{"id":39638,"date":"2017-10-13T07:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/?p=39638"},"modified":"2022-01-10T15:38:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:38:42","slug":"get-strongs-tagged-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/get-strongs-tagged-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Get the Most Out of A Bible Tagged with Strong’s Concordance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The great part about Strong’s Tagged Bibles (aka, Bibles with hyperlinks to a Strong’s Concordance entry) is that anyone can use them. You don\u2019t need to be seminary trained or have years of experience. You can just tap and read. The tool is powerful and practical enough to be useful even for personal study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is true with many powerful tools, these resources can do more if you know how to use them. They can also be somewhat dangerous if you don\u2019t know how to use them. We don\u2019t want to simply provide you with the resource; we want to help you get the most out of it and avoid the dangers of misinterpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, Tap \u2014 Strong’s Tagged Bibles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The very first step of using a Bible with Strong’s Concordance is to tap on a word. As soon as you tap, you can see what Greek or Hebrew word is associated with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"strong's<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you try tapping a darker-colored word, you’ll realize that nothing happens. That’s because the word isn\u2019t explicitly in the Greek or Hebrew text. Instead, translators added the English word in order for the sentence to make grammatical sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When speaking English, we often leave out words because they\u2019re assumed. We also use words that don’t have a direct translation in other languages. Different languages have different rules for what\u2019s important and what can be left out. So, there’s no need to be distraught over not all of the English words having a Greek or Hebrew counterpart in your Bible tagged with Strong’s Concordance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Strong’s Dictionary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Strong\u2019s Dictionary definition appears underneath the Greek or Hebrew word. It reveals all the ways the word is translated throughout the Bible. By reading the definition, you can gain a better understanding of what the Scriptures are trying to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Strongs<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One truth to keep in mind: all languages contain words that hold multiple meanings. How and where a word is used in a sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book is a critical part of understanding what the word means. Words can never be understood in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the word \u201cdodge\u201d can mean to get out of the way of something. It can also mean to lighten part of an image or photo (like the \u201cdodge brush\u201d in image editing programs). If you were to simply look up the dictionary definition and pick the first one, you could find yourself very confused. Another example is the English word \u201clove.\u201d When someone says \u201cI love ice cream,\u201d he means something very different from when he says \u201cI love my wife\u201d (or at least he ought to).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point here is that we want to let the Strong’s dictionary help us get an idea<\/em> of what the word can mean<\/em>. Then we should let the context of the passage determine what the word does mean<\/em>.<\/strong> If we\u2019re in a class on photography, \u201cdodge\u201d probably doesn\u2019t mean \u201cget out of the way.\u201d It probably means \u201clighten.\u201d But we wouldn\u2019t want to make that assumption in gym class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search for All Occurrences of a Word<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, now that you know to look for context, how do you do it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the button that says \u201cSearch for g5457\u201d? Selecting it allows you to search the Bible for that particular Greek or Hebrew word. Searching in this way will give you more consistency. For example, there are several Greek words for love. If you search the New Testament for the English word “love” you will see results for one English word (“love”) but several Greek words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searching by the Strong’s number (g5457, in our example) will only show you results for the specific Greek or Hebrew word you selected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bible<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Word Study Tips!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So, you have a list of all the verses a specific Greek or Hebrew word is used. Now what?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information can help you build context… and the best way to build context is to start close and work outward<\/strong>. Here is an easy checklist for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n