Vine's Expository Dictionary of N. T. Words

     Vine's Expository Dictionary of  New Testament Words, W.E. Vine, 1939,
is one of the most popular word books for N.T. study. The premier reason for the
popularity of Vine is likely due to its ease of use. Let us be aware that ease of use
does not insure that the definitions assigned to words will be accurate. Scholars are
not always right. The difficulty often lies in determining when they are misdirected.
(Cf. blog posts on this subject: http://www.biblicallanguagesresearch.blogspot.com)
Vine's can be a useful tool if the user is aware of its deficiencies, and is willing to
supplement it with more recent tools of N.T. research.


     I  remember  hearing  bible class  teachers  and preachers quote profusely from
Vine's when I was immersed into Christ Jesus. For example, it was stated, "According
to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, the word church is from
the Greek work ekklesia. This word consists of two words, ek meaning 'out of' and
klesis from the root word kaleo meaning ' to call.' Therefore, the word church means
the called out." That all sounds good to the ear, it may appear plausible on the surface,
but the fact is: it's just not correct. Ekklesia does not mean "called out" in the N.T. It
means a congregation, assembly, or group. Perhaps the most glaring weakness of Vine's
is its dependence on the "root fallacy" or etymology to establish word meaning.


     I have  also  heard  many  bible  class  teachers  and  preachers define the word
"disorderly" in Paul's letters to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:14; 2 Thess. 3:6,7,11)
by stating, "Disorderly is from the Greek word ataktos, and according to Vine's it is
'a military term, and refers to being out of rank, or insubordinate.' So, Christians who
are disorderly are those who are out of step."  This is not correct. In his letters to the
Thessalonians, Paul is using the words ataktos, atakteo, ataktos to describe people
who are idlers or living in idleness. I reiterate, "root meaning" or etymology does not
determine word meaning in N.T. research. Word meaning is generally determined by
word usage. The meaning of a word cannot be reliably determined by etymology,
especially in N.T. study. The one area where etymology is more useful is in the study
of Hebrew words because there are far more words that appear only once in the
Hebrew Bible than in the Greek New Testament.


     What is the person to do who knows no (or very little) Hebrew and Greek? There
are at least two options: (1) Learn to use the fundamental modern reference works of
biblical research. The person who is willing to master the basic tools of biblical research
will see that it is well worth the effort. (2) Become a student of contextual interpretation.
Too often, "biblical exegetes" interpret texts apart from their contexts, or they cite
numerous "authorities" without any knowledge of how they arrived at their conclusions.
If a person does not know how to use even the basic tools of research or how to
interpret contextually, how do they know the "authorities" are correct? We should not
accept a conclusion on the basis of which authority says it, but on the basis of the
sound reasons they advance.

     There is a dictionary of New Testament words that is far more useful, up to date,
and accurate than Vine's. It is Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old
& New Testament Words, 2006, Published by Zondervan. William D. Mounce, PhD,
University of Aberdeen, is the general editor, and author of the most popular Greek
text books available today, Basics of Biblical Greek and  A Graded Reader of Biblical 
Greek. Bill Mounce's Expository Dictionary should supersede that of W.E. Vine.

                                                                                                            RD

Copyright 2011