James Strong

Born in New York City in 1822, he became an American biblical scholar, educator, and Methodist theologian whose name remains closely tied to careful Bible study. He graduated as valedictorian from Wesleyan University in 1844 and went on to build a career in teaching and theological scholarship.

He taught at Troy University and later served at Drew Theological Seminary, where he became a leading figure in biblical studies. He is most widely remembered as the creator of Strong’s Concordance, a reference work that helped generations of readers trace English Bible words back to their Hebrew and Greek roots.

Beyond the concordance, he also worked on major reference projects including McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia. He died in 1894, but his scholarship has had an unusually long afterlife, especially among pastors, students, and general readers looking for a practical path into the language and structure of the Bible.