READING TIME: 2-4 MINUTES
March 16, 2020
I’ve heard you mention “Exegetical Fallacies” in class. Could you give some examples of these? I hear Bible teachers mention certain Greek words and then they give an English word that comes from that Greek word. What’s the problem with doing that?
A proper interpretation of words is an important step in interpreting particular passages. Always remember that words take on their meaning depending on the context in which they are found. Be careful that you don’t put too much emphasis on etymology (i.e., the history of words; the root[s] of words) (see the following excellent books by D.A. Carson (Exegetical Fallacies) and Moises Silva (Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics).
The Proper Use of Etymologies – Here is an example of the possible danger of etymologies in the English language. The word “nice” comes from the Latin word nescius, meaning “ignorant.” As you know, most people don’t know Latin but they still know what the word “nice” means. This word and all words take on their meaning depending on how they are used in their contexts (Carson 28).
You can usually ignore etymology and the meanings that words had at an earlier or later point in the history of the language. The correct meaning for both speaker and hearer is one of the possible meanings available at the time of utterance.
The use of etymology in the Hebrew OT — Etymology plays a bigger role in the Hebrew OT than it does in the Greek NT since in the Hebrew OT about 25% of the 8,000 words are only used one time (called, hapax legomena). In this case, etymology, along with the use of related Semitic languages and the context are important. So, as a general rule, etymology does not furnish meaning, but if you have no other information about an unknown word, it may help you by giving you direction for your best guess (Silva 35-51; Carson 26-32).
“Words” versus “Ideas” — When endeavoring to ascertain the meaning of a Hebrew or Greek word, use a standard lexicon (Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT or Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the OT). Don’t use a theological dictionary (Theological Dictionary of the OT and Theological Dictionary of the NT) when trying to figure out what a word means. So, for studying words, a good lexicon is the best. If you are interested in ideas (what the Theological Dictionaries are more concerned with), don’t limit yourselves to just the words. Use a good Bible encyclopedia or a volume on biblical theology or systematic theology (Silva 22-32). If you do use Theological Dictionaries, it is vital as you are reading it to continually ask yourself if a word or concept is being discussed. If these two things are mixed, they can invite distortions of word meanings.
It is important to make a distinction between questions about the meanings of words and from questions about the theological views or commitments of biblical authors (beliefs, “concept,” theology). Beware of appeals to “root” meaning or importing nice-sounding theology that is an illustration or a thought belonging to other passages.
Single Sense — Each word has a single sense in any one context, with a few exceptions. One exception is in John 1:5. Read footnote 13 in the NET Bible’s notes on this verse (the footnote after “not mastered it”). Do not overload a word with all the meanings or associations that it has in all its contexts (called, “illegitimate totality transfer”). By overloading the word, the result looks “richer,” but is inaccurate. Look at the list of meanings in the lexicon, and choose the one meaning that best fits the context (Silva 25-26, 148-156; Carson 62). When a word does have several distinct senses, use the surrounding context to determine which sense is used in your passage. On the average or in general, narrower contexts (a phrase, sentence, or paragraph) have more weighty influences than broad contexts (a whole book, historical situation) (Silva 138-159; Carson 45-66).
Sources Used
Carson, D.A. Exegetical Fallacies. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.
Silva, Moises. Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.
