Hello, faithful friends! It’s time for a Word study round-up! If you don’t know what a word study is, allow me to explain. Because the Bible was written in different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), modern readers like us can benefit from studying it in its original language as well as our own. This usually means picking out one word or phrase that sticks out from the English (or Spanish, or French, or Italian, or Chinese, or Arabic…) text and looking up the original word in a concordance. This allows us to better understand the Bible in its original context… plus, it’s SUPER cool!!! See four (ish) examples of Romans Word study below, and new ones every Wednesday on my Instagram 🙂
1 October: dikaiosune and acheio
On the first of October (which is not a Wednesday, but it’s fine lol), I studied the word dikaiosune, a Greek word which is translated as “righteousness” in the ESV version of Romans 3. Here’s the verse it came from. The concordance included on blueletterbible.com defines this word as “the state of him who is as he ought to be; condition acceptable to God; integrity, virtue, purity of life; rightness, correct ways of thinking, feeling, and acting.” These terms describe the righteousness of God in Romans 3.
For contrast, I also studied the word acheio in this week’s Romans word study. Acheio is another Greek word which the ESV translates as “worthless” in Romans 3:12. Blue Letter Bible’s concordance defines this word as “to make useless, render unserviceable; spoil, become unprofitable.”
Taken together and in context with the rest of the chapter, these two words taught me that God is the ultimate standard of good in the world, and that when I go my own way and choose myself over all, I become useless to Him. This isn’t permanent, and it doesn’t affect my salvation, but it does put a damper on our relationship.
For more Word Nerd goodness, check out the original Word Nerd Wednesday post here 🙂
8 October: plerophoreo
On October 8th (also not a Wednesday XD), I studied the word plerophoreo from Romans 4. This part of my Romans word study found me studying the character of Abraham and his faith that was strong and unwavering, “hoping against all hope” (v. 18). Plerophoreo translates as “fully convinced” in the ESV’s Romans 4:21. The concordance defines it as “to bear or bring full, to make full; to cause a thing to be shown in the full; to carry through to the end, accomplish; and to be persuaded, fully convinced or assured.”
This particular word study was especially powerful for me, as it reflects the heart and soul of The Fangirl Fulfilled, and spoke out just for me.
15 October: katallage
It’s the third week of October, and did I get #wordnerdwednesday posted on Wednesday? NOPE XD. But this week’s word study was still beautiful. Studying Romans 5, I landed on the word katallage, which the ESV translates as “reconciliation” in Romans 5:11. The concordance translates katallage as “adjustment of a difference, exchange of equal values, return to favor; atonement; one received into favor.”
From this word study, and the rest of Romans 5, I took away that Jesus’ death on the cross was equal to the negative value of my sin because of His infinite worth.
22 October: kainotemi zoes
I didn’t post on Instagram this week, but I studied the phrase kainotemi zoes in chapter 6 of Romans. This phrase translates as “newness of life” in Romans 6:4. The Greek concordance defines kainotemi as “the new state of life in which the Holy Spirit places us so as to produce eternal life” and zoes as “the absolute fullness of life; life real and genuine, active and vigorous, devoted to God.”
From this word study, I observed that redeemed life begins at salvation and is completed in eternal life; salvation is both an event and a process.
28 October: thelein and katergakesthai
For the final Wednesday in October (today), I studied the words “desire” and “ability” in Romans 7. Thelein (desire in the ESV) translates as “to will, have in mind, or intend;” “to be resolved or determined, or to purpose;” and “to desire, or to wish.” Katergakesthai translates as “to perform, accomplish, acheive; to work out, i. e. to do that from which something results; to bring about, result in.” From this, I gathered that I can do nothing truly good or worthwhile without the work of Christ in me (see Romans 7:18).
Conclusion
Hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s word studies from Romans. See you next month! If you did, feel free to pin the image below and follow me on Instagram for new word studies every Wednesday 🙂
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