![theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown](https://media.olivetree.com/store/images/book_covers/thumb_17603.png)
What is the difference betw een kratos (“might”), for example, and ischys (“strength”)? I have my suspicions on how to answer this question, but I would like to have seen the new edition provide an updated analysis. The older edition provided little discussion on how the different words in a semantic field relate to each other. Silva does provide a concise list of concepts at the beginning of the first volume (below), but it is a poor substitute for a more technical treatment of semantic fields. Yet the new edition reverts back to single word, alphabetized entries. One needs to identify an entire constellation of words and their meanings (what linguists call a “semantic field”), and then examine the discourse in which these words are found, to provide a comprehensive treatment of how New Testament authors understood the concept of power. A study on just a single word would leave out too much information and be misleading.
![theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown](https://harpercollins-christian.imgix.net/covers/9780310537557.jpg)
This format immediately informs the reader that no one word can encompass an entire concept. In the older edition (above), the dictionary listed out the definitions of kratos (“might”), ischys (“strength” or “power”), bia (“force”), and other lexemes all under the category: Strength, Force, Horn, Violence, Power (see above). Giving a detailed definition/discussion of each word as with βία and its cognates Paragraph describing how the different words in a semantic field relate before Notice that the dictionary is organized by concept, with a very short beginning
![theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown theological wordbook of the new testament colin brown](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/rysAAOSwPRFfw29A/s-l300.jpg)
To be fair, the NIDNTTE does describe the Koiné or common uses of hilastērion in its entry, but I fault the dictionary for not drawing out the theological implications of such usage. For a theological dictionary aimed at aiding exegesis and interpretation, the dictionary, at times, demonstrates too narrow a focus on Jewish backgrounds without due consideration to how Greek discourse might also inform the lexical choices of the New Testament authors. But hilastērion in Greco-Roman discourse can also mean “propitiate.” Defined in this way, New Testament writers could be employing the word hilastērion to help explain how the death of Christ propitiates or satisfies the justice of God. When, for example, Paul talks about hilastērion in Romans 3:25, the dictionary unsurprisingly defines the term as “atonement” in parallel with the Old Testament use of the Hebrew kippur as an “expiation” or “covering over” of sin. I do wish, however, the dictionary would explore more thoroughly how the everyday use of Greek words contributes to the vocabulary of the New Testament.