See Synonyms in Bible Word Study

Today’s post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris, who has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos seminars, provides many training materials.

A Logos user recently presented me with this scenario:

As I was reading Luke 4:5 where Satan showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world, I was a little surprised to notice the Greek word for “world” was not “kosmos,” the word normally used for “world” in the New Testament. Is there a quick way to see all of the Greek words translated with the same English word?

This is an excellent question, and the answer is a resounding yes!

Using the above example, I’ll show you how to access a quick list of synonyms for world:

• Open an English Bible with the reverse-interlinear option, such as the ESV (A)

• Navigate to Luke 4:5 (B)

• Right click the word world (C)

• Select Selection world | Bible Word Study (D)

• Scroll in the newly generated report to the section called Greek Words (E)

• Notice the English word world in the center of the translation ring (F) and the Greek words around the ring, which are the words translated world in the ESV New Testament (G)

• Click a Greek word to see a list of verses in which that specific Greek word is translated world (H)

• Click the Greek lemma right above the list of verses (I) to generate a separate Bible Word Study report for that word (J)

In essence, the Hebrew Words and Greek Words sections are displaying synonyms in the Old and New Testaments respectively for the word world. By studying all of these original words, you’ll gain a thorough understanding of the concept of world in the Bible.

If you enjoyed this tip, check out the Camp Logos 1 and 2 training videos for more original-language tips for English students.