7 - Expository dictionaries
A DICTIONARY tells you what a word means and, if it’s a weighty tome, it will give some details about the origin of the word − from French, Greek, Latin, or whatever. If you want to find out when the word was first used and by whom, you can do that too, if you really want to!
It’s the same with Bible words. A Concordance will tell you where the word is. A Lexicon will tell you a lot more; and an Expository Dictionary will tell you everything you want to know, and sometimes a lot more besides!
W. E. Vine
If you haven’t used Vine’s Expository Dictionary yourself, the chances are that you’ve heard someone referring to it, for it is a very popular study tool and deservedly so. W. E. Vine was a recognised authority on Greek and wrote several expository works. He is best known for his Dictionary and, to give you a sample of what it contains, here is one short entry:
ALMIGHTY: pantokratōr (pantokratwr, 3841), “almighty, or ruler of all” (pas, “all,” krateō, “to hold, or to have strength”), is used of God only, and is found, in the Epistles, only in 2 Cor. 6:18, where the title is suggestive in connection with the context; elsewhere only in the Apocalypse, nine times. In one place, 19:6, the KJV has “omnipotent”; RV, “(the Lord our God,) the Almighty.” The word is introduced in the Sept. as a translation of “Lord (or God) of hosts,” e.g., Jer. 5:14 and Amos 4:13.
This Dictionary was first published in 1939 and has gone through several changes. Originally there were four volumes, which were then consolidated and, more recently, entries have been linked to Strong’s numbers (as in the above extract, where “3841” is the reference number in Strong’s Concordance); that is something that has been happening with a lot of older reference works and it is something to look out for if you want to be able to follow through from one reference tool to another. In later editions, the New Testament Dictionary has been combined with Vine’s separate Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words, which is a much more limited selection of Hebrew words and meanings. More recently still, the New Testament volume has been combined with yet another reference work, this time Nelson’s Expository Dictionary, edited by Unger and White, which more nearly equates to Vine’s New Testament coverage in terms of depth and scope. So you need to be quite careful about what you are buying, if you plan to make such a purchase.
Words, words, words
This is only the beginning if you want to start a serious investigation of words, their usage, meaning and origin, in the scriptures and in secular use. Entire volumes have been written about just one word. Some wordbooks are readily accessible, like William Barclay’s New Testament Words. A little more technical are Girdlestone’s Old Testament Synonyms and R. C. Trench’s New Testament Synonyms. But we are still only scratching the surface of what is available if you are really keen to keep digging.
We believe in the plenary inspiration of scripture, namely that every word from God matters, so we can place absolute reliance upon the use of particular words by the Holy Spirit during the process of inspiration. It follows that Bible words matter to us. But there’s always the danger of ‘not seeing the wood for the trees’. If you want to know more, or if you have personal recommendations to make, write in with your views or recommendations.