On This Day in 1822...

...James Strong was born in New York City on this day, 14 August 1822. Despite being troubled much of his life with ill health, he gave the church an extensive body of Biblical works-- at least one of which is famous to anyone who has ever looked up anything in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Strong’s parents died while he was still a young man. He determined to make his way as a doctor and began his studies while still in his teens. However, physical weakness compelled him to abandon medicine.  Following his graduation in 1844 from Wesleyan University, he taught in Vermont until ill health forced him to leave that job as well. He then served as mayor of a city in New York, studied and taught Biblical literature, and organized, built, and managed the Flushing Railroad. Finally, he became a college professor.

It took James Strong thirty-five years to compile his concordance. He assigned each Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek root a number which allowed its every use to be tracked through the Bible. This proved invaluable to later scholars.
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Read more at Christian History Institute here.