Lesson 8 | Original Language Tools
Danger: Half the Story
In this lesson, you will learn how to use different tools to glean meaning out of a Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word—super exciting! However, learning these skills could tempt you to feel like you now have a full grasp of this original language thing. After all, it’s all been laid out for you—the definition, the parsing, and various notes. But don’t be fooled: word studies are only half the story. The other half is grammar, and grammar only comes (for the most part) with learning the language.
Do NOT forget that word studies only tell half the story.
(Grammar tells the other half.)
For example, you might wonder why a “chariot” appears in David’s instructions to Solomon about the temple furnishings. (Have you ever seen an illustration of the holy of holies with a chariot inside??)
Are we dealing with a chariot or a seat (see NET2)? How do the chariot and the cherubim relate to each other? How does the word “gold” fit it and what exactly are we being told in this verse?
The NET2 footnotes will help you understand why they use the word “seat” instead of “chariot”—they believe it to be a scribal error. But they give no reason for the need to assume such a corruption in the text. The NASB presents the ideas of the chariot and the cherubim completely separately, whereas the ESV, NET2, and KJV have them connected with “of” and the NIV11 connects them with “that is.” How are you to say who is right? Finally, the NASB and KJV suggest that it is the weight of gold for the chariot or cherubim being specified here, whereas the other versions imply this is about the schematics of the “golden” chariot or cherubim. Which is right?
To be sure, searching for cherubim elsewhere in the Bible illuminates the possibilities of what could be going on here, but ultimately it is grammar alone that will help you see things clearly. And for that, there are no shortcuts—you would need to learn Biblical Hebrew!