# Biblical Words and their Meanings (Moises Silva)



## RamistThomist (Mar 8, 2019)

Silva, Moises. _Biblical Words and their Meanings_. 

Moises Silva begins by surveying the 20th century’s bizarre fascination with etymological theology: the structure of a single biblical word, usually in Hebrew, carried a world of theological meaning. This even went so far as the “Hebrew thought differently” than the pagan Greek (I actually believe there is a sense in which this is true, though not for the reasons that liberals thought it was. We will come back to this at the end).

The critique is best summarized by James Barr’s “illegitimate totality transfer.” Examples would include reading whole theologies of the church into Stephen’s use of ekklesia in Acts 7. In conclusion, Barr argues, “Theological thought of the type found in the NT has its characteristic linguistic expression not in the word individually, but in the word-combination or sentence” (quoted in Silva, kindle loc. 307).

_What is the linguistic relationship between the LXX and the NT?_

The answer divides into three parts: Hebrew-Greek lexical equivalences, the character of NT Greek, and LXX influence on NT vocabulary (loc. 811). Silva affirms that there is a Semitic background in the NT Greek, but one shouldn’t overplay the issue.

Half of this book is a very technical survey of 20th century linguistic theory. I’ve read some in that field, and even then I am not entirely sure what is going on. Much of it can probably be skipped.

He ends well, though. He gives the following template on finding the meaning of a biblical word. The bible student should completely ignore the history of a word’s development. Native speakers almost never care about that, and so it isn’t really helpful to the meaning.

(1) Greater extension (in a word’s range) entails a diminished intention (loc. 983). This also diminishes the role that the larger context plays on a word’s meaning.

(2) The student should determine to what extent the term is or isn’t referential (does it have a technical meaning?).

(3) Use a standard lexicon to determine the semantic range of a term.

(4) Consider the paradigmatic relations of the term. How would you classify it by its antonyms?

(5) Consider the syntagmatic combinations. How does it compare with related terms?

(6) Briefly consult its etymological history. Note if it has changed in meaning, but don’t tie the meaning to its development.

(7) What ambiguities would the writer have been aware of in using this term?


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## Bill The Baptist (Mar 8, 2019)

BayouHuguenot said:


> Silva, Moises. _Biblical Words and their Meanings_.
> 
> Moises Silva begins by surveying the 20th century’s bizarre fascination with etymological theology: the structure of a single biblical word, usually in Hebrew, carried a world of theological meaning. This even went so far as the “Hebrew thought differently” than the pagan Greek (I actually believe there is a sense in which this is true, though not for the reasons that liberals thought it was. We will come back to this at the end).
> 
> ...



This sounds like an excellent resource. Perhaps if more of those who presume to be Bible teachers would learn these principles, we could avoid some of the silliness we see thrown about in the name of exegesis these days. I think my favorite example is the woman (I don’t recall her name) who argued that God could be a woman because El Shaddai shares a common root with the Hebrew word for breasts, and thus El Shaddai could be translated as the God with two breasts.


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## RamistThomist (Mar 8, 2019)

Bill The Baptist said:


> This sounds like an excellent resource. Perhaps if more of those who presume to be Bible teachers would learn these principles, we could avoid some of the silliness we see thrown about in the name of exegesis these days. I think my favorite example is the woman (I don’t recall her name) who argued that God could be a woman because El Shaddai shares a common root with the Hebrew word for breasts, and thus El Shaddai could be translated as the God with two breasts.



This book is good, but there are two that are better: Carson's Exegetical Fallacies and James Barr's _Semantics of Biblical Language_


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## Bill The Baptist (Mar 8, 2019)

BayouHuguenot said:


> This book is good, but there are two that are better: Carson's Exegetical Fallacies and James Barr's _Semantics of Biblical Language_



I’ve read Carson’s book and it was very helpful. I’ll have to check out Barr’s work as well.


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## TheInquirer (Mar 8, 2019)

"How language works" has to be one of the most neglected and misunderstood aspects of bible interpretation - at least from what I have seen. Glad to see Silva is helping sort it out. Appreciate the review and the recommends on additional resources (another thumbs up for the Carson book).

Reactions: Like 2


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## RamistThomist (Mar 8, 2019)

https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/semantics-of-biblical-language-james-barr.95298/


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## Taylor (Mar 8, 2019)

BayouHuguenot said:


> ...better: Carson's Exegetical Fallacies...



I am of the opinion that no one should be allowed to preach or teach the Bible until they have read this book. (This is obviously an extreme statement, but that's how helpful I think the book is.)


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## Regi Addictissimus (Mar 8, 2019)

Bill The Baptist said:


> This sounds like an excellent resource. Perhaps if more of those who presume to be Bible teachers would learn these principles, we could avoid some of the silliness we see thrown about in the name of exegesis these days. I think my favorite example is the woman (I don’t recall her name) who argued that God could be a woman because El Shaddai shares a common root with the Hebrew word for breasts, and thus El Shaddai could be translated as the God with two breasts.



Margaret Barker, the female Methodist "preacher."


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## RamistThomist (Mar 9, 2019)

Reformed Bookworm said:


> Margaret Barker. The female Methodist "preacher."



It's also like people saying, "The Holy Spirit is female because ruach is feminine." Well, in Spanish el gato is masculine, but that doesn't mean every cat is a male.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Regi Addictissimus (Mar 9, 2019)

BayouHuguenot said:


> It's also like people saying, "The Holy Spirit is female because ruach is feminine." Well, in Spanish el gato is masculine, but that doesn't mean every cat is a male.



Which I have sadly seen argued many times. Sorry to derail your thread.


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