Definition of a Word:

1
Words

• Definition of a Word

• Smallest unit of speech with complete meaning

• A group of letters arranged in a specific pattern
  to form a linguistic symbol representing an idea

• A brief statement (cf. Gal. 514) or command

• Promise

• News or tidings

• Scripture

• Logos--Creation Jesus divine communication

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Words

• Levels of Analysis

• Letter

• Phoneme a sound that serves to contrast meaning

• Morpheme the smallest grouping of letters with
  independent meaning

• Word

• Sentence

• Unit/paragraph/pericope

• Discourse/book

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Words

• Language is a triad of
• phonology (sound)
• morphology (spelling/structure)
• syntax (order)

Sound in the Bible
Alliteration (Psalm 119)
Assonance (1 Tim 316 Lamentations)
Paronomasia (pun) (Amos 82 qets qayits)
Onomatopoeia (Gen 12)
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Words

• Special Considerations

• Denotation vs. Connotation

• Words change in meaning

• Synonyms cf. Mt 2622-25 Lord vs. Rabbi
• A single Greek word may be translated by several
  English words.
• A single English word my represent several Greek
  words.

• Idioms

• Transliterations

• Religious Terminology

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Words

• Three Sources for
• a Word Study

• Dictionary

TCBL, NIDNTT, Kittle, BAG, etc.

• Usage

Concordances Computer, NIV, Strongs, Wigrams

• Context

The Bible
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Words

• Rules for defining a word

• Every word has only one intended meaning in each
  use -- the authors. (Barring, of course, puns
  and other figures of speech). Therefore, context
  and usage determines the definition of a word.
  The best way to determine the meaning of a word
  is to play mental follow the leader with the
  author.
• Words have multiple meanings within a given
  range. They also change, grow, get married, have
  kids, and sometimes die.

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Words

• Rules for defining a word

• Meaning is not found in words, or even in
  sentences, but in the pericope.
• Law of Parsimony All other factors being equal,
  the simplest explanation is to be preferred.
• Every word is interchangeable with its meaning.
• Clusters of a word in one passage may offer a
  good definition for the word.

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Words

• Rules for defining a word

• Words are to be understood literally unless the
  context demands otherwise this would include
  religious and technical terminology.
• New or rare words are defined by context, then
  etymology, the earliest versions, and finally by
  kindred languages and analogous words.
• Most N.T. authors are Hebraic in thought
  therefore one may need to trace the word back to
  the O.T.

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Words

• Rules for defining a word

• Synonyms, when used together, generally
  accentuate their similarity rather than their
  differences unless a particularly acute
  distinction is being made. This is especially
  true in poetry.

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Words

• Steps for Researching a Word

• Context

• Translations (See Wilson Gardner p. 87)

• Concordances Clusters, authors, dates, language

• Etymology

• Non-Biblical usage history of the word

• Synonyms/Antonyms

• Dictionaries and Word Studies

• Commentaries

• Context

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Words

• Errors in Word Studies

Etymology
1. Looking Back

• English examples--Butterfly, Pineapple, comfort.

• Greek examples--UPERETES under-rower MONOGENES
  Only begotten.

2. Looking Forward

• Dynamite--Rom. 116, Hilarious giver--2 Cor. 97
  Metamorphosis, Rom. 122.

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Words

• Errors in Word Studies

Badly Used Definitions
1. Definitions that are obsolete, unknown or
unlikely

• MARTUS--cf. Carson, p. 35.

• Berkeley Mickelsen, "The 'head' of the
  Epistles," CT 254 (Feb. 20, 1981)20-23.

2. Using rare meanings without contextual support

• A.T. Robinson and the used of eis in Acts 238 to
  mean "because of" rather than "into."

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Words

• Errors in Word Studies

Misuse of cultural background material
1. Craming background material into a word.

• Water (Jn. 35) male semen

• Tent-maker leather worker.

2. Linking language and cultural mindset

• Hebrew has no future tense. (Watch TDNT)

3. Semitic background in the Greek N.T.

• Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meanings, 53-73
  "Bilingualism and the Character of N.T. Greek"
  Bib 69 (1980) 198-219.

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Words

• Errors in Word Studies

Similarities between words
1. Parallelomania

• See Samuel Sandmel, "Parallelomania," JBL
  81(1962) 2-13.

2. Synonyms and false categories Words are more
like concentric circles than boxes.

• Abused Synonyms--Love (agapao and phileo) know
  (oida and ginosko) etc.

• Trench's synonyms of the N.T. is especially
  susceptible.