Word Studies

I have been invited to participate in publication of The Strait Way by writing a brief word study for each issue. Some would probably feel that "word studies" may not be a very appealing topic, but word studies are important for several reasons, and I hope that the readers will not only learn from the studies presented, but will also be encouraged to study more carefully all the words used by inspired men.

Our Creator in His infinite wisdom has revealed His will unto man in a message transferred to us through human language. As Paul the apostle wrote, "...It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21). Words are the vehicles of thoughts and ideas. A man with the most profound ideas cannot share them with his fellow man without using words commonly understood. Paul emphasized the importance of words in God's revelation: "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Corinthians 2:13). The Holy Spirit compares spiritual "things," or ideas, with spiritual words, and thus reveals the mind of God to men. That being the case, it is incumbent upon us to study carefully the words chosen by the Spirit and thereby to understand more fully and precisely God's ideas.

A major hurdle for man to overcome in understanding God's message is that of translation from the biblical languages to our own. We are fortunate to have several good translations of the Bible in the English language, but it is important that we recognize that no two languages can be made to match perfectly. Because a language is the product of the culture that uses it, something is often lost or gained in putting an English word or phrase for a Hebrew or Greek word. The best translators cannot precisely convey all of the heritage that words have behind them as they translate. Thus, we often help ourselves to a richer, clearer understanding of God's message by looking more carefully at the heritage of Bible words.

The words of extant languages change their meanings with time. Our dictionaries must be under constant revision not only because new words come into use, but also because old words take on new meanings. The biblical languages are long dead, but their words varied in meaning over the centuries that they were used. Take, for example, the Greek verb, "psallo," which is translated "making melody" in Ephesians 5:19. Its appearance there has been cited often as providing authority for instrumental music in worship, for the word at one time conveyed the idea of playing a stringed instrument. A careful study of the word, however, reveals that at the time the New Testament was written, the word no longer implied use of an instrument, therefore Paul did not enjoin worship by mechanical means, but "in the heart."