Using a Bible Concordance

Welcome to the first post in the blog series that will explain how to use  Bible reference resources.

Using Bible reference resources can be a baffling and  intimidating process.  This series will explain and show how to find and use  Bible reference resources, so that you can effectively and deeply study the Bible.

The series will cover:

1. Using a Bible concordance;
2. Using a Bible handbook;
3. Using a Bible dictionary;
4. Using a Bible commentary; and
5. Choosing a Bible reference resource.

Let’s begin on to the first post in the series…

A Bible concordance is not a dictionary!  We don’t use it to find the meaning of a word.   A Bible concordance is an index. We use it to find every occurrence of our word in the Bible and understand how the Bible’s authors used it.

Definition: “A Bible concordance is an alphabetical listing of words and phrases found in the Holy Bible and shows where the terms occur throughout all books of Scripture. With cross-references for verses, concordances make it easy to understand the meaning of terms and the context in which those words are used.” – (Bible Study Tools, 2014)

Scope: “Concordances may be for the original languages of the Biblical books, or (more commonly) they are compiled for translations.” – (Wikipedia, 2014)

Concordances at Laidlaw College Library: search the term “concordance” in the online library catalogue to find a listing of all the concordances held in the college library.

Types of concordances: The college provides a range of concordances including:

• the widely known and popular Strongs, Zondervan and NIV
• specialized concordances including Latin, Hebrew, Greek Septuagint, Greek New Testament, Syriac and English
• concise (main words in the Bible) or exhaustive concordances (every word in the Bible)

Using a concordance: 

1. Use the index to find your keyword;
2. Scan the list of Bible verses listed below the keyword to know the context the keyword was used in;
3. Go to required Bible verse using the given location of the verse.

Hints:

• different forms of the same word, such as abandon, abandons, abandoned are sometimes listed as separate keywords.
• in some concordances, book titles, topical headings, Psalm titles are not included in the index because they are not part of the Bible text.
• check the concordance for instructions on how to use that particular copy, or for abbreviation legends.

Check out this helpful Youtube video “Using a Bible Concordance: a Video from Zondervan” for another explanation of how to use a concordance.

The Library team understand that using an academic library can be a stressful experience, and as always welcome you, the Laidlaw College students to the Library and urge you to visit us in the first instance when you realise you want Library help.

Arohanui till next week, please leave a comment and let us know if you found this blog post helpful.