The Truth of Words:
In the past few years there have been those who have criticized me for my strictness in the use of the Greek and Hebrew words in articles written by myself, or in certain discussions or debates with others.
Then there are those who will in no way even reason with me concerning the true meaning of Greek and Hebrew words. Words like, tongues (languages). “One” as in, “one God,” firstborn, etc.
I would have assumed that anyone who studies the Bible would be pleased with any strict adherence to the true meaning and breakdown of often misunderstood Greek and Hebrew words. I have been working on a Greek dictionary of the New Testament for the past three years, and personally it has opened my eyes to the importance of word studies.
Let me give you an example of how a word is at times incorrectly interpretation and a wrong conclusion can be drawn for it. Wrong interpretations can cause a new Christian to walk away in confusion, or even distain. In other words, any word in question that is interpreted incorrectly by putting a modern English understanding on it can be dangerous.
Lets look at the Greek word, “dog or dogs.” In our modern day understanding, if someone were to call you a dog, that would be asking for a fight, or at least be very offensive. Following is the Greek and Hebrew for the word dog, and how the Jews and other ancient cultures viewed it.
Dog: Dogs: Greek is, kuroo. A dog, plural, dogs.
In the Eastern world, dogs are mostly without a master; they wandered at large in the streets and fields, often in packs, and fed upon waste, carrion, and even dead corpses. They are held as unclean. To call someone a dog in the Middle East is a stronger expression of contempt than even with us Westerners.
“Dog,” as a Past participle expressing completed action. Luke 16:21, speaking of the beggar Lazarus who was laid at the gate of a rich man. The verse states,
“He desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
2 Peter 2:22, “The dog is turned to his own vomit again.”
Hebrew is, Exodus 22:31, “Ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.”
1 Samuel 17:43, “The Philistine (Goliath) said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?”
Wild dogs ate the body of Jezebel.
2 Kings 8:13. The Jews called the heathen people dogs, as Muslims call Christians and Jews today.
When “dog or dogs,” is used as a Trope, or metaphor, it refers to an impudent, shameless person.
Philippians 3:2, “Beware of dogs,” where it is spoken of Judaizing teachers, comp.
Isaiah 56:11, “greedy dogs.”
Matthew 7:6, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” literally, give not consecrated meat to dogs! Generally spoken of as an offering to God, or not giving good and holy things to those who will spurn and pervert them.
Well you get the idea of this word dog. Now lets look at a comment Jesus made,
Matthew 15:23-24-25-26-27, A Canaanite woman came to Jesus and said to Him, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”
At first the Lord chose not to answer her, as disciples desired to send her away because she was not a Jew.
Jesus then answers her, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” meaning that Jesus salvation was to be to the Jews alone.
The woman came again and, “worshipped Him, saying, Lord help me.”
Jesus now responds with the following,
“It is not meet (good) to take the children’s (Israelis) bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Jesus has appeared to call her, her family, her people, “DOGS.”
What a terrible thing to say to a person who is seeking your help, and who believes on you. Would your have walked away from this man called Jesus if he had called you, your wife, children and friends, DOGS?
I would have been insulted; as a matter of fact I would have been infuriated.
BUT is this what Jesus was saying? Before you read on, from your own personal understanding of what was just said by Jesus, what would you have done, or thought of doing if called a dog?
A careless student of the Scriptures could NOT have explained the word correctly, or even understood it themselves. In this, they would have lost a convert, or at least turned them off.
Can you imagine then attempting to tell that person about the compassion, kindness, and love, Jesus had for mankind? He calls the lady a dog. Most people would have been discussed and walked away after hearing such harsh words.
But there is an explanation.
The word dog that Jesus used was a different Greek word. Yes it is translated in our Bibles as, “Dog,” and would be easily misunderstood if not researched correctly.
Dogs: Greek is, kunarion. It is applied to a house pet, a little dog, a puppy that is owned and loved by all the family members. See, Matthew 15:26-27, Mark 7:27-28.
The woman then said to Jesus, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs (PUPPIES) eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.”
Jesus responds, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
After we have examined the words carefully, and now fully understand them, we conclude that the actions of our Lord justified His use of a very particular word and its correct meaning.
With this information, we can easily explain the words of our Lord. Without it, explanations would fail.
This is only one of many examples of how words are misused by careless, understudied teachers, preachers, and students. Worse than the above are those who are given the correct meaning of a word, then because it butts up against their church or personal teachings, they reject the truth. These are the liars. These can be considered the dogs that wander the streets, looking to feed off of anything they can find.
We all need to adhere to the truth of every word written in the Scriptures. Carelessness will not be an excuse when you go before the Lord.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com