Words With MANY Meanings? Week 4

Read the Bible Better STUDY

Without even thinking, we all give MEANING to the words we read and hear. But especially in the Bible, it may be very important to understand the intended meaning of a word so that we can understand how to read the Bible better.

How does one do this? A lexicon (like a dictionary) is a great place to start just to understand the simple marks on the page. (See What is Your Bible? for more questions about the actual words we end up reading.) This “level” of reading is the most basic understanding of words and sentences in the language in which it was originally written.

To do this step well, one should have a working knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew language, or at least have resources that deal with the original text (Bible Commentary, Pastor). This gives insight into the base meaning of the sentence before engaging in more complicated questions of meaning, intention, and application.

A common exploration of this level of meaning usually ends up to be no more than a “word study,” discovering the exhaustive breadth of what a single word may mean in the Bible.