Strong's definitions

[heron]

I'm looking for theology and Greek/Hebrew scholars to bring insight into word definitions. Currently I use Strong's definitions on CD, a lexicon from biblegateway, and other similar sources to clarify passages.

I was in a discussion thread over Bible versions, and found web sources that considered NIV an accurate Bible due to updates from more recently found source material...where others consider KJV closer word for word to the original (Zondervan, etc.). I checked both versions against a lexicon, and realized that Strong was limited by the same cultural/archaeological findings that KJV was.

Any thoughts on this? Please don't get into a Bible version dispute... I'm hoping for additional resources, not negative (hey, a double negative) opinion.

Thanks in advance!

 

[daveleau]

The Strong's lexicon in the back of the concordance is limited and it is also based on the KJV, so it will be skewed to the KJ Bible. It is a decent resource, but there are others that I prefer. I temper my searches in Strong's by searching in the NIV Exhaustive Concordance, as well. this is the updated NIV concordance and limited lexicon.

Thayers Lexicon used to be viewed as the standard lexicon, but has since been replaced by two superb works that have been updated and are considered by conservative theologians as being the best lexicons.

"A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature" by Bauer and Danker
-This lexicon gives exhaustive references to Koine Greek without going to the level of being a wordbook that gets into more detailed discussions

Louw & Nida's "Greek-English Lexicon of the NT based on Semantic Domains"
- This sounds complicated, but this is the theologian way of saying they grouped words into related topics. All the words that mean love or are related to specific topics are grouped together. This is a 2-volume set, with the second volume being 3 indices in one. It is a necessity if the first volume is to be used effectively. This is a superb resource as well.

Both were written in the late 70's and I got both books on a used bookstore site (abebooks.com) for about $55, versus the over $200 to buy them new.

I have other books for studying Greek, but these are the best and most used in my collection.

My belief regarding Biblical versions is that the major translations are all equally worthy and several versions should be read to get the best understanding. I like the KJV because of its literal roots and TR base, the NIV because of its thought-for-thought makeup and NA base, the NASB because of its reliance on both the TR and NA texts and literal translation, the ESV because of its ease of reading. I use parallel Bibles for reading and study.

I hope this helps.

God bless you,
Dave

 

[filosofer]

"A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature" by Bauer and Danker
-This lexicon gives exhaustive references to Koine Greek without going to the level of being a wordbook that gets into more detailed discussions

Louw & Nida's "Greek-English Lexicon of the NT based on Semantic Domains"
- This sounds complicated, but this is the theologian way of saying they grouped words into related topics. All the words that mean love or are related to specific topics are grouped together. This is a 2-volume set, with the second volume being 3 indices in one. It is a necessity if the first volume is to be used effectively. This is a superb resource as well.

Both were written in the late 70's and I got both books on a used bookstore site (abebooks.com) for about $55, versus the over $200 to buy them new.

Actually, the 2nd edition of Bauer, et all was published in 1979, but the 3rd edition was published in 2000, and now has the initials BDAG, because of the extensive work that Frederick Danker did in this 3rd edition.

Brand new it is available for $125 from CBD.

Also, the Greek-English Lexicon by Louw, Nida, et al, was published in 1988, and i think runs about $49 (for the two volume set).

I have other books for studying Greek, but these are the best and most used in my collection.

Yeah, these are considered the standard for Koine Greek.

You might want to consider a few other valuable resources:

Multi-Purpose Tools for Bible Study, by Frederick Danker, 3rd edition 1994. He shows the tools available for solid Biblical scholarship and how to use them.

Biblical Words and Their Meanings by Moises Silva, 2nd ed. 1993.

Exegetical Fallacies, by D. A. Carson, 2nd ed. 1993.

 

[daveleau]

Exegetical Fallacies is an outstanding book! It's a bit hard on certain well-beloved stances by pastors, though, like the phileo versus agape love idea. Regardless, it is a superb book...and inexpensive.

I get my books used from abebooks.com. That's how I got the set of those 3 volumes for $55.

 

[heron]

Great information, Dave and Fil !!! This is precisely what I was looking for.

I've taken some theology course, but years ago. And I've been in a local seminary library, but their books are outdated... and they had no book on which sources are more accurate (which I suppose is half of the study in the first place).

"Well-beloved stances by pastors," lol, yes, isn't that why we need these books! So many ingrained traditions, arguing truth with our half-truths.

The bit about the Strong/KJV connection didn't occur to me until this week.