Strong’s Concordance

Strong’s concordance is one of many tools available to the serious student. (See the editorial, The Tidings, Oct 2013.) It records the various translations of the word from the original language, but not the actual meaning. The translators used immediate context and their own personal, sometimes biased, understanding to determine a meaning. The most obvious is the use of the capitalized ‘Spirit’ (only slightly better than ‘Ghost’) where no such emphasis is made in the original text. The RSV, from the 1950’s is a better work, but it is no longer widely available. The new ESV, which I prefer because of the clarity of the language, is even more markedly slanted toward the Trinitarian view, so caution is needed in its use. There is an ESV version available with Strong’s numbers, but as with the KJV, caution is needed.

Young’s concordance is slightly better as a tool, but it seems to lack support amongst scholars. Personally I lean towards using on-line study aids, and Young’s is not very well supported.

There are numerous tools available on-line to help with understanding the lan­guages of the scriptures. Since they are man-made, however, they need to be used prayerfully and carefully.

When we look at Bible study, in my humble opinion, we need to observe the following:

  1. Prayer
  2. Context in:
    1. The chapter
    2. The particular book
    3. Historical context,
    4. Relation to the mystery revealed in Christ
  3. Be prepared to have your opinion changed
  4. Be brutally honest with yourself.

This last one simply means not to read into a text your own personal opinions and biases.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5 ESV).