How to get the most out of Strong’s Concordance (and other Bible helps)
By Brian Knowles
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hroughout the Churches of God Pod, it seems, Strong’s Concordance has become the No. 1 Bible Study Aid. It is indeed a remarkable help – if used properly. Used improperly, it can lead to significant doctrinal error. Sadly, many are using it to support exegetical folly.
Strong’s Concordance is certainly one of the most remarkable books ever compiled. It took James H. Strong (1822-1894), a Methodist layman, some 27 years to put it together. Strong was also a professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary. Strong’s contains every word in the King James Version of the Bible. In the back, one finds both Hebrew and Greek dictionaries for all the listed words.
Those who are unable to read Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek letterforms can easily look up words in Strong’s and find an approximate definition for it in the back. This can greatly aid in Bible study.
Strong’s not authoritative
It should be noted however that Strong’s definitions are neither authoritative nor exhaustive. This work should never be quoted in books or articles as an authority for the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words found in the Bible. I have seen some books, purporting to be scholarly, in which virtually all of the word definitions are taken from Strong’s. This simply reveals the author’s non-scholarly status.
Strong’s is not an authoritative dictionary or lexicon, and it should not be used as such. It is fine to use as a concordance to look up words, and to find out what Hebrew or Greek words were used in the “original.” (I put “original” in quotes because we have no original autographs of any of the Scriptural writings – only copies, most of which were written centuries after the fact.)
One of the reasons Strong’s is not useful as a lexicon is that it was first published in 1898, some 105 years ago. It, along with some of the older Bible helps such as Clarke’s Commentary, could not take into consideration the mountain of profound historical and archaeological work that has been done since that time. Much of the most valuable work was done during the early part of the last century, some years after James Strong had exited the worldly scene.
Strong’s, Clarke’s and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s Critical and Experimental Commentary, as well as Halley’s Bible Handbook, were all compiled before the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Though these works all contain interesting and valuable insights, none is authoritative for word meanings and all are archaeologically obsolete.
The same is true for The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop and Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright by Joseph Allen. Both are exegetically and historically unsound.
Anyone relying on any of these works to determine doctrine is going to quickly find himself in unreliable territory.
Best use of Strong’s
Strong’s is a great way to look up which word was used in the Biblical text. It will even tell you whether or not the word is a prime root, and if not, it will point you to the one that is. This is a valuable help. But for definitions of words, you’ll need to go to an authoritative lexicon.
For Hebrew, that would be the Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and C.A. Briggs. It is commonly referred to by the acronym “BDB.” Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament – a multi-volume work – is also useful for word meanings.
For the New Testament, the authoritative lexicon is A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich. It is typically referred to as “BAG.” Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is also invaluable.
When you use BDB or BAG, you will discover that each word is assigned a basic definition -- then follows a listing of all of the ways in which the word is used in the text. A single word can have multiple meanings, depending on usage and context. For example, the Greek word braxus basically means “short” or “little.” But when used of space, as in Acts 27:28, it means “a little further on.” When used of time, the same word means “for a short time” as in Hebrews 2:7. When referring to quantity, braxus means “a small amount” as in John 6:7). So we learn from BAG that the one Greek word is used in three different ways.
BDB provides us with the same kind of information for the Old Testament text. For example, the Hebrew word echad, normally translated as “one” has a range of eight possible meanings, some of which have sub-meanings. The lexicon provides the key passages where the word is used in each of these ways.
A final tip: If you have difficulty with Hebrew letterforms, you can look them all up in Psalm 119. All the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are there, along with the names of each letter.