Principles of Word Study

		For your aid, I here provide an oversimplified, but still valuable, summary of the most significant principles deriving from Moisés Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning.  For a more elaborate summary, see the material below by John H. Hughes.  I have also included page numbers from Don A. Carson’s book, Exegetical Fallacies.

•	World views.  Do not deduce philosophical or theological conclusions about a Hebrew or Greek world view by appealing to features of Hebrew or Greek language, whether vocabulary stock, morphology, or syntax.  Silva, pp. 18-21; Carson, pp. 44-45.
•	Words and concepts.  Carefully distinguish questions about the meanings of words (lexicography) from questions about the theological views or commitments of biblical authors (beliefs, “concepts”, theology).  When you want to know the meaning of a word, use a standard Greek or Hebrew lexicon.  When you want to know about beliefs or concepts, use a Bible encyclopedia or a volume on biblical theology or systematic theology.  Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament and other so-called “theological” dictionaries are methodologically confused, since they mix these two questions.  Silva, pp. 22-32.
•	Etymology.  Ignore the meanings that words had at an earlier or later point in the history of the language.  The correct meaning for both speaker and hearer is one of the possible meanings available at the time of utterance.  The standard lexicons often provide some etymological information at the beginning of their entry for a word, but the distinct senses that they list are senses available during biblical times.  Silva, pp. 35-51; Carson, pp. 26-32.
•	Single sense.  Each word has a single sense in any one context.  Do not overload a word with all the meanings or associations that it has in all its contexts (“illegitimate totality transfer”, Silva, p. 25-26).  Look at the list of meanings in the lexicon, and pick the one meaning that best fits the context.  Silva, pp. 148-56; Carson, pp. 62.
•	Context.  When a word has several distinct senses, use the surrounding context to determine which sense is used in your passage.  On the average, narrower contexts (a phrase, sentence, or paragraph) have more weighty influence than broad contexts (a whole book, historical situation).  But any one of these contexts may sometimes provide the decisive guidance in choosing between two or more possible meanings.  Silva, pp. 138-59; Carson, pp. 45-66.
•	Redundancy.  Joos’ Law: the best meaning is the least meaning.  Select that sense which adds the least new information to the context.  Silva, pp. 153-54.
•	Single grammatical function.  Grammatical constructions, like words, may have a number of distinct possible functions.  But in any one context they signal only one function out of the total list.  Avoid interpreting a text “both ways,” even when both ways are theologically orthodox.  Silva, pp. 150-51.
•	Grammatical vagueness.  Grammatical functions of a tense or a case are quite vague.  Avoid overreading the significance of the genitive or dative case or of the aorist tense.  Carson, pp. 69-80.

Example 1 for Dealing with Words

John 8:49

a)pekri¿qh  ¹Ihsou=j,  ¹EgwÜ daimo/nion ou)k eÃxw, a)lla\ timw½ to\n pate/ra mou, kaiì u(meiÍj a)tima/zete/ me.  

Assignment: DETERMINE the sense of timw½ in John 8:49.

Step 1.  Search: what alternative senses are listed in the lexicon (BAG)?

Step 2.  Evaluate: do the headings represent distinct senses?

Step 3.  Decide: which sense occurs in John 8:49?  What grounds do you have for your conclusion?

Example 2 for Dealing with Words

Isaiah 51:22

wêoMa( byØiræy ü|éyóahol)¢w hèfwhºy |éyØanodA) rîamf)-h×oK		
hÕfl"(:raTah swØoK-te) |Ù"dæYim yiT:xÖaqfl hÛ"Nih		
;dw×o( HÙftOT:$il yipyÛisOt-)ol yêitfmAx swØoK üta(óaBuq-te)		

Assignment: DETERMINE the sense of yipyisOt  in Isaiah 51:22.

Step 1.  Search: what alternative senses are listed in the lexicon (BDB)?

Step 2.  Evaluate: do the headings represent distinct senses?

Step 3.  Decide: which sense occurs in Isaiah 51:22?  What grounds do you have for your conclusion?

Example 3 for Dealing with Words

Isaiah 52:7

yØ"l:gar {yðirfheh-la( Uíw)æN-ham
{wÖolf$ a(yÓim:$am rè">ab:m
hÕf(U$ºy a(yØim:$am bwÙo+ rÛ">ab:m
;|éy×fholE) |Ûalfm }wÙoYic:l rÛ"mo)

Assignment: DETERMINE the sense of hf(U$ºy in Isaiah 52:7.

Step 1.  Search: what alternative senses are listed in the lexicon (BDB)?

Step 2.  Evaluate: do the headings represent distinct senses?

Step 3.  Decide: which sense occurs in Isaiah 52:7?  What grounds do you have for your conclusion?

Homework for Dealing with Words

Isaiah 52:12

	כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ
וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכ֑וּן
כִּי־הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם יְהֹוָה
וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם אֱלֹהֵי יִשְֹרָאֵֽל׃

Assignment: DETERMINE the sense of וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם in Isa 52:12.

Step 1.  Search: what alternative senses are listed in the lexicon (BDB)?
	(Hint: make sure you look under the right stem of the verb.)

Step 2.  Evaluate: are senses 2. and 3. distinct senses?

Step 3.  Decide: which sense occurs in Isa 52:12?  What grounds do you have for your conclusion?

Extra challenge: Criticize the following statement: “ וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם comes from the root אסף , which has the primary meaning ‘gather.’  The rear guard ‘gathers up’ the rear.  Hence God’s protection includes the gathering of his people into one, and prevention of straying.”

Optional Homework for Dealing with Words

John 8:46

τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας; εἰ ἀλήθειαν λέγω,
διὰ τί ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετέ μοι;

Assignment: DETERMINE the sense of ἁμαρτίας in John 8:46.

Step 1.  Search: what alternative senses are listed in the lexicon (BAG)?

Step 2.  Evaluate: do the headings represent distinct senses?

Step 3.  Decide: which sense occurs in John 8:46?  What grounds do you have for your conclusion?