So what is the major drawback when using Strong’s numbers to discover the author’s meaning in a given verse of Scripture? It is this: Strong’s numbers tell you how the KJV translators might have translated a given word in the text in 1611. These numbers do not give you the semantic range of a given word but only the English words the KJV translators chose when they made their translation. To think that the KJV translators were the final authority in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek lexicography is, unfortunately, to put one’s head in the sand and to ignore real and substantial advancements in understanding the biblical languages.
But there is one further pitfall that looms in the path of those who think they can use Strong’s numbers to discover the author’s meaning in any given text of the Bible. And this pitfall is that very often, people who use Strong’s numbers fall prey to the notion that words, in and of themselves, have meaning. The truth is that
words have a semantic range of meaning, but only the immediate context in which a word is found can give the necessary criteria to know which of the meanings within a word’s semantic range is that which the author intends.
Let’s use the English word “just” as an example of “semantic range.” In the circle below, all of the various shades of meaning attached to the word “just” in the English language, as noted in Webster’s Dictionary, are given. Then on the side margins, I’ve appended short sentences using the word “just” in its various meanings.
Now consider the semantic range of the English word “just,” as given in the circle below. If you were a non-English speaker, and found the word “just” in a sentence you were attempting to understand, you might open an English Dictionary, find the word “just,” and note the circle of meanings (the word’s semantic range) given there. If you arbitrarily choose one of those meanings which you like, or which makes sense to you and import it into the sentence you are seeking to translate, there is a very good possibility that you will have chosen a meaning the author never intended. This is because a word gains its meaning by context, not by being chosen from a list expressing the semantic range of the word. Moreover, the meaning of a given word or group of words in any particular text of Scripture must be read in light of the larger context as well as the immediate context. The current “theme” of the author may control the particular meaning of a word or words in the text being read, and this theme may span a larger portion of the text, not just a few surrounding verses.
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