When You Feel Rusty With Greek and Hebrew in Logos
Simple workflows for real-life Greek and Hebrew word studies in Logos, not just seminary homework.
If you have ever opened Logos, stared at your Bible, and thought, “I know this thing can help me with the Greek or Hebrew, but I do not remember where anything is,” this one is for you.
I was on a coaching call with a long-time Logos user who said almost exactly that. He loves Scripture and has used Logos for years, but the original-language tools felt harder to reach than they should have. So we slowed down, opened one passage, and practiced two simple moves that unlocked a lot for him:
Right-click on a word and use the lemma to launch Bible Word Study.
Use g: and h: transliteration input when you want to study a word that is not even on your screen yet.
You do not need to “go back to seminary” to do this well. You just need a couple of repeatable workflows that let Logos do the heavy lifting while you pay attention to the text and the people you serve.
Skill 1: Right-Click to Bible Word Study
During that coaching session, we opened a New Testament passage together and started with one English word in his Bible. From there, everything flowed through the right-click Context Menu.
What is a lemma? It is the standard dictionary form of the Greek or Hebrew word behind the English word you are reading.
Here is the pattern I showed him, which you can use today:
Open a Bible in Logos on your desktop. Any mainstream translation is fine.
Right-click on the English word you want to study.
In the left side of the Context Menu, click on the lemma line. This is the dictionary form of the Greek or Hebrew word behind your English translation.
In the right side of the menu, click Bible Word Study.
Logos then opens the Bible Word Study guide for that lemma and gathers information for you:
A translation ring or table that helps you see how English translations render that lemma across Scripture. It is a helpful starting point for observation, not a final definition.
Usage sections such as Lemma in Passage or Lemma in Text, depending on your library.
Links to lexicons and dictionaries in your library so you can read deeper articles on the word.
A gentle word-study caution: A Greek or Hebrew word may have a range of possible meanings, but context determines what the word means in a particular verse. Use the report to observe usage and consult your lexicons, then return to the passage itself.
Instead of trying to remember Greek paradigms, your job is now to:
Observe how the word is used.
Let Logos surface patterns and references.
Read slowly in one or two trusted lexicons that Logos opens from the report.
When I watched that user see “Oh, I just need to right-click, choose the lemma, then Bible Word Study,” his shoulders dropped. It was not magic. It was repeatable. You can have that same muscle memory.
Practical Challenge 1: One Word From This Week’s Passage
Here is a simple way to practice this in your own Logos installation:
Pick the main text you are preaching, teaching, or counseling from this week.
Choose one word that seems especially important to the passage.
Right-click the word, select the lemma on the left, and choose Bible Word Study on the right.
In the report, write down three observations:
How is this lemma translated across your Bible?
Where else does this lemma appear, and what do those passages help you notice?
Which lexicon article helped you the most, and why?
If you are a Logos power user in other areas but have never formed this habit, this one pattern can quietly transform your preparation and your confidence with Greek and Hebrew.
Skill 2: Using g: and h: Transliteration Input
The second skill I walked through with this user answered a different question. What if you remember the word, but not the verse? Or you want to explore a specific Greek or Hebrew term directly?
You do not have to find the word in the Bible first. Logos lets you type a transliteration with a prefix to get to the word:
Use g: for Greek.
Use h: for Hebrew.
Transliteration simply means typing a Greek or Hebrew word with English letters. For example, you can enter g:aionios instead of typing Greek characters.
You can do this from the Bible Word Study guide:
Open the Bible Word Study guide from the Guides menu.
In the Word box at the top, type g: followed by a transliterated Greek word, or h: followed by a transliterated Hebrew word.
For example, try
g:aioniosorg:agape. As you type, choose the matching lemma from the Logos suggestion list.
Choose the lemma you want from the dropdown list and let Logos build the report.
g: or h: followed by an English-letter spelling of the word, then select the matching lemma.This helps in at least three real life scenarios:
When you are studying from a commentary and the author mentions a specific Greek or Hebrew lemma.
When you remember a word from a class or sermon and want to revisit it.
When you want to build a small series of word studies around a theme such as “eternal,” “covenant,” or “righteousness.”
You still get the same Bible Word Study report. You are simply starting from the lemma directly instead of clicking in the Bible text.
Practical Challenge 2: Start From a Lexicon or Commentary
Here is a simple exercise that mirrors what many pastors and students run into during the week:
Open a lexicon or a commentary that discusses a Greek or Hebrew word.
When you see a lemma you want to explore, note the transliteration.
Open Bible Word Study from the Guides menu.
Type g: or h: plus the transliteration and choose the correct lemma from the list.
Compare what you see in the Bible Word Study report with what your commentary or lexicon is saying.
This helps you check your understanding and connects the dots between reference works and Logos reports.
A Quick Note on Why This Matters
The point of all this is not to turn you into a full-time language scholar. Most of the pastors, students, and lay leaders I coach are already wearing too many hats.
These two habits are about stewardship:
Using the tools you already own so that your time in the text is deeper, not more frantic.
Letting Logos organize the data so you can give your attention to the passage, wise interpretation, and the people you serve.
If you want to go further, Logos has detailed help articles and videos that reinforce what we just walked through:
The Bible Word Study guide overview on support.logos.com.
The Context Menu help article and training video that shows this right-click pattern in action.
The Hebrew and Greek Input Options help article that explains transliteration and keyboard options.
Your Two-Click Reminder
When you are in a Bible passage: right-click the word, choose the lemma, then choose Bible Word Study.
When you have a word but not a verse: open Bible Word Study and type g: or h: plus its transliteration.
Putting It All Together This Week
If you want a simple practice plan from this article, here it is:
This week, pick one word from your preaching text, counseling passage, or personal reading. Run the right-click → lemma → Bible Word Study workflow on that word and record three observations in your notes or journal.
Then pick one Greek or Hebrew lemma you meet in a commentary or lexicon, open Bible Word Study from the Guides menu, and type g: or h: plus the transliteration to build a report on that word.
If you do those two small exercises, you will:
Build muscle memory with the Context Menu.
Get comfortable starting word studies either from your Bible or from a reference work.
Spend less time “wondering where to click” and more time listening to the text and serving the people in front of you.
My encouragement is simple: do not wait until you “feel ready” with Greek and Hebrew again. Open Logos, right-click on a word, and let the Bible Word Study guide remind you that you are not studying alone.
Helpful support articles to learn more: