{
  "id": "dict_005172",
  "term": "semantic range",
  "slug": "semantic-range",
  "letter": "S",
  "entry_type": "hermeneutical_term",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "Semantic range is the range of meanings a word can carry across different contexts. In Bible study, context determines which sense is intended in a given passage.",
  "simple_one_line": "The possible meanings a word may have in different contexts.",
  "tooltip_text": "A word’s semantic range is its set of possible senses; careful interpretation asks which sense fits the context.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "hermeneutics",
    "exegesis",
    "context",
    "word study",
    "lexicon",
    "grammar",
    "literal interpretation"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "illegitimate totality transfer",
    "context",
    "lexicon",
    "exegesis",
    "semantic domain",
    "etymology"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Semantic range refers to the different senses a word can have in actual use. In Bible interpretation, the meaning of a word is not determined by a dictionary list alone, but by the immediate context, grammar, and normal usage.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "The range of possible meanings a word may have in different contexts.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Context limits meaning",
    "a word does not mean every possible sense at once",
    "sound word studies must respect grammar and literary setting",
    "semantic range is a language tool, not a doctrine."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "Semantic range refers to the possible senses a word may carry, not all the meanings it has at once. In interpreting Scripture, a word should be understood according to its immediate context, grammar, and usage rather than by importing every possible meaning into one verse.",
  "description_academic_full": "Semantic range is a linguistic and hermeneutical term for the set of possible senses a word may have across different uses. This matters in Bible interpretation because Hebrew and Greek words, like words in any language, can be used in more than one sense. A careful interpreter does not assume that a word carries its full range of meaning in every occurrence; instead, the intended sense is identified from the context, grammar, literary setting, and normal usage. Used properly, this concept helps readers avoid word-study errors and read biblical terms as the authors actually used them. Because this is a language-study tool rather than a distinct theological doctrine, it belongs in a hermeneutics/linguistics category rather than a doctrinal one.",
  "background_biblical_context": "Scripture frequently uses ordinary words in context-sensitive ways, so interpretation must ask how a word is being used in a particular verse rather than assuming one fixed gloss for every occurrence.",
  "background_historical_context": "Lexical study in biblical scholarship has long recognized that words have a range of senses shaped by usage, context, and genre. Modern Bible study tools often list that range, but good exegesis still depends on contextual judgment rather than word lists alone.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "Ancient Hebrew and Greek, like all living languages, used words flexibly within ordinary discourse, poetry, narrative, and teaching. Jewish and Greco-Roman readers alike would have expected context to guide meaning.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "No single proof text teaches the term directly",
    "the principle is illustrated whenever a word’s sense must be determined by context, such as sarx ('flesh'), kosmos ('world'), or pistis ('faith') in different passages."
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Examples of context-governed meaning are seen across Scripture, especially where the same term can denote different nuances in different settings. Helpful passages for the interpretive principle include John 3:16",
    "John 15:18-19",
    "Romans 8:1-9",
    "and Galatians 5:16-17."
  ],
  "original_language_note": "The term itself is a modern linguistic expression. In Hebrew and Greek study, semantic range refers to the possible senses a lexeme may carry in usage, not to all meanings combined in one verse.",
  "theological_significance": "Semantic range is important for accurate interpretation and for guarding against proof-texting, illegitimate totality transfer, and overreading a single lexicon definition into every occurrence of a word.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "Words do not function as containers of every possible meaning simultaneously; they function in context. Meaning is communicated by usage within a sentence, paragraph, genre, and canonical setting.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not assume that because a word can mean several things, all of those senses are present in one passage. Also avoid building doctrine from a mere dictionary range without examining the immediate context and the author’s intent.",
  "major_views_note": "Most responsible interpreters recognize semantic range as a basic feature of language. Differences arise not over whether words have ranges of meaning, but over how much weight to give lexical study versus context in a particular passage.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "This term supports sound interpretation but does not establish doctrine by itself. Do not use semantic range to flatten clear context, to multiply meanings without warrant, or to contradict the plain sense of Scripture.",
  "practical_significance": "Understanding semantic range helps readers use Bible dictionaries and lexicons wisely, avoid word-study mistakes, and read passages in context rather than importing every possible meaning into a verse.",
  "meta_description": "Semantic range is the range of meanings a word can have in different contexts; in Bible study, context determines the intended sense.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/semantic-range/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/semantic-range.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}