Bible Concordance?

I need some help from fellow Christians...

I use a free program called E-Sword which has each Bible verse and next to each significant word is a number that related to the original Hebrew/Greek word. One can then go look up that word and find a description of that word for better understanding.

Does anybody know of a hard copy (actual book) that has the same functionality? Seeing as I work on a PC all day, it would be nice to give my eyes a rest and be able to lie in bed and read instead of sitting at my desk.

I figure maybe there are some of you Bible school graduates out there who may know of one.

There are many good concordances and commentaries as well. Strong's Concordance with the Hebrew and Greek Lexicons was popular when I went to school.

I highly recommend that you listen to Dr.Gene Scott and get as much teaching from him as you can. The guy was the best Bible Scholar I have ever heard. I found some of his old teachings online here:

www.youtube.com...

What he has to say about adultery and fornication is pretty good. Not sure if that video teaching is online yet though.

[edit on 23/7/09 by John Matrix]

reply to post by John Matrix


Awesome thank you!
Now I'm off to amazon to see what I can find.

reply to post by the siren


I recommend two separate books. Strongs concordance and Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament words.

Vine's is a hebrew/greek dictionary of bible words and is an awesome tool to use. I don't care for commentaries because it revolves around someone's opinion.

Thanks for the tip!
This morning I ordered 'Strong's Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible - updated Edition' but I'll definitely check out Vines as well.

I don't mind commentaries myself - I like to get other peoples takes on things...well if they are qualified to give an opinion, that is.
I am amazed at some of the responses non-believers get to their questions on this site. It seems that every Christian has a different opinion and most have never even read the Bible themselves.

reply to post by the siren

It seems that every Christian has a different opinion and most have never even read the Bible themselves.

That's a sign, usually, of people that don't read the Bible themselves. Which is a shame.

But, to the matter at hand, hopefully you ordered a concordance for your particular translation. It's happened to me once that I looked in an NIV concordance and was very confused. It's good that you got an updated concordance, too. My pastor, before I left for college, gave me his concordance from like the 1950s. I could barely read the typeface.

Another thing that you might be interested in is an Interlinear Bible. Essentially, that's a Bible that has the Greek [or Hebrew] text on top with a literal, truly word for word English translation under it. The draw back to this is that it causes often times some very wooden and archaic English renderings. To go against this, Crossway Publishers put out a "Reverse Interlinear" Bible. It has the English on top, with the corresponding Greek word underneath it, along with the morphology, Strong's number, AND a little number to tell you what order the Greek words go in in Greek--so you still can find the Greek word order!

[edit on 7/25/2009 by octotom]

reply to post by octotom


I have seen the Interlinear Bible, but not the reverse interlinear - I'll check it out.

I have the New King James Version and the NIV. I believe Strong's is for the King James version? Hopefully it can work with my NKJV.

I see there is a concordance for the NIV now (The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance) although I don't know if it has any lexicons.

reply to post by Locoman8

I recommend two separate books. Strongs concordance and Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament words. Vine's is a hebrew/greek dictionary of bible words and is an awesome tool to use.

I have those and I agree, they really help with our understanding of Greek and Hebrew.

And when those that oppose the faith use the arguments we don't understand Greek or Hebrew or the original languages, this becomes a handy tool to use with the bible and the Greek Interlinear, to refute that argument.

You will also find this link to be useful, as I use it all the time
biblos.com...


[edit on 26-7-2009 by Blue_Jay33]

reply to post by Blue_Jay33


Thanks, vines looks promising!

One thing I'm also considering buying is a book explaining the cultures of those times. This one looks pretty good: Manners and Customs of the Bible because I figure there are sometimes phrases and scenarios that make more sense if you know how they lived in those days.
For example, I once heard an interesting explanation for the famous verse "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Apparently in those days cities had very small gates (a kind of side entrance) called the needles eye, in which a camel had to kneel to get through. So knowing the cultural context helps explain that it is not impossible (like it would be with a sewing needle), but difficult.
I wonder how many other verses would take on new meanings if we knew the cultural context?

reply to post by the siren


It is also known that Jesus used hyperbole's when teaching, and the Camel through needles eye was such a statement.

reply to post by the siren


when you get your "Vine's" I urge you to look up the word "hell". If you are a typical christain who believes it's a pit of fire for sinners to burn for eternity, you'll be surprised what the real translations are. Bluejay and myself both have threads speaking of this.

Not trying to pee on your cheerio's or anything, but I am of the opinion that these things will not help you understanding at all. True understanding can only come with the holy spirit, and you won't need any bible then(but the bible will make more sense from my experience).

The exception would be prophecy, as it is rich in symbolism's and such.

Hope it works for you, I don't think it will hurt and it's probably interesting in itself, but it's just not where real understanding comes from.

reply to post by badmedia


lol, pee on my cheerios.
Who says I'm not filled with the spirit?

reply to post by the siren

The Spirit speaks to you through the reading of the word. The source is the Living Word, Jesus. Be a prophet yourself.

I found NetBible which lets you break down the meanings of the original language words further than a normal concordance. Especially in the Hebrew, there can be 50 different spellings for what is grouped together under one Strong's number. NetBible will let you look up the individual verses that use the strict spelling. So it is 50 times more useful because you can see all the other verses that use the same form as is used in the verse you are researching.
It has a Word format file you can download to print your own NetBible, without the translator's notes. I think you have to make a donation to get the version with notes. My idea is that I can have a portable Bible that has the Net translation so that I can more easily reference the tools on the internet, for a verse that I had read earlier.
I printed up most of the New Testament, until I ran out of toner. What I do is change the page formatting so I have two columns and 1/2 inch outer margins. That way I end up with less pages because I efficiently utilize the soace on the paper. With MS Word, you can set the pages as mirrored, meaning depending on if it is an even or odd numbered page, it has a wider margin to the right or the left. That way you can have a wider margin on the side where you bind it. I set it to 1 1/4 inch. What I do is staple the edge I want bound. I have a heavy duty stapler that can do up to 160 pages. I will put up to 10 staples to keep the edge tight. I have a clamp I made to hold the paper from slipping and twisting while I am stapling.
I glue on a strip of poster board paper over the staples to smooth it out. I use a glossy faced super heavy poster board for a cover I cut to 13 x 22 inches. I have a large format printer to do the cover graphics. I use a pizza cutter to make a crease mark on the inside of the cover to use as a line to fold it. Put some glue on it and clamp it. Once it dries take scissors and trim off the excess cover. If you are careful, you end up with a really nice book.


[edit on 29-7-2009 by jmdewey60]