Published 2026-11-07 · 7 min read
How to use a Bible concordance
A worked KJV lookup shows how to recover a failed search, read the passage in context, and check the right Strong's entry.
A Bible concordance is an index of words in a Bible translation, with references showing where they occur. Most are arranged alphabetically.
To use a Bible concordance, choose one that matches your Bible translation, look up a distinctive word, scan the listed references, and read the matching passage in context. If your concordance includes Strong's numbers, follow an entry's number into a lexicon to investigate the Hebrew or Greek behind the word. A word search and an original-language study answer different questions.
Choose the right kind of concordance
A concordance shows where a word occurs. A Bible dictionary explains people, places and ideas. A lexicon defines Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek words. A topical index gathers passages by subject.
| What you need | Start with | What it cannot establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Find a verse whose wording you remember | A word concordance for that translation | Whether a different translation uses the same wording |
| Find the passages containing a particular word | An exhaustive concordance or searchable text | Every passage about the underlying idea |
| Investigate a Hebrew or Greek word | A concordance with original-language numbers, then a lexicon | Which possible meaning fits a passage without reading its context |
| Collect passages about a subject | A topical index, followed by reading the passages | That each selected verse says the same thing |
A short concordance in the back of a Bible is selective. If a word is absent there, it may still appear in the text. An English KJV concordance also cannot be expected to find every phrase you remember from a modern translation.
A first lookup, in print or online
- Check the translation. Use a KJV concordance with KJV wording. If you know the translation you were reading, start there instead of translating from memory.
- Pick a distinctive word. In a printed concordance, find one word alphabetically, then scan its excerpts. Online tools may also accept phrases; check their matching rules before entering a whole sentence. A common word such as “the” is rarely a useful starting point.
- Read the short excerpts. The entry usually lists book, chapter and verse with a few surrounding words.
- Open the likely reference. Read the sentences before and after it. Check who is speaking, who is addressed and what the passage is discussing.
- Record the result with its translation. Save the reference and wording, not just a detached sentence.
For a KJV word lookup, the Bible word counter also lists matching verses and links to their chapters. It searches English text; it does not provide Hebrew or Greek Strong's entries.
The example links below select KJV and Whole words. This mode ignores capitalization and looks for the literal word or phrase within one verse. A phrase must use the same word order with single spaces; repeated spaces in your input are collapsed, but intervening punctuation in the verse breaks the match. It includes possessive endings such as love's, excludes hyphen-joined extensions, and does not add synonyms or other word forms. Word beginnings is a different, broader mode. For a printed concordance, look under fear or mind and scan the excerpts instead of looking for an entire phrase as a headword.
Worked example: you remember the meaning, but not the KJV wording
Suppose you remember a verse contrasting a “spirit of fear” with power, love and “self-control,” but you do not remember its reference. You search a KJV word concordance for self-control and find no match.
That tells you about the words you searched, not about what the Bible teaches on self-control.
1. Keep a record of the failed search
Open the KJV search for self-control. In the KJV text TrustBible uses, that exact wording has no match. A separate check of the full text also found no self control or selfcontrol, so removing the hyphen does not recover this verse. Keep KJV selected so the next comparison uses the same text.
2. Compare translations before drawing a conclusion
Try another distinctive part you remember: spirit of fear. The matching excerpt points to . Now the translation comparison for that verse shows why the first search failed: the KJV ends with “a sound mind.” A phrase remembered from another version is a clue, not a guaranteed exact match. If neither phrase works, try a single distinctive word and scan its excerpts, or return to the translation you were reading.
3. Try the KJV wording and read its setting
Open the KJV search for sound mind. It locates :
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Then read 2 Timothy 1, especially verses 6–8. The surrounding passage moves from stirring up the gift of God to not being ashamed of testimony and sharing hardship. That context tells you more about the sentence's purpose than a word count does.
You have now found the reference and read its setting. You can stop here; Greek research is optional.
4. Do not treat one successful match as the whole topic
uses temperance in the KJV. A KJV search for temperance therefore finds a different set of references. These searches help you locate passages; neither is automatically a complete list of everything Scripture teaches about self-control.
Optional: when to use Strong's numbers
You don't need them to find a verse.
Strong's numbers are identifiers for Hebrew or Greek dictionary entries. They are not verse numbers, scores or the number of times a word appears. Keep the H or G prefix when the resource supplies it: Hebrew and Greek entries have separate numbering.
Once you have a reference:
- Open 2 Timothy 1:7 on Bible Hub. On that page, select the linked self-control in the Berean Standard Bible text; it opens Strong's Greek 4995. These word links follow the BSB wording, not the KJV's sound mind. If that layout changes, open the G4995 entry directly and confirm that its listed occurrence is .
- Check that the destination is Strong's Greek 4995, rather than assuming every English use of self-control has the same identifier.
- Read the lexical entry and its listed passages. For a different verse, repeat the lookup from that verse's own word link.
- Return to the original passage before choosing which sense fits. Do not insert every dictionary definition into one sentence.
In the worked example, Strong's G4995 is the entry associated with sound mind in . G1466 is associated with temperance in . The ESV and BSB use self-control in ; the NIV uses self-discipline. The BSB also uses self-control in , but the two verses have different Greek entries.
G1466 lists , and : the same three references found by the KJV temperance search. Here the English word and the Greek entry line up; often they do not. An English word can translate more than one Hebrew or Greek word.
Blue Letter Bible is another resource for original-language study; its official tutorial explains its approach.
Duke Divinity Library's word-study guide provides a fuller path from concordance to original-language term, lexicon and reference works. Use it when you need to move beyond locating a passage.
When a search finds nothing
| Check | What to try |
|---|---|
| Wrong translation | Compare the wording in the translation you remember |
| A short printed index | Try an exhaustive concordance for the same translation |
| A remembered paraphrase | Search one distinctive word rather than the whole sentence |
| Punctuation or uncertain wording | Try a shorter remembered phrase, then check the complete verse |
| Different word forms | Check the exact form, then deliberately try a broader search; broader matches need inspection |
| A topic instead of a word | Use a topical resource and read each passage; do not invent a word-count total for the concept |
A small lookup worksheet
For the worked example: KJV; Whole words; sound mind; ; verses 6–8 encourage Timothy in testimony and hardship. This establishes a matching reference, not every biblical passage about self-control.
Copy these lines into your notes:
- Words I remember:
- Translation I remember, if known:
- Concordance and translation searched:
- Search term and match rule:
- Candidate reference:
- What the surrounding passage is discussing:
- Strong's identifier, only if checked at that reference:
- What this search has not established:
Try the sound mind example, open its chapter, and fill in the last two lines before drawing a conclusion. For organizing observations after you find a passage, see the SOAP study guide.
Sources and scope
The example uses this site's English KJV corpus, sourced from aruljohn/Bible-kjv, and the tool's stated literal matching rules. It is not a count across all translations or biblical languages. Background references: GotQuestions on concordance use and the Duke guide above.