This short study will familiarize the novice student in how to use the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible. For the more mature student, a quick review is always a good thing. We like to use the Strong's Concordance because the Strong's is simply the most accurate Concordance, in our opinion Dr. Strong's work and scholarship is still the best available today.

  As we begin, every student should take heed and understand that in these times in which we live there are Theological Infidels that carry on a campaign to change Dr. Strong's original work, thus changing the Truth in God's word in order to support their fables, myths, and traditions, because they cannot or will not see the truth. So, for accuracy, it would seem that older editions of the Strong's would be best. That being said, if you should purchase a newer edition, please know whom you're purchasing it from.

  Using The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible enables the English reader to locate any Scripture or Passage in the King James Version Bible, as well as every Hebrew, Chaldee or Greek definition behind the English word. The most direct way of using these features is as follows:

  1.  Beginning with the word you are researching, find that word in the Main Concordance, which lists every occurrence of every word in the KJV Bible. If you are looking for a specific occurrence of that word, you should read the context lines until you find the specific book, chapter, and verse which that word appears in. Below is an example of a Main Concordance listing of the English word "hate."

  3.  If the reference number is set in Italic type as in the example above (3404), you will look for the reference number in the Greek Dictionary. However, if the reference number is not in Italic type, you will look for that reference number in the Hebrew Dictionary.

  NOTE:  If no number appears in the "reference column," the word may have been supplied by the translators to clarify the English meaning, even though no specific Hebrew or Greek word was used to express it. In other instances, more than one word in the original language was included in the English translations.

  To assist the student to follow the subject easily, we at The Rain have incorporated three color codes into this study. They are as follows:—

  1.  Bible Scriptures Will Be In Blue And Look Like This.
  2.  All Of Christ's Words Will Be In Red,
  3.  And The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Will Be Green.

  This isn't any kind of standard on the Internet. But, do to many of today's hand-held devices only allowing one type of font on all of the text viewed from the web on said devices, we have incorporated these color codes. We utilize this color format in these instructions so that it may be clearly understood, from which source the text under discussion is from. We also utilize this color format in other studies on these web-pages. We pray it is helpful to the student.

  Are you ready to give it a try? Open your Bibles to the first chapter of Genesis and read verse 2.

Genesis 1:2
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

  Now... say we wanted to learn more about this word; "was", as in; "...the earth was without..." for this word we must turn to the Appendix to the Main Concordance.

  The Appendix to the Main Concordance immediately follows the Main Concordance. The Appendix is a listing, by chapter and verse only, of forty-seven words that appear in the Bible so frequently that if they were listed in the Main Concordance the Strong's, would take up volumes and volumes. The words listed consist of those which are used very often in the English language, for example; "as", "an", "and", "are", "for", "from", "shall", "the", "they", "was", and "with"... You get the idea.

  Now, we know where to look for the word; "was", let's go to the Appendix and find the word; "was", note that the words are listed alphabetically. There we find the word; "was", has the Hebrew reference number, 1961 (Remember, the Greek reference numbers will be set in Italic type: [2258]. The Hebrew reference numbers are not Italicized.). This reference number, 1961 isn't in Italic type.

  NOTE:  some Strong's printed in the mid-1990s' have these numbers missing from the Appendix altogether. If yours is one of them, we suggest you return it and get one that has these Hebrew and Greek reference numbers.

  We take the Hebrew reference number, 1961 and lookup that number in the Hebrew Dictionary, which immediately follows the Appendix to the Main Concordance (The Greek Dictionary immediately follows the Hebrew Dictionary). And there we find the definition is...

1961. hayah, (haw-yaw´);
a primitive root [compare Heb:1933]; to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary) :- beacon, X altogether, be (-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (oneself-), require, X use.

  We read the word; "hayah" means, "be or become, come to pass".

  A very important point to remember, everything after the :- ("Full-colon with a Dash") is how the translators translated the Hebrew word; hayah into English in other verses in the Bible, and is not a translation, but how it was translated. This is, but one example why we utilize the Strong's in our studies. You must understand, the translators, at times didn't translate the manuscripts correctly, or some words were translated poorly.

  Now that we have our definition, "be or become, come to pass", we can use it in our learning. Let's put it all together...

Genesis 1:2
2. And the earth became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

  Let's try another word...

Exodus 20:2
2. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

  We want to look up the word; "LORD", as it's used in the 2nd verse of Exodus, chapter 20. We go to the Main Concordance and look up the word; "LORD", then we find the reference Book, chapter, and verse; Exodus 20:2. Look to the right of that, and we read it's the Hebrew reference number, 3068.

  Now, we have our reference number, it's not italicized, so we turn to the Hebrew Dictionary. Find the number; "3068". We see our definition is...

3068. Y^ehovah, (yeh-ho-vaw´);
from Heb:1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God :- Jehovah, the Lord. Compare Heb: 3050, Heb: 3069.

  We read the word is, "Yehovah". This is the Name of God, properly translated from the Hebrew. Now, remember about the :- "Full-colon with a Dash", everything after it, is just the way it's been translated in other verses in the KJV. Now, let's put this one together...

Exodus 20:2
2. I am Yehovah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

  Let's try one in the New Testament. Go to Luke 14:26.

Luke 14:26
26. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

  This verse is one that confuses many people. We're going to look up the word; hate and see if Jesus really wants us to hate...

  Go to the Main Concordance and look up the word; "hate" as it is used in Luke 14:26. We find it's the Greek reference number; 3404. So, now we go to the Greek Dictionary, which follows the Hebrew Dictionary, to find the Greek reference number; 3404 and there you read...

3404. miseo (mis-eh´-o);
from a prim. misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less:- hate (-ful).

  We see, by extension it is; "to love less" and "hate", is the way it's translated in the KJV, but what's really meant is, "to love less". Now, let's read that verse again with the correction.

Luke 14:26
26. If any man come to me, and love less not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

  Doesn't this follow the teachings of Christ, in the gospel more correctly? One more time, okay... Turn to Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8
8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

  In this verse let's look up the word; "sorcerers," as it's used in Revelation 21:8. The Greek reference number you should've found is; 5332.

5332. pharmakeus, (far-mak-yoos´);
from pharmakon (a drug, i.e. spell-giving potion); a druggist ("pharmacist") or poisoner, i.e. (by extension) a magician:- sorcerer.

  This is where we get the English word; pharmacist, from the Greek word; pharmakeus. The thing here is, THIS one in verse 8, isn't the good kind of pharmacist. THIS one in verse 8 isn't the one which the Doctors use. THIS one in verse 8 isn't the one we use down at the local supermarket we've all come to know and trust, NO! THIS one spoken of in verse 8 is a "poisoner-druggist," a "drug dealer," a "spell-giving magician," a very evil type of person, bent on putting God's children in a drug-induced spell for their own personal gain.

  Now, let's read that verse again, the way it should've been translated...

Revelation 21:8
8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and poisoner-druggists, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

  Yep... the illegal drug dealers will have their part in the lake of fire, which is the second death (that is to say, the death of the soul).

  We pray we've helped you learn how to use a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible. You can have many hours of joy studying your Heavenly Fathers Word. Having a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible is like having a set of manuscripts right at your fingertips.

  Now you'll know whose teaching truth from the Bible and who isn't. Most importantly, you'll know for sure, if someone tries to deceive you or change God's Word. Being able to find out for yourself what God's word says you can help others find the truth. Thank you for your time and may God bless.

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