Synonyms of the New Testament

This work was first accomplished in 1854 by Trench, an Anglican archbishop at Dublin. It has been in print nearly all the time since, because the good archbishop had a genius for understanding Biblical Greek, and the proper synonyms of the same. Though old, it is not lacking in style. And he was able to express himself in a way that is easily understood. In this case the old may be better than what is coming out in our day. There are one hundred and seventeen sets of synonyms given and compared. A thorough discussion is given of the meaning and use of each Greek word. Then a comparison between them shows why they are used in various parts of the Holy Scriptures. The Greek of the Septuagint is used to bring the Old Testament words into the comparisons, thus throwing much light on the Hebrew words in many places. There is no question that the whole of the book will strain the mind of most people. For Trench was a very learned man, with knowledge of dozens and dozens of Greek authors and their use of the words he highlights in this book. Besides, he knew the Latins as well. Because of this there are many paragraphs of both Greek and Latin on page after page. Nevertheless, there is exquisite knowledge to be attained by anyone interested in studying Bible words, what they mean, how they differ from others, etc. Besides, there are many illustrations of how Biblical words have been elevated from the Greek uses and meaning. For instance, the word ekklhsiva, which means assembly (though commonly translated as ''church'' in today's Bibles). Trench says that we have three distinct stages of meaning - the heathen, the Jewish, and the Christian. The heathen use was for a lawful assembly that was summoned for the transaction of public affairs. ekklhsiva was ennobled by being elevated to be used in the Bible only as an assembly met for worship of Jesus Christ. Trench notes that this higher meaning of Greek words often occurs in the Holy Scriptures, though of