a. Sometimes a word is used in its most general sense, so as to
of the body, when it is synonymous with soma (Acts 2:26; Eph. 2:15; 5:29); (c) the animal (sensuous) nature of man (John 1:13; 1 Cor. 10:18); and (d) human nature as dominated by sin, the seat and vehicle of sinful desires (Rom. 7:25; 8:4–9; Gal. 5:16, 17). If an interpreter ascribed all these meanings to the word as it is found in John 6:53, he would thereby also attribute sin in an ethical sense to Christ, whom the Bible represents as the sinless one.
The Hebrew word nakar means (a) not to know, to be ignorant; (b) to contemplate, to look at anything as strange, or little known; and (c) to know, to be acquainted with. The first and third meanings are opposites. Hence it is perfectly obvious that, if an expositor should seek to combine these various meanings in the interpretation of a single passage like Gen. 42:8, the contrast which this verse contains would be lost, and pure nonsense would be the result.
This method of interpretation was fostered by Coccejus, who advocated the principle that all the possible meanings of a word in the Scriptures are to be united; but the interpreter must beware of this arbitrary method of procedure.
3. CASES IN WHICH SEVERAL MEANINGS OF A WORD ARE UNITED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEY ARE RESOLVED INTO A HIGHER UNITY DO NOT CONFLICT WITH THE PRECEDING CANON.
a. Sometimes a word is used in its most general sense, so as to include its special meanings, though these are not emphasized. When Jesus says to the disciples in John 20:21: "Peace be unto you," He means peace in the most comprehensive sense—peace with God, peace of conscience, peace among themselves, etc. And when Isaiah says in 53:4; "Surely, He hath borne our griefs" (literally: sicknesses), he certainly refers to the spiritual diseases of which the Servant of the Lord delivers his people. But in Matt. 8:17; we are told that this word was fulfilled in the Saviour's ministry of healing. The word of Isaiah is, therefore, taken to mean not only that the Servant of the