On this page you will learn how to use the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
The first issue is to make sure you have an appropriate edition of the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Many editions have been printed without the Lexicons or just the appendix. Some of these will allow you to find the verse containing the word, but this will not help you look up the definitions of the words. You need to be sure to get one that has a main concordance and a Hebrew and Greek dictionary.
You can find a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance in almost every bible bookstore and many regular bookstores. The price for a new one will be around $40.00. For those on a budget we recommend The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible, Classic 1990 edition ISBN 10: 0840767501 ISBN 13: 9780840767509 published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. It contains a little over 1800 pages. We recommend this older edition because of the price. You can often pick them up for under $10, or even less if it is used, depending on the condition, and it will do all that you need it to.
The Strong’s Concordance works very well with The King James Version of the Bible. It contains every word within the KJV along with a definition. It is useful for finding a scripture or verse if you only know some of the words. For example, let’s say you want to find the scripture about God’s double sided sword, but you can’t really remember anything other than the sword part. You simply look up the word “sword” in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, it may be found within the Main Concordance(the first part.) There it will list every time in the scripture that the word “sword” is used, both in the Hebrew and the Greek. Now in this case, the word “sword” is listed several times as it appears often throughout the texts. It may be found in alphabetical order and is listed on pages 1028 – 1030 in the Main concordance. The word is listed with a few words surrounding the original word so you can figure out the context in which it was used. In our example, we were trying to find the verses that talk about God’s double sided sword, so we will have to look through the entries until we find on page 1030;
hath the sharp s with two edges………… Rev. 2:12 4501.
Now we can see the scripture we were thinking of is Revelations 2:12. The “s” stands for our word “sword.” The chapter and verse is shown and the Strong number. The Strong number may now be use to go back and look at what this word means in the original language. The italicized 4501 indicates that it may be found in the Greek dictionary. So we can turn there and look up #4501 to find the meaning. In this example “sword” is pretty clear but this may not always be the case.
Other times the word in english could have a different meaning in the original languages. This is when the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance becomes so valuable in gaining true understanding. For example, let’s take a look at the word “hell.”
It may be found on page 493 of the Strong’ Exhaustive Concordance. Here we can find that the word “hell” is listed several times through out the KJV Bible, but it has four different meanings; all of which were simply translated as”hell” in English.
The Strong numbers for “hell” are
7585 – this is the definition used through the Old Testament.
In the New Testament it is Strong number 1067 or 86, and 5020 is used just once.
If we look up 7585 in the Hebrew Dictionary we find it is the word sheol. The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance shows the word in Hebrew and English and shows how to pronounce it in English. Then it will give the definition and the primitive root from which the word was believed to derived from. The primitive root is sometimes important as it may shed more light on the meaning.
In this case “sheol” comes from 7592 and is defined as hades or the world of the dead(as if a subterranean retreat), includ. its accessories and inmates: – grave, hell, pit.
The Hebrew word 7592 is equivalent to #86 in the Greek dictionary, which is also Hades.
1067 is geenna (ghe-en-na) which is actually a valley outside of Jerusalem where the trash was dumped and burnt.
5020 is only used once in 2Peter 2:4. tartaroo from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades.)
The definition in the Greek Dictionary of the Strong’s Concordance is to incarcerate in eternal torment: – cast down to hell.
You can easily see how some words can be translated somewhat differently.
Another good example of this would be the Hebrew word ruach; which is often used for the Spirit of God. This word is translated sometimes as air, wind, or breath among other things. One could see how easy it would be to get confused if the English states breath, wind or air but the original language is referring to the Spirit of God. The meaning of the scripture could easily be lost. A Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance will go a long way in helping your understanding of such issues.
You should be aware that a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance will not help you with figures of speech; which is why we also recommend a Companion Bible. E.W. Bullinger will often times point out figures of speech for you in the side column.
An examples of a figure of speech would be when the New Testament says in Mathew 19:24 and Mark 10:25; it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle (not an exact quote.) People read this and think, “well that is impossible;” and it would be impossible for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle; but thankfully this is only a figure of speech. The needle is referring to the needle gate of a city.
At night, the main gate would be closed, so visitors or travelers would have to enter through a smaller side gate known as the needle gate. This was to protect the city, as only a small amount could enter; it was much easier to defend if rushed by an enemy. A camel would have to bend down and all of the packing be removed before it could fit through the needle gate. This verse makes much more sense with that knowledge. It may mean that a rich man would have to cast off all of his baggage or sins to get in the Kingdom of Heaven; as we all do.