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Feed Yourself Lesson Nineteen

How To Do A Word Study

"All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge." Pr. 8:8-9

In this lesson, we will look at doing a Word Study. Every word in Scripture is divinely inspired. The Holy Spirit chose certain words and not others to express His thoughts and will. In a Word Study, we examine the words used, what they mean, and how the Holy Spirit used them in Scripture to communicate the mind of God. Sometimes the meaning of a verse is so plain that a Word Study doesn't matter; on the other hand, there are many times when the knowledge of the meaning and shades of meaning of a word can add additional insight that is not obvious at first glance. Remember the fish!

For example, in John 21:15-17, where Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, our English versions consistently use the word “love” each time. In the Greek, Peter and Jesus used different words for love until the third time, when Jesus used the word that Peter had been using. A word study would reveal the two different words used and their different shades of meaning.

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To do a Word Study, you need three tools: Your Bible, an exhaustive concordance with Hebrew and Greek Words [like Strongs], and a Bible Dictionary. You may want to review Lesson 12, which covers how to use a concordance. A Bible Dictionary is important because it will give a more detailed definition than is found in a concordance. There are several online ones available, although not all words are listed in a Dictionary.

You can download the example Word Study Chart to refer to as you read the following instructions.

Step one is to choose the English word you'd like to study and find it in the concordance. If you select a word with many references, you may need to limit some. If you have to limit your verses, make sure you have a representative for each Hebrew or Greek word used and try to select verses from each book where it is used [unless you only want to study the usage in one book or Testament].

For our example, we will use the word "faint." If you look it up in a physical Strong's Exhaustive Concordance [SEC], you will see the note at the beginning of the list "See also Fainted; Faintest; Fainteth, Fainthearted." A complete Word Study would also examine those words. For our purposes, we will stick with "faint."

For step two, take a quick look down at the numbers in the physical SEC. This tells us that there are many different words that have been translated as "faint." A look at the online SEC tells us that "faint" appears 41 times in the KJV, but we would have to look up each verse to see which Hebrew or Greek word was used. Open the Hebrew lexicon. Search for the word "faint." This will provide you with a list of all the Hebrew words that are translated as "faint." [Note: each word is listed twice, once for its appearance in the KJV and once for its appearance in the New American Standard Version. For our purposes, we are using the KJV.] In the online versions, both the concordance and lexicons are combined to give the same information, so it is easier to use the concordance.

If you are using the online SEC, you will need to look up every verse which appears under your search term of "faint" and then click on the word "faint" in the actual verse. That will provide you with the necessary information. On your Word Study Chart, record the Strong's Number, the word name, the main definition, other words which are used to translate this word, and the Scripture reference. Go to the following reference and repeat.

When you are finished with the Old Testament, draw two or three lines across the chart and then begin with the New Testament words.

If you are using a physical SEC, record each Strong's number, and record all the references for that number. Then look the number up in the back of the SEC and record the name, the definition, and other ways this word is translated.

A look at our example completed Word Study Chart for "faint" reveals that many Hebrew words are translated as "faint," with meanings ranging from sickness to exhaustion to discouragement. In the New Testament, there are only two words which are translated as "faint."

This is the foundation. From here, you decide where you want to go according to the purpose of your study. You could:

1. Choose one of the Hebrew/Greek words and search out more detailed definitions in dictionaries and lexicons. This is good for studying word usage. You would be looking for how the Bible uses a particular word and in what context. For example, does the Hebrew word for “day” always mean a 24-hour day? If not, are there clues in the verses to tell us when it is used as a 24-hour day and when it is not?

2. Choose one of the Hebrew/Greek words and look up all the references that use that word, doing a devotional study on selected passages in light of the word's definition.

3. Choose one of the Hebrew/Greek words and look up verse[s] that use that word and analyze the verse or chapter.

4. Do another Word Study

5. Do any combination of the above.

WEEK NINETEEN PROJECT

1. Select a word from the book on which you did your book survey. Do a Word Study on that word. If it is a word with a lot of references, you may limit your study to the New Testament. Download the Word Study Form. Study the sample given for greater understanding.

2. Continue with your daily reading/memorization program.

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Reference Works Used In This Course:

Bible Study Methods by Mrs. Shirley Davis

The International Inductive Study Bible by Harvest House Publishers

Effective Bible Study by Howard F. Vos, Zondervan

How To Understand Your Bible by T. Norton Sterrett, IVP

How To Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur, Harvest House

Independent Bible Study by Irving L. Jensen, Moody

How To Study The Bible For Yourself by Tim LaHaye, Harvest House

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