Some of my earlier suggestions for Bible study included learning about the numbering system in concordances and reverse interlinears. Both provide assistance for doing word studies. You need to know how to properly study biblical words in their original languages. Word studies are an important strategy for penetrating your English translation to gain insights for interpretation. Today I want to introduce the concept.
Learning how to study the Hebrew and Greek words behind your English translation is important for some simple reasons. One is that a wide range of English words in your translation might be translating the same original language word. That is, there is no one-for-one correspondence between the English word you read and an original language word. Many English Bible readers don’t realize this. When they do, it prompts some obvious questions: Why don’t translators use the same English word each time the original language word occurs? Shouldn’t they do that to be consistent in translation?
Another reason is the reverse of the above: a wide range of original language words might all get the same English word in a translation. Like English, Hebrew and Greek words have synonyms—words whose meanings are closely related (e.g., canine, dog, hound, pooch). There’s definite overlap with those terms, but there is also nuanced meaning. So it is with Hebrew and Greek. But you’ll never discover Hebrew and Greek synonyms if you can’t do word studies. Synonyms also prompt questions: Why would the biblical writer choose one word over another? Was he trying to communicate something by the choice?
Doing word study requires (a) detecting the original language word behind the English word, (b) finding all occurrences of that word, (c) asking good interpretive questions about how that word is used by biblical writers, and (d) having access to tools that analyze and discuss the meaning of original language words according to their usage in the Bible.
In the next few chapters, I’ll discuss some of the requirements for word study. I’ll also talk about how not to study words—logical fallacies in word study that lead to false conclusions and flawed interpretation. For now, realize that you’re at the mercy of translators unless you can get beyond your translation. Word study is a key to doing that.