Logos Pro Summer Training: How to Do Word Studies

Each week this summer the Logos Pros will teach you how to master the tools and resources of Logos Bible Software. You’ll get some pointers and some study questions. This week: word studies.

Jesus famously declares in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” But in what sense is he the “life”?​​ To find the answer, you’ll need to do a word study.

A lot of work goes into to Bible word studies. It takes time and effort to go from discovering a term worth studying to digging up rich nuggets of information on the meaning of a passage or theological concept. With Logos, you can see everything your library has to say on English, Greek, or Hebrew terms—all with a single tool.

The Bible Word Study tool is the one place to find links to your favorite lexicons, examine the distribution of a term by book or author, expose original language words, see which characters are associated with keywords, and discover occurrences of lexemes in other ancient literature.

In this week’s video, I’ll walk you through the ins and outs of the Bible Word Study tool, pointing out some interesting details about the greek term zoe (ζωή) along the way.

Study Questions:

1. What is the second-most common Greek word in the NT for ‘life’?
2. Does it have the same senses as ‘zoe’? Can it?
3. Select an interesting verse about life. Why do you think the author used that Greek word, instead of the other?

Recommended Resources:

• The BDAG-HALOT Bundle combines the standard Greek-English dictionary for New Testament study with the standard Hebrew-English dictionary for Old Testament study.
• The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is a classic work of scholarship delving into history and theology and organized by Greek lexeme.
• Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words is the modern equivalent of Vine’s Expository Dictionary—it’s much more beginner-friendly than the previous two resources.