A silver pointer resting on the Hebrew text of a Torah scroll

Words Every Christian Should Know

Fifty words from the Bible's own languages, twenty-five Hebrew, twenty-five Greek, with their meanings taken from the standard lexicons, their key passages quoted from the verified corpus, and the common word-study over-claims named and corrected.

The two sets

Twenty-five words each, arranged as five lessons of five, so a set can be worked through in a week of short sittings or taught as a short course.

Hebrew Words (Old Testament)Twenty-five words from the Old Testament's own language. Hebrew meaning is carried by word families and covenant settings, so these entries lean on BDB and on the passages where each word does its heaviest work.25 words · 5 lessonsGreek Words (New Testament)Twenty-five words from the New Testament's own language, glossed from Thayer and Abbott-Smith. Several entries exist mainly to correct a famous over-claim, and say so.25 words · 5 lessons

Every entry follows the same discipline. The original word is set large, with its transliteration and an approximate pronunciation. The meaning is given as the honest range the lexicons give (BDB for Hebrew; Thayer and Abbott-Smith for Greek, read first-hand and recorded in the project's source register), not a slogan. 'Where you meet it' quotes real occurrences from the site's verified Berean Standard Bible corpus. 'Watch out' names the over-claim most often preached from the word and corrects it from the same lexicons. Nothing here is published as settled teaching: every entry is in theological review, and the sources for every entry are listed at the foot of its page.

Learn them by heart

Each set is also a flashcard deck. The word in its own script on the front; the meaning and an anchor verse on the back.

Hebrew Words flashcards25 flashcards: the word in its own script on the front, its meaning and an anchor verse on the back. Spaced repetition, saved on your device.Greek Words flashcards25 flashcards: the word in its own script on the front, its meaning and an anchor verse on the back. Spaced repetition, saved on your device.

Sources

  • Berean Standard Bible (BSB)
  • Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906)
  • Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
  • STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
  • Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible / STEP Hebrew data
  • SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)

Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.