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Understanding Scripture Lesson #5 – Word PowerFigures of SpeechWhat are some figures of speech we use all the time in ordinary conversation?Figures of SpeechMetaphors – a direct comparison of two objects that are not alike, like “You are the salt of the earth.”Similes – a comparison using “like” or “as,” such as “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water” in Psalm 1:3.Hyperbole – exaggeration for effect. For instance, John 3:5 states that all Judea came out to hear John. Does that really mean every single person from Judea was there?Metonymy – substitution of one word for a related one. In Proverbs 12:19, the term “lips” is used to represent a person who tells the truth.Personification – giving human characteristics to something that isn’t living. For example, when we read “the rocks cry out,” we know that the rocks aren’t literally crying out. Do’s and Don’ts with Greek Word StudiesDon’tsIt is tempting to break down a word by its roots, and then try to come up with a certain meaning based on those roots. For instance, if someone tried to look at the word “microwave” and broke it down into its root words – “micro” and “wave,” he might come up with the definition of the term as a “small wave,” when that actually wouldn’t be accurate. Sometimes the root words of Greek terms don’t have much to do with the actual word meanings themselves. It is also tempting to look at what English words have developed as a result of Greek words and try to read the English meaning back into the Greek term. For example, the word dunamis in Greek means “powerful.” Later on, that root developed into the term we think of as “dynamite.” So, some have taken Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power (dunamis) of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” and have concluded that the gospel is “God’s dynamite.” Well, not to get too picky, but Paul wasn’t talking about dynamite, just power. Do’s Use some resources like “Robertson’s Word Pictures,” and even a good Bible dictionary to find the original meaning of Greek words. Many computer Bible study programs have excellent word study programs as well. Consult more than one translation to see if there is an aspect of the definition you might have overlooked.There are also several versions of “Interlinear” Bibles, which give a Greek translation alongside the English version. Lexicons are also helpful to look up terms. The bottom line is that there are so many tools out there, you don’t have to know the original languages to do a word study and learn more about what the text actually says.Word StudiesIn Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Initially, that sounds strange, because our enemies might not treat us with that same love, and we can’t manufacture emotional friendship with someone. There are multiple words for love in the Greek language – philos: the love of friends for each other (brotherly love), agape: unconditional love that treats someone kindly whether that person does the same, eros: romantic love, from which we get to term “erotic.”The term Jesus chose to illustrate love for enemies was agape, which means we love our enemies, no matter how they respond. In Matthew 5:5, Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.”That word to us often sounds like it would mean “silent” or even “weak.”Yet, a Biblical definition of the word “meek” means something like “power under control.”It is a positive, not a negative. In 1 John 3:9, John says that those who are Christians do not sin.At first, that sounds like Christians never sin, but a closer look at the verb form reminds us that isn’t the case. The tense is best translated “continues to sin” or “practices sin.” In other words, the Christian will stumble, but someone walking in the light will not set out to sin each day. This is reinforced by the fact that John also states in 1 John 1:8 that if we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us. Husbands, Wives, Christ, and the ChurchPaul’s Figurative Use of the Word “Head” Dr. Allen BlackBecause of the importance in contexts that discuss the relationships of men and women in the home and church, Paul’s use of the word “head” (kephale) has drawn an inordinate amount of attention over the last twenty-five years. The debate focuses on the figurative sense of the term in 1 Cor. 11:3 and Eph. 5:23:“Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”The issue is whether Paul means something like “authority over” or “source.” Until recently nearly two millennia of interpreters have understood it to mean something like “authority over.” The alternative “source,” though found in classical Greek lexicons like Liddell-Scott-Jones, is not even mentioned in the New Testament lexicons (e.g., Baur-Arndt-Gingrich or Louw-Nida) because they do not believe this meaning occurs in the New Testament. But many recent interpreters have adopted the meaning “source” not only for these two texts, but for most of Paul’s figurative uses of “head.”The decisive consideration is the context of Paul’s usages. Paul uses the word “head” eighteen times. Twelve of these instances could conceivably mean either “authority over” or “source.” They are all found in 1 Corinthians 11; Ephesians 1, 4, and 5; and Colossians 1 and 2. Except for 1 Cor. 11:3-5 and Eph. 5:23, all of them deal with Christ as the head of the church.The six passages in Ephesians and Colossians which discuss Christ as the head of the church can best be explained as referring to Christ’s authority over the church. There is some contextual evidence that could be marshaled for the meaning “source,” particularly in Col. 1:18 in which Paul also describes Christ as “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” The idea of Christ as “source” of the church is found here, but the concept of his authority is also pervasive in Col. 1:15-20 (note the NIV and NRSV heading, “The Supremacy of Christ”). On the other hand, the traditional understanding “authority over” is strongly attested by the context of Eph. 1:22 (“And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church”); 5:23-24 (“Christ is the head of the church, . . . the church is subject to Christ”); and Col. 2:10 (“who is the head of every ruler and authority”). Eph. 5:23 draws a direct parallel between Christ as head of the church and the husband as head of the wife. In both cases the primary sense has to do with authority; “as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything” (5:23). “Authority over” is a suitable meaning for all of the Ephesian and Colossian contexts.Paul’s usage in Ephesians and Colossians should be kept in mind when considering the meaning of the word “head” for the three parallel pairs (Christ/man, man/woman, God/Christ) in 1Cor. 11:3. The first two pairs are parallel to the two pairs in Eph. 5:23 (Christ/church, husband/wife), where “head” means “authority over.” The third pair, God as head over Christ, is illuminated by 1 Cor. 15:28, where Paul describes God as in a position of authority over Christ.The meaning “source” is problematic for 1 Cor. 11:3. First, the apparent parallelism of the three pairs would be stretched, because there are important differences in how one could conceive of God as the source of Christ, Christ as the source of man, and man as the source of woman. Second, although the context does include a source argument concerning gender relationships (woman was made from man--v. 8), it also includes a function argument (woman was made for man--v. 9) which indicates that more is involved than solely the notion that woman came from man.When Paul uses the word “head” in a figurative sense to describe the relationships of Christ and the church, husbands and wives, God and Christ, Christ and man, and man and woman, he has in mind primarily the idea of one in a position of authority over another. The attempt to explain all of these pairs as referring to “source” is surely incorrect. In fact, the failure of the New Testament lexicons to mention this option is probably deliberate and justifiable.(Source: Harding University Graduate School Bridge, available at hugsr.edu)Right Battles Left in Bible TranslationsBy Tom Breen, Associated PressThe Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project. The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible. The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down platitudes."Professors are the most liberal group of people in the world, and it's professors who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible," said Andy Schlafly, founder of , the project's online home. Experts who have devoted their careers to unraveling the ancient texts of the Scriptures, many in long-extinct languages, are predictably skeptical about a project by amateur translators."This is not making scripture understandable to people today, it's reworking scripture to support a particular political or social agenda," said Timothy Paul Jones, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., who calls himself a theological conservative.Religious publishers already provide an alphabet soup of Bible translations for a range of theological outlooks, from the King James Version (KJV) to the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and beyond. The most widely used traditional translations were overseen by scholars who are considered the best minds in conservative Christianity."The phrase 'theological conservative' does not mean that someone is politically conservative," said Schlafly, who lives in Far Hills, N.J. This liberal slanting, Schlafly argues, ranges from changing gendered language – Jesus calling his disciples to be "fishers of people" rather than "fishers of men" – to more subtle choices, like the 2001 English Standard Version of the Bible, which uses "comrade" and "laborer" more often than the conservative-friendly "volunteer."Contributors to the project aren't arguing on ideological grounds alone. The discussion forum on the site is full of discourse on Greek grammar, along with arguments long familiar to Biblical scholars about the history of certain passages. Take the famous passage from Luke: the Conservative Bible Project omits it not only because it's "a favorite of liberals," but because there's some dispute over its authenticity, based on the manuscripts it appears in.Jones, the professor, said while some early Greek manuscripts omit Jesus' words, others include them."There are so many factors to consider when looking at that, but here it gets boiled down to 'liberals put it in,'" he said. "You've got people who are doing this who have probably never looked at an actual ancient manuscript."In some ways, the Conservative Bible Project reflects an ancient debate over Scripture. The Bible as it's known today more or less took final shape in the 4th century after hundreds of years of debate over which books were canonical.The debate flared up again during the Protestant Reformation, when Martin Luther fruitlessly yearned to cut the Book of James because of its fairly explicit contradiction of his belief that salvation could be attained by faith alone "People have always done this with the Bible," said Philip Jenkins, a professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. "Virtually everyone in a mainstream Protestant or Roman Catholic church in the United States is reading a doctored version of the Bible." ................
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