Preface to the Greek and Hebrew Strong References
(as it appeared in the original work from James Strong in 1890).
THIS work, although prepared as a companion to the Exhaustive Concordance, to which it is specially adapted is here paged and printed so that it can be bound separately, in the belief that a brief and simple Dictionary of the Biblical Hebrew and Chaldee will be useful to students and others, who do not care at all times to consult a more copious andelaborate Lexicon; and it will be particularly serviceable to many who are unable to turn conveniently and rapidly, amid the perplexities and details of foreign characters with which the pages of Gesenius and Furst bristle, to the fundamental and essential points of information that they are seeking.
Even scholars will find here, not only all of a strictly verbal character which they most frequently want in ordinary consultation of a lexicon, but numerous original suggestions, relations, and distinctions, carefully made and clearly put, which are not unworthy of their attention, especially in the affinities of roots and the classification of meanings. The compact form and moderate cost of the book, it is hoped, will facilitate its use with all classes. The vocabulary is complete as to the ground-forms that actually occur in the biblical text (or Kethib), with the pointing that properly belongs to them. Their designation by numbers will especially aid those who are not very familiar with the original language, and the Anglicizing and pronunciation of the words will not come amiss to multitudes who have some acquaintance with it. The addition of the renderings in the common version will greatly contribute to fixing and extending the varied significations and applications of the Hebrew and Chaldee words, as well as to correcting their occasionally wrong translations. On this account, as well as for the sake of precision and to prevent repetition, the use of the same terms in the preceding definitions has been avoided wherever practicable. The design of the volume, being purely lexical, does not include grammatical, archaeological, or exegetical details, which would have swelled its size and encumbered its plan. By observing the subjoined directions, in the associated use of the Main and Comparative Concordances, the reader will have substantially a Concordance-Dictionary of both the Authorized and the Revised English Versions, as well as of the Hebrew Bible.
Comments (not from the Strong Concordance)
The Strong Concordance has become a reference work and has been used extensively since its publication. It is now freely available on a few websites online and the Action Biblique Church in Lausanne is pleased to offer this valuable bible study tool freely. Particularly useful are the lists of related Bible verses for a given Strong Code. Unlike a standard bible concordance which looks only in the language of the Bible, The Strong Concordance goes back to the original Greek and Hebrew texts and assigns the “Strong Codes”. Using the Strong codes we can then lookup all verses containing the Strong code to otain a deeper unstanding of how a given word or set of words is used in the Bible.
The Strong’s Codes, also known as Strong’s Numbers, are a system of identifying and organizing the words used in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. Each word in the KJV is assigned a unique number, called a Strong’s Number, which can be used to look up the word in a concordance or other reference tool. The Strong’s Codes were created by James Strong, a biblical scholar and theologian, in the late 19th century as a way to help people study and understand the KJV more easily.
One of the main advantages of the Strong’s Codes is that they make it easier to study the original languages of the Bible, Hebrew and Greek. By using the codes, people can quickly and easily find the original word that was used in the text and its meaning. This can be especially helpful for people who are not fluent in Hebrew or Greek, as it allows them to better understand the nuances of the text.
Another advantage of the Strong’s Codes is that they can be used to cross-reference verses in the Bible. By identifying the Strong’s Numbers for specific words, people can find other verses in the Bible that use the same word and compare their meanings. This can help people to understand the context in which the word was used and to gain a deeper understanding of the text.
However, there are also limitations to the Strong’s Codes. One limitation is that the codes only apply to the KJV, so people who are studying other translations of the Bible will not be able to use them. Additionally, the codes are based on the KJV’s translation of the Bible and may not accurately represent the original Hebrew and Greek words. This means that people who use the codes may not be getting a completely accurate understanding of the text.
Another limitation is that the codes are based on a limited set of meanings for each word and may not take into account all possible meanings or context. Additionally, Strong’s codes are not always aligned with modern linguistic understanding, for example, the meanings of words change over time, and the codes might not reflect these changes.