Lesson 8 | Original Language Tools
Gloss
When you are reading in the Biblearc app, you can find original language helps by clicking on a verse number. Both the chart and inline views show the same information, presented in different ways.
From there, clicking on an original language word will present you with a ton of information. This may seem overwhelming at first, and for this reason, we will take the entire lesson to break down each section.
Here, you are looking at the Hebrew behind the translation of “woman” in Genesis 2:22. In this step, we will examine the middle section of the information box.
Lexical Form (אִשָּׁה above)
The first thing in this section is a word in Hebrew. This is the lexical (dictionary entry) form of the word you clicked on. It may or may not be the same as the form of the highlighted Hebrew word at the top of the box (לְאִשָּׁ֑ה in this case). As in English, words change forms when used in different ways. For example, if you look up the word “were” in English, you would be re-directed to a different word: “be.” This is because “be” is the lexical form of the verb (with am, are, is, was, and were all being forms of this same word).
Pronunciation (ʼishshâh above)
Next to the lexical entry is a phonetic spelling of the word to help you pronounce it.
Strong’s Number: five-digit notation (#H08020 above)
You find a letter-number combination preceded by a pound sign. (An initial H indicates a Hebrew or Aramaic word whereas G indicates a Greek word.) This is a version of this word’s Strong’s number, an identifier, or address if you will. These unique identifiers come in very handy when searching, and will also be addressed in more depth in the next lesson.
Hits (781x above)
This is the number of times this word appears in the original. (Note: For Greek, this does not include LXX hits.)
Part-of-Speech (noun above)
On the second line of this middle section, next to the gloss, you learn what sort of word this is—a noun, verb, adjective, etc. Some words can function as more than one part of speech. In such cases, both will appear with the current usage emphasized.
Gloss
The final detail in the middle section is the gloss.
gloss noun A short definition or explanation of a word or expression
For the word “woman” at the top of the page, the gloss is “woman, wife.” You may recall that in Lesson 3 we discussed the ambiguity in language and furthermore how that ambiguity differs between languages. Simply put, this is the reason why there is not just a single word gloss for each original language word. There is rarely a one-for-one relationship between words in English and the original languages.
Let’s explore this dynamic in more detail.
Multiple Definitions
First, a word may have several definitions. We can use the English word gloss as an example. We have defined it as the short definition of a word. However, there are other—very different—definitions of this word as well. If you look in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, you will find “surface luster or brightness” and “a false and often willfully misleading interpretation” are also definitions of the word gloss.
But in our context, we don’t mean either of these.
Furthermore, it would be either disingenuous or ignorant of someone reading this lesson to assume that one of these other definitions was intended. Likewise, when there are multiple definitions for a word in the biblical text, the author has a single definition in mind for each usage. (The only exception is when there is some sort of wordplay going on.) It is a matter of integrity to not force in definitions that do not fit the obvious meaning of the author.
In our first example, the Hebrew word behind “woman” also means “wife.” But translators have chosen to render this “woman” since the person is presently being made, not her relationship to the man. (The relationship of wife is introduced in the last phrase of this verse and the three verses to follow.)
One final note: In the case of אִשָּׁה, there is certainly a degree of similarity between “woman” and “wife,” even though they are different definitions and different words in English. However, oftentimes when a word has two very different definitions, each will receive a separate lexical entry. (For example, בַּעַל has two different lexical entries, one meaning owner, lord and the other meaning Baal (the pagan deity).
Range of Meaning
Additionally, all words have lexical ranges. A lexical range is how far a word’s meaning can stretch within a particular definition.
Take a look at Matthew 3:9. The words “we have” come from a single Greek word whose definition is “I have, hold, possess.” As you can see, these are not completely distinct definitions. In this context, it describes a familial relationship, but let’s consider some other usages of this Greek word to see how wide its range extends.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23
Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Matthew 3:4
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need [lit. have need] to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Matthew 3:14
This same Greek word, using the same definition of “have, hold, possess” is translated as “to be” (i.e. “to hold a child”) in Matthew 1:18, “shall conceive” (i.e. “shall possess…a son”) in Matthew 1:23, “wore” (i.e. “John had a garment”) in Matthew 3:4, and as a part of the verb “need” (i.e. “I have need”) in Matthew 3:14. That is a large range for a single word!
NOTE: You may have noticed that two pairs of Hebrew words are highlighted in the above image—one pair yellow and one pair red. This is to indicate that each pair of words is working together as a unit to yield the English translation. So, for example, “ὁ Θεὸς” together is translated to “God” in this verse.
Questions stoked by glosses are often answered in lexicons, which are much more thorough studies of original language words. We dig into them on the next step.