Dr. James Strong devoted 35 years of his life to write the 'Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'. It was first published in 1890.
The English language is very 'brutish' compared to the rich and precise languages of Greek and Hebrew. In the following table you can clearly see how these two languages excel over the English. As most, not being a Greek or Hebrew scholar I have to rely on the limited English text to try to grasp the meaning of each and every Biblical word, reading each word in the context of the verse it belongs is an obvious clue to it's meaning but at times I am in need of extra help. While relying on the words context is fine, when trying to 'get a deeper' understanding of a particular verse, I may easily miss the richness of the original text, thus frustrating my efforts to study and debate Biblical issues.
Dr. Strongs assigned a unique number to each and every MEANING of each and every ENGLISH word of the Bible, linked to each “Strongs Number” is an explanation of the original Greek or Hebrew word associated with it. This is a great tool to getting back to the original text.
Note that in the table below, each Hebrew or Greek word, when translated into English is simply translated into the word, “LOVE”. Yet in the original Greek and Hebrew language, what only translates into the English word “love” has a much more precise meaning. As you can see, unless you are a Hebrew or Greek scholar you could very well miss this information. Step in Dr. Strong!
| Language | Strongs Number | Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | OT 157 | ahab | aw-hab | Love like a friend | Love |
| Hebrew | OT 2836 | chashaq | khaw-shak | To have delight in - desire | Love |
| Hebrew | OT 1730 | dowd | dode | Father, brother, Uncles love | Love |
| Hebrew | OT 5691 | agabah | ag-aw-baw | Inordinate love | Love |
| Greek | NT 5368 | phileo | fil-eh-o | Sentimental, feeling, a kiss | Love |
| Greek | NT 2309 | thelo | thel-o | Delight in, desire | Love |
| Greek | NT 5365 | philarguria | fil-ar-goo-ree-ah | Love of Money | Love |
| Greek | NT 5388 | philoteknos | fil-ot-ek-nos | Love of Children | Love |
| Greek | OT 5362 | philandros | fil-an-dros | Love of a Husband | Love |
Please note: The above table is not a full translation, it is for illustration purposes only. “The Strongs” is much more informative.
The “Strong's Number System” is now incorporated in many Bible computer programs, the free PC program “Freebible” and the free Macintosh Bible program “MacSword” are two excellent examples. Google freebible.exe or MacSword. Another great online resource that is not OS dependent is The Blue Letter Bible hosted by khouse.org.