A Short Word Study
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear;
but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.
I have always loved this verse as it tells
me once again, of God’s love.
God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear.
It’s us who bring the fear upon ourselves.
Some time back, I began to investigate
the Greek words used in this verse
and jotted down some notes that lay
dormant on my desk
for quite some time.
So, if you are not interested in the Greek
meaning of
words in the Bible, then stop reading
right here or you’ll be
bored to tears. I find it interesting
to understand and look into
the meaning of words used in the
Bible, as a lot of the time,
they are not at all like we use them
in present day language,
and a verse can take on a totally different
meaning.
So, in saying that, if you’re still
with me, read on.
In looking over the words in this
verse in II Timothy,
I found that the word ‘fear’ here, is
only used this one time in the Bible.
The Greek word here for fear, is
Deilia.
It literally means timidity. So, not
a fear of the unknown,
but a lack of courage, or confidence.
The Greek word Deilos, is used 3
times as fearful, having the meaning
of faithless and fainthearted.
Matthew 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful,
O ye of little faith?
Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea;
and there was a great
calm.
Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?
how is it that ye have
no faith?
And then we move on to the word Spirit.
This word in the Greek is, Pneuma. Yes,
it has to do
with wind and breath but it also has
the meaning
in this context of the rational soul
and the mental disposition.
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in
spirit:
for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
The word power here in II Timothy, is
the Greek word
Dunamis. Now of course, straight
away, we can hear the
word dynamite in this word. This word
means a force,
a miraculous power, might and strength.
Mark 13:26 And then shall they see the Son of
man coming
in the clouds with
great power and glory.
So, God gives us dynamite power! And
dynamite from
God has got to be better than any
earthly dynamite out there!
But God not only gives us power, but He
gives us love.
Now anyone who has ever done any
looking into Greek words
will know about the Greek words for
love. And here is this verse,
It is speaking of the Greek word Agape.
Affection. Benevolence. Charity.
The highest form of love. The love
that God has for man.
The unconditional love that God has
for us.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his
life for his friends.
Then we move on to a particularly
favourite phrase
of mine, a sound mind.
Oh, how I want a sound mind at all
times.
The word mind here is sophronismos.
Which literally means discipline and self-control.
It is only used one time in the
Bible.
There are other words used meaning
being
of a sober mind. But used like it is
here in
this verse, as a sound mind, is only
found once.
So, in saying all this, I paraphrased
this verse
for my own personal understanding and
came up with this.
For God hath not given us the mental
disposition of timidity and faithlessness,
but of might, strength and force,
affection, charity, unconditional love,
self-control and discipline.
So, we have here another promise of
God
to hold to in our times of trial.
He has given us power and unconditional
love
and a sound mind. God doesn’t give us
fear.
Not even a breath of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear;
but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.
