The value of the concordance word study method is motivated by the principle that biblical words are best understood by analyzing their use by specific biblical authors and in the Bible as a whole. Therefore, we can gain understanding of biblical words and concepts by making an exhaustive list of all uses of the word by a particular Bible author (e.g. Isaiah, Luke, John, Paul) or in some cases, all uses of the word in the New Testament, Old Testament, or both.
1. Select the word for study. Look up the word in several verses in the NIV Bible, NAS, the King James or New KJV Bible, or several of these. The KJV (also known as AV) is good for this type of study because the very useful Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is indexed to the KJV. The KJV and the NAS are considered to be most literal translation of the original languages. (Keep in mind that the KJV does not reflect the most recent text findings which are included in modern translations.) Use of modern paraphrase translations (e.g. Living Bible, The Message) is not recommended for word studies. The value of looking up the word in several translations is that you can identify the range of English words that are used to translate a specific Hebrew or Greek concept. Study of several related words is often required to complete the study.
2. Look up the word in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance or an exhaustive concordance corresponding to your Bible translation.
3. Make a list of every Scripture reference for that word in the concordance.
4. Write down every number which is listed beside the word in the Strong’s Concordance or other concordance.
5. If you want to use Strong’s Concordance to study the word in Hebrew or Greek, use the Strong’s index number to look up these words in the Hebrew (OT) or Greek (NT) dictionaries which are found in the back of Strong’s. Write down the definitions.
6. Look up all of the Scriptures listed in which correspond to the words which you have selected above.
Look up the verses in your preferred translation or, better, in several translations.
7. Choose a sample of the verses looked up in step (6) and record the verses for use in developing a summary about this word.
8. If you want more information about the word, look up the word in the Vine’s Expository Dictionary or a similar reference.
Depending on the frequency of use of a particular word and the purpose of a study, it may be helpful to confine your study to the Old Testament or the New Testament or to a particular biblical author. For example, to analyze the use of a particular word by the biblical author John, the concordance study would
focus on John, 1,2,3 John, and Revelation. Likewise, an analysis of Lukan use of words would focus on Luke and Acts.
1. Select the word for study. Look up the word in several verses in the NIV Bible, NAS, the King James or New KJV Bible, or several of these. The KJV (also known as AV) is good for this type of study because the very useful Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is indexed to the KJV. The KJV and the NAS are considered to be most literal translation of the original languages. (Keep in mind that the KJV does not reflect the most recent text findings which are included in modern translations.) Use of modern paraphrase translations (e.g. Living Bible, The Message) is not recommended for word studies. The value of looking up the word in several translations is that you can identify the range of English words that are used to translate a specific Hebrew or Greek concept. Study of several related words is often required to complete the study.
2. Look up the word in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance or an exhaustive concordance corresponding to your Bible translation.
3. Make a list of every Scripture reference for that word in the concordance.
4. Write down every number which is listed beside the word in the Strong’s Concordance or other concordance.
5. If you want to use Strong’s Concordance to study the word in Hebrew or Greek, use the Strong’s index number to look up these words in the Hebrew (OT) or Greek (NT) dictionaries which are found in the back of Strong’s. Write down the definitions.
6. Look up all of the Scriptures listed in which correspond to the words which you have selected above.
Look up the verses in your preferred translation or, better, in several translations.
7. Choose a sample of the verses looked up in step (6) and record the verses for use in developing a summary about this word.
8. If you want more information about the word, look up the word in the Vine’s Expository Dictionary or a similar reference.
Depending on the frequency of use of a particular word and the purpose of a study, it may be helpful to confine your study to the Old Testament or the New Testament or to a particular biblical author. For example, to analyze the use of a particular word by the biblical author John, the concordance study would
focus on John, 1,2,3 John, and Revelation. Likewise, an analysis of Lukan use of words would focus on Luke and Acts.