Users Guide: Lexical
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User's Guide Contents
Lexical Semantics
The goal of Lexical Semantics is to understand the meaning of words. In our lexical semantics layer we do careful analysis of every word in the psalm and its semantic range.Semantic range: the range of possible meanings a word can have. We also create Venn diagrams which compare our modern cultural assumptions about a selected gloss (translation for a specific word) with the Ancient Near Eastern/Israelite cultural assumptions about the Hebrew word.
Method and Resources
- Our lexical analysis depends primarily on the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (SDBH). This excellent resource provides definitions for every word, as well as analysis of lexical[1] and contextual domains[2]A contextual domain is the situation or setting in which a word is used, shaping its more specific or derived meanings. Thus run has different meanings in the different contextual domains of exercise ("run a mile"), technology ("the engine is running"), business ("who runs this shop?") and more. connected to those words.
- For every word we choose a gloss, which is a close translation of that word which best represents its meaning in the specific context of the psalm. These glosses are included in the grammatical diagram and form the foundation for our Close-but-Clear translation of the whole psalm.
- Some words have two glosses which are connected to each other, joined together by the symbol >>. For example, the word מֵצַר in Ps 118:5 has “tight place >> distress”. In this case, there is a basic literal meaning (physical constraint of a tight place) and a metaphorical or more abstract meaning (distress). The gloss that is chosen for the Close-but-ClearThe Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources. translation is put in bold (so in this case, the grammatical diagram shows “tight place >> distress”).
Venn Diagrams
- Our Venn diagrams map out the relationship between the chosen gloss and the original Hebrew word, looking at where modern assumptions about the gloss overlap or don’t overlap with ancient Israelite assumptions about the original word. For example, the Venn diagram below looks at the relationship between the modern English word “sky” and the original Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם. Both have the shared meaning of “the area above the earth.” However, in Hebrew the word שָׁמַיִם refers to the highest level in the cosmos, and it has a theological meaning of God’s primary residence. In contrast, the English word “sky” is not the highest part of the cosmos (since “outer space” and “galaxy” are higher), and it usually has a more scientific sense of ozone layer and oxygen.
- ↑ Every word belongs to a basic category of meaning called a lexical domain. This lexical domain is part of the word's core meaning that it has across all contexts. For example the word run belongs to the lexical domain of motion.
- ↑ A contextual domain is the situation or setting in which a word is used. This situation or setting shapes the word's more specific meanings. For example, the word run has different meanings in the different contextual domains of exercise ("run a mile"), technology ("the engine is running"), business ("who runs this shop?") and more.