HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 For instance, if I wanted to look up the word "restoreth (restores)" from Psalm 23 and find out what the original Hebrew actually meant, where would I look? I remember a lady that led a Bible class I was in used to tell us what the original Greek of certain words meant, and it was sometimes such a more expressive and full word picture than the English translation. So I'd like to try looking some words up on my own. I'm sure there must be a way online to do this-can you point me in the right direction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Google "Strong's Concordance" and I believe you'll find several online versions. Strong's references each word in the Bible with a number that can then be looked up (so every time the Greek word "logos" is used, it would have the same number, regardless of how it's translated in English)... Here's the entry for the word "restoreth" in the Psalm you were curious about: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7725&t=KJV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 and only one came up, and I couldn't get it to work because it only wanted KJV wording. So then I googled Hebrew and Greek lexicon and tried one at crosswalk.com. I entered "restores" and just like in the example you gave me, it came up with many meanings-how do I find the exact meaning meant in the particular passage? Question #2-I tried another word "rod" also from Psalm 23, and it only came up with one word from Proverbs and another from somewhere else-not the Psalm 23 version. What am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansprouts Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 use blueletterbible.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Well, the problem is that words don't have one meaning. And when you're trying to explain the nuance of a word in one language in another language, you often have to use a lot of words to get that meaning across. Sometimes simple nouns are relatively straightforward (and other times they aren't, lol), but verbs especially can be tricky! If you scroll down on the concordance listing I gave, you'll see all of the times that particular Hebrew word was used, and how it was translated in those passages. In this case, the word *is* pretty straight-forward. It means to "return to a previous state". Pretty much what we think of when we stay "restore". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 for the word "rod" and still came up with the same problem-gives five versions of meanings for "rod" but I don't know how to find the SPECIFIC one I want, the one in Psalm 23. Sorry if I seem so stupid on this-what am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I scrolled down now and I see what you mean. And also that all the meanings for "restores" are indeed about the same. I will try some more words and see how I make out. Let me try "rod" again now that I see I can scroll down for the exact number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansprouts Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 for the word "rod" and still came up with the same problem-gives five versions of meanings for "rod" but I don't know how to find the SPECIFIC one I want, the one in Psalm 23. Sorry if I seem so stupid on this-what am I doing wrong? look up Psalm 23: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=23&v=1&t=KJV#top On the left next to each verse are a set of icons which link to different tools. One of them, the "C" gives you a concordance and lexicon. Click on the one next to the verse which has the word you want to look up. It breaks the verse down phrase by phrase. If you click on the numvbers under the column labeled "Strongs" it will give you the original Hebrew for that phrase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 scroll down individually to find the Ps. 23 version of "rod" but it did work. Isn't there something called an "interlinear" or something that has the meaning right under each word? (I would even get this as a paper resource if there was something like this available.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 That's what I was trying to figure out-how to go from the verse to the word meaning-and I was getting tied up trying to go the other way around; the word meaning to the verse! Now I've got it-thank you both for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 scroll down individually to find the Ps. 23 version of "rod" but it did work. Isn't there something called an "interlinear" or something that has the meaning right under each word? (I would even get this as a paper resource if there was something like this available.) Yes, use an interlinear bible. Try this: http://www.studylight.org/isb/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Isn't there something called an "interlinear" or something that has the meaning right under each word? (I would even get this as a paper resource if there was something like this available.) Yes, absolutely! You'll want an interlinear that's also referenced to Strong's -- 'cause then you'll see an approximate literal translation for each word *and* the number in Strong's that then tells you exactly which Greek or Hebrew word is used and what it means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I even found one for the NT in my version of choice-ESV! I will get it in the future maybe for a print copy, but the online version seems to do the trick for the little bit I need it. I did start learning Greek but it's very slow going!! (mostly summers.) Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansprouts Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Strong's is a KJV concordance. Then there is "Strongest" which goes with the NIV. I am sure there are others as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 www.blueletterbible.org Just click on the "L" for lexicon. I love this website! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Strong's is a KJV concordance. Then there is "Strongest" which goes with the NIV. I am sure there are others as well... Actually, you can use it with any translation. I have an NIV interlinear (I'd recommend it, but the particular one I have is OOP) that's completely referenced to Strong's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted January 1, 2009 Author Share Posted January 1, 2009 how to use it til I read this thread! Haha! The blueletterbible.com just seems like the easiest way to go for me, since it has everything from several references. I also LOVE that it has ESV-my translation of choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 (edited) The Hebrew word for Rod in Psalm 23 is shevet (shin-vet-tet). Shevet has four meanings... 1) rod 2) the person who holds the rod (i.e. chief, leader) (not commonly used this way) 3) tribe (or those who are led by one holding the rod!) 4) branch Both shevet and mateh are used to refer to the tribes in the torah, but the word mateh is not used until Badmidbar (Numbers), and then suddenly it is used 91 times! Before that the word used was always "shevet." "Shevet" also means branch. The tribes are branches of the same tree. When the torah changes to the word "matot" (a word that is related to a word for tilting or leaning) it makes us think more of the future and where the tribes are now going. When referring to a rod, the "mateh" was the staff used by Aharon and Moshe (Aaron and Moses). The "shevet" was what the Egyptian taskmasters used to control their Hebrew slaves. A "mateh" is more like a walking stick, and a "shevet" is more like a club. So, "your rod and your staff" means that I find comfort, both when you (G-d) club me over the head as well as when you support me with your staff. ======= Hebrew is an incredibly compact language. Three little letters can convey volumes of meaning that simply do not show up by translating the word to English. When you see the Hebrew text next to the English text, the English text is much longer! And even that only conveys a mere shadow of the rich language of the original. A concordance, while helpful and useful, is still very limiting. Hebrew is not that hard to learn once one gets past learning the letters. Biblical grammar is complicated, but the vocabulary is not. 900 words and verb roots account for about 80% of the text. So, it's not unrealistic to set out to learn enough Hebrew to read the original... Just two cents from a Jewish mama... :) Edited January 2, 2009 by alpidarkomama fix paragraphs (did not divide) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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