Professor Tommy Keene offers sage advice that ought to be stated over and over again: Stop doing word studies.
Word studies are a favorite tool of Biblical exegetes, but usually aren’t worth the time. Why not? Because either (1) the work has already been done for you, or (2) what you are trying to “find” can’t be found using a word study.
In the article, he explains how the work has already been refined over generations—and you have access to the fruit of that work! Then he goes on to explain how word studies can’t give you what you are looking for:
Word studies as described above are not the best tool for this kind of hermeneutical task. There often (but not always) is a depth in the usage of particular words and phrases, but that depth is not a function of the dictionary definition or “meaning” of the word. It is a function of how the word triggers particular cultural moments and concepts and stories and ideas. The best tool for that kind of analysis is cultural engagement. It is to live in and within the historical “intertext” of the word. That’s obviously hard when it comes to interpreting Scripture. For an outdated 80s reference I just need to find dad’s old VHS collection, or figure out which streaming service owns the rights these days. But the Bible is much older. How do we study the “intertext” of Biblical words?
Word studies can be a part of that process, but it’s really just the first step, and an inefficient one at that. They don’t really help you find what you’re looking for because what you are looking for is a function of culture and theology and the inter-connectedness of texts, not word meaning.
Some might wonder, “If I don’t do word studies, then what should I actually do when studying the Bible? I would suggest working on straightforward OIA of the text at hand. Don’t jump to cross-references until you have first grasped the main point of the text at hand. But in addition, as Keene concludes:
So free up your time. Stop doing word studies. What should you do instead? The absolute best thing you can do is immerse yourself in Scripture. Stop picking the Bible apart into little bits and start reading comprehensively. Second, start developing your facility with exegetical tools like Biblical Theology and typology. Third, start reading “around” the Bible. Language is a function of culture and history as well as syntax and grammar; upgrade your understanding of the ancient world and how it works.
Such counsel is extraordinarily wise and ought to be repeated frequently until we start listening. Check it out!
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