Scripture is in Red. Comments are in Black
One important thing that will help you in Bible study is checking the full meaning of various words in the Bible. If you have access to a Strong’s Concordance (original version, not a new edited version) it will greatly help you understand. As these studies go on I will attempt to incorporate these definitions into the studies. As the context of the verse changes we need to think of which definition fits that chapter and verse best. When scripture was translated into the King James Bible those doing the translation had to use English words that they thought best matched the Hebrew or Greek words. Sometimes there were no English words that gave the full explanation.
Let’s look at one example: We will use the word “meet”
Genesis 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. In the Strong’s Concordance the word meet here is word number 5828. The transliteration is from the Hebrew word ‘ezer and the meaning is: 1) help, succour a) help, succour b) one who helps.
Let’s look at the word “meet” in:
Exodus 8:26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? In the original manuscripts the Hebrew word here is Kuwn which has very long list of meanings. In the Strong’s Concordance this particular “meet” is number 3559. Here are the meanings copied directly from Strongs Concordance:
1) to be firm, be stable, be established
a) (Niphal)
1) to be set up, be established, be fixed
a) to be firmly established
b) to be established, be stable, be secure, be enduring
c) to be fixed, be securely determined
2) to be directed aright, be fixed aright, be steadfast (moral
sense)
3) to prepare, be ready
4) to be prepared, be arranged, be settled
b) (Hiphil)
1) to establish, set up, accomplish, do, make firm
2) to fix, make ready, prepare, provide, provide for, furnish
3) to direct toward (moral sense)
4) to arrange, order
c) (Hophal)
1) to be established, be fastened
2) to be prepared, be ready
d) (Polel)
1) to set up, establish
2) to constitute, make
3) to fix
4) to direct
e) (Pulal) to be established, be prepared
f) (Hithpolel) to be established, be restored
The basic meaning for the word meet in Exodus 8:26 is that they should not determine to do this thing, it is not aright to do it, do not fix it in your mind to do this, do not set this up to be accomplished, do not establish this thing as an action, Etc. You can see how the English translation can miss so much.
In other passages it also has the meaning it does today. Gather together, join together, Etc.
If you want to check out definitions of Biblical words here is the website. Remember to match the particular word that occurs in the chapter and verse you are reading.
Click this link: http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html Beware, this is a new edited version and therefore not completely accurate.
As you can see from this simple word there are multiple meanings depending on what the Hebrew or Greek word was in the original manuscripts. This will be important in some future studies because without the meaning of the original word the entire meaning of the verse could be lost or misconstrued. As you can see from the word “meet” in Exodus 8:26 we need to use knowledge and common sense to understand what this verse means.
