Helps for doing word studies

When trying to analyze the senses of a Hebrew word, one of the most difficult challenges for students is to get away from the standard English glosses of the word they are studying. The best way to achieve objectivity is to replace the English word with a transliteration of the Hebrew word in every verse you are considering.

In the following examples the Hebrew transliteration has been substituted for the English translation:

· Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the nephesh thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

· Leviticus 2:1 And when a nephesh will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense

· Isaiah 10:18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both nephesh and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.

When you write the results of your word study you should answer the following questions:

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How many times is the word used in the Old Testament? (This info. available in Young’s concordance)

What are the major glosses for it in the version you are using? (E.g., KJV glosses nephesh as “soul,” “life,” “person,” etc.)

Extra: How does the Septuagint translate it? This will reveal the links between NT and OT words.

Describe the word’s associative field. You are not describing the associative field of the English glosses (i.e., “When nephesh is translated as “body” it is associated with the word “dead.”) You are describing the associative field of the Hebrew word (e.g., the nephesh is described as alive (Gen. 1:24), dead (Lev. 21:11), dried up (Num. 11:6), etc.)

If the word is a NOUN:

· Of which verbs is it the subject?

· Of which verbs is it the object?

· How is this noun described? (e.g., a nephesh may be alive, dead, dried up, etc.)

· With what words is it juxtaposed or in parallel? (an example of juxtaposition is: Sheol and destruction)

· Does it have any synonyms? Synonymous parallelism (see Psalms and poetic books) can give you clues here (e.g., Psa. 24:1 shows that “world” is a synonym of “earth.”)

· In what way(s) is it distinct from its synonyms?

· Does it have any antonyms? Check for antithetic parallelism in Proverbs (e.g., Prov. 10:6 shows that “wicked” is an antonym of “righteous.”)

If the word is a VERB:

· Can it take personal subjects, impersonal subjects, or both?

· Can it take divine or human subjects or both?

· What are its objects? (personal?, impersonal?, human?, divine?)

· With what other verbs is it in parallel?

· Does it have any synonyms? In what way(s) is it distinct from its synonyms?

· What are its antonyms?

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State the senses of the word.

Illustrate the senses of the Hebrew word giving the verse reference and the pertinent portion of the verse. Compare and contrast the semantic domains (the senses) of the Hebrew word and the most common English gloss.

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Discuss passages where a proper understanding of the Hebrew word has a theological significance that might be missed by the English reader because of the AV translation.