Introduction

The book we call ‘The Bible’ is a collection of writings from many Jewish authors, whose native language was Hebrew. While all of the original books were written in Hebrew, the writings have been translated into many modern languages, including English. English was not the original language of the Bible, so it helps to understand the original meaning of the words. The Strong’s concordance can help us do that, and this paper includes an easy exercise to learn how to use it.

The Bible has two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. As mentioned, both the old and new testament were originally written in Hebrew, but the New testament was later translated into Greek. Manuscripts have been found of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament.

History

Over one hundred years ago, a very devoted man named Dr. James Strong had a desire for a “standard for purposes of reference” for studying the Bible. Compiled without the use of computers or any means but paper and pen, Dr. Strong spent years referencing the English words in the King James Bible to their original Hebrew and Greek origins. When this task was completed, Mr. Strong had both referenced every word that appeared in the King James Bible, and defined each word’s original Hebrew/Greek meaning, which explains why it’s called the “exhaustive” concordance.

While the Strong’s concordance will differ in content from a concordance specifically for the Inspired Version, it is still an extremely valuable tool in learning God’s word, and is very useful for Latter Day Saints. God commanded us to take the time to get knowledge and wisdom, above everything else. Knowing the original meaning of words is a powerful way to get knowledge, wisdom and understanding.

It only will take 10 minutes of your life to learn how to use a Strong’s concordance. Take the time right now to use the Strong’s and you will always be a better person for it. Then, save this paper in the front of your concordance for anyone else that may need to learn.

The Strong’s concordance is helpful in two primary ways:

1. First, it gives us a complete list (concordance) of alphabetically arranged words that we can use to look up scripture references.

2. Second, and perhaps most importantly, it provides a dictionary to find the original meaning of a word, by referencing the original word used in the Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) writings.

Your version of the Strong’s Concordance may differ in appearance, but all Strong’s Concordances are similar in content. In other words, some may vary in the font or typeset to make them easier to read, but all have the same information.

How to use the Strong’s Concordance:

Here is a simple process to look up a word, scripture reference and original meaning in the concordance:

1. Find the word listed alphabetically in the concordance. This is similar to looking up a word in a dictionary.

2. Then, scan the list of verses containing that word. To save space in the verse, the intended word is abbreviated to its first letter. In most cases, the verse numbers will be the same between the Inspired and King James versions. If you’re not sure what the book abbreviations mean (ex. “GE” means Genesis, “ISA” means Isaiah, etc.), there is a key defining all abbreviations in the first few pages of the Strong’s manual.

3. For each verse, note the number to the right of the verse. It will match a number in the back of the concordance for the Hebrew or Greek definition of that word as it is defined in each verse.

4. If you are looking up an:

· Old Testament Scripture, use the Hebrew Dictionary in the back of the book;

· New Testament Scripture, use the Greek dictionary in the back of the book.

5. Look up this number in the Hebrew and/or Greek dictionaries and the original words will be listed along with their meaning. While a word will often have a Hebrew and Greek definition, its reference numbers will differ because the two dictionaries are separate (for example, the word “Jacob” is #3290 in the Hebrew, but is #2384 in the Greek).

Exercise 1: Find a scriptural reference for a word.

Look up the English word “Law” in the Strong’s concordance.

· Estimate how many different scripture references use this word in the (KJ) Bible. (Answer= more than 100)

· Of these, does the word appear in the Old, New or both Testaments (Answer=Both)

· In English, we have one word for “Law”, but how many existed in the Hebrew? (Count how many different reference numbers exist for a particular word). Some of the Hebrew references for the Old Testament word “law” were: 3618, 2859, 2524, 2706, 8451, 1881, 4941. At least seven different Hebrew words were used for the one English word “Law”!

· Now look up the definition of the reference in Genesis 47:26 (#2706 in the Hebrew Dictionary). Try to pronounce the word (sounds like “coke”). What is its meaning? Generally, this definition refers to laws of the land, or government made by people.

· Next, look up the definition of the word “Law” referenced in Exodus 12:49 (#8451). How is it pronounced? (Answer=Torah). We know this word as being the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, and specifically the ‘Law of Moses.’ Notice that this word is not used until Exodus, when Moses receives the “Law” from God. Notice also, that the definition of #8451, “Torah,” tells us that its root is from the Hebrew word #3384, meaning ‘to inform, instruct, or teach.’

· By scanning the list of Old Testament scriptures for “Law” in the concordance, one can get a better understanding for the writer was referring to ‘laws of the land’ or ‘the Law of Moses.’ Without knowing this difference in definitions, we might not understand the true meaning of the verses.

· Finally, scan the various New Testament (starting with Matthew) Greek definitions for the word “Law” in the concordance. Several exist, including #3551, 3565, 2547, 2994, 60, 460, 459, 1772, 4160, 458. Of all these definitions, which one is used the most in the New Testament? (Answer = 3551). Look up the Greek definition for #3551. (Answer = Nomos). The definition says it came from the root ‘nemo’ meaning ‘to parcel out, especially food to animals.’ Based on this, the definition of ‘nomos’ refers to “law” in relation to the Law of Moses. In other words, ‘nomos,’ was the Greek word ascribed to the Hebrew word for ‘Torah.’ The original speakers and writers were saying the Hebrew word ‘Torah;’ but remember, that the Greek New Testament was translated from Hebrew.

Extra Study #2

Try looking up some of the references in Galations Chapters 2-3 for the word ‘Law’ (Greek word ‘nomos.’) Then, read the scripture verses and, in your mind, insert the understanding ‘Law of Moses.’

If we understand the ‘Law of Moses’ to be the sacrifices of animals, etc., given to the House of Israel which were designed to end when Christ died on the cross, then we gain new insights as to what Paul was saying when he said: “we are not saved by the words of the ‘law’ but by Grace.”

The meaning of his words was (paraphrased) ‘..salvation doesn’t come by the sacrifice of animals, etc., under the Law of Moses, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.” In the day Paul spoke them to Hebrew people, they understood these meaning perfectly. To us, without understanding the definitions of the words, we might not get the true understanding.

Extra Study #3

Look up the word ‘mention’ in the Old Testament. What is its Hebrew definition? (Answer = #2142 ‘zawkar’). Now, look up the word ‘remember’ in the Old Testament. What is its Hebrew definition in the same Old Testament? (Answer = #2142, ‘zawkar’).

The two different English words come from the same original Hebrew word! So what does this suggest? The Lord tells us that He will not ‘remember’ our sins after we repent, but this has caused some to ask “How a perfect God could ever ‘forget’ anything?”

Now, applying the true meanings from the Hebrew, perhaps what the Lord was saying when he said he ‘..won’t remember our sins anymore…,” could be more correctly understood as “He will not mention them to us again.”

Use your Strong’s concordance when studying the Bible and you will gain knowledge and wisdom.

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the Principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding.

Find an online version of Strong’s concordance at http://www.biblestudytools.net