James Strong (theologian)
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James Strong (August 14, 1822 – August 7, 1894) was an American
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
,
biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
,
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...
, Methodist theologian and
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
, best known for being the creator of '' Strong's Concordance''.


Biography

Strong was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and graduated, in 1844, as
valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
from
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
. Subsequently, he was mayor of his hometown on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. Later, having settled in
Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...
, he pursued
biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
, held various local offices, and organized, built, and was the president of the Flushing railroad. In 1856 the Wesleyan University granted him the degree of
Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
(D.D.). From 1858 until 1861, Strong was both Acting President and Professor of Biblical Literature at
Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...
. In 1868 he became Professor of Exegetical Theology at
Drew Theological Seminary Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...
, where he remained for twenty-seven years. In 1881 the Wesleyan University honored Strong with the degree of
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
(LL.D.). He died at
Round Lake, New York Round Lake is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,245 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from a circular lake adjacent to the village. In 1975, the Round Lake Historic District, which encompasses the v ...
in 1894.


''Strong's Concordance''

His best known work is the
Bible concordance A Bible concordance is a concordance, or verbal index, to the Bible. A simple form lists Biblical words alphabetically, with indications to enable the inquirer to find the passages of the Bible where the words occur. Concordances may be for the o ...
named after him, ''Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'', first published in 1890, of which new editions are still in print. Numerous revisions, such as ''The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'' and ''The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'', along with adaptations of the concordance to translations other than the Authorized King James Version while retaining the "Strong's" or similar branding, such as the ''Strongest
NIV Niv may refer to: * Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see * Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India * Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India NIV may refer to: * The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...
Exhaustive Concordance'' are also available. "Strong's numbering" of Greek and Hebrew words, have dominated the enumeration of such words in Bible study helps to the present day, only recently being supplemented by Goodrick–Kohlenberger numbering. For the concordance, Strong numbered every
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
or
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
root word which was found, for ease of reference. This numbering system (8674 Hebrew roots and 5523 Greek roots) is now widely used in the
English-speaking world Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
and also widely available on the web, where it can be used with many translations, often in conjunction with other
hermeneutic Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...
tools. In spite of the Greek roots being numbered up to 5624, there are 5523 actual entries, since 101 numbers were jumped over. At the end of the "Greek Dictionary of the New Testament" section of the first edition of ''Strong's Concordance'' is the following Note: "Owing to changes in the enumeration while in progress, there were no words left for Nos. 2717 and 3203–3302, which were therefore silently dropped out of the vocabulary and references as redundant. This will occasion no practical mistake or inconvenience." Further, note that modern
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
lexical systems often separate out entries on
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
words from those on Hebrew words, a practice initiated by ''A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament'' (an English work based on Gesenius' ''Hebrew Grammar'' in German), which is commonly called " Brown–Driver–Briggs" or "BDB" after its three primary authors.


Other works

Another major contribution was to the ''
Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature The ''Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature'' is a reference work of ten volumes and two supplements published in the late 19th century, co-authored by John McClintock, academic and minister, and James Strong, profes ...
'' (10 vols., 1867–81; supplement, 2 vols., 1885–7). Work on this project having begun in 1853, Strong was in charge of the department of Biblical literature, while John McClintock supervised theological and ecclesiastical literature for the preparation of the first few volumes. However, with Dr. McClintock's death in 1870, Strong became sole supervising editor of the project, and with the assistance of J. H. Worman saw the project through to completion. Mr. Strong was invited by Dr.
Philip Schaff Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Biography Schaff was born ...
to join the Old Testament Company of the American committee of the
English Revised Version The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Versio ...
of the Bible, and worked within that company in preparing both the English and the eventual American revision of the Bible, the American version of which became known as the
American Standard Version The American Standard Version (ASV), officially Revised Version, Standard American Edition, is a Bible translation into English that was completed in 1901 with the publication of the revision of the Old Testament. The revised New Testament had ...
1901. The American Revision Committee began work in 1871 and continued to work until 1901. Notable scholars of the day who worked on these two translations with Mr. Strong include
F. H. A. Scrivener Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener (September 29, 1813, Bermondsey, Surrey – October 30, 1891, Hendon, Middlesex) was a New Testament textual critic and a member of the English New Testament Revision Committee which produced the Revised Version ...
(who also edited the AV to form the first '' Cambridge Paragraph Bible'', and whose recension of the AV is considered to be the authoritative text), Princeton theologian Charles Hodge,
Philip Schaff Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Biography Schaff was born ...
,
F. J. A. Hort Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828–1892), known as F. J. A. Hort, was an Irish-born theologian and editor, with Brooke Foss Westcott of a critical edition of ''The New Testament in the Original Greek''. Life He was born on 23 April 1828 ...
and B. F. Westcott (the eponymous
Westcott and Hort ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (18 ...
), W. L. Alexander, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver,
Joseph Lightfoot Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889), known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. Life Lightfoot was born in Liverpool, where his father John Jackson Lightfoot was an accountant. His mo ...
,
Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.Natural Hi ...
, Henry Alford, S. P. Tregelles, J. Henry Thayer, and
Ezra Abbot Ezra Abbot (April 28, 1819, Jackson, MaineMarch 21, 1884, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American biblical scholar. Life and writings Abbot was born at Jackson, Maine, April 28, 1819; son of Ezra and Phebe Abbot. He was educated at Phillips Ex ...
. In all, one hundred and one scholars on both sides of the Atlantic worked upon this historic revision. The sources for this paragraph are from Revised New Testament and History of Revision, Authorized Version 1881. Hubbard Brothers, Publishers; and The Ancestry of our English Bible, by Ira Maurice Price, Harper and Brothers, Third Revised Edition, 1956. The first of these books asserts that Mr. Strong graduated from
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
in 1844, in its brief biography of him. Amongst others, some of his lesser works are "A New Harmony and Exposition of the Gospels" (1852); "Scripture History delineated from the Biblical Records and all other Accessible Sources" (1878) and "The Tabernacle of Israel in the Desert" (1888).


Notes


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, James 1822 births 1894 deaths 19th-century American theologians 19th-century Christian biblical scholars 19th-century philologists American biblical scholars American Christian theologians American lexicographers American philologists Arminian theologians Drew University faculty Educators from New York City Grammarians of Hebrew Methodist biblical scholars Methodist theologians Scholars of Koine Greek Troy University (New York) faculty Wesleyan University alumni 19th-century lexicographers