Part One: Definitions

Transcription

1 3 It is a common tendency among human beings to fear what we do not understand. If we do not understand how something works and how it impacts our lives, we often respond by running away from it in fear. There are many examples in human history when people missed out on tremendous opportunities to improve their lives and understanding because they were fearful of some new information that they could not square with their traditionally held beliefs. Unfortunately, many have reacted this very way when offered the good news of the Gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ. The Bible may seem too difficult to understand, with language and cultural influences that seem completely foreign to life in the 21st century. Many young people view the Bible as merely an ancient book with long, dusty lists of rules and regulations. As a result, they often respond in fear and rejection to the Gospel. They misunderstand the Bible, so they conclude that it is a book to be feared rather than embraced. If, however, they can be taught how to properly understand the Gospel of glory, then they need not fear it, and they are free to respond to it instead. It has often been said that knowledge is power, and that certainly holds true when referring to the Word of God! Tools are designed to be used. A chain saw is a destructive, dangerous piece of equipment in the hands of an infant. Firearms become deadly if an individual is not properly trained in gun safety. The Bible was a mysterious, frightening book when it sat for centuries, chained to the altars of the Catholic church, unused and completely misunderstood by the common people. God never intended for this to happen! Satan, however, wants God s Word to be inaccessible and confusing to everyday people so that they are unable to partake of the POWER that God s Word grants! Part of what will make the Bible come alive for you is to be properly trained in how to use it! This study in the use of a concordance will help you learn how to properly understand the Bible. As you grow in your understanding, you will begin to be less and less intimidated by the Bible and more and more excited about it! It s not a list of do s and don ts...it s the key to eternal life itself! For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. - Hebrews 5:13-14 As you learn how to properly navigate and understand God s word through the use of a concordance, you will increasingly be able to practice righteousness, and, thus, be able to triumph over the potential stumbling blocks that Satan throws your way!

2 Part One: Definitions One of the primary uses of a concordance is to help us go back to the original language in which the Scriptures were written to get a clearer, more accurate definition of a word. It s funny, but we tend to view the events of the Bible as happening in our own language. Contrary to popular belief, however, Moses was not speaking English and the apostles were not speaking Spanish! The fact is that the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was originally written in Greek because they were the languages of the authors that God chose to write His Word through. So, when we look up a word in a concordance, we will be given a definition that comes from the original language. The concordance is divided up into three basic sections. The first, and largest, section is basically like a regular, English-language dictionary. It is arranged alphabetically and contains all of the English words used in both the Old and New Testaments. The second section is called the Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary (for use with Old Testament words) and the third section is the Greek Dictionary (for use with New Testament words). The Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries both have brief How To Tips at the beginning that you may want to read over for some additional pointers. The first portion of this study is to train you in using the concordance to help you define words from the Bible. You will be given a word in english, then you will need to look up the word and write down its original form in the Hebrew or Greek language, along with its definition. Check out the example below: EXAMPLE: Let s say that you re reading the following passage in Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. In your concordance, go to the m s and look up the word, mocked, just like you would if you were using a dictionary. There will be three narrow columns of information after you find mocked in bold lettering. The first column will give you a portion of the actual verse so that you have an idea of how the word is being used. You will notice that the word, mocked, is not actually spelled out here. Instead, there is just a bold m printed where the word mocked is used. If you look at the second column, you ll see abbreviated Scripture references. Find the one that says, Ga 6:7. In the third column you will see a number. In this case it is This is the reference number for the original Greek word that you will be finding. Go to the Greek Dictionary in the back of the concordance and find the number You will find a word in Greek that you probably cannot read whatsoever. That s okay though, because next to it you ll see another funny word that is strange, but at least it uses letters from the English alphabet. This is called an English transliteration of the Greek word. It will say mukterizo. It is from the Greek word, mukter, which means nostril. The definition of mukterizo is to turn up the nose or sneer at:---mocked. So, this gives you some insight into how God intended the word to be used in Galatians 6:7. God is not mocked. No one will turn up their nose at God. That was pretty easy, huh? Now, you re ready to roll!

3 Go through the same process that you were just walked through in the example for each of the items below. You will write out whether the word is Hebrew or Greek, the reference number, the English transliteration and the definition given. Don t be afraid to ask your folks or your discipleship group leaders if you have any questions! One: The word glory in Luke 24:26 Two: The word saints in Romans 16:2 Three: The word serpent in Genesis 3:1 Four: The word ark in Genesis 6:14 Five: The word joy in Hebrews 12:2

4 Definitions Six: The word Spirit in Ephesians 3:16 Seven: The word Satan in 1 Chronicles 21:1 Eight: The word sorcerers in Revelation 21:8 Nine: The word wisdom in James 1:5 Ten: The word deacons in 1 Timothy 3:13

5 Part Two: Usage Another use of a concordance in addition to finding definitions is to discover the various ways that the word is used in the Scriptures. When a word is translated from its original language (Hebrew or Greek in this case), it will often be translated into more than one word in the new language (English). This may seem strange, but it just shows us how complex language is and how it really is not an exact science to translate from one language to another. Go through the example below to get a better handle on how a concordance helps us out with usage. EXAMPLE: Read Luke 17:3 in your Bible. Then, go to the English dictionary in the first section of the concordance. Find the word, guard. Once you have found it, look for Luke 17:3 in the Scripture reference column. Its reference number is Go to 4337 in the Greek dictionary at the back of the concordance. Note that the Greek word used here is transliterated prosecho, meaning, to hold on to, turn to, attend to. Read further, though, and look at all of the ways that it is translated other in addition to guard. You will see everything from addicted to pay attention to take care. The numbers in parentheses shows how many times the word is translated this par ticular way. This helps us in our study of the Scriptures to compare the various ways that an original word is translated. It allows us to see the different nuances of meaning that can be drawn from a very descriptive language such as the Greek which the New Testament is written in. Now let s have you do some usage exercises of your own. Go through the same process as in the example, and list the language, the reference number, the transliteration and the various ways that it can be translated, including how many times it is translated each way. One: The word dance in Ecclesiastes 3:4 Two: The word garment in Luke 23:34

6 Part Two: Usage Three: The word construct in Deuteronomy 20:20 Four: The word good in James 3:13 Five: The word terrible in Malachi 4:5 Six: The word mighty in Acts 18:24

7 part Three: Frequency The final use of a concordance that we will look at is simply to determine how frequently a particular word is used. For example, if there are two different words that can be translated child in the Old Testament, then it may be helpful to see how often each one is used. Go through the brief example below and then complete the exercises that follow. EXAMPLE: Read Matthew 17:2. Next, go to the English dictionary of the concordance and look up the word, transfigured. Note that the reference number is Look up 3339 in the Greek dictionary. The transliteration is metamorphoo and means, to transform. It is used a total of four times in the New Testament. Two times it is translated as transfigured and two times it is translated as transformed. Go through the same process as in the example, and list the language, the reference number, the transliteration and the total number of times it is used. One: The word accomplished in Luke 1:68 Two: The word feast in Ecclesiastes 10:16 Three: The word rumbling in Ezekiel 3:12 Four: The word forever in 2 Timothy 4:18 Five: The word perfected in 2 Corinthians 12:9 Six: The word thunder in Exodus 19:16