Semantics in Biblical Interpretation

JAMES L. BOYER Professor of Greek, Grace College In dealing with a subject which includes the word “semantic" there is a double reason for beginning with the defining of terms; because semantic itself needs defining, and because semantics has to do with the meaning of words, or definition. The word "semantic" is used in two senses; (1) as a technical term in the science of linguistics, and (2) a more general sense of linguistic and grammatical studies into the meaning of words. The latter is the sense to be used in this paper. My topic deals with the components of the sentence, that is, words and word relationships. Its goal is to discover the meanings of these words as they contribute to the meaning of the whole sentence. For example, in order to properly interpret the meaning of a sentence such as, "The Church is the Body of Christ," we must understand the meaning of each of its components. What does the word "Church" mean? and similarly, "body," "Christ," the copula "is," the genitive relationship "of"? These are the materials of semantics. The semantic problem, in turn, may be considered as comprised of two parts; (1) the meaning of the words in themselves, the lexical study of words, and (2) the meaning of words in their grammatical relationships, the syntactical study of words. Perhaps the first of these might by some be considered the specific field of semantics, but the second seems to be equally involved in the meaning of words.