Author: Michele at ScriptureStudy.Guide
Posted: December 28, 2021. Updated January 4, 2023.
Note: The modern-day Vine’s, Thayer’s and Mounce’s Concordances have made additions that are completely incorrect in their published hard-copy dictionaries (they are more correct in the Dictionaries box in eSword). For example, I’ve seen the definition of the word G5507 “thousand” changed from a “plural of uncertain affinity” (no idea where the word came from) to a cardinal number which it is not. They have also changed G165 which is an “age” with a beginning and an end to “an unbroken age; for ever.” Each updated version has more changes added to the original definition to skew the narrative. The Strong’s definitions published in 1890 should be the final say over other dictionaries when defining the words in our bibles, but use of several dictionaries helps considerably with understanding Scripture.
We know that God’s written word is infallible, but the human translators of His word are not. Even worse, Satan has placed his best workers within the fields of Christian publishing solely for the purpose of deceiving Christians.
This article will explain exactly how our modern-day versions of the Strong’s Concordance has been altered from the original 1890 copy. It will be helpful to view the images on a touch-screen so you can enlarge them (please forgive the image quality).
But First….
Before we examine the old versus the new version, I want to make a note on how the book works.
The Strong’s Concordance has lumped many original Greek words into just one word and uses only one definition for all the different words. Look at this one word from the Greek NT INT+ bible in eSword:
The top Greek word, ἐθεραπεύθη, is the word used in the original text.
The bottom Greek word is the word that Strong’s uses instead of the original text word. We are not given the definition of the original word, but are given the definition of their lump-sum word.
The top Greek word, ἐθεραπεύθη, in the original text is only used 3 times in the entire bible, but Strong’s uses the one word, G2323, for 20 different unique Greek words in the Textus Receptus (version closest to the original language). This is done all throughout the Strong’s Concordance, so please be aware.
[We can find all the unique words using the online Blue Letter Bible — click here to see the example covered here, G2323 (click the blue button in the center of the page that reads SHOW ALL).]
Now on to the comparisons….
The Original versus the New
Here are the books I will be comparing: A 1970 29th printing of the first edition Strong’s, copyright 1890; and a modern-day Strong’s, copyright 1990 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
One hundred years changes a lot of things, especially in today’s society where few seldom pay attention anymore and details are dismissed as trivial nonsense.
The 1890 Strong’s
The 1990 Strong’s
The Books’ Instruction Pages
The modern-day Strong’s begins with a page titled “Instructions to the Reader.” When compared with the 1890 Strong’s, this modern-day version is severely dumbed-down. It gives only abbreviations to the books of the bible:
Now the original Strong’s is much different. It begins with a Directions and Explanations page which explains a very useful research tool that the modern-day Strong’s omitted completely: The use of asterisk and obelisk icons in the reference column.
Missing Research Tool
The above photo shows the explanation of the research tool in the original Strong’s and reads as follows:
In the use of the reference-column appended to the passages, which is the key to the connection with the subsequent portions of the work, the following particulars will be sufficient to note here.
- An asterisk (*) calls attention to the fact that in the text quoted the leading word is changed for some other in the Revised Version; while an obelisk (†) shows that a change has been made by the British revisers only, and a double obelisk (‡) marks a change by the American revisers only. What the change is in each case will be seen by consulting the Comparative Concordance under the same word.
Information about the Revised Version can be found here — it is a Wescott and Hort translation which is one of the most apostate versions on the market. It was printed shortly before the Strong’s when the grand deception of the 1830’s was fully entrenched in America, so our study aids are not perfect.
The original Strong’s would tell you when a word in the original version had been changed to a different word by the translators. We no longer have that tool available to us with the modern-day Strong’s Concordances, largely due to their being nearly 400 English translations of the 66-book canon. The 380+ apostate bible translations have changed words and terms so as to change their meaning, and the meaning changes are designed to steer the reader away from God’s truth.
Asterisks in the Reference Column
Here are photos showing the old and new versions’ reference columns:
If you notice the reference-column which is the column of numbers to the right inside each column, you will see asterisks in front of many numbers. These asterisks denote Hebrew or Greek words that were changed to words that could have subtly different meanings or that could change the context of the verse.
The Comparative Concordance
When you see an asterisk beside a number, that tells you to check the Comparative Concordance to see what word it was that was changed. The modern-day Strong’s does not have this concordance.
The Dictionaries were Changed
The numbers in the reference column tell us where to go in the dictionaries that are in the back of the Strong’s Concordance. Numbers that are not italicized mean we are to look up that number in the Hebrew dictionary. Italicized numbers are found in the Greek dictionary.
At the beginning of these two dictionaries is a page explaining the abbreviations that you’ll find in the definition of a word. The modern-day Strong’s has omitted many formerly used abbreviations and added some sketchy ones that allowed them to incorrectly expound on a word’s definition thus changing it’s original meaning.
The Original Hebrew Dictionary Abbreviations
Below is a photo of the original Hebrew Dictionary abbreviations page:
Four Hebrew dictionary abbreviations have been removed from the modern-day Strong’s and are as follows:
- absol. = absolute; absolutely
- Jerus. = Jerusalem
- mus. = musical
- rad. = radical
The Modern-day Hebrew Dictionary Abbreviations
Below is a photo of the modern-day Strong’s Hebrew dictionary abbreviations page:
Not only did the modern version omit four of the original abbreviations, but they have added 36 new ones!
The 36 new additions are as follows:
- acc. = accusative
- alt. = alternate; alternately
- anal. = analogy
- artif. = artificial; artificially
- cerem. = ceremony; ceremonial
- Chr. = Christian
- dat. = dative
- demonstr. = demonstrative
- dimin. = diminutive
- dir. = directly
- eccl. = ecclesiastical; ecclisiastically
- emphat. = emphatic; emphatically
- extens. = extension; extensive
- ind. = indicative; indicatively
- indivi. = individual; individually
- infer. = inference; inferential; inferentially
- interch. – interchangeable
- interrog. = interrogative; interrogatively
- invol. = involuntary; involuntarily
- irreg. = irregular; irregularly
- Lat. = Latin
- metaph. = metaphorical; metaphorically
- mult. = multiplicative
- neut. = neuter (gender)
- obs. = obsolete
- ord. = ordinal
- orig. = original; originally
- prop. = properly
- reg. = regular
- Rom. = Roman
- suff. = suffix
- term. = termination
- transm. = transmutation
- typ. = typical; typically
- voc. = vocative
- vol. = voluntary; voluntarily
By using these abbreviations, they can insert alternate meanings to replace the original meaning. They can say something is ceremonial when it is not. They can add meanings and call them “extensions” of the original text. They can add metaphorical nonsense to the original meaning. They can make something of a spiritual nature seem like something that is tangible in our physical realm.
This garbage supports the false doctrines of dispensationalism which is designed to separate God’s called from Him. “Many are called but few are chosen” ~Matthew 22:14.
The Original Greek Dictionary Abbreviations
Below is a photo of the original Strong’s Greek dictionary abbreviations page:
Like in the Hebrew dictionary, we see the abbreviation “Jer.” for Jerusalem omitted in the modern-day Strong’s Concordance. This was the only omission.
The Modern-Day Greek Dictionary Abbreviations
Below are photos of the modern-day Greek dictionary abbreviations:
There have been 71 new abbreviations added to the Greek dictionary! Each new addition allows an opportunity to insert alternate wording that changes the original meaning or context of a word.
I’ll attempt to list the new additions here — while reading over them, notice how some of these are designed to make insertions so as to twist the true doctrines of Christ and our New Testament gospel:
- abb. = abbreviated; abbreviation
- act. = active; actively
- adj. = adjective; adjectivally
- aff. = affix; affixed (aff. is “affinity” in the original version)
- affin. = affinity
- arch. = architecture; architectural, architecturally
- art. = article
- artif. = artificial; artificially
- Ass. = Assyrian
- A.V. = Authorized Version – King James Version
- Bab. = Babylon; Babylonia; Babylonian
- collat. = collateral; collaterally
- conjec. = conjecture; conjectural; conjecturally
- conjug. = conjugation; conjugational; conjugationally
- conjunc. = conjunction; conjunctional; conjunctionally
- constr. = construct; construction; constructive; constructively
- contr. = contracted; contraction
- correl. = correlated; correlation; correlative; correlatively
- def. = definite; definitely
- demonstr. = demonstrative
- denom. = denominative; denominatively
- desc. = descended; descendant; descendants
- dir. = direct; directly
- E. = meant ONLY “East” in the original; they added “Eastern” here
- eccl. = ecclesiastical; ecclesiastically
- e.g. = for example
- Eg. = this meant only Egypt in the original; they added “Egyptian, Egyptians”
- emphat. = emphatic; emphatically
- err. = error; erroneous; erroneously
- etym. = etymology; etymological; etymologically (origins of word history often not factual)
- euphon. = euphonious; euphonically (pleasing to the ear)
- extern. = external; externally
- freq. = frequentative; frequentatively
- fut. = future
- gen. = general; generally; generic; generical; generically (in original version, gen. = “genitive” which are words indicating possession or close association)
- gut. = gutteral
- ident. = identical; identically
- immed. =immediate; immediately
- incept. = inceptive; inceptively
- indef. = indefinite; indefinitely
- infer. = inference; inferential; inferentially
- ins. = inserted
- interch. = interchangeable
- intern. = internal; internally
- interj. = interjection; interjectional; interjectionally
- interrog. = interrogative; interrogatively
- Levit. = Levitical; Levitically
- marg. = margin; marginal reading
- masc. = masculine (gender)
- metaph. = metaphorical; metaphorically
- modif. = modified; modification
- neut. = meant simply “neuter” in original version, but here it is “neuter (gender)”
- obj. = meant “objective (-ly)” in original, but they added “object”
- ord. = ordinal
- orig. = original; originally
- orth. = orthography; orthographical; orthographically
- pass. = means only “passively” in original, but they have added “passive (voice)”
- patron = patronymic; patronymical; patronymically
- perm. = permutation (of adjacent letters)
- Pers. = Persia; Persian; Persians
- poet. = poetry; poetical; poetically
- pref. = prefix; prefixed
- prep. = preposition; prepositional; prepositionally
- pron. = pronoun; pronominal; pronominally
- prox. – proximate; proximately
- recip. = reciprocal; reciprocally
- reg. = regular
- relig. = religion; religious; religiously
- second. = secondary; secondarily
- signif. = signification; signifying
- short. = shorter; shortened
- spec. = meant only “special” in original version; here it is “specific, specifically
- substit. = substituted
- suff. = suffix
- symb. = symbolic; symbolical; symbolically
- transc. = transcription
- transm. = transmutation
In Closing
When reading the Strong’s, it would be wise to pay attention to the first meaning we are given and to the root words from which that word came. If we consider all the metaphors, symbology, substitutions, conjecture, inferences or anything of the like, we are apt to be deceived. Scripture and cross-referencing passages with other scripture will lead us to understanding the proper context and true meaning of a word.
May God richly bless your studies as you delve into His infallible, perfect Word.
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