Theocratic Aid To Kingdom Publishers

Lesson 61

EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCES (Part 2)

James Strong was an American Biblical scholar. He edited, in collaboration with McClintock, the well known Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, continuing the work alone after the death of his co-worker. He climaxed his career with the production of his Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. It was copyrighted in 1890, and the first edition was printed in April of 1894. Four months later he died. His concordance still enjoys much popularity, having undergone its twelfth printing March, 1942. A brief consideration of what Strong's concordance offers in the way of help for the Bible student will make clear the reasons for its popularity.

A reading of the general preface impresses one with the fact that here is a really complete concordance of the King James Version of the Bible. It does not stop with the listing of principal words, but the main body of the work runs in such relatively unimportant words as one, have, no, on, etc., with their surrounding words. Even that is not exhaustive enough for this work; so it is that on opening the concordance the first listing is noted to be the indefinite article a. One is referred to the Appendix, and there is listed, but not partially quoted, every text where the indefinite article a appears. Other insignificant words, such as an, and, it, of, etc., are likewise treated. Whether one questions the practical usefulness of such completeness or not, it does give assurance that the compilers of this concordance did not rest till every word in the English Bible was listed and exhaustively treated. Later editions carry an Addenda, wherein original oversights are given.

Its completeness is of value in locating a text partially recalled but whose location is not remembered. If just one word of the verse is known, the text can be found under the listing of that word. For example, one may have some

recollection of hearing a clergyman speak of the good being resurrected unto life and the bad having a resurrection of damnation. Why should one be raised to life only to be damned? the person wonders. He wants to examine the text more closely; so, to locate it, he looks up the word "damnation" in Strong's concordance. He finds that the text he has in mind is John 5:29, and reads the context.

But his question is not answered. At the end of the partial quotation of the text in the body of the concordance he notices a number in italics, with an asterisk by it. He remembers reading in introductory matter that the asterisk indicates a different rendering of the word by both the British and the American revisers, so he turns to the comparative concordance in Strong's large volume and looks up "damnation". He finds that these revisers (and hence the American Standard Version Bible) render it "judgment". That is much clearer, if correct. To check on the original Greek word (italicized numerals indicate a Greek original, whereas the upright or Roman-type numerals refer to the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary appearing in the back of Strong's volume) he turns to the Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, toward the back of the book. There he locates the italicized number (2920), and finds that the original Greek word translated "damnation" is krísis, and is defined as "decision (subjective or objective, for or against); by extension a tribunal; by implication justice (specifically divine law)".

The inquiring one is thus assured that the original meaning was not that unjustified ones were to be brought back merely to be damned, but that they would have a judgment-trial, and decide their future status by the course of action they follow in that time of trial. The decision might be for or against (not already fixed as one of damnation), and would be justly arrived at. Furthermore, the searcher notices after this definition of the original Greek word krísis a colon and a dash (:-), and following that four words,

namely, accusation, condemnation, damnation, judgment. All four of these words are used at one place or another in the King James Version Bible to translate this one Greek word; for that is the indication in Strong's relative to words following the colon and dash in the dictionaries. Thus he sees that at times even the King James Version translates it judgment, and he is convinced that the American Standard Version has adopted the accurate meaning. If he so desires, he can look up these other three English words (accusation, condemnation, judgment) in the concordance, and by looking up those texts containing them and behind which the same italicized number appears (2920) he can note those settings where this same Greek word appears in the original. A thorough analysis can be made.

In the same way any other word in the Bible, whether in the Hebrew or the Greek Scriptures, can be traced right back to its original by use of these numbers and the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries in the back of Strong's concordance. In the foregoing it was shown how the various renderings of the one original-language word could be checked. But it is quite often the case that one English word will be used to translate several different Hebrew or Greek originals. This also can be traced in Strong's work. Look again under "damnation" in the main body of the concordance. There are three different numbers following the quoted text-portions: 2917, 2920, 684. Both 2917 and 2920 are from the verb kríno, meaning "to distinguish or to decide mentally or judicially". But the number 684 appears after the phrase from 2 Peter 2: 3, "and their damnation slumbereth not." The context shows that the ones here discussed are religious false prophets who deny the Lord and "bring upon themselves swift destruction". Hence "damnation" as here used means something entirely different from a judgment-trial. Why?

Referring to the Greek dictionary, and the italicized number 684, the "damnation" of 2 Peter 2: 3 is found to come from the Greek original apóleia, which in turn is de-

rived from the Greek verb apóllumi. This verb means "to destroy fully; to perish". What a difference in meaning, then, is the "damnation" appearing at 2 Peter 2:3 and that at John 5:29! Also by this number 684 the student notices an asterisk, indicating a different rendering by both British and American revisers. Checking in the comparative concordance again, he finds that these revisers used the word "destruction" to translate the Greek original apóleia. Hence the American Standard Version correctly reads: "Their destruction slumbereth not."

There are other aids offered by Strong's concordance, which will become apparent by a study of the prefaces and introductory matter on each separate feature. A few might here be mentioned: As stated, the asterisk indicates a different rendering by both British and American revisers; but if an obelisk (†) appears it means that only the British revisers changed from the King James' rendering; if a double obelisk (‡), only the American revisers made a change. Sometimes no number appears after a citation. If so, it means that the key word of that reference is supplied, not being in the original (in which case it appears in italics in most copies of the King James Version); or is merely representative of some inflectional form or peculiar idiom of a Hebrew or Greek term. At the beginning of each of the two dictionaries (Hebrew and Greek) the student will find helpful information as to the use of these features, and also some points on the Hebrew and Greek alphabets that will facilitate use of the dictionaries.