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Understanding the bible

Not_Now.Soon

Not_Now.Soon

Member
I recently downloaded a free bible concordance app, and this morning had the idea of trying to read each word highlighted in the concordance for it's meaning. Starting from the first verse in Genesis. I haven't gotten far, but it's really intreasting the few words highlighted as the original text along with the surrounding text translators have filled in to make word an understandable phrase or in understandable context. Along with it some inspiration over the text and what it could be saying, or if there is more then one meaning behind it. (As it seems much of the bible has multiple layers in it's understanding, having a word we translate several meanings from, makes me wonder of the language itself giving more then one message). The first few verses in Genesis are awe inspiring and daunting. Making me both curious to read more this way, and thankful that we've had scholars and scribes do the hard task of bringing the bible to our language.

Wanting to understand the bible almost makes me want to lean bibical Hebrew, Aramic, and Greek. Wanting to grow in Faith makes me glad that it's already translated and concordances are available for further learning.
 
There are relatively few words in the biblical Hebrew vocabulary, so words tend to take on broader meanings than in modern English. Biblical Hebrew also doesn't have vowels, meaning different words (same consonants, but different vowels) are spelled the same. So, one written word can mean different words: man, dirt, and red. And, that one word for man itself can mean mankind, male, or Adam. Further, because there isn't an ancient dictionary, the meaning of a lot of words are speculative, having to be figured out from context (no "almah" in the Bible are married in a culture that didn't tolerate promiscuity, so maybe "almah" means virgin) or from ancient translations (biblical Hebrews translated "almah" to "virgin" in Greek, so we have good reason to think the word means virgin).

Knowing the various ways an ancient word is used can give you better understanding of a verse than any one English translation could ever hope to do.

If you want to learn a biblical language, learn Greek first.
 
Take for instance the first verse. Genesis 1:1 KJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the Strong's concordance app, only six of those words are highlighted. Making the original text only those six words.
-Beginning. Defined as either: first, beginning, best, chief, or choice part.
-God. Several definitions but seems to be the a title not the name of God: ruler, judge, divine one, Angel, god. Or as the word is probably meant in other verses, it means godlike, works of God, or the possession of God.
-Created. Create, shape, form.
-Heaven. Heaven, Sky, visible heaven, home of the stars, home of God
-And. Not a translatable word to English, but described as a word that that points out more definely another verb or preposition (relational word like "on" or "after")
-Earth. Land, Ground, Earth, soil.

The translation of the first verse seems streight forward with only the word that and is representing to counter the possible meaning. Differing wording such as: God formed the sky and the the land (or shaped the sky then the land), stil holds true to the translation in KJV that's given in the concordance. The verses afterward are what make me wonder if there are underlying meanings.

Genesis 1:2-5
2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Not going to go through each word's multiple definitions, but the words are:

Earth, was, without form, void, darkness, face, deep,
Spirit, God, moved upon, face, waters,
God, said, be, light, light.
God, saw, light, that, good,
God, divided, light, from, darkness,
God, called, light, day,
Darkness, called, night,
Evening, morning, first, day.


Reading the discriptions of light and darkness though make me wonder if this is just a verse of the creation of the heavens and the earth, or if it's also prophetic with a kind of battle between light and darkness. Between wickedness and life.

Among the different meaning of darkness there's: darkness, secrete place, destruction, death and wickedness

And with light, it's described as light of the day, light of various objects like the sun or a lamp, as well as the light of life, light of prosperity, and the light of instruction.
 
Elisha said:
There are relatively few words in the biblical Hebrew vocabulary, so words tend to take on broader meanings than in modern English. Biblical Hebrew also doesn't have vowels, meaning different words (same consonants, but different vowels) are spelled the same. So, one written word can mean different words: man, dirt, and red. And, that one word for man itself can mean mankind, male, or Adam. Further, because there isn't an ancient dictionary, the meaning of a lot of words are speculative, having to be figured out from context (no "almah" in the Bible are married in a culture that didn't tolerate promiscuity, so maybe "almah" means virgin) or from ancient translations (biblical Hebrews translated "almah" to "virgin" in Greek, so we have good reason to think the word means virgin).

Knowing the various ways an ancient word is used can give you better understanding of a verse than any one English translation could ever hope to do.

If you want to learn a biblical language, learn Greek first.
Click to expand...

Thanks Elisha. Maybe someday I'll do that. It seems daunting right now though to learn a different language. But the spark is there. I'd like to know the bible and it's words better.
 
What you want is an expositional commentary. They are usually rather expensive encyclopedia sized volumes.

Single person are not worth the money but Zondervan's used to be... Somewhat before they "fixed" it.

What these volumes do is explain why what was written in the fashion it was written. They also reveal what is not seen in English but is revealed in the original language. It's all about explaining the language. Sometimes history, geography, or anthropology comes into explanations.

Expect to pay several hundreds of dollars for a soft copy and more for a hard copy.
 
Not_Now.Soon said:
Take for instance the first verse. Genesis 1:1 KJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the Strong's concordance app, only six of those words are highlighted. Making the original text only those six words.
-Beginning. Defined as either: first, beginning, best, chief, or choice part.
-God. Several definitions but seems to be the a title not the name of God: ruler, judge, divine one, Angel, god. Or as the word is probably meant in other verses, it means godlike, works of God, or the possession of God.
-Created. Create, shape, form.
-Heaven. Heaven, Sky, visible heaven, home of the stars, home of God
-And. Not a translatable word to English, but described as a word that that points out more definely another verb or preposition (relational word like "on" or "after")
-Earth. Land, Ground, Earth, soil.

The translation of the first verse seems streight forward with only the word that and is representing to counter the possible meaning. Differing wording such as: God formed the sky and the the land (or shaped the sky then the land), stil holds true to the translation in KJV that's given in the concordance. The verses afterward are what make me wonder if there are underlying meanings.

Genesis 1:2-5
2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Not going to go through each word's multiple definitions, but the words are:

Earth, was, without form, void, darkness, face, deep,
Spirit, God, moved upon, face, waters,
God, said, be, light, light.
God, saw, light, that, good,
God, divided, light, from, darkness,
God, called, light, day,
Darkness, called, night,
Evening, morning, first, day.


Reading the discriptions of light and darkness though make me wonder if this is just a verse of the creation of the heavens and the earth, or if it's also prophetic with a kind of battle between light and darkness. Between wickedness and life.

Among the different meaning of darkness there's: darkness, secrete place, destruction, death and wickedness

And with light, it's described as light of the day, light of various objects like the sun or a lamp, as well as the light of life, light of prosperity, and the light of instruction.
Click to expand...
So v3 says let there be light and the sun was created and put in it place?
 
Roro1972 said:
So v3 says let there be light and the sun was created and put in it place?
Click to expand...

Not quite, but it makes ya think on what was the light untill the sun and moon shed their light on earth. In John 8:12 Jesus calls Himself the light of the world. Just some thoughts.
 
Not_Now.Soon said:
Not quite, but it makes ya think on what was the light untill the sun and moon shed their light on earth. In John 8:12 Jesus calls Himself the light of the world. Just some thoughts.
Click to expand...
Yes.
God wasn't just making photons or photonic energy (what light is made of)....Kinda a waste of a first day considering what else God could do in a day.

John says that Jesus was crucified before the foundation of the world was laid. So obviously the only answer is that God is already hard at work creating our redemption before we had sinned. (Not saying that Jesus is a created being). Only the planning and boundaries and how and when.
 
http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165#showrashi=true

Strongs really isn't a dictionary. It mostly tells you how a word is translated, and it is very biased toward the Bible.

You'll find some interesting commentary from the above link. Some of it won't make much since to you because you will be joining a discussion you'll know little to nothing about. But, for what your able to glean is very interesting.

For example, one day: According to the sequence of the language of the chapter, it should have been written, “the first day,” as it is written regarding the other days, “second, third, fourth.” Why did Scripture write“one” ? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, was the only one in His world, for the angels were not created until the second day. [i.e., יוֹם אֶחָד is understood as ‘the day of the only One’] So is it explained in Genesis Rabbah (3:8).

This has hints toward John 1. i.e. The only one

Have fun with your studies.
 
I think I understand the bible. I decided to listen to Pauls words and he said 'the letter destroys', so i read inbetween and underneath the ink, and all that was there was light, a rainbow, and a parable.

I mean, it is easy to get lost in babylon.
 
Not_Now.Soon said:
Take for instance the first verse. Genesis 1:1 KJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the Strong's concordance app, only six of those words are highlighted. Making the original text only those six words.
-Beginning. Defined as either: first, beginning, best, chief, or choice part.
-God. Several definitions but seems to be the a title not the name of God: ruler, judge, divine one, Angel, god. Or as the word is probably meant in other verses, it means godlike, works of God, or the possession of God.
-Created. Create, shape, form.
-Heaven. Heaven, Sky, visible heaven, home of the stars, home of God
-And. Not a translatable word to English, but described as a word that that points out more definely another verb or preposition (relational word like "on" or "after")
-Earth. Land, Ground, Earth, soil.

The translation of the first verse seems streight forward with only the word that and is representing to counter the possible meaning. Differing wording such as: God formed the sky and the the land (or shaped the sky then the land), stil holds true to the translation in KJV that's given in the concordance. The verses afterward are what make me wonder if there are underlying meanings.

Genesis 1:2-5
2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Not going to go through each word's multiple definitions, but the words are:

Earth, was, without form, void, darkness, face, deep,
Spirit, God, moved upon, face, waters,
God, said, be, light, light.
God, saw, light, that, good,
God, divided, light, from, darkness,
God, called, light, day,
Darkness, called, night,
Evening, morning, first, day.


Reading the discriptions of light and darkness though make me wonder if this is just a verse of the creation of the heavens and the earth, or if it's also prophetic with a kind of battle between light and darkness. Between wickedness and life.

Among the different meaning of darkness there's: darkness, secrete place, destruction, death and wickedness

And with light, it's described as light of the day, light of various objects like the sun or a lamp, as well as the light of life, light of prosperity, and the light of instruction.
Click to expand...
Genesis 1:3
Genesis 1:16

There's a discrepancy here.
First there was light
And then there was the sun

Light must mean something else...
It's going to take more then one concordance to get to that.

If it means the battle between light and dark --- then wouldn't it also mean that God created the dark, or the evil??

I had done a study on the "light". You should do this also. It's very interesting.
Sorry, I cannot remember too much...
 
wondering said:
Genesis 1:3
Genesis 1:16

There's a discrepancy here.
First there was light
And then there was the sun

Light must mean something else...
It's going to take more then one concordance to get to that.

If it means the battle between light and dark --- then wouldn't it also mean that God created the dark, or the evil??

I had done a study on the "light". You should do this also. It's very interesting.
Sorry, I cannot remember too much...
Click to expand...

That would be a fun topic to look into.
 
Not_Now.Soon said:
That would be a fun topic to look into.
Click to expand...
Hi NNS
There's so much I'm forgetting.
I had read a book years ago written by a scientist that explained, in a scientific way, how Genesis is correct in all it says. He's a Christian - I can't even remember his name. (what good am I??)

If you care to look into this, I think you would find it very rewarding.
If I can find anything on Google, or remember something, I'll PM you.
 
Not_Now.Soon said:
Among the different meaning of darkness there's: darkness, secrete place, destruction, death and wickedness

And with light, it's described as light of the day, light of various objects like the sun or a lamp, as well as the light of life, light of prosperity, and the light of instruction.
Click to expand...

I'm certain that I heard a sermon once which explained that darkness, when spoken of in scripture speaks of the end of the age (end times)
darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. Sounds like nowadays.
 
wondering said:
Hi NNS
There's so much I'm forgetting.
I had read a book years ago written by a scientist that explained, in a scientific way, how Genesis is correct in all it says. He's a Christian - I can't even remember his name. (what good am I??)

If you care to look into this, I think you would find it very rewarding.
If I can find anything on Google, or remember something, I'll PM you.
Click to expand...

Chuck Missler has a lot of material on youtube about that. That Gen 1:1 begins speaking of time space and matter, right off the bat. He compares science and scripture for hours and hours. Lots of quantum physics and stuff as it relates to scripture and God.

Not much of it would stand on this board. The naysayers would scream long and loud about it...but I find it highly interesting and edifying.
 
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