Bible word studies!!

It is a common idea that doing Bible word studies is the method for digging deep into the Bible.

A common enough idea, but a myth. One propagated by some popular “expository” preachers, in fact, who take a somewhat useful tool and use it on all the wrong jobs.

To illustrate: if you were to do a Word Search Game on the Bible, the vast majority of words would be things like “is, are, the, a, an, some, of, this, that, to,” etc.

Here’s how the frequency list begins in the KJV, for example, and the same principle applies in the Hebrew and Greek –

Bible meaning:
it’s not just the words used the counts,
it’s the way they’re arranged.

Added note: a method that seeks to interpret the Bible by such breaking down of the text into its tiniest components is said to be “atomistic.”

“Bible word studies!!” by Gary S. Shogren, Professor of New Testament, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica

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Published in: on February 6, 2018 at 4:17 pm  Comments (2)  
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My Four Decades in the Bible, Part IV, Conclusion

Studying with my Logos Bible cap

Studying with my Logos Bible cap

Chapter Seven – I teach in seminary

I’ve now been a professor, teaching in English and then in Spanish, for 25 years.

The first seminary where I taught put us through a sort of Professor Boot Camp. Our academic dean stressed: “Your students will remember only a portion of the content you teach; they will always remember your attitudes and values.

That principle has been true as far as my memories: I can remember a few professors who came across as, well, self-satisfied, distant, or lethargic; I hope my impressions were mistaken.

Other professors seemed to be hard workers, careful students of the Word, loving individuals and encouraging. (more…)

Published in: on March 11, 2013 at 7:02 pm  Comments (5)  
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