Biblical Studies (Divinity): Getting Started with Greek/Hebrew Word Study

Steps for Word Study:

Reference Room Edition

Looking to dive deeper into your study of a passage? Even if you're just beginning to learn Greek or Hebrew, it can be helpful to your exegetical process to identify the Greek or Hebrew words being used in the English translation of the Bible you are reading. These steps will point you to books in the Divinity Library Reference Room and walk you through

(1) finding a word in a concordance,

(2) finding the Greek or Hebrew term that corresponds with the English word,

(3) finding a short definition of the word in a lexicon, and

(4) finding longer theological articles on the word.

Two numbering systems are used to identify the Hebrew and Greek words from which English translations have been derived. Knowing one or both of these systems can be helpful in utilizing the textual analysis tools. The Strong's numbers [S] are keyed to the King James Version and the Goodrick/Kohlenberger numbers [GK] are keyed to the New International Version.

1. Find the number matching the ENGLISH word you're researching, using a concordance. This resource will also begin to tell you what other verses use the same (or related) words.

2. Find the GREEK/HEBREW term behind your English word, and continue exploring other Bible verses where the word appears, using one of these concordances:

3. Using the GREEK/HEBREW term you found during Step 2, use a lexicon to find a brief definition of the word:

4. Lengthy articles in English on the Hebrew/Greek word can be found in the following resources:

Steps for Word Study:

Online Edition

Are you a Hybrid student and wondering what to do about an assignment that asks you to interact with Strong's numbers? When you can't visit the Divinity School Library and build yourself a fortress of Reference Room books, there are a few important websites and tools that will help you walk through the same steps we've given on the left hand side of this page:

(1) finding a word in a concordance,

(2) finding the Greek or Hebrew term that corresponds with the English word,

(3) finding a short definition of the word in a lexicon, and

(4) finding longer theological articles on the word.

Since Strong's numbers are the most common, we will be relying here on tools that interact with Strong's numbering system. The websites that incorporate Strong's numbers are Bible Study Tools, Blue Letter Bible, and Bible Hub.

1. Look up the Bible passage you are studying online with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance enabled using https://biblestudytools.com/ Use either the King James Version or the New American Standard Bible to access the concordance. Look for the "Settings" icon:

Under Settings, select the checkbox that says "Strongs Numbers," and every word that has a corresponding number in the concordance will now be highlighted in blue.

2. Select any word highlighted in blue to see the concordance entry. This will give you the Strong's Number, the original Hebrew/Greek term, and a list of additional Bible verses that use this specific word in Greek or Hebrew.

3. Using the Strong's Number you discovered in Step 2, search for the term using Blue Letter Bible's lexicon:

The search results will include brief definitions of your term from the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon (Hebrew) or Thayer's New Testament Lexicon (Greek).

4. Place a scanning request for an article on your Greek or Hebrew word from the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament or the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

If you are a Hybrid student needing a scan from a DIVINITY book please contact Dean Hawkins.