For Bible Students: Be Cautious Doing Word Studies.

Some common mistakes in biblical interpretation!   Occasionally and from time to time I hope to write some short blogs on this topic.  Much of what I say will be based upon Dr. D.A. Carson's work: Exegetical Fallacies[1].   I do hope that as you consider what is identified as a misleading notion, it will not only aid your own study but cause all of us to be discerning about what we hear and read from other sources.

Some years ago, in my experience, a common exercise that Christians would go through in seeking to understand the Bible is by doing word studies. I came love word studies, particularly the etymology of words.  That word simply means the origin.  For example we have a word in our Bible that we love identified as Gospel.  An online Etymological Dictionary teaches us that this word comes from the old English made up of two words: good and spel; or good story, good message.  The English is a translation from Latin bona adnuntiatio which is a translation of the Greek: euangelion.  Greek scholars tell us that this means good tidings.  At a funeral we often have a eulogy which has the same root.  It's where someone has a good word to say about the deceased. 

Now here's the problem.  Not every word study will give us an accurate meaning of the biblical word.  For example we are told that the Greek word μονογενής, monogenes as used in John 3:16 means "only begotten".  But a careful use of the word in the Bible reveals that it cannot mean "the only one born to". In fact although "only begotten" is the right meaning of monogenes, that is not the right biblical interpretation of that word.  The accurate interpretation is closer to the idea that God gave His unique Son.  We determine that not by its historical meaning, but by it usage in the Bible.  

We shouldn't ignore root studies of words, but we should do them in line with inductive study of the word in the Bible.  Carson writes, "I am simply saying that the meaning of a word cannot be reliably determined by etymology, or that a root, once discovered, always projects a certain semantic load onto any word that incorporates that root."[2]

So when you read or hear that such and such a word means a certain thing because it is made up of two compound words: this and that -- you are to question that statement.  The compound structure of the word and the historic meaning of the word may not totally align with the Biblical use of that same word.  We need to search the Scriptures to see if it is so!

Word studies are good, but be careful.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV)  

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[1] Carson, D. A.. Exegetical Fallacies, Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[2] Carson, D. A.. Exegetical Fallacies (p. 32). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.