TO THE BIBLE WORD TECHNICIANS AMONG US
There has been some beating over the head with Strong's
Concordance now and then, some may feel their head is level with
their shoulders, after all Strong's is strong for a heavy book
that is (mine is so warn out after 35 years it isn't strong
anymore, but falls apart when I pick it up).
Good old Strong's - a fine piece of work overall, BUT far
from being complete unless you know a few more tricks in how to
use it. Yet those tricks would take mammoths amount of time to
use fully. Strong's is great for being able to find EVERY WORD
used in the KJV. Some of us turn to the Hebrew and Greek meanings
and that's where some head bashing begins. As most Hebrew and
Greek scholars know Strong was not trying to be a complete
authoritative reference for those languages but a small help to
those who only spoke English. For that reason we have many (some
many volumes in length) Hebrew and Greek word dictionaries on the
market today.
One of the major problems seen early on by some, concerning
Strong's Hebrew and Greek, was that many words, like that in
English can have slightly different meanings within a certain
context. We in English have the word "present." Now I can use it
in a context of giving a gift to someone on their wedding day, so
"here is my present to you for your wedding." Or I can use it in
the context of being in a certain place with someone, so I say:
"I was present when the twister took the roof off our house, our
daughter was with me." So it can be with Hebrew and Greek.
What must be done to try and get the OVERVIEW of words say
in the Greek NT, is to be able to view them as a package in one
set. To see a word, within each context in every place it is used
in the scriptures. That way the totality of the word is felt and
usually comes out to meet you. Now it is possible to do this with
Strong's. The little number for the word would have to be found
everywhere within pages. As you can gather that would be VERY
time consuming.
Fortunately for us, God inspired George Wigram(1805-1879)
to do all the leg work for us. I refer to his monumental books
THE ENGLISHMAN'S GREEK CONCORDANCE and THE ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW
AND CHALDEE CONCORDANCE OF THE OT.
Both are still in print, even on PC Bible programs
today.
Now if you want to be a technician of sorts with the Greek
and Hebrew, then please, PLEASE, save yourself some painful leg
work and what could be misleading teaching if not down and out
FALSE teaching to others (that's one reason James wrote
what he wrote in James 3:1, see it in the Greek Interlinear). If
you want to try your hand at being a head basher with Hebrew and
Greek words, then YOU MUST AT LEAST HAVE THE TWO ABOVE BOOKS
ALONG WITH STRONG'S.
Then after you have those three volumes, I strongly
recommend you move along to high school level and have at least A
FEW of the many works by real (I'm not saying Mr. Strong was not)
Hebrew and Greek scholars (who devoted most of their lives to
those languages of the Bible). For the OT you have such works as:
THE THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF THE OT (in two volumes). And for both
Old and New such fine works as VINE'S COMPLETE EXPOSITORY
DICTIONARY. There is also THAYER'S GREEK -ENGLISH LEXICON OF THE
NT. If you have the money you may want to buy the multi-volume
word Dictionaries.
For the technical word technicians among us I recommend you
be on the mailing list of CBD(Christian Book Distribution - a
wholesale book company).
Now, with all that said, the word "speak" in 1 Cor.14:34,35
can be an example. Ah, go to the Englishman's Greek Con. page
443, see all the dozens upon dozens of places in the NT where it
is used. Go to Vine's and Thayer's. Do a little more research.
And you will also discover as Vine did that, "....the command
prohibiting women from speaking in a church gathering, vv 34,35,
is regarded by some as an injunction against chattering, a
MEANING WHICH IS ABSENT FROM THE USE OF THE VERB EVERYWHERE ELSE
IN THE NT; it is to be understood in the same sense as in vv.
2,3-6, 9, 11, 13, 18, 19, 21, 23, 27-29, 39." (Vine's page 590).
Some have brought up the words "man" and "woman" in the
passage of 1 Tim.2:12 and its context, as properly meaning "wife"
and "husband." Welllll.....that is only a HALF TRUTH at best,
and using a half truth can create a lie and falsehood. So get the
books out, do a little more technical study you tech's and find
the WHOLE truth and nothing but the whole truth. Many a false
doctrine has been built upon the foundation of half truths
or no truth at all.
Oh, one last word to our tech's. You need to have MANY Bible
translations, especially those translations compiled by "groups"
of men, scholars in Hebrew and Greek.
You know the proverb; "In the multitude of counsel there is
safety." Groups of scholars must hash things over as a team,
correct each other, put many minds on the same problem to solve.
I also have some translations by individual scholars like Fenton,
and Phillips.
No, sorry, above is not the last word. This is it: When you
feel it is too hard trying to be too technical with words, then
remember you will probably understand the passage quite easily by
simply reading the context, putting verse with verse, and just
having the mind of a child, for it is often just as Jesus said,
"I thank you Lord that you have hidden these things from the wise
and prudent and have revealed them unto babes."
Happy studying.
...............
Keith Hunt(Oct.1996)
