most common command
I want to find the most common commands in the Bible. How would you search for that?
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I think you will have to do the testaments separately.
For the New Testament, do a clause or morph search for "verb-morph:V??M" to find all of the imperatives. Then sort by verb-sense in analysis mode.This will show them in order.
To go away (55)
To say (36)
To become (33)
To take care = watch (33)
To do (29)
To Greet 27
To Fear (26)
For the OT, you must do a Morph search, because the Clause search does not permit OR operators, and you need imperatives and jussives. The LXX is a bad choice, because it is not tagged for verb sense.
<LogosMorphHeb ~ V?M??????> OR <LogosMorphHeb ~ V??????J?>
Go (travel) (168)
to come (127)
To be (quality) (104)
To say (express) (103)
To speak (102)
To listen (pay attention) (92)
To do (act) (83)
To listen (78)
To Go Up 74)
To bring (73)
to return (70)
Using Logos as a pastor, seminary professor, and Tyndale author
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One thought is Imperative Sentences:
Bible Browser shows verses with visual filter highlighting. Selecting Imperative Sentences filters Senses, which can be used to refine commands.
For example, the verb sense "to say(express)" was used 2,227 out of 6,030 imperative sentences.
Another refinement is who spoke ? to whom ?
Bible Browser can research one aspect at a time while search can find several at one time:
({Speaker <Person God>} OR {Speaker <Person Jesus>} OR {Speaker <Person Holy Spirit>}) INTERSECTS {Section <Sentence ~ Imperative>}
Matthew 5:3-11 are declarative sentences spoken by Jesus, which warrants consideration for commands. Another example is Genesis 17:1 declaration so modified search:
({Speaker <Person God>} OR {Speaker <Person Jesus>} OR {Speaker <Person Holy Spirit>}) INTERSECTS ({Section <Sentence ~ Declarative>} OR {Section <Sentence ~ Imperative>})
Noticed search results in Acts does not include Acts 14:10 Paul speaking a command with miraculous healing nor Acts 15:16-18 where James quotes Amos 9:11-12 followed later by Holy Spirit reference in Acts 15:28
Option for search is saving as a word list, which could be helpful for most common command analysis (albeit saving words from 7,975 verses takes awhile)
Keep Smiling [:)]
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I thought of another idea--to research the research I did a simple search for the phrase "most common command" in all resources. Interestingly, there are different opinions:
His most common command emerges from the “fear not” genre. The gospels list some 125 Christ-issued imperatives. Of these, twenty-one urge us to “not be afraid” or “not fear” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer.” The second most common command, to love God and neighbor, appears on only eight occasions. If quantity is any indicator, Jesus takes our fears seriously. The one statement he made more than any other was this: don’t be afraid.
—FEARLESS / Max Lucado, Live Loved: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011).
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Well, believe it or not, the most common command found in Scripture is to pray.
Jimmy Pena and Curtis Martin, Prayfit: Your Guide to a Healthy Body and a Stronger Faith in 28 Days (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2010).
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Do you know what the most common command in the Bible is? Do you? It’s this one to give thanks. I can tell you whether you’re Spirit-filled or not, by this one test. Are you grumbly hateful or humbly grateful? I mean dear friend, if there is in you a constant welling up of thanks, then you can say there must be the Holy Spirit of God in my heart that is prompting that Spirit of appreciation. It’s the most common command in the Bible.
Adrian Rogers, “The Spirit-Filled Life,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Eph 5:18.
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“Fear not” is the most common command in Scripture.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Victory 365: Daily Motivation for a Champion’s Heart (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2016).
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You’d probably say, “The most common command is: “Be holy.” “Read God’s word.” “Don’t have sex.” “Give money to the church.” “Witness.” No. It is “Fear not.” That command is found in the Bible. 366 times.
J. D. Greear, “Fear: 1 John 4:18,” in J. D. Greear Sermon Archive (Durham, NC: The Summit Church, 2017), 1 Jn 4:18.
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Josh Hunt said:
You’d probably say, “The most common command is: “Be holy.” “Read God’s word.” “Don’t have sex.” “Give money to the church.” “Witness.” No. It is “Fear not.” That command is found in the Bible. 366 times.
I would test that.
In AV and AV1873:-
"fear not" occurs 75x at most. "Fear" appears 400 - 546x
"be holy" occurs 42x at most.
---> much less frequently in modern translations.
Beware that not all occurrences are a Command e.g. 2 Kings 17:34
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For another look at Commands try {Label Command WHERE Verb Class ~Psychological State} --> fear, love etc.
Then try:
fear, "fear not" INTERSECTS {Label Command WHERE Verb Class ~Psychological State} ---> 109 results in KJV 1900.
The Verb Classes are expounded in the "Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation". Note that Type ~Command is restrictive in this dataset, so that's why I didn't use it.
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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Dave Hooton said:
"fear not" occurs 75x at most. "Fear" appears 400 - 546x
I did a study on this topic several year ago and found many more "fear not" if you include the broader idea and not just those specific words. Unfortunately I don't have the results at hand right now but broadening your search may help.
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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