Etymological studies have long been an alluring seductress to students of the Bible.
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Etymological studies, through no fault of their own, have become a menace to sound interpretation. Those who sometimes maintain only the slightest grasp of the Bible’s original languages repeat their clichéd results from pulpits. These expositors desire to offer theological insight, but more often than not the result is exploitation.
John H. Walton, “Etymology,” Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 200.