stovebolts
Member
Indeed
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Man is not perfect and without perfection comes a falling short. But I do not know of a better concordance, do you have a favorite?
Not sure that verse fits directly within the context of our conversation, but I get the jist :D
I would think that one of the main differences between us Prince is that I look at the scriptures first and foremost as a story where applicable. From that perspective, the manner in which a word is used assist's in defining itself by creating the context from where it's sued. For instance, in other Ancient Near Eastern texts, El is in the singular and is used in the place of a name as the Supreme deity over the Pantheon. For example, Dagon's son Murdock was given the title El after defeating Tiamate. This in turn made him the Elohim, which is plural because within the ancients polytheistic culture it denotes the head deity over the pantheon and before we go any further, yes it is a title, but it is also a name. We have a hard time grasping that concept, but Dagon and El and Elohim would be one in the same with slightly different nuances. It is within this setting that Abram was called out of Ur and it was from this perspective that much of the OT was written since monotheism was a "new" idea for that era to put it simplistically.
But more to your point on using concordances. Sure, I have a few online sources and I even have an application. But the best understanding of the Hebrew words come from simply reading Jewish sources. As I've stated in previous posts, I enjoy studying Rashi and The Ramban and both are extremely fluid in the ancient Hebrew and both discuss the nuances within different words for a fuller understanding. I can't recall exactly, but the Jews have a source on their own language which holds authority and both Ramban and Rashi lean on this source frequently. For instance, just last week I found out that in the Hebrew, the word son in Exodus 33:11 isn't really ben, but rather bin and is the only place in scripture where bin is used as son. Without a deep understanding of the language, the significance of this is hidden. BTW, Strongs defines it as ben.
So, from my perspective, Strongs would be analogous to diet soda, or how do they call that stuff nowdays, "Lite" :D . Again, it certainly is a valuable resource and is very useful, but it's certainly isn't the end all be all of understanding the Hebrew language...
I might also note that in today's "Gotta have it now" appetite, Strongs seems to deliver. But just like eating fast food will make you fat and out of shape, to become fit takes time and patience... something I'm still working on, and will be for some time. I don't have all the answers, but I'm learning to ask the right questions.
Grace and peace.