One of the best tools to study the Bible is The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, also known as Strong’s Concordance, first published in 1890. It is an index of original language words found in the King James Version of the Bible and lists where each word is located with its book, chapter, and verse.
Next to the Bible, many Christians use Strong’s Concordance as a learning tool. Readers can easily find a phrase or passage containing the word and can compare how the word is used in other parts of scripture. Each original language word is assigned an entry number known as “Strong’s Numbers” and listed in alphabetical order.
Strong’s Concordance contains over 14,000 original language words in Hebrew and Greek, including 8,674 Hebrew root words used in the Old Testament, for example, אֱנוֹשׁ (H582) and 5,624 Greek root words used in the New Testament, for example, λόγος (G3056).
It took over 35 years of methodical work to catalog this massive work under the direction of James Strong. He spent $10,000 to complete the concordance, a huge investment in those days. His goal was to make “the Bible and the fruit of biblical scholarship accessible to every reader for enriched Bible study.”
But who is James Strong? He dedicated his life to creating valuable tools many Christians and students of the Bible still use today. Besides the hefty printed version, there are phone apps and online versions. Here is a convenient link to an online version of Strong’s Concordance.
The Man Behind the Masterwork
James Strong is an accomplished American academic, Bible scholar, lexicographer, Methodist theologian, and professor. Fascinated with archeology, he became a member of the Palestine Exploration Society and Chairman of the Archaeological Council of the Oriental Topographical Society.
He was born in New York City on August 14, 1822. Strong attended Wesleyan University, graduated with three degrees, and was valedictorian in 1844. He became mayor of his hometown on Long Island, engaged in biblical studies, and also held positions in local offices. Strong organized, built and became president of the Flushing railroad during the 1850s.
Among his other significant work is the ten-volume Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, which started in 1853 and was initially published in 1867-81. Strong then went to work on a committee of 101 scholars to produce the American Standard Version of the Bible.
Strong was part of what was known as “the Great Five,” revered scholars who started Drew Theological Seminary. He was professor of exegetical theology at Drew from 1868 to 1893.
Dr. Buckley, a Drew colleague, said of James Strong, “At night, in the library, he worked like a plow horse, but in the lecture room, he was a cult. No one ever went to sleep in his class unless he was in bad health or an imbecile.” He died in 1893 after serving Drew for 25 years.
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