This article is another "how-to" from (Rev) Neil MacQueen, our Writing Team's lead writer. Originally written to help train and guide our Writing Team, we're releasing it into our Teaching Resources forum for those who love going the extra mile in their preparation and creativity.
~ Print the One Page PDF version of this article ~
You are welcome to make copies for teachers or email it to them. It can be used for training, or as a quick guide to your next teachers Bible study session.The following article is an expanded version of the PDF. It has more examples and "how-to" helps for those who want to go deeper.
Be sure to read the companion article: "Low Hanging Fruit " ...finding creative inspiration in the key words of a passage.
How to Do a Bible Word Study
that will
Expand Your Teaching Vocabulary
and Stoke Your Creativity
by Neil MacQueen for Rotation.org
To most, the phrase "Word Study" conjures up visions of academic toil and heady-insights, but let's leave that image to the preachers. 
Simple Word Studies are easy to do and can quickly bear fruit for teachers -- especially if you take advantage of the free online Bible Word Study resources mentioned in this article.
Why Do Your Own Bible Word Studies?
Studying the meaning of key words in a passage not only expands your understanding, it expands what you have to say about the passage and can be a source of creative inspiration for your teaching activities. Doing your own Word Study puts you in touch with the text. And quite frankly, sometimes the people who write the "Bible Backgrounds" for curriculum are not teachers, they are academics or preachers. The point of view and "how-to" in this article is for Sunday School teachers who need to do more than talk talk talk.
As described in my "Low Hanging Fruit" article, I love to let the words from the text itself trigger creative ideas for my teaching (reading, acting, demonstrating, art, singing, etc etc). Word studies GREATLY EXPAND the number of words available to "trigger" my creative thinking. See numerous examples below of just how that happens!
What exactly is a "word study" and how do you do one?
Doing a simple word study is like digging for teaching treasures buried right beneath your feet, only in this case, you're digging underneath the English translation.
Here's a simple two-step process using two of my favorite treasure finders: Strong's Concordance and Roget's Thesaurus.
Step 1: You begin by looking up the meanings of key words from your lesson text in Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance. You can look them up in a published copy of Strong's but these days, it's a lot easier to look them up on free online Bible websites such as like https://www.blueletterbible.com.
Step 2: After identifying the important and promising words in Strong's, you’ll then look up them up in a thesaurus, such as Roget's or www.thesaurus.com, to discover synonyms (alternate words) that may be more understandable and memorable to children and might further stir your creative imagination. Either you or your students can open a thesaurus, or go to www.thesaurus.com. See the example below for some thought-provoking synonyms of the word "spirit" from thesaurus.com.
More about how to use Strong's and a Thesaurus
STRONG'S
When you look up important and promising words in your verse at blueletterbible.com, you'll see various links to resources like Strong's that dig deeper. For example, below is a screenshot from the Genesis 1 entry at blueletterbible.com showing the links to the words I've identified as "potential treasures." When you click the 'numbers' next to the word words, Strong's pops open with possible meanings of the words.
The page also shows me the Hebrew words and how to pronounce them.
I have added the word "hovering" in the graphic to show you that I like the NIV's choice of that word rather than other translations which use "moving."
See the Spirit Word Study Below for more details.
This screenshot shows the Strong's translation options for "moving/hovering." Now you know why various English translations choose different English words to express what the Hebrew "might be" trying to get at. Hover, shake, brood, cherish -- each option conveys an interesting idea about God's "mood" in Genesis 1:2 and what we might be able to creatively do with it in the classroom.
THESAURUS
A Thesaurus is my next "go-to" Bible word study tool, and it's easy and quick with online thesaurus' like www.thesaurus.com at your fingertips. Looking up synonyms of words in the verses you are teaching simply gives you more words to share with your students -- words that might make more sense to kids. I've also found that looking up synonyms helps trigger my creative thoughts just like looking up the Hebrew and Greek definitions of words in scripture can spur insights and ideas.
For example, here are the thesaurus.com synonyms for the word "spirit" that I was studying in Genesis 1:1. Spirit can mean "ghost" or "presence of" but it's synonyms can also help us think about the QUALITIES of God at Creation, such as "the heart of God," "enthusiasm of God," and "will of God" ...was hovering over the deep at Creation.
Some of these synonyms suggest a posture or attitude which would be fun to act out with kids as a way of helping them get into the text and remember it. Others simply open up discussion possibilities that the word "spirit" does not, such as "what was in God's "heart" at the moment of creation? What was he "fired up" or "enthusiastic" about?
See the "Spirit and Hovering" study below for a great example of how synonyms found in a thesaurus can stoke your understanding and creative ideas.
Going Deeper with Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries
I look up words in online Hebrew and Greek dictionaries and online thesaurus' to gain insight and spur my creativity. However, occasionally there's a word or concept that requires deeper investigation into its historical, biblical, and cultural meaning. For example, in Matthew 27:33 we come across the name "Golgotha" which means "the place of the skull." If you want to know more about it you need to look it up in a Bible Dictionary or Commentary.
Now here's a word of warning: MANY of the so-called "Dictionaries of the Bible" attached to free online Bible sites, such as Biblegateway.com and BibleStudyTools.com -- are OUT OF DATE (some more than a century old and more opinion than scholarship).
If you don't have a GOOD MODERN BIBLE DICTIONARY like the New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible or Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of the Bible at your disposal, then I suggest you go to www.StudyLight.org and use their free online versions of either Baker's or Holman's Bible Dictionaries.
The same goes for Bible Commentaries and more so. MOST of the "free" online commentaries attached to Bible sites are NOT modern and lack in scholarship. Avoid them. Check your church's and pastor's library and denominational publisher for suggestions.
A Word Study of "Spirit" and "Hovering" (NIV)
1. Looking up the word "Spirit" and "Hovering" in Strong's Concordance
According to Strong's, both of the Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek words for "spirit" is the word for "wind" or "breath" which is the Hebrew word "ruwach" and in Greek, it is "pneuma."
Whereas the common English definition of "spirit" (and the one my kids will immediately think of) suggests something like a "ghost," the Hebrew and Greek words for "wind/spirit" suggest movement and life. Jesus himself knew about this definition of "spirit" when in John 3:8 he spoke about the new life Nicodemus needed from above. "Movement and Life-giving" is also present in the Genesis 1:2 story of Creation when God's spirit (breath of life) is hovering over the waters, and again in Genesis 2 when breathes/ruwach life into Adam. "Ruwach" can also mean one's courage or desire. God's Spirit is his creative life-giving desire.
"Hovering" or "moving" as some English translations have it (or as the NRSV translates it: "swept") is another interesting word. "Rechalph" translates as "move, shake, flow," and even "tremor" with a sense of anticipation. Thus to our kids, we could share that God is pacing and shaking with excitement! (But read on to what a thesaurus says about the word "hover.")
Interestingly, the word "ruwach" even FEELS and sounds like "wind" when you say it out loud with your kids (which I'm surely going to have them demonstrate). If I'm looking for a Creation art project, I might choose blowing paint with a straw to represent (and lock into memory) the image of God's creative spirit/breath "hovering over the deep." What colors and shapes and types of breath could we use to "inspire" our "spirit" painting of the Creation story? I would definitely have the kids paint themselves into the story. How does God "inspire" you? Move you? Give you life?
We could also paint with a hovering, excited technique or swirls upon the deep, or act out the words with our newfound insights, ...all of which help the kids remember that God Spirit isn't distant and bored, but excitingly close, inspiring, and moving. The insights, in turn, could spawn questions like, "What's God excited to 'move/create' in you?" And "how does the Spirit feel in you when it's trying to move you?"
[As a quick comparison of translations will tell you, there are many ways to say in English what the Hebrew says in Genesis 1:2, ...and that's the glory of it. As a teacher, I'm looking for the words that we can "play" with in our lesson so that their meaning grows and sticks.]
2. Turning to Roget's Thesaurus
A Thesaurus can show us other words that might be illuminating substitutes (synonyms) for the original word in the translation. These other words can help the teacher explain the original word, expand its possible meanings, and open up all sorts of question and activity possibilities.
For example, at thesaurus.com, we learn that the word "spirit" in English can also mean, "character of," "heart of," "courage," "energy," "force," "zest." And a synonym for the word "hover" is "dance" 
...The zesty Lord of the Dance is dancing over the deep! Imagine that in a drama activity 
Why do some translators prefer plain old "hover," or "move," or "brood" ?? Probably because they are adults, and maybe because their God isn't a dancer.
Which Words Do You Study?
As you can see in the "Spirit" study above, sometimes it is a "big word" in the verse that has rich possibilities, and other times it's a seemingly unimportant word like "hover." You often don't know until you study MANY of the words in the verse and don't presume to know which words are going to be the most fruitful. As you will see in my examples below, sometimes it's the unexpected word in a verse that has the surprises
I've written a separate article about "which words" often spark the best studies and ideas. It is called "LOW HANGING FRUIT" the words or things in a passage that often spark the most interesting insights and ideas.
A few of the types of words that should catch your attention for further study:
- Pay attention to the verbs. Actions often have many translation possibilities and can be acted out.
- Pay attention to the "big words" in a verse, such as "salvation" and "grace."
- Pay attention to the actions Jesus performs and words that describe him.
- Pay attention to words that describe time, distance, amounts.
- Pay attention to words that seem emphatic in the verse, such as "listen!" or "look!"
- Pay attention to people's names, they often mean something.
- Pay attention to titles, and words and metaphors that describe God, such as light, Father, Savior, and SPIRIT !!!
Four More Examples of How a Word Study Sparked a Creative Lesson Activity
1. Do your kids know what it means to "Grow in Grace" like Jesus did?
A Bible Word Study of that phrase in Luke 2:52 will reveal some really interesting possibilities you can share and do with your students.
Below are two graphics you can click on to enlarge. They are screenshots from blueletterbible.com's Luke 2:52 word study page.
The first thing I learned is that most translations use the OLD WORD of "favor" instead of "grace" in Luke 2:52. Strong's points this out when you click on the link for the word "favor" it takes you to the Greek word "charis" -- which is translated as "grace" in many many other Bible passages. See it in Strong's for yourself.
Here's why this discovery is IMPORTANT... because "grace" is a powerhouse word! We hear it all the time (not "favor") and here is Jesus growing in it. So what does it mean to "grow" in this powerhouse word? We need a definition and some SYNONYMS to explain what "grace" is, and if you click the screenshot below which I took from blueletterbible.com or go to the Strong's definition page for "grace" and scroll down to read the "Biblical Usage" you will see LOTS of options for explaining what grace means.
In addition to the helpful definitions of "grace" that we can grow into, those words also spurred a creative "growing in grace" activity: potting some "joy," "affection," "gratitude," plants. That's one creative idea from one word. And there are many other words in the passage.
2. An Example of a Word Study that led to a Creative LEGO Lesson Idea
Let me share a terrific example of how a Word Study led me to an unexpected creative activity: using LEGOS to teach the story. It happened in Luke 2, the story of the angels "saying" to the shepherds.
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,"
"Saying" caught my eye because I was expecting "SINGING." 
After all, isn't that what the Christmas tradition and hymns teach us? ...the angels "sang"? Well, apparently NOT. All the major translations use the word "saying." Now, I could have ignored that and skipped over "saying" but I'm ridiculously curious, and besides, I was going to study other words in the passage anyway, so I looked up "saying," ...and boy am I glad I did.
I first looked up Luke 2 at blueletterbible.com, found the word "saying" in the 13th verse, then clicked the Strongs Concordance number for "saying" which revealed "LEGOS" as the New Testament Greek word that's translated as "saying." (Every word in the New Testament has a number in Strongs Concordance. "LEGOS" is #G3004.) You may notice the similarity to the more familiar word "logos" (word), and indeed, "legos" is the present participle of "logos".
"LEGOS" is the Greek New Testament word translated as "saying" in our English Bibles. And according to the Strongs Concordance entry at blueletterbible.com, "LEGOS" can be translated as "to lay forth."
Lay forth? The teacher in me jumped up when I saw that definition. "Kids love LEGOS! I love LEGOS! And don't you "lay forth" with LEGOS? Could we build this scene or build these important words using LEGOS to express the "great joy" the angels shared with the shepherds." Yeah, we could. Creative Idea found!
Possible Activities:
First, as part of the scripture reading, I could have the kids spell keywords, phrases and verses using LEGOS and ask questions about them. Creates a hands-on interaction with the reading and discussion.
Secondly, we could reconstruct different parts of the scene, such as, "and they were terrified." Third, we could have the kids build "themselves" as an angel and put it in the story. Then we could use a cellphone to make a video of each of the scenes different kids had constructed to put together the story with their narration in the background. Lots of possibilities.
Here's a screenshot of the legos entry in the Strongs Bible Concordance entry at the blueletterbible.com website. Legos also means to "break silence" and "describe" ...my angels could do that. What were the angels trying to "lay it all out" to the shepherds?
(See my endnote about the etymology of Ley, Legs, LEGO.)
3. A Bible word study that led to a smashed flower pot activity
Doing Word Studies in that same Luke 2 passage, I centered on the word "peace" as in "peace on earth." According to Strongs Concordance, the Greek word for "peace" is "eirene" (ay-ray-nay). It can have various meanings depending on its context, including tranquility, harmony, safety, a blessed state, having nothing to fear. It's root word, "eiro," means to bind together, join, restore --and that's what caught my creative eye.
In Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures, "Eirene," is the most common translation of the Hebrew word, "Shalom." In addition to meaning peace or wholeness, (Shalom is also the equivalent of "hello" or "goodbye," literally, "go in God's peace.")
Given the context of the word "peace" in Luke 2:14, it should be understood as the peace which the Messiah brings -- a true peace, which is to say, reconciliation with God by the forgiveness of sins.
Now here comes the creative idea: During my Bible study with the kids, to explain what "peace" meant in Luke 2, I'm going to have each of them (carefully) BREAK a (quite) small flower pot (not shatter it, just break it into several small pieces). We'll do this by putting their flower pot in a bag and letting them lightly break it with a hammer (not pound). Then we'll use super glue to glue each pot back together. We'll finish by writing the Bible verse on the flower pot and adding a small plant, such as a Christmas poinsettia to symbolize what can "grow in peace." After planting, they may use paint pens to add symbols to the pot, such as angels and shepherds.
Why was I thinking about a broken flower pot that got restored? My grand-daughter asked me to help her glue together a toy her brother had broken. And during the week that I wrote this article, I noticed a broken flower pot on the patio. Creativity often contains pieces of our own experience that "prime" us for future lesson ideas. As teachers, we are bringing OUR experience and insights to those of the Word and the word studies.
4. An example of a Word Study that will change how you view miracles
Did you know that when the English New Testament uses the word "miracle" it is most often translating the Greek word for "sign"? Look it up! Throughout the Gospels, miracles are "signs." Signs of what? Signs that point us to God, not to the thing being done. When Jesus fed the 5000, he wasn't addressing their hunger for food, he was addressing their hunger to know their Savior has come to rescue them. His miracle revealed his identity to the crowd (see John 6:14 for the proof.) That's what most miracles in the New Testament do -- they reveal the Christ. Whereas in the Old Testament they tend to provide some form of miraculous sustenance. In the NT, Jesus is the sustenance!
Creatively speaking, making "signs" is much easier to do in a lesson than performing a miracle. What "signs" does our life show that we believe in God? How is our life a miracle to others (a sign)? If God made signs, what would he write on them? (art project!)
A Few Other Bible Word Study Resources
Most of the free online Bible sites are chock-full of ads and don't make word study that easy, that's why I like Blueletterbible.com. It has great tools and options, and a minimum of ads.
If you prefer "books" to do your studies, go look in your church or pastor's library for a copy of Strongs Concordance, Holman Bible Dictionary, or the New interpreters Bible Dictionary. They're very good and widely used. Strongs Concordance is the "go-to" Greek word definitions tool that most pastors and websites rely on.
A good study Bible is a must -- one with notes. You can also simply lay several Bibles side-by-side to see the possible translations and help add to your teaching vocabulary when you go to explain what the verses mean. For greatest effect, include one "adult" translation, such as the NRSV, next to a copy of a "contemporary English" version, such as the Good News or Common English Bible translation.
However, there's nothing like looking up Hebrew and Greek word definitions to take you in unexpected CREATIVE directions, like LEGOS and PEACE and SIGNS did for me.
EndNote about the word "LEGO"
The Danish fellow who coined the word "LEGO" says it means "play well" (leyt godt) in Danish. Notice the same "ley" in his word as legos in the Greek? What he didn't say (or perhaps know) was that Danish is part of the family of languages, including English, Latin, and Greek, which arose from an ancient language known as "Proto-Indo-European." In Proto... "ley" is a root word meaning something like "extended, put forth." It's the word we get "leg" from, as well as "law" (legare) and "lake" (flow, stream). "Godt" or "good" is also the Old English word for "God." So you could say that "LEGO" also means "put forth God." I'm a language geek which today's online tools make it easier to be!
As a teacher, I'm always looking for MEMORY HOOKS to hang key ideas on. Memory hooks are like BRAIN GLUE. That's what activities do, they help "glue" our content in the brain. Do you see the word "leg" in "LEGO"? I'll bet you do now. And if I had you "put forth" legos to spell keywords in the scripture, and then use legos to "build" the Bible scene (perhaps building the word "spirit" so that it could hover over the "deep" --some blue legos, you'd probably never forget that meaning
Neil MacQueen is a Presbyterian minister specializing in Christian education. He learned to love doing Bible word studies in spite of his seminary Hebrew and Greek courses, and he loves finding creative inspiration from the actual Bible text itself!
