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verb simply because we deal with Holy Writ, nay rather, we shall feel the importance of
treating nouns as nouns, verbs as verbs, and observing every phase and detail with
scrupulous care, just because it is Holy Writ.
Every author, whether sacred or profane must be supposed to employ such words for
the conveyance of his thought as he believes will excite the same thoughts in his readers.
Grimm has said "The English tongue possesses a veritable power of expression, such as,
perhaps, never stood at the command of any other language of man".
Let us summarize thus: Language is the medium whereby one person conveys his
thoughts and ideas to another. The following features should be kept in mind:
(1)
Oral. That is, his ideas are expressed by articulate sounds which are recognized
by speaker and hearer as referring to the same thing.
(2)
The connection between words and ideas is arbitrary. The idea expressed by
the Greek word Logos, the Hebrew word Dabar and the English word Word
are the same, but the sounds are totally different.
(3)
The Written word is expressed by letters grouped into words which are
symbolical representations of the oral sounds and of the thoughts and ideas
expressed by them.
(4)
Every language is its own interpreter to those who are acquainted with its
elements.
(5)
Where there are no fixed principles of language, there can be no certain rules or
results of interpretation.
Rule #4. The meaning of a word
is to be sought in its usage.
pp. 29 - 33
It is a proverb that should be kept in mind when dealing with words and their
meaning, that `fire is a good servant but a bad master'. Etymology is a good servant, but
if it controls the mind of the interpreter instead of being a useful adjunct it can very
seriously mislead.
In the early books of the O.T. we might expect the words that are used to retain much
of their primitive force, but as time goes on, words change in their meaning; new shades
of meaning are taken on, old meanings fade and are forgotten and consequently the
interpreter is faced at every step with a problem. Who, today thinks of a `diploma' as `a
thing folded double'? Who associates `influenza' with astrology and the `influence' of
the planets? Who thinks of the god `Mercury' when he speaks of `merchandise'? To