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The very first fallacy theologian D. A. Carson lists in his classic book Exegetical Fallacies is “the root fallacy.” What is the root fallacy and why is it of such importance to merit being first of many potential errors we risk committing while interpreting what the Bible says and means?
The etymology of a word is its history of development over time.
In short, Dr. Carson defines the root fallacy as determining the meaning of a word in the Bible by its etymology or component parts. The etymology of a word is like its genealogy—its history of development over time. For example, consider how English words have changed over the years.
“Awful” used to mean full of awe and worthy of respect or honor. However, awful now tends to mean terrible or bad. In fact, “terrible” once had a meaning similar to “awe” and “wonder”; but the negative side of the word has won out, and today it means something extremely bad. Word meanings change over time as cultural usage redefines them.
This brings us to the root fallacy of biblical interpretation—exegetical root fallacy.
How does someone commit the error of the exegetical root fallacy?
When people try to define the meaning of a biblical word by appealing to its etymology (its history of how a word’s meaning changes over time) or to its component parts, they are committing the error of exegetical root fallacy. They are trying to say a word now means such and such because its meaning used to be such and such or because its parts mean such and such.
Using the etymology of compound words is a common case of root fallacy. Though the errors most often occur with biblical Greek words, Dr. Carson gives the example of “pineapple” to help us understand the mistake. Surely we know pineapples are not apples that grow on pines! Yet, some interpreters of Scripture have tried to define compound words in a similar way, attempting to define the meaning of words by their component parts.
We need to know how a word was used at the time the author wrote the text.
The basic problem is this: writers use words in their current context—their current meaning—not necessarily how they were used in prior times. In other words, though an author may even be aware of the history of a word’s usage (diachronic—over time), writers use words in their current meaning at the time of writing—at the time the author used it (synchronic—at that time).
“The meaning of a word is found only in its current usage in its particular context at the time it was written, not in how its meaning may have changed from the past.”
Dr. Carson uses the Greek word agape to illustrate the problem. Though the word agape may at one time have meant an incestuous type of love (agape) such as Amnon’s for his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13:15, Septuagint), or the type of love (agape) Demas had for the world (2 Tim. 4:10), its usage in John 3:35 for the love (agape) between the Father and the Son Christ Jesus is quite different in meaning. The meaning of a word is found only in its current usage in its particular context at the time it was written, not in how its meaning may have changed from the past.
Using reliable Hebrew and Greek lexicons is of great help in understanding biblical words in their immediate context.
Dr. Carson summarizes his point this way:
I am simply saying that the meaning of a word cannot be reliably determined by etymology, or that a root, once discovered, always projects a certain semantic load onto any word that incorporates that root.[1]
To avoid root fallacies when interpreting the meaning of biblical words, use the help of reliable lexicons along with knowing how the same writer uses the particular word elsewhere. Then strive to understand the word in its immediate context. Your understanding of the Bible will be noticeably and fruitfully enhanced.
To learn more about exegetical fallacies, please see Exegetical Fallacies by D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996).
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Daniel Rowlands is content editor for Beautiful Christian Life.
[1] D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996) 32.
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