Word Studies

Words only have meaning in context.
Do you know what word in the English language is the most prolific in meaning? The word only has 3 letters. It's the word "run." If you go to an unabridged dictionary and look up the word "run," you will find over 100 different uses for the word and its various forms--run, runner, running, runs, etc. Think of all the different ways we use it. We run--meaning move fast with our feet. We also run to the store but use our car. We run a machine or run copies. A baseball player getting a run is very different from a lady getting a run in her nylons, and both of these are very different from a person with the flu who has the runs. :) We use the word in many ways, but we generally do not get confused over what meaning is intended. Context provides the meaning.

We also do not get at the deeper meaning of a word through learning its historical usage. Some preachers love to say, "Well, what this word really means in the Greek is..." and then go on to tell about its historical significance. I loved what one preacher said. He said, "The great commission says, 'Go into all the world and make disciples,' and do you know what the word 'go' in the original Greek really means? It means 'go.'"

Another great example from English is the word "nice." If you check a dictionary, you will find that the word originally meant strange, lazy, foolish, stupid, or ignorant. An understanding of the background of a word does not always help us in understanding a word in a particular context.

In Acts 1:8 we read, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." Some authors have done a word study and found that the Greek word dunamis, which is translated here as "power" can mean "ability," so they explain this verse as meaning you will receive the ability to be a witness for Christ when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

These writers have missed an important step. We should also see in what ways the author of the book uses the word in other verses. When we follow Luke's use of "dunamis" in the rest of Acts, we find that Luke does not use "dunamis" to simply mean ability, but he uses it to refer to miraculous power. For example, in Acts 2:22 Peter says that Jesus was accredited by God by miracles (dunamis), wonders, and signs, which God did through him. Again, Peter asks the people after the healing of the crippled man at the temple gate, "Why do you stare at us as if by our power (dunamis) or godliness we have made this man walk?" (Acts 3:12). Acts 6:8 describes Stephen as a man full of God's grace and power (dunamis), who did great wonders and miraculous signs. Clearly Luke uses "dunamis" to say more than just "ability."

Word studies should involve more than just looking up a word in the back of a concordance or clicking on a word in a Bible computer program and then picking out the meaning we like best. Check to see how the author uses the word in other contexts. This may give a clue as to what the author intends to say in the verse you are looking at.