CONCORDANCES
These have two good uses and one bad one. The bad one is to string together a list of passages containing the same word, without regard either to setting or the meanings of the various words translated in the same way, and present the result with a few interspersed phrases of our own as an address. The two good uses are, first, the limited one of reminding ourselves of where a passage we know is to be found-and any concordance is good enough for this; and, second, the broader one of enabling us to group together and classify the uses of a particular original word for discriminating use. For this an Analytical Concordance is needed. Of the three most familiar concordances, Cruden's has the advantage of cheapness and easy reference for a given English word, but it has no other, and for precise study it is a snare. It shares its faults with most of the smaller concordances found in various editions of " Bible Helps." The other two are Young's Analytical Concordance and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and there is little to choose between them. Strong is slightly more complete and has the advantage of usefulness for the R.V. as well as the A.V. Young is probably rather easier to use. One or other of these two is very nearly indispensable for independent Bible Study.7