I am getting ready for a revision of the Digital Toolbox (hopefully next month), which draws my attention to resources for Bible study. In this issue and the next, I will discuss a few, at least one of which may be new to you. They all have to do with taking a closer look at the words of the text.
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Finding the Greek or Hebrew Word
To study individual words, it would be preferable to work with the original Greek or Hebrew term. How do we get there? In the old days (that is, the days before Bible software and the Internet; yes, I am old enough to remember; all we had in those days was printed resources), this is what we could have done:
1. We could have used a Greek or Hebrew Bible to look up the word in question. This only works well if we have some basic knowledge of biblical Greek or Hebrew; otherwise, it becomes tedious and difficult.
2. We could have used an interlinear. This is a version of the Bible that prints the Greek or Hebrew and shows underneath, on a separate line (therefore interlinear), a translation of each word or phrase (ill. 1). This way, we are able to find the Greek or Hebrew word behind the English word we are interested in. We can then look up this word in a Greek or Hebrew lexicon – provided we can at least read the Greek or Hebrew letters; otherwise, this, too, is cumbersome.
3. A third option would have been to consult Strong’s Concordance, first published in 1890 by James Strong (1822-1894; ill. 2). A concordance is a book that lists for a word all the verses that contain this word. In addition to this, James Strong went through the considerable effort of assigning a number to each root word in the Greek and Hebrew text of the Bible (he combined different forms of for instance a verb under one number, therefore root word). I think there are over 14,000 such numbers, either starting with an H (for Hebrew) or with a G (for Greek). Strong had the respective number, identifying the root word in the original language, printed with each verse (ill. 3).
The Strong’s Concordance made it possible to recognize which Greek or Hebrew word stood behind an English word. At the back, the concordance included a simple lexicon, arranged by number, giving the basic meaning of words. The lexicon also showed all the ways this term had been translated into English in the Bible and how often.
The obvious advantage of this tool is that one does not have to be able to read Greek or Hebrew script; the number suffices. It could also be used in other reference works, giving the reader access to more information on the respective word without knowing Greek or Hebrew.
Clicking Instead of Leafing
Fast forward to the 21st century. We now have the wonderful opportunity to use a variety of websites, Bible software, and Bible apps for our study of the Bible. Usually, they offer one or more of the options listed above. Bible study websites frequently include Strong’s numbers with direct links to his simple lexicon and often also to a more extensive one (more about this next month).
If you are already accustomed to using a particular website or app, I encourage you to check which options for original language word studies it provides and how it works. If you are not yet using such a tool, the Digital Toolbox includes an overview of free options.
The big advantage is that we can now click to whatever resource is included instead of leafing through thick reference works. But there is more.
A New Option: The Reverse Interlinear
I don’t know who came up with the idea but I think it’s worth a Nobel Prize. When I use Logos Bible software and I put the cursor on a word, it shows me the original Greek or Hebrew word behind it (ill. 4). It also gives me its Strong’s number and information on the grammatical form. If I want to, I can click to a lexicon to find out more (ill. 5).
Notice that this works the opposite way of the more conventional interlinear (therefore reverse interlinear). I don’t have to work with the original text showing distorted English underneath. I can work with an English Bible and look at the underlying Greek or Hebrew words.
Logos is not a cheap option, but there are free versions of a reverse interlinear on the web. I particularly like the STEP Bible (https://www.stepbible.org/; see ill. 6) that is made available by Tyndale House in Cambridge, UK. When the cursor hovers over a word in the text, the site shows you the original word and its meaning. You can also use it to do a concordance search; the results come with the same reverse interlinear function for the verses listed.
Using the Step Bible Reverse Interlinear in a Concordance Search
First, an example of a concordance search. I searched for the word witness, choosing the Greek noun, martus (this is one of the options that opens when typing “witness” into the search box: I can either search of the English word or for an original language term). When the cursor hovers over the word witness, information appears. It also shows all other locations on the screen where this word appears (ill. 7).
Next, I did a search for the related word testify, choosing the Greek verb martureo (ill. 8) In English, witness and testify don’t look alike at all, but in Greek, the noun and the verb are obviously related and derive from the same root. This time, it lets me know there is yet another related term, the word testimony (Gk. marturia), also derived from the same root.
Ill. 8: STEP Bible, concordance search “testify” (martureo)
Using the STEP Bible Reverse Interlinear in Passage Study
Second, I close with an example of using the reverse interlinear in the study of a passage. I look at the final verses in 1 Peter 1. We have been born again through the word of God, which remains forever; this word is the gospel:
… you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Pet. 1:23-25; ESV; emphasis added)
There are two common words in Greek that can be translated word: rhema and logos. It is often claimed that there is a clear distinction between the two: logos, so the argument goes, is primarily the written word and the general revelation or message of God; rhema is the spoken word, the direct word, or even a personal word for a specific individual or situation.
I would therefore like to know which word Peter is using. As the illustrations 9 and 10 show, Peter uses both. We have been born again through the logos, which abides because the rhema of God remains. This quotes the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT), which does indeed use rhema, not logos, although logos would make sense here. Although two different words are used, they must refer to the exact same thing because the quotation serves to prove Peter’s statement in verse 23: the word of God abides. That Peter can switch from one term to the other in this way strongly suggests he understood the two terms as synonyms, not as technical terms with a clear distinction.
In the concluding sentence, rhema is identified with the good news that was preached to the readers. This makes the latter occurrence indeed a spoken word, but all three uses seem to refer to the same word or message, which is the general message and revelation of God, not a unique or personal communication from God, even though rhema is used twice.
All in all, a reverse interlinear such as the STEP Bible is a great tool and it may be worthwhile to bookmark this site for future use: https://www.stepbible.org/.
References
Standard Bible Society (2001), The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Standard Bible Society)
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