Bible Word Studies: A How-to Guide

Top Highlights

“Word studies aren’t inherently bad—they’ve just gotten a bad reputation from misuse, and they are challenging to do well. I enjoyed the challenge of contemplating a word’s meaning based not on what the dictionary said it meant but on careful review of how the word was used in context. A good word study consists of more than just a list of words from the dictionary—that’s just raw data. A good word study tells you what the word means in context.” (source)

“The names of God in Genesis emphasize God’s relationship with his people. They show us the connection between the sovereign creator in Genesis 1, and the redeemer who would keep his promises and deliver a nation in Exodus. They tell us who our God is.” (source)

“The biblical notion of hypocrisy doesn’t concern occasional failures. It refers to an ongoing deception in which people pretend to be something they are not and pretend to know God in a way that they do not.” (source)

“Genesis 2–3, on the other hand, is the only section of Genesis that uses Yahweh Elohim (יהוה אלהים)—a claim that Elohim the creator is Yahweh.” (source)