My love for the Louw Nida Greek-English lexicon just continues to grow. I am now embarking on a study of the NT's use of words that relate to human understanding, focusing on human understanding of spiritual truths. In Louw Nida's world, this is Symantic Domain 32. Here is Louw-Nida's footnote to Symantic Domain 32:
Certainly, Jesus' explanation of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23, et. al.) indicates that spiritual understanding is a gift from God ("He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know (LN 32.16) the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.'" Mt 13:11). But Hebrews 5:12-14 seems to indicate that, through lack of use, gifted people can lack the capacity to understand.
Through this study, I hope to learn how I might help myself (and others) better grasp and understand the truths revealed in Scripture about our intimate personal relationships with the Creator.
All the domains and subdomains relating to intellectual activity (Domains 24–32) involve considerable overlapping and multi-dimensional relationships. Domain Know (28) involves essentially the possession of information, while Learn (27) treats the acquisition of information. The Domain Think (30) involves primarily the manipulation of information, while Understand (32) refers to a process by which information is used in order to arrive at a correct comprehension or evaluation. However, no one aspect of these intellectual activities is completely devoid of other aspects, and thus, to a certain extent, any attempt to classify various aspects of these activities or states inevitably results in what mathematicians call ‘fuzzy sets,’ that is to say, classes of items which show considerable overlapping and indeterminate borders.
In the Domain Understand, the first set of subdomains (A to C) deals essentially with the process of comprehension, while Subdomains D and E focus upon the capacity for understanding, and accordingly, meanings such as ‘foolish,’ ‘senseless,’ ‘wise,’ and ‘intelligent’ are included.
[Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.). United Bible Societies.]
Certainly, Jesus' explanation of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23, et. al.) indicates that spiritual understanding is a gift from God ("He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know (LN 32.16) the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.'" Mt 13:11). But Hebrews 5:12-14 seems to indicate that, through lack of use, gifted people can lack the capacity to understand.
11 ...you have become dull of hearing (LN 32.47). 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses (LN 32.28) exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:12–14)
Through this study, I hope to learn how I might help myself (and others) better grasp and understand the truths revealed in Scripture about our intimate personal relationships with the Creator.
