AN ETYMOLOGICAL STUDY OF BIBLE SCRIPTURES
*** NOTE :This particular way of studying the scriptures in the Bible is probably one of the most complete, quickest, and deepest study methods available. This way of studying the scriptures gets at the core of everything and brings with it, a way to remember scripture, understand it and bring it into the heart of daily living.
LET'S BEGIN:
WHAT IS ETYMOLOGY?
The problem with understanding and learning anything is, first, to be able to navigate and comprehend the language and particulars of a subject. An etymological approach to learning breaks everything down quickly and simply to the root and core of an idea... Any idea. We can use this process of simply understanding the beginning and the root of a thought and concept given through language in the study of the scriptures. This process along with prayer and the Holy Spirit builds dynamic clarity and wisdom rapidly. Etmology is based on the definition of words at the beginning of their origin; sort of like knowing your heritage through DNA analysis. To define it:
Et·y·mol·o·gy
noun
the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
So, etymology is the meaning of words. What better way to study scripture than study the meaning of it. This makes understanding the Bible easier and easier to bring to daily living.
WHY ENTOMOLOGY?
It brings you to the beginning of a thought or
idea very quickly, so it's easy to remember and hold on to. It filters out the noise of past ideas and makes understanding fresh in the heart and mind.
THE ADAVANTAGE OF BIBLE UNDERSTANDING
To understand is to gain wisdom. The book of Proverbs says to seek wisdom above all else for it's richness is greater than gold.
NIV Bible. Proverbs 3:13-14
[13]Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
[14]for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
HOW FAST IS AN ETYMOLOGY STUDY OF SCRIPTURE USING A PHONE?
Extremely quick. Most deep concepts and questions can be answered in under 1 minute. Access to any Bible book or verse can be found in less than 10 seconds. It's also a FREE APP to anyone.
HOW COMPLETE IS THIS KIND OF BIBLE STUDY?
Very complete. We are looking to understand the ORIGIN of MEANING for any concept or word written in the original Hebrew or Greek. Getting to the basic intent automatically weeds out error in interpretation.
DOES THE STUDY CROSS REFERENCE OTHER SCRIPTURES?
Easily. The App lists ALL the uses of a word in both Old and New Testament Books within 1 second. Just pick the book you are interested in.
CAN I MAKE NOTES AND HIGHLIGHT PASSAGES?
Yes. This is very easy to do and will keep the text highlighted as well as list all highlighted or noted text in a list for easy reference later.
CAN I SEND A PASSAGE TO SOMEONE ELSE?
Yes it's very easy to email or send it to yourself or others and share it in any other format or App you want within seconds
WHY IS THIS THE BEST WAY TO STUDY SCRIPTURE?
Very QUICK
Gives the ORIGINAL MEANING
Very USER friendly
Stays Noted or highlighted
Cross References ALL passages instantly.
Gives the MEANING of both HEBREW AND GREEK language for the same words
At your fingertips
Portable on Phone, no need to carry around Bible Book
Can share all info and notes instantly with others and other media
Cuts out the error and confusion of possible misunderstanding and misinterpretation
Gives concrete understanding quickly and deeply.
It's absolutely FREE to anyone.
LET'S BEGIN:
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
You will need to download a free app from the GOOGLE PLAT STORE to your phone. It should be available also at the APPLE STORE. If you don't know how to download and install an Application to your phone, ask a friend to show you. It's free to download and use and doesn't take up a lot of phone memory. It also works offline once it's installed, so it doesnt cost anything to use it once it's installed.
THE APP: is called...
Bible concordance and Strongs
Make sure you download the ourple colored app with the CONCORDANCE, not just the Strong's Bible app. You will need the concordance to do the actual study.
WHAT TO DO:
Once the app is downloaded to your phone you will need to be able to navigate between the concordance and the Bible. This is done by selecting the three bars at the left top corner of the application. By pushing on these three bars it'll take you between the concordance and the Bible.
When you select the Bible you will see that it gives you all of the Old and New testament books in a list. By pushing on the book it will take you to what you want to select as far as chapters in the book. Then it will take you to another screen that allows you to choose which verses do you want to go to. Once you have selected the book of the Bible and the chapter of the Bible and the verses you want to view, you can scroll up or down to see the previous verses of that chapter or other verses further down. If you want to highlight, note or share text or verse, you need to push on the number of the verse to get the menu. What should pop up is a plus sign. If you push on the plus sign it will give you the options to make a note, a bookmark, highlight, or share the text. I would suggest that you play with this several times till you get the idea of all of the options available for the text you have selected. Once you have made a note or a bookmark, each selection can be found by going back to the three bar selection at the top left and pushing on notes or bookmarks. You will see that any notes or bookmarks that you have made are now listed permanently.
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THERE ARE LETTERS AND NUMBERS BEHIND EACH WORD LISTED IN THE SCRIPTURE. THE H NUMBERED WORDS REFER TO ORIGINAL HEBREW WORDS. THE G NUMBER WORDS REFER TO GREEK WORDS.
***BY PUSHING AND SELECTING ON THE NUMBERS NEXT TO THE WORDS A POP-UP MENU WILL SHOW YOU WHAT THE EXACT MEANING OF THE WORD MEANS IN CONTEXT WITH THAT SCRIPTURE. YOU WILL BE SHOWN AND GIVEN THE DEFINITION IN BOTH HEBREW OR GREEK AND A DICTIONARY LIKE DEFINITION OF THE WORD.
Let's give an example:
Let's say that you have selected 1st Corinthians 13:8.
And now you want to understand what the root word FAILETH means. So the passage says charity or love never faileth. So you want to understand quickly what does it mean love never fails. By pushing on the number G1601 after the word faileth, the definition in Greek for the word pops up on the screen. This definition gives you several root understandings, for example: to fail in this context of the verse means that love never drops away, it is never driven out, it never loses, it never falls away, and it is never inefficient. Taken in the context of the verse we can learn very quickly that it means love never drops away, love never falls away, love is never driven out and love is never inefficient. Understanding the one word gives you understanding of the entire context and meaning to the statement Love never fails.
Also listed in this pop-up, it gives you the number of uses of the word in the entire Bible so that you can go to the concordance and cross reference the meaning in the Old testament Hebrew or further in the New testament Greek.
To get out of the definition screen you push on the X at the top right corner. This will take you back to the scripture and other words available.
Let me give you one more example of how important original definitions in Greek or Hebrew are:
Let's say you have selected the book of Psalms 4:7 and you want to understand quickly what the phrase thou has put gladness in my heart means.
If you push on the number H3820 to get the definition of heart, the menu will pop up showing what the definition in Hebrew means. We learn from reading that one of the definitions means the center of anything. So heart in this context means the CENTER. Therefore, we can conclude that the phrase thou has put gladness in my heart means thou has put gladness in the center. From this understanding we can quickly conclude that Psalm 4:7 is saying that God has put gladness in our Center, that everything else revolves around that Center.
Once again understanding the basic word gives us an incredible meaning to what God is not only trying to let us know but to His purpose. The verse in Psalm 4:7 let's just know that God intends to put gladness at the center of our being. This not only gives us understanding, but it shows us how to apply it and how to believe it in our life.
Quick understanding, simple understanding and a true definition, allows us to understand how we can APPLY it in a real life situation. DEFINITION in CONTEXT of the passage makes things very, very clear. It also helps weed out any misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the scripture.
The TAKEAWAY is this: with a little practice, you can learn to navigate this app, the scriptures, the definitions, and the true context of meaning within seconds. That is invaluable, absolutely invaluable in the study of the Bible and scripture study.
To get back to another book of the Bible or to the original selection of Bible books, at the top of the name Bible push on it and it will give you the list of Bible book selections where you first started.
Now let's see the other feature available in this Bible application, that of looking up words themselves.
By pushing once again at the three bars on the top left you can toggle between the Bible and the concordance or the Scriptures and the Dictionary of words.
Once you're in the concordance portion of the application, you will see a list of alphabetical letters. By pushing on the letter, just like in a dictionary, it will give you a list alphabetically of all the words to be defined.
All you need to do is scroll up until you find your word and push on the word. It will give you the location of that word in either the Old testament or the New testament. You can then select that word from all the scripture verses by pushing on the H or the G number. Remember H is for the Hebrew or Old testament and G is for Greek or the New testament.
If the pop-up gives a cross reference or original cross reference to another word in the Bible, you can select to type in that G or H number in the magnifying glass lookup section at the top of the concordance.
This is an effective way to do a word study and cross reference of original meanings.
**One last help and assistance aid:
If you find you are struggling with trying to navigate the Bible application, you can email us at the below link or go to the contact us page and ask your question. We would be pleased to give a better detailed example including pictures to help you navigate the Bible and the concordance VIA EMAIL.
Our EMAIL IS:
[email protected]
Our best blessing to you in the etymological study of Bible scripture.
Any other problems or difficulties can be addressed by email...God Bless. Robert.
