” he was taught that with every sermon a pastor ought to perform at least one detailed and in-depth word study, chasing down the words use across the whole of Scripture, Septuagint, Rabbinical literature, and non-biblical usages.  The exegetical method of the day hinged on studying the lexical background of words and evaluating what other meanings they might contain or contexts in which they might appear.  The result of this endeavor, in my opinion, has produced a low view of grammar and context and has given more than a few well-meaning individuals just enough knowledge of the original languages to be dangerous.  Let me show you what I mean.

My Story

When I was 16, I received my first study Bible.  My parents allowed me to pick whichever one I wanted, and I picked a leather-bound Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible.  This was likely a rather expensive birthday gift, but to my parents, it was worth it to have their son excited about digging into the texts of Scripture.  If you are not familiar with this Bible, the uniqueness is found in the “keywords.”  Throughout this Bible, one can find links to reference notes from the Strong’s concordance.  The editors had marked off certain words as “keywords” and included next to these words a footnote of sorts containing the Strong’s concordance numbers, linking each word to the Strong’s notes given for that particular Greek or Hebrew root word.  This Bible also featured an abbreviated Strong’s Concordance in the back of the Bible, so whenever one desired to look up a keyword in the concordance, he or she would simply flip back and look up the number associated with the keyword.  Upon doing so the researcher would find all the listed glosses that Strong’s Concordance had for that word.

As a young and eager student of the Word, the ability to “look up the Greek” opened new doors for me!  I was constantly flipping back to the concordance to determine the original meaning of a word and to see if the translators got it right.  I suppose you can say my experience with the original languages began long before I even learned Greek and Hebrew, and therein lies the problem!  In my juvenile understanding of how to use the languages I religiously looked up the Greek or Hebrew root words in the concordance looked at the various glosses given and picked whichever one I deemed most appropriate.  In doing this I found what I realize now were insignificant nuances in the meaning of words as I looked up these glosses.  I would also compare how specific words were used in other parts of Scripture and compare how they were translated.  Upon finding these nuances, I mused to myself— “hmmm, this word can also mean this . . . interesting!”  What I never realized until later is that given my lack of knowledge of the languages, I had no metric for determining which use of a word should be used given a specific context.  In my mind it was a “free for all” and whatever resonated with my thoughts was fair game.  Essentially, I was dabbling with the languages just enough to be dangerous!

I suppose that these errors were not completely my fault.  I can link them specifically back to preaching that I had heard from well-meaning men who themselves had little or no formal training in the languages.  After hearing that “this word can also mean this” in sermon after sermon, I suppose the concept caught on.  I thought: “the benefit of the languages is being able to see what other definitions of a word are available and might not appear in the translation of the day.”  Boy was I wrong!  Let me point out that this method has been practiced by well-meaning and godly men, most of whom were doing the best they could with the training and ability they had.  Many of them were operating under the influence of their training in Bible college or seminary, and in that sense were only doing what they have been taught to do.  So, while I am not trying to point the blame directly at these well-meaning men of God, I am trying to point out how some of these problems have developed.  Perhaps you are reading this and think— “what is the problem here?”  Let me explain.

What Gives Meaning?

Words have several different types of meanings.  One could note the dictionary definition of a word—all the meanings listed in a dictionary, or in this case a lexicon.  One could also note a contextual use of a word—certain words mean certain things based on the context in which they appear.  Ultimately a direct link exists between the dictionary definition of a word and the contextual definition of a word because as a word is used in context to convey meaning, that usage appears in the dictionary or lexicon.  A dictionary, lexicon, or concordance is simply a compilation of every meaning a word has taken on given any number of contexts.  Think of it like a cache of meanings all listed in one location without linking the meanings to a specific context.  We should also point out a third type of meaning—a cultural meaning.  Certain words have a specific meaning in a specific context as well as during specific periods of time.  Much of this can be seen with the King James Version of the Bible in which certain words meant one thing during the 1700s but mean something different today.  The question we want to ask is this: “where does meaning come from?”  Does meaning come from the dictionary, lexicon, or concordance, or does meaning come from the context in which the word appears?  I am arguing that meaning comes chiefly from context, not the dictionary.  A dictionary is simply a storehouse of all the possible meanings, but that is based on how certain words are used in context and culture.

Putting It All Together

Therefore, to determine meaning by simply looking up a Greek or Hebrew word in a concordance or lexicon yields little benefit.  What truly gives meaning is not the fact that one has looked up a word in Strong’s Concordance, but the context and words surrounding a given word.  Words take on meaning from their context; they are not given meaning from a concordance.  Let me illustrate this: suppose I told you I was going to the store.  Where would you expect me to go?  Well, unless you know me well and understand what I am going for, you have no way of knowing what type of store I am talking about.  I could mean a grocery store, gas station, arts and crafts store, sports and outdoors store, or even a bunker I have outback with guns and ammo.  All these fit with the definition of store.  You can look up the word store in the dictionary, but that will not help you to know what I mean when I use the word.  Only context will tell what I mean by going to the store.  Suppose I say, “I am going to the store for gas,” then obviously I am going to a gas station.  If I am going to pick up some pieces of lumber, this would point you to the hardware store.  If I am going to replenish my stash of guns and ammo, you might think of a sporting goods store or maybe even that I have a bunker out back.  Regardless, the meaning comes from context, not from looking up the word in a dictionary.  My endeavors as a teenager to look up the Greek and Hebrew, as well-intended as they were, only confounded my problems in interpretation because I had no knowledge of the grammar surrounding a particular word in Greek or Hebrew nor could I interpret that grammar.  I could not understand the context in its truest sense, so how could I understand the meaning?

Final Thoughts

What do we do with all of this?  Certainly, word studies are not completely ineffective, but it is the job of the exegete to perform “linguistic triage” when it comes to unpacking a text of Scripture.  Certain words are worth study and certain words are not, and Bible interpreters need to be skilled at spotting the difference!  Certain words are multifunction words that can have any number of meanings given a context.  These might not require an in-depth word study into the classical or non-biblical use of the word.  Some words, however, appear only once or rarely in the Scriptures, and studying their use outside of the Canon of Scriptures can provide great benefit.  Certain words take on meaning when paired with other specific words—interpreters need to grasp this!  Certain words might mean one thing when appearing in a certain tense or form but might tend to take on another meaning in another tense—interpreters need to be aware of this, and this knowledge cannot be found in a concordance!  Great skill is required to delve into the deep waters of Greek and Hebrew, and interpreters need to take great care when endeavoring to unpack the original languages!  I am not saying to “leave exegesis for the experts.”  I am not saying that laypeople cannot understand or unpack certain exegetical nuances in the Scriptures.  What I am suggesting is that interpreters need to know their abilities and keep that in check.  Generally speaking, I find that either you can do your linguistic work, or you cannot.  Men and women who have gone to seminary and spent several years studying the languages usually can do their linguistic word.  But if you only had a year or two of Greek and have lost most of it since seminary, do not endeavor to do your linguistic work!  I am not saying you cannot understand the languages, but if you cannot do the work yourself, determine to rely on those who can.  Rather than doing what I did as a teenager in using a concordance to pick out whatever definition I liked, crack open a trusted exegetical commentary from an evangelical scholar and listen to the author explain the exegesis.  If you have had some training, you will be able to follow the logic and argument and will walk away with a better understanding of the passage than if you went to a concordance instead.  Interpreting Scripture is a very weighty task!  Interpreters need to know their depth and commit to utilizing the resources necessary to help them unpack and understand the Word of God.  Some can do more than others, but no matter what you can or cannot do there is no excuse for not getting the text right!