TIP OF THE DAY 88: Person to virtues and vices relationships

MJ. Smith
MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,405

I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day ;

QUESTION: Which Biblical people are explicitly related to virtues or vices in Scripture?

ANSWER: from Perplexity:

  1. Job - Patience"You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about." (James 5:11)
  2. Solomon - Wisdom"God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore." (1 Kings 4:29)
  3. Judas Iscariot - Greed"He was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." (John 12:6)
  4. Stephen - Full of faith and the Holy Spirit"They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 6:5)
  5. Diotrephes - Pride"I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us." (3 John 1:9)
  6. Demas - Love of the world"Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." (2 Timothy 4:10)
  7. Barnabas - Encouragement"Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means 'son of encouragement')." (Acts 4:36)
  8. Martha - Diligence (but also anxiety)"Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." (Luke 10:40)
  9. Daniel - Integrity and Wisdom"Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom." (Daniel 6:3)
  10. Jezebel - Wickedness"There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife." (1 Kings 21:25)
  11. Rahab - Faith"By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not kypilled with those who were disobedient." (Hebrews 11:31)
  12. Timothy - Youthful Example"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
  13. Tabitha (Dorcas) - Good Works"In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor." (Acts 9:36)
  14. Ananias and Sapphira - Deceit"Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?'" (Acts 5:3)

QUESTION: How do I find virtues or vices associated with a Biblical person?

SOFTWARE: Use the Bible sense lexicon to determine the senses to use for virtues and vices:

Open the Bible Sense Lexicon by (1) typing Show Bible sense lexicon into the command bar of the application icon on the application toolbar OR (2) tools > Reference > Bible Sense Lexicon.

Enter virtue into the navigation box.

Select cardinal virtue.

Note that a dark dot indicates that entry can be expanded.

Try these searches in a Bible search to understand how the search works:

sense:"cardinal virtue" finds the value and all (narrower) values down the hierarchy – in my case prudence and religion are found.

sense:="cardinal virtue" finds only exact matches – no values up or down the hierarchy – in my case this yielded no results.

sense:>>"cardinal virtue" finds the value and all (broader) values up the hierarchy – in my case including good (moral concept).

sense:="cardinal virtue" finds both the broader and the narrower terms i.e. both up and down the hierarchy.

On the left side of the Bible sense lexicon, the Relationships section allows me to choose the sense on which the window/tool is focused. I select good (moral concept) as my definition of virtues.

On the left side, below the sparkline graph, is a search option. I click it which creates a search argument of sense:"good (moral concept)" which will pick up the narrower senses as I intend.

Next, I repeat the process for vices, which gives the search argument sense:wrongdoing. Note you may legitimately make a different choice for your purposes

ANSWER: Use a Bible search (morph or syntax could also be used for more precise results) with a search argument similar to person:"Adam (first man)" NEAR (sense:wrongdoing OR sense:"good (moral concept)"). Scan the results to find virtues and vices associated with the person.

Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."