Other Word Studies

• Abba
  In the darkness of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed alone. Despite the coolness of the evening there were sweat-drops on his brow. Despite the apparent calmness of the hour there was agony in his heart. With loud crying and tears he lifted up his voice to God, saying, “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). This was the first time in J


• Agreement
  How should a man live? By the law of the jungle? Should the stronger rule the weaker? Is it right for the powerful to plunder the powerless? These were the questions at stake in a discussion between Socrates and his


• Ambassador
  Ambassador, from the Greek presbyteuo, as explained by Kenny Boles.


• Ambition
  There was trouble in old Arcadia. No sooner had the new concept of “democracy” begun to spread through the area, than along came its by product corrupt politicians. Such men would shamelessly canvass to get votes, even hiring partisans to


• Anger
  I've been noticing lately that my sins are not as bad as other people's sins. Oh, I know we all have sins and that is wrong, but I mean that my sins are more understandable. Do you know what I


• Anoint
  Some of you may be too young to remember those good old days, when a barber would top off every haircut with a generous splash of oil. He would pour the oil on your head and rub it in with


• Atonement
  The gods of old were a cantankerous bunch Since they were the inventions of man's imagination, they had the same flaws as men have. They were irritable, selfish, and capricious. They were so unpredictable that men always feared them. Men


• Authority
  In keeping with the theme of politics and government in this issue, it seemed like a good idea to research the word “authority.” Used 108 times in the N.T., the Greek word for “authority” is exousia (ex ou SEE ah).


• Babbler
  It was not enough for Caligula to be emperor of the whole Roman Empire. He also wanted to be worshipped as a god. While some of the provinces were willing to add him to their list of gods, Judea refused


• Baptize
  BAPTIZE is a violent word It comes from a rough, tough background and has an aroma of death about it. When people of the first Century heard the Greek word baptizo (bahp TEEDZ oh), they not only thought of immersion


• Bearing the Load
  There are burdens, and then there are burdens. But not all burdens are the same. Some burdens are so heavy they cannot be borne alone. Our brothers must help—and so we “bear one another’s burdens” in Gal 6 2. (The


• Beautiful
  Do you have beautiful feet? I mean beautiful in the Biblical sense of the word “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who proclaim good news” (Romans 10 15). The Greek word for beautiful in this passage is


• Beg Off
  On a certain occasion in ancient times there was to be a great wrestling match. The preparations were made and a crowd gathered. On one side stood Tiberius Claudius Marcianus on the other side stood several challengers. As Tiberius stripped


• Bless
  Sometimes words change in their meanings. If we go back too far in history we might find a meaning that is not right for a given N.T. passage. Or, if we use a more recent meaning, we may not be


• Blessed
  “Happy are those who mourn,” says one popular translation of the Beatitude in Matthew 5 4. It seems an impossibility, a contra¬diction of terms. Maybe we had better go back to the old familiar, “Blessed are they . . ."


• Blot Out
  There's a New Year ahead You get a clean slate ¬freshly erased and wiped clean. Or do you? Is the slate really wiped clean by a new calendar? Can the past be erased?The Greek word for “erase” or “blot out”


• Boldness
  Democracy was born in ancient Greece. When the citizens of a Greek city gathered in their public assembly (ekklesia) they had the right of free speech. They felt free to speak their minds with complete boldness. Their word for this


• Born of Water
  “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3 5).There is a popular idea that “born of water” may refer to physical birth, and thus have nothing to do with baptism.


• Boxing
  Iatrocles was a man who drew a crowd. He was tall and muscular; he was "a beautiful young man." He probably could have said with Mohammed Ali, another boxer who became famous, "Ain't I pretty!"


• Breathe On
  Let’s start with the basic word physao (fu SAH oh), which meant in ancient Greek to “puff, snort, or blow.” It referred to letting out a blast of air, as from a bellows in a blacksmith’s shop. It was the


• Build Up
  "For everything there is a time, and a season for every matter under heaven." Such is the wisdom of Ecclesiastes. Included in the list is this: "a time to tear down, and a time to build up" (Eccl 3:3).


• Call Upon
  The rulers of ancient Athens had an uprising on their hands. Rebel forces were amassing an army war was eminent. Quickly the leaders “sent to ask help from Thessaly, with whom they had an alliance.” The word in Greek history


• Character
  The making of coins is an ancient art. First, a skilled craftsman with a good engraving tool would carve out a die. Then this die would be used to stamp a piece of precious metal with the official insignia. A


• Chosen
  We are God's chosen few All others will be damned. There is no room for you We can't have heaven crammed This arrogant piece of sarcasm from Jonathan Swift accurately reflects the attitude of God’s people at various points in history.


• Cling To
  Thetis was a devoted mother. As a seagoddess of ancient myth, she took a human lover and gave birth to Achilles. She held the infant by the heel and dipped him in the River Styx, thus giving him almost total


• Commitment
  Commitment.That’s what we need commitment. Let’s rally the troops and read them some scriptures on this fine word Let’s go to our concordance and find all the passages where “commitment” is found in the Bible. OK? But surprisingly, “commitment” is


• Compassion
  “Bowels and mercies”? How did that phrase get into the Bible? (See Phil 2 1, KJV.) The story behind the word is more logical than you might think. The King James translators chose “bowels” as the best translation for the Greek


• Conscience
  “To sit alone with my conscience, will be judgment enough for me.” C. W. Stubbs (1876)What is this thing called “conscience”? And what did I ever do to it, that would make it want to torment me so? Let’s begin our


• Contend as Athletes
  The Greek word for "contend as an athlete" was athleo (ath LEH oh). It was used to describe athletes in games and also soldiers in military contests. As well as skill, it implied great effort and struggle. Paul used a form of this word (synathleo) twice in Philippians.


• Corrupt
  The modern issues of euthanasia (“mercy killing”) and abortion are not new. Centuries before Christ, Greek physicians were taking the Hippocratic Oath, which included these lines “I will not give a death ¬producing medicine to anyone when I am asked


• Covenant
  What is a covenant? In English the word usually means an “agreement” or “a written contract.” But what did the word mean in Greek—specifically in the original Greek New Testament?When Paul and others wrote about God’s covenant with man, there


• Create
  The Greeks had a certain word they used to describe how someone would "found" a city, or "plant" a grove of trees, or "initiate" a sacred feast, or "establish" a great athletic contest. The same word was used of the


• Cross
  Amid the bloodshed of the French Revolution, a gentle physician persuaded the national Assembly to carry out their numerous executions in a more humane way, allowing the condemned to have the most rapid and painless death possible. Dr. Guillotin's suggestion


• Crown
  In the late summer of 480 B.C. the Persian king Xerxes defeated the Greeks at a place called Thermopylae. When the king began to interrogate his captives he chanced upon a curious piece of information about the character of his


• Dawn
  The goddess of Dawn (Eos) in Greek mythology was beautiful and loving. Dawn was perpetually beginning, always new, eternally young. One day Dawn went to Zeus to ask for immortality for her beloved Tithonus, but she forgot to ask that


• Decisive Moment
  The Decisive Moment, in Greek, the kairos, as explained by Kenny Boles.


• Deliver
  Odysseus, on his famed journey in Greek mythology, was preparing to sail through a dangerous strait. On one side was a man eating monster on the other side was a great whirlpool.“May you not be there when it sucks down,”


• Destruction
  “Broad is the road that leads to destruction,” said Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7 13). There are “foolish and harmful desires,” said Paul, “that plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Tim 6 9). “The day


• Don't Care
  The stonemason’s sons were thieves. When one of them was caught in the king’s trap, his headless body was hung on the town wall. The brother, his partner in crime, went into hiding. But their mother could not bear the


• Dwell
  will start with two closely related words skene (skay NAY) and skenoo (skay NAW oh). The skene was the ancient Greek word for a tent, and skenoo meant “I pitch a tent.” We will watch as these words develop meanings


• Earnest
  We were about to buy our very first house. It was a nice house, well worth the $12,000 purchase price, but I had to swallow hard to force out the words, “We’ll take it.”“Fine,” said the real estate lady. “Would


• Empty
  An ancient papyrus tells of a certain rich man who was stripped of all his sordid possessions. In a similar vein Josephus wrote of a protest by Herod the Great that Jerusalem must not be pillaged or totally emptied of


• Endure
  Hector leaped down from his chariot. Grabbing a spear in each hand, he bravely plunged into the battle. His courage inspired the Trojan army to make a renewed effort to defeat the invading Greeks. He called for the troops to


• Entice
  (Editor's Note This article was written by Mike Armstrong, a student in Kenny Boles' Greek II class some years ago.)The skilled trappers of last century's wild frontier knew where and how to place and bait their traps in order to


• Entrust
  There are times in life when you have to part with something you would rather keep in your own possession. But you entrust that item to someone you can depend on, and go your way. Sometimes, as in the case


• Envy
  A person I know just bought a brand new, loaded with options, absurdly luxurious gas hog. Why, I wouldn't have one of those things if you gave it to me But somehow it really irritates me to think that this


• Equip
  Question What do a surgeon, a fisherman, and a drill sergeant have in common? Answer A single Greek word, katartizo (kah tar TIDZ oh) describes at least part of the work of each profession. The word means “to set a


• Example
  He left no estate. He left no possessions. He had built no monuments to be remembered by. One thing He did leave, however, was an example.“Christ suffered for your sake, leaving behind an example for you, that you might follow


• Factions
  The city states of Greece were choosing up sides. With the Persians driven off, now the Greeks were fighting among themselves. All the lesser powers were becoming allies with one or the other of the two super powers—Athens and Thebes.


• Fall Into
  When a person fell into poverty or ruin in ancient times, the word was empipto (em PIP to). Similarly, the same word was used for the unsuspecting victim who fell into an ambush or fell into barbarian swords. Whether prison,


• Feel
  “I know just how you must feel,” we often say to someone who is hurting. In actual truth we may have no idea how the person feels because we have never experienced the same suffering. On the other hand, when


• Fellowship
  Quick Think of any use of “fellowship” in the Old Testament. ¬Hard, isn’t it? While “fellowship” with God and with one another is a major theme of the New Testament, it is strangely lacking in the Old. Why would this be


• Festive Gathering
  Festive Gathering - from the Greek panegyris, as explained by Kenny Boles.


• Fleeting
  Maybe I just haven’t been paying close enough attention. Somehow when I wasn’t watching, somebody just ran a whole decade right past me Where did the 90’s go? Time sure is fleeting And that’s the focus of our word today,


• Frightened
  Hannibal and his war elephants had crossed the Alps into Italy. He was leading a force of 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry—not to mention the elephants All of Italy was in peril. In Rome the senators debated what to do


• Give Up
  “Are we downhearted? No No No ”So goes a little chorus I have often heard children sing at church. Adults should sing the same song, for God does not want any of his people to be downhearted and discouraged. He


• Glory
  The Greek word for “glory” is doxa (DOX ah). In classical times the doxa of a person meant merely the “opinion” others held of him, or his “reputation.” It was simply what a person “seemed” to be.But the Bible gave


• Go
  Some years ago I was sitting at the National Missionary Convention—of all places—when I hearda main speaker say, “The Great Commission does not actually say, ‘Go and make disciples.’ What theGreek really says is, ‘As you go, make disciples.’”   


• Gospel
  The breathless runner comes to a stop inside the city walls. He raises his right hand and boldly shouts, “Rejoice We have won ” As he repeats the message throughout the city, his head is crowned, his spear is decked


• Grace 1
  Have you ever been afraid of a word? As a young man I was afraid of “grace,” defined as God's “unmerited favor” for sinners. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew better than to trust it. I could


• Grace 2
  Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and why not? He was righteous, blameless, and he walked with God (Gen. 6 8 9). Joseph found grace in the eyes of Potiphar and why not? He was making Potiphar


• Greed
  Socrates and Glaucon, the brothers of Plato, were arguing whether it was natural or unnatural for people to do the right thing. Glaucon took the position that even good men would act in their own selfish interest if they thought


• Grudge
  Let’s start with a self evident truth Powerful men are possessive of their power. That’s why Supreme Court justices step down so reluctantly and presidents have to be forced by the Constitution to retire. That’s why Herod the Great had


• Guardian
  Are you a parent? Do you sometimes hate to have to discipline your kids? Have you ever wished that kids could come pre trained and pre disciplined? If so, you can probably sympathize with the ancient Roman parents, who purchased


• Guide
  “Do you understand what you are reading?” “How can I,” replied the eunuch, “unless someone guides me?” The Greek word which means to guide is hodegeo (ho day GEH oh). Its literal meaning is “to lead in a journey, to show the


• Guile
  If you had to sum up a man's whole character in a single line, what words would you choose? Jesus summed up Nathanael in this way “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (John 1 47). I find it


• Have To
  “Aw, do I have to?” How common was the pitiful whine of my childhood Bedtime, bath time, time to finish the vegetables—the response was predictable “Do I have to?” If only (I thought), if only I were older, bigger, richer,


• Head
  Beware of Greeks bearing gifts especially when those “gifts” are strange new definitions for old familiar words. It s always a good idea to proceed with caution whenever you hear someone say, “What you’ve always heard about such and such


• Healthy
  “Do you want to be healed?” What a dumb question The man had been lame for thirty eight years, and was now perched beside the pool called Bethesda. He was waiting for the stirring of the water, and hoping for


• Help
  The library at Alexandria was already one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. But the king’s librarian saw that there was an important gap in their holdings they had no copy of the Jewish Bible. So the king


• Hippocratic Oath
  I SWEAR by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulatiotion—to reckon him who taught me this


• Hospitality
  Despairing of life and limb, Odysseus threw off his robes and plunged into the raging sea. If this ancient hero had not finally reached the safety of a distant shore, Homer’s story of the Odyssey would have been a whole


• Hubris
  Odysseus sailed from Crete with nine ships and a host of Greek soldiers. On the fifth day they reached Egypt, and anchored in the broad river. Odysseus told his comrades to remain with the ships, while he set up the


• Humble
  Low down . . . Faint hearted . . . Weakly . . . Degraded . . . Abased. . . . This is how the Greeks usually thought of their word tapeinos (tah pie NOSS), which we translate “humble” or


• Hypocrite
  In ancient Greece it was a fine thing to be called a hypocrites (hoo poh krih TACE). This was the term for various kinds of public speaker an orator, an interpreter of dreams, a reciter of poetry or most of


• Immanuel
  What's in a name? Sometimes a great deal Take, for instance, the name IMMANUEL. Joseph had taken Mary as his betrothed fiancee. Upon learning that she was pregnant with a child not his own, Joseph determined to divorce her. At this


• Indignant
  Plato called it the “soul in ferment,” an inner anguish like that of “a baby cutting teeth.” It described his grief and outrage at the death of Socrates, as well as his vexation at the thought of dying himself. The


• Invisible
  Is God invisible? According to 1 Timothy 1 17 he is “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God.” Colossians 1 15 also speaks of “the invisible God.” But what is the meaning of the word “invisible” as it applies


• It Is Finished
  “It is finished ” The cry from the cross rings out across the years. In the Greek New Testament it is only one word (tetelestai teh TEL es tie), but that word is packed with meaning. A brief look at


• Joyful Assembly
  Herod the Great knew how to throw a party. Every four years he held a great festival to honor Caesar in a lavish amphitheater outside Jerusalem. He invited all the important people of the nation to come and enjoy the


• Kind
  Let’s go to the bee, you sluggards, and learn his ways. Aristotle, who strolled through the great outdoors and taught about what he observed, spent several pages describing the bee. He said the drones were a rather worthless kind of


• Know
  “Know thyself,” said the ancient inscription on the pagan temple at Delphi. This seemed to be the highest aim, the most noble sentiment, of the ancient world. Unfortunately, self knowledge seems to be the primary aim of our age as


• Laid Bare
  Socrates found himself sitting between two young fellows who were quite jealous of each other. One was a musician the other was an athlete. When the athlete made a disparaging remark about the study of philosophy, the musician said to


• Leaders
  A giant wave threw Odysseus overboard and shattered his homemade raft. Driven for two nights and days on the raging sea, he clung to a single piece of the wreckage. Finally he was tossed onto a rugged, unknown shore. Exhausted,


• Long-Suffering
  Two centuries before the birth of Christ, two great powers struggled for control of the ancient world. Rome would ultimately win, but only after defeating Hannibal—one of the greatest generals of all time. Ravaging city after city in Italy, for


• Lord
  The full force of “Lord” (Greek kurios KUR ee oss) is not appreciated by English speaking people. Perhaps if we trace the word through its history and development, it will help. This word came a long way before it was


• Love
  Agape (ah GAH pay) is a foreign word. It is the Greek word for love in the New Testament, but it was foreign to the Greeks, too. Surprising as it may seem, agape has never been found in any of


• Love Bad
  Sometimes love goes bad. Now I know that love is always supposed to be good. It is unselfish, generous, and always caring first about the other guy. But sometimes the very same word that describes this kind of love becomes selfish


• Mansion
  “In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14 2).A mansion Now you’re talking Someday yonder—just over the hilltop—I’m going to have a mansion I want a gold one,


• Mark
  Just north of ancient Troy there is a narrow strip of water (the Hellespont) which separates Europe from Asia. In 480 B.C. the Persian king Xerxes (the same Xerxes in the book of Esther) marched his huge army across this


• Meek
  If you were going to illustrate the word “meek” by using one of God’s animal creatures, which one would you choose? A mouse? A chicken? The lowly turtle? Perhaps you would choose the dodo bird stupidly waiting to be clubbed


• Meteorized
  “Ezekiel saw the wheel, way up in the middle of the air.” The old Negro spiritual, based on Ezekiel 16, found a fascination with the wheels which rose and were suspended in mid air. The Greeks had a word for


• Ministry
  We saints are supposed to be getting ready for “the work of the ministry” (Eph 4 12). What does that mean? Does God expect us all to preach? Are we supposed to quit our jobs and “go into the ministry,”


• New
  Happy New Year If you expect your new year to be just another year like the past ones, the Greek word for “new” would be neos (NEH oss). This word meant “new” only in the sense of being more recent.


• Noble
  For Esther, it was now or never. She could try to hide from the impending doom facing the Jews, or she could dare to speak out to her husband the king. Perhaps she would save her people perhaps she would


• Obey
  Araspas was a lady’s man. At least, that’s what Araspas thought. So it made perfect sense to Araspas that the beautiful Panthea would give up her husband and throw herself at Araspas’s feet. Panthea, however, was a devoted wife. Like loyal


• Panic-Stricken
  The Scythians were fierce warriors, but they were no match for the Persian army of Darius. They fled as he advanced into Scythia, managing to stay one day’s march ahead of him. But Darius would not give up the chase.


• Partiality
  It’s Greek to me That's what we often say when a word has no meaning to us. In this article we will look at a real switch a Greek word that was unintelligible to the Greeks The word is prosopolempsia


• Pattern
  The Spartan warrior watched with interest as the ancient blacksmith worked. Placing a red hot rod of iron on his anvil, the smithy struck heavy blows with his hammer. His goal was to make the rod as flat on the


• Pay Attention
  When Tisamenus was a young man, he dreamed of competing in the Olympiad. So he trained hard and paid careful attention to physical exercises, hoping to win a prize in the Pentathlon. (The five events included running, jumping, wrestling, throwing


• Peace
  Several years ago Wallace Wartick called my attention to something wonderful in the O.T. background of the word “peace.” The Hebrew word shalom (shah LOAM) meant far more than the mere absence of war. Shalom meant the well being that


• Peddle
  The wine merchant of ancient times had a reputation somewhere between that of a used car salesman and a dope peddler. He eagerly hawked his merchandise in the marketplace, promising an ample measure of the finest quality wine. In truth,


• Planet
  Did you ever lie back and watch the stars on a summer evening? As the earth rotates, the starry hosts of heaven march grandly across the sky in perfect formation. But wait ¬there's a star out of formation It's not


• Poor
  Are you poor? Do you live in poverty? What is this year’s official “poverty level” anyway? The last I heard, it was around $20,000 for a family of four. Most of the world would gladly accept that level of poverty


• Power
  Danger comes in unlikely packages.Alfred was a bright boy, fluent in five languages and a skilled chemist in his teenage years. Clouds covered his career, however, and by the age of thirty Alfred was known as “the mad scientist.” In


• Praise
   Hesiod gave an interesting piece of ancient advice "Praise a small ship, but put your freight in a large one."  It was his way of saying, "Pay lip service, but decline courteously."  The Greek word for this kind of insincere


• Pray
  Lo, these many years sweet Penelope has waited for the return of Odysseus. If he should be dead, she will have to yield to the claims of one of the many suitors gathered nearby. In desperation she prays to all


• Preach
  A hush fell over the marketplace. Every eye was fixed on the man with the crown on his head and the staff in his hand. The man spoke and his loud, clear voice carried a royal proclamation to every ear.


• Pre-Eminent
  Pisistratus would have made a great presidential candidate. He was “extremely smooth and engaging in his language” and “a great friend to the poor.” In fact, the great lawgiver Solon said if anyone could just banish the “passion for pre


• Ransom
  The national debt is a staggering seven trillion dollars. The interest alone is costing us over a million dollars every minute Our whole nation is enslaved by this debt. Only once in history was there ever a greater debt and


• Rapture
  We’re going to talk about the “rapture” in 1 Thessalonians 4 17, but we’re going to take the long way to get there. The Greek word for “caught up” in this verse is harpazo (har PAHDZ oh). (The Latin translation


• Reckon
  In honor of the April income tax deadline, let’s talk about logizomai (log GIDZ oh my). This is the word used by Aristotle to describe the ancient equivalent of conducting an audit. It was a common accounting term with all


• Reconcile
  Suppose I had a son who was very, very bad. One day, after he beat his mother and broke all the windows and killed the cat, he stomped out of the house and swore never to return. I searched for


• Redeemed
  Marcus Licinius Crassus was the richest man in Roman history. Even though he spent enormous sums on his personal army and on the private citizens of Rome, he still had a fortune of 200 million sestertii (roughly equivalent to 50


• Repent 1
  At the beginning of this new year maybe it would be appropriate for us to look at some other beginnings. John the Baptist began his ministry saying, “Repent . . .” (Matt 3 2). Matthew records that Jesus began to


• Repent 2
  Last month we looked at the meaning of the Greek word for repent – metanoeo (met tah noh EH oh). We found it to be a change of mind and action, not just a change of feeling.But who will repent?


• Reprove
  The defendant has offered his alibi. The skilled prosecutor rises to cross-examine.With probing questions and convincing arguments he relentlessly uncovers the truth. The evil wretch is exposed--proved wrong--shown the undeniable error of his way.


• Restoration
  What can you do for a bad case of pleurisy? (That’s a painful inflammation of the lining around the lungs.) According to Aretaeus of Cappadocia, a famous Greek physician of the 2nd century A.D., there were two important steps.


• Revelation
  It was a grim and grisly act, even for a barbarian. King Astyages (grandfather of Cyrus) was punishing his subject Harpagus for disobedience. He killed the man’s son, boiled his flesh, and fed it to the unwitting man at a


• Revile
  Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, was discouraged. He had come with a powerful army to conquer Troy, but this day the battle had gone badly. His men were retreating in panic to their ships. Fearful of what the dawn might


• Righteous
  “There is none righteous, not even one.”Such was Paul’s paraphrase in Romans 3 11 of the ancient assertion of Ecclesiastes 7 20, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”The Greek word


• Righteous 2
  Ancient Athens periodically held public votes to decide which citizens should be banished. If a person’s name was written on enough clay shards, he was “ostracized” and sent into exile for ten years. On one such occasion, a man handed


• Righteous 3
  In Part 1 we established that originally to be “righteous” was to do one’s duty, to do the right thing. For God and for the Jew in the Old Testament, this meant to keep covenant obligations. In Part 2 we


• Save
  Behind our word “save” lies an interesting word in the original Greek (sozo SODE zo). Besides the obvious meaning of “rescue,” this word sozo was also used of healing and making whole.One day Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, fell


• Scythian
  Barbarian, Scythian, slave—all are united with us in Christ Jesus (Col..3 11). Barbarians I know, and slaves I know, but what is a Scythian? (SITH ee un) If our brothers in Christ include some Scythians, maybe we should learn more


• Seal
  In my office desk is a treasured souvenir from a trip to Taiwan a few years ago. It is my very own “chop,” a small square seal that makes my official stamp of identification. The use of a chop is


• Send 1
  At least a dozen different Greek words are translated “send” in the New Testament. The two most common words are both found in John 20 21, “As the Father has sent (apostello – ah po STELL oh) me, so send


• Send 2
  In our last article we looked at pempo, a word meaning, “I send.” This word was used to focus attention on the sender and the act of sending, while minimizing the personal importance of the one sent.Now we are going


• Shepherd
  “No occupation in the world is more disreputable than that of the shepherd.” Such was the surprising judgment of the Pharisaic Rabbi of Jesus’ day. Shepherds were listed in the rabbi’s official lists of thieving and cheating occupations, were assumed


• Shrink
  Jeans shrink, sweaters shrink, and sometimes people shrink The New Testament, as we will see, warns about a spiritual shrinkage that we must avoid at all costs.The Greek word for “shrink” was hypostello (hoo poh STELL oh). In military language


• Slave
  Why are we afraid of the word “slave”? The common Greek word for a slave (doulos, pronounced DOO loss) was used over 120 times in the New Testament, but many English translations never say “slave” even once. Instead, the more


• Submit
  In the second century there is a satirical philosopher named Lucian who travels throughout Greece, amusing and enlightening his audiences. In one story he describes a scene where a soldier’s fat assistant picks up a shield and finds a place


• Supply
  Let’s start with the word choreography. We’ll work our way back into ancient Greek theatre, and from there we’ll move forward to the New Testament.Choreography comes from the “chorus” and the movements “written” for them as they walked across the


• Surpassing
  Plato observed that every life has its share of pains and pleasures. His definition of a healthy life vs. a diseased life was simply this “in health the pleasures exceed the pains, but in disease the pains exceed the pleasures.”


• Take Captive
  To the victors belong the spoils” was the slogan of Andrew Jackson and his party after he won the presidency of the United States. As winner of the election, why shouldn’t he use every opportunity to give political plums to


• Take Heart
  Two million people were trapped between the sea and the approaching Egyptian army. Escape was humanly impossible. In that moment of supreme crisis, Moses cried out to the people, “Fear not Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord


• Temple
  Two men went up to the “temple” (hieron he eh RON) to pray. But did you know that the Pharisee and the publican. (Luke 18 10) were not allowed in the actual temple building? They had to stand in the


• Test
  The priests of ancient Egypt had the task of examining every white bull offered as a sacrifice to Apis, the bull god of Memphis. Is any hair black? Is the tongue normal? Do the hairs on the tail grow naturally?


• Touch
  Thetis was a devoted mother. As a sea goddess of ancient myth, she took a human lover and gave birth to Achilles. She held the infant by the heel and dipped him in the River Styx, thus giving him almost


• Transform
  The view from Mt. Herman’s 9,000 foot summit was spectacular, but it did not compare with the sight immediately before Peter’s eyes. There stood Jesus, transfigured. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light (Matt


• Triumph
  Hail the conquering hero Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian, had won a great victory. Jerusalem and all Palestine had fallen When Titus returned to Rome the senate voted to honor him with a “triumph”—a special parade of high honor.


• Virtue
  What is virtue? In the earliest Greek writings virtue was most often expressed as the kind of manliness that makes a soldier brave in battle, that gives him courage to stand against the odds. A man demonstrated his virtue in


• Wages
  “Be content with your wages,” said John the Baptist to the soldiers (Luke 3 14) .The Greek word for wages (opsonia ops OH nee ah) meant literally “money to buy food.” It was a familiar military term and referred to


• Wailing
  The king of Armenia looked across the valley at the small encampment of Roman soldiers. “If they are ambassadors, they are too many,” he said, “If they are soldiers, they are too few.” He and his men then had a


• Wisdom
  "What makes a man free?"  When the slave-philosopher Epictetus was asked this question, his answer was, "Knowing how to live." Ah!  But there is the problem.  How shall a man know how to live?


• Witness
  This is a tale of two words. When they were young, these two Greek words grew up together in the vicinity of the courtroom. Both became important words in the first century church both became common words in twentieth century


• Woman
  Women are greedy, inquisitive, lazy, vain, and frivolous.” At least that’s what the ancients said. The Mishnah, the book which preserves the oral traditions of the Jewish rabbis before A.D. 200, includes many such derogatory statements about women. The attitude


• Worship
  An ancient legend recorded by Herodotus (1.119) tells how the Persian subjects of King Xerxes adored him. When the king and many of his people were returning from war in Greece, a great storm at sea threatened to capsize their


• Worthy
  In ancient times money often took the form of tiny bits of gold or silver, which a man poured out and weighed in a simple scale. On one side of the scale he put a weight of known value, and


• Youth
  It was 86 B.C. when the famous military commander Gaius Marius, uncle of Julius Caesar, died.  His son, Marius the Younger, stepped up to lead his father's faction, even though he was only twenty-three years old.