© ROBERT MORNING SKY 2008 -
GOD & THE BIBLE
THE NEW STRONG’S EXPANDED DICTIONARY OF BIBLE WORDS
The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words is a standard reference work for scholars and serious students of the Bible. Originally published in 1890 by Dr. James Strong along with the contributions of ‘more than one hundred colleagues’, the Strong’s Dictionary has been updated, corrected and strengthened by contemporary linguistic studies and archaeological research.
“A powerful reference for accurate word studies, The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words helps you to get the most out of Bible Study.”
The following information is taken directly from The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words and conveys to the Reader and Student some of the most contemporary, authoritative and definitive knowledge of the Bible that anyone could hope for.
UP IS DOWN
According to the New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, in defining the Hebrew word for ‘ascend’, scholars offer the following explanation:
alah – a primary root meaning ‘to ascend’, intransitive ‘be high’ or actively ‘to mount’ used in a great variety of senses – “Basically alah suggests movement from a lower to a higher place.” “Sometimes ‘go up’ means ‘placed’, even when the direction is downward, as when placing a yoke upon an ox (Num 19:2) or going to one’s grave (Job 5:26). This may be an illustration of how Hebrew verbs can sometimes mean their opposite.” [Strong’s Entry 5927 Hebrew]
Serious students must note that The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words clearly advises us that the ancient Hebrew words in the Bible can convey one meaning and can also convey the exact opposite meaning.
In short, the possibility that a basic word could mean both its positive and its negative side allowed ancient Hebrew scholars, and contemporary scholars, to totally alter the intent of a word or statement. ‘Don’t do this’ could actually have been, in its original form, ‘Do this’. Thus, up can be down, black can be white (as we shall see shortly), and the truth can be easily hidden and transformed.