Word Study for Sermon Preparation
The challenge of words
Once, when I was a teenager growing up in Mexico, my grandmother from Texas came to visit. About the same time, there was a young lady named Rufe who came every day to our home to help with cooking and cleaning, freeing my Mom to do mission work and to teach us kids. Rufe spoke no English, and Grandma spoke no Spanish. But this didn’t stop them from having long, animated conversations. Grandma and Rufe liked each other a lot, but when we asked each of them what they had been talking about, it became clear that they had been having two completely different conversations! They got along great, but communication was not happening.
As I have said in a previous post, words are symbols that convey meaning. But communication only happens when the word carries the same meaning for the person receiving it as it does for the person sending it. As Grandma and Rufe discovered, it’s possible to think we understand, while missing the meaning altogether.
This is the challenge we face when we try to communicate the meaning of an ancient text accurately to a contemporary audience. The words of the text, written in a different language, a different time, and a different place, don’t necessarily correspond directly to words in our own. Even in the original language, a word may have multiple shades of meaning. And because every language changes over time, pinpointing the precise meaning of a word at the time it was used in our text can be tricky.
How do we address the problem of words? This is an ongoing and daunting challenge for anyone who wishes to preach the Scriptures faithfully. As with any other challenge in our path from text to sermon, it helps to have a process. Such a process is the subject of this post. Here are eight steps I have found helpful:
1. Compare Translations.
Every translation of the Bible represents the efforts of a biblical scholar (or more often a team of scholars) to address all of the problem of words. They have labored intensely over every word and each phrase to create a translation that is as accurate as possible in its interpretation of the original meaning, and as clear as possible in the contemporary language. Begin your focus on the words of the text by tapping into these extraordinary efforts of people who have devoted their lives to this task.
Compare several translations. Pay special attention to those places where there are slight or even significant differences among the translations. This will help you in at least two ways. First, it will alert you to the problem spots in the text – the places where discerning the original meaning, or translating it accurately into modern English, is particularly difficult. Second, it will provide you with various options for resolving these problems – scholars’ best attempts to bring the meaning forward.
2. Familiarize Yourself with the Words.
Now it is time to begin to wrestle with the words yourself. Use whatever skills and/or tools you have at your disposal to work through the text step by step, giving focused attention to those problem spots that you identified in step 1.
If you have studied the original language, you have some advantage at this point, but even if you haven’t, you can still use tools that are readily available. An interlinear Bible can give you an idea of how the sentences are formed and thoughts are developed in the text, as well as which Greek or Hebrew words are behind the translations. Bible Software, such as Logos or Accordance, can streamline this step significantly by giving you quick access to the basic shades of meaning of each word in the text.
I have found that the most helpful exercise at this stage of the study is to make your own translation (if you have some familiarity with the original language) or paraphrase (working from various translations) of the text. This helps you by forcing you to ponder each word and phrase in the passage. By the time you are done, you have a much more detailed understanding of all of the words, and how they work together in the passage.
3. Choose Words for Further Study
You can’t do an in-depth study of every word in the passage, nor do you need to. But you can, based on steps 1 & 2, identify two or three key words that warrant further attention. I suggest choosing these words based on two criteria:
Which words are particularly difficult? By now you have had ample opportunity to recognize the word or words in the text that are problematic. Perhaps they are the words that translators have wrestled with most, or perhaps they are simply words that you know your hearers will not easily grasp. Either way, digging deeper to help you to understand and explain the nuances of meaning will be worth the effort.
Which words are particularly important? Perhaps a word appears several times within a passage, alerting you to its importance. Or perhaps it represents a concept upon which the meaning of the entire passage hinges. Set aside a truly significant word or two for further study.
4. Consider the Context
The place to begin, once you have selected a word or words to study, is the immediate context. What meaning of the word makes most sense in the sentence in which it appears? Are there clues from the paragraph or chapter that might suggest a nuance? You are likely to discern a pretty accurate meaning just from context alone. And having a good grasp of context will help you to evaluate every other insight you might find in the next several steps.
5. Consider other uses of the word.
The next step to take in your study of a word is to look at other uses of the same Greek or Hebrew word. In this step, I suggest spiraling outward from the immediate context. Does the word appear in the same chapter? In the same book? In other books by the same author? How is it used across the spectrum of biblical literature? If you are studying a Greek word from the New Testament, you might even search the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) to see how the word might have been used there. In many cases, you will find that the word is not even translated the same way in other places. The value of this exercise is to get a good picture of the various nuances of the word as it is used in other contexts.
You might wonder how to find all of the various occurrences of a Greek or Hebrew word in the Bible. If you happen to have some Bible Software like Logos or Accordance, this task will be pretty easy. Simply do a search for the word. But even if you don’t, you can find this information fairly easily by using a Strong’s Concordance. Look at all of the occurrences on Strong’s list that have the same Strong’s number (representing the Greek or Hebrew root) as the one you are studying.
6. Consider similar words (synonyms).
How would you find synonyms for a biblical word? Using the same tools, you can examine other Greek or Hebrew words that are also translated with the same English word. The key here is to note the similarities, but especially the differences. What is distinct about this particular word choice? Why did the biblical author choose to use this particular word rather than one of the others?
7. Consult reference works to determine the full range of meanings.
Now it’s time to go to the theological wordbooks, the Bible dictionaries, and the lexicons to explore the meaning of the word. Here you will likely find much information you have already discovered on your own, such as ways the word is used in other contexts. This will serve to fill in any gaps that might remain, or simply confirm the impressions you have had from steps 4, 5, and 6. The usefulness of your reference works will be enhanced by the fact that you have already done this original work
You may also learn something about the history of the word – its original meaning and the way it developed over time. You will want to be careful about putting too much emphasis on these etymological details. They can be helpful, but remember the meaning we are after is the one that was in use in the time and place that it is used in your passage’s context.
8. Write your definition and thoughts.
Finally, select the meaning that best fits the context in your passage, and take the time to write your own definition. Include your impressions and thoughts about the meaning of the of the word. Write this as you would explain it in your sermon, using whatever analogies, contrasts, and comparisons that you have discovered. If you decide that you need to explain this word in your exposition, you will be glad you have this concise, original, and hearer-friendly definition to use.
This may seem like a lot of steps for one small piece of your sermon preparation. However, it need not consume a lot of time. Depending on the tools you have at your disposal (software, dictionaries, lexicons, etc.) this process should take ten to fifteen minutes. The dividends that you reap in terms of your own understanding of difficult and/or important words in your text will be well worth the effort!
