Semantic Search
Semantic search is a powerful new tool made possible by the TENT Lexicon, whether used in the TENT Study Version or the TENT Source Text. It is used to find "hidden words" in the text and expose the full meanings within compound words, sometimes altering the meanings of verses. Here is just one example:
List #1 (KJV):
The KJV uses forms of the English verb "to understand" and the noun "understanding" to sometimes translate the different Strong's numbers below:
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S# #x KJV translation words used, with number of times each is used to translate the same Strong's number
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NT801 5x without-understanding 3x; foolish 2x
NT1271 13x mind 9x; understanding 3x; imagination 1x
NT3539 15x to understand 11x; to perceive 2x; to think 1x; to consider 1x
NT3563 24x understanding 7x; mind 17x
NT3877 4x: to follow 1x; to have-understanding 1x; to attain 1x; to fully-know 1x
NT4907 7x understanding 6x; knowledge 1x
NT4920 27x to understand 25x; to be-wise 1x; to consider 1x
NT5424 2x understanding 2x
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Look at the last number above. KJV English uses "understanding" to translate NT5424 in both of its NT occurrences, twice in the same verse. Therefore many Bible study apps say that NT5424 means "understanding", and occurs in the NT twice. The KJV translates it in that verse this way:
1 Cor 14:20 - Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
However this Greek word NT5424 also occurs elsewhere in the NT, invisible within a dozen different Greek compound words, easily found by Semantic Search in the TENT Lexicon. Does NT5424 mean "understanding" in those words too? And if not, then does it even mean "understanding" in either of its visible occurrences in the verse above? Let's see.
Here, by a Semantic Search, are the TENT definitions of the Greek compound words in which NT5424 is "hidden" as one of the constituent words:
TENT definitions:
878 - careless(-one) [fig.: ignorant(-one)], n./adj. 11x, ( from NT1 + NT5424 ) (lit.: no-feeling/caring)
2165 - to make-happy(Lk16:19) [idiom: (pass.) have-a-good-time(Lk15:23-24 )], v. 14x, ( from NT2095 + NT5424 ) (lit.: good/well - feeling/caring)
3675 - like-minded, adj. 1x, ( from base of NT:3674 + NT5424 ) (lit.: of/from-same - feeling/caring)
5309 - to feel-above/beyond [fig.: feel-superior], v. 1x, ( from NT5308 + NT5424 ) (lit.: (from-)beyond/above - feeling/caring)
5391 - kind [fig.: friendly], adj. 1x, ( from NT5384 + NT5424 ) (lit.: loving - feeling/caring)
5423 - manipulator-of-feelings, n. 1x, ( from NT5424 + NT539 ) (lit.: feeling/caring - delusion)
5426 - to feel / go-by-feelings(Rom11:20 ) [fig.: care(-about)(Mt16:23;Rom14:6 ) / idiom: NT5426 + neut. acc. of <3588> - "the-thing" + neut. acc. of NT846 - "same(-thing)" = "feel-the-same-way"(Rom12:16;Phil.2:2 )], v. 30x, (from NT5424 - "feeling/caring")
5429 - caring [fig.: careful], adj. 13x, ( from NT5424 - "feeling/caring") [note: "wise(-one)" is NT:4680]
5431 - to be-feeling/caring-about [fig.: be-careful], v. 1x, ( from deriv. of NT5424 - "feeling/caring")
But where is "understanding" In all of those Greek compound words using NT5424? The meaning "understanding" does not appear at all!
From the above TENT compound definitions, it becomes apparent that the compound words as traditionally, i.e. inconsistently, translated do not seem to encompass the obvious meaning of NT5424 - "feeling [fig.: caring]". But when the words are consistently translated according to the N2LR method, new meanings, especially in compound words, might suddenly be exposed to the light of day!
List #1 at top gives the occurrences where the KJV English NT uses "to understand/understanding", but the Transparent Experimental New Testament (TENT) instead has the definitions below, which are grammatically and consistently translated in the TENT by the N2LR method.
List#2 (TENT):
The TENT translation uses the N2LR Method to grammatically and consistently translate the Strong's numbers found in List #1 at top. S# #x TENT
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801 - 5x - adj. - uncomprehending
1271 - 13x - n. - belief-system/worldview
3539 - 15x - v. - to understand
3563 - 24x - n. - understanding/mind
3877 - 4x - v. - to closely-follow
4907 - 7x - n. - comprehension
4920 - 26x - v. - to put(-it)-(al)together/to make-sense-of
5424 - 2x - n. - feeling/caring
For all of the combined occurrences of the words above, the KJV translators correctly translated using "to understand" or "understanding" roughly 40% of the time (NT3539 + NT3563 = 39 out of 96 times) in this Semantic Search. Given their lack of technology, I don't think anyone could have done a better job. The point is, now we do have the technology, but it has never been used to a full extent in Bible translation due to the lack of a good method ensuring grammatical and semantic accuracy and consistency. If the Strong's numbers above, previously translated 'to understand/understanding' in the KJV are instead accurately and consistently translated using the N2LR method, more accurate meanings can be resurrected in the Word of God to be seen through Semantic Search.
A note of warning: Please realize that using Semantic Search depends entirely on searching the TENT Lexicon containing all of the Strong's numbered entries and their derivatives in a searchable database format. It won't work without a "FIND ALL" search operation in any other format or without each TENT Lexicon entry's Strong's numbered derivatives. For a fuller understanding, check the illustration of the Semantic Search method on the Transparent page.
Here again is the inaccurately translated English verse containing NT5424 quoted before from the KJV:
1 Cor 14:20 - Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Now, translated in the TENT using the results of the N2LR method and Semantic Search in the TENT Lexicon:
Brothers and sisters, do not become children in your feelings. Instead, be children in your badness, but in your feelings be mature. (1 Cor 14:20 TENT) As seen from such results, Semantic Search can reveal much new material for sermons and bible study preparation.
Free commentary : )
God's Word always shows us the truth about ourselves. This new age tells us that we cannot change our feelings; that we should "get in touch with" our feelings and even let our feelings guide us. This truly is a recipe for disaster. Our Lord holds us accountable for how we do or don't rule over our feelings, or similarly, as computer science has succinctly put it: PEBKAC -- Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair. We are not meant to be slaves of our feelings, but to master them. This is one of the pillars of good parenting, accompanied by setting a good example. Success in this parenting might closely correlate with reliance on a natural and unprocessed "Mediterranean diet" of God's Word as found in the TENT.
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:--
---- James Allen