A Bible concordance is a word index for the Bible. It shows every verse where a particular word appears so you can easily find passages. For example, the online version of strongs concordance, from bluetterbible, shows where and how γενεά geneá is translated in English in the KJV:
In biblical studies, a Greek or Hebrew lexicon explains the meanings of words in context, not just giving a simple English equivalent, like Strongs concordance. So if we look at γενεά geneá again, thayer’s lexicon provides a comprehensive usage and definition for each use of the word IN A SPECIFIC CONTEXT.
All of this brings us to the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer when using a concordance or lexicon.
The illegitimate totality transfer is a formal logical fallacy (often discussed in biblical interpretation, law, or philosophy). It occurs when someone takes the totality of attributes, conditions, or meanings from one context and improperly applies them to another context, assuming that everything that applies in one case automatically applies in another.
In other words, if you use Strongs concordance to say γενεά (genea) can mean nation, generation, age, or time and thus genea in Matthew 24:34 can mean nation, you’ve have used the concordance incorrectly, and have committed the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer.
Additionally, If you used Thayers lexicon and saw that γενεά (genea) is defined as birth, family of same stock, multitude living at the same time or age, AND you saw that Thayers defines genea, in the context of Matthew 24:34 as a multitude living at the same time, BUT you argued that genea can mean family of same stock in the context of Matthew 24:34, then you have incorrectly used Thayers Greek lexicon and have committed the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer.
The point is that Thayer’s lexicon and strong’s concordances are not tools for selecting a definition to suit your theological preferences; rather, they exist to show the word’s usage and meaning in a specific context.
- “KJV Translation Count — Total: 42x
The KJV translates Strong's G1074 in the following manner: generation (37x), time (2x), age (2x), nation (1x).”
- “Strong’s Definitions γενεά geneá, ghen-eh-ah'; from (a presumed derivative of) G1085; a generation; by implication, an age (the period or the persons):—age, generation, nation, time.”
In biblical studies, a Greek or Hebrew lexicon explains the meanings of words in context, not just giving a simple English equivalent, like Strongs concordance. So if we look at γενεά geneá again, thayer’s lexicon provides a comprehensive usage and definition for each use of the word IN A SPECIFIC CONTEXT.
- STRONGS G1074:
γενεά, -ᾶς, ἡ, (ΓΕΝΩ, γίνομαι [cf. Curtius, p. 610]); Sept. often for דּוֹר; in Greek writings from Homer down;
1. a begetting, birth, nativity: Herodotus 3, 33; Xenophon, Cyril 1, 2, 8, etc.; [others make the collective sense the primary significance, see Curtius as above].
2. passively, that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family;
a. properly, as early as Homer; equivalent to מִשְׁפָּחַה, Genesis 31:3, etc. σῴζειν Ῥαχάβην κ. τὴν γενεὰναὐτῆς, Josephus, Antiquities 5, 1, 5. the several ranks in a natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy: Matthew 1:17, (ἑβδόμη γενεὰ οὗτόςἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου, Philo, vit. Moys. i. § 2).
b. metaphorically, a race of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character; and especially in a bad sense a perverse race: Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41; Luke 16:8; [Acts 2:40].
3. the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48 (πᾶσαι αἱ γενεαί); Luke 21:32; Philippians 2:15; used especially of the Jewish race living at one and the same period: Matthew 11:16; Matthew 12:39, 41f, 45; Matthew 16:4; Matthew 23:36; Mark 8:12, 38; Luke 11:29f, 32, 50; Luke 17:25; Acts 13:36; Hebrews 3:10; ἄνθρωποι τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης, Luke 7:31; ἄνδρες τῆς γεν. ταύ., Luke 11:31; τὴν δὲ γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίςδιηγήσεται, who can describe the wickedness of the present generation, Acts 8:33 (from Isaiah 53:8 Sept.) [but cf. Meyer, at the passage].
4. an age (i. e. the time ordinarily occupied by each successive generation), the space of from 30 to 33 years (Herodotus 2, 142, and others; Heraclitus in Plutarch, def. orac. c. 11), or ὁ χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ γεννῶντα παρέχει τὸν ἐξαὐτοῦ γεγεννημένον ὁ γεννήσας(Plutarch, the passage cited); in the N. T.common in plural: Ephesians 3:5 [Winers Grammar, § 31, 9 a.; Buttmann, 186 (161)]; παρῳχημέναις γενεαῖς in ages gone by, Acts 14:16; ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν for ages, since the generations began, Colossians 1:26; ἐκ γενεῶν ἀρχαίωνfrom the generations of old, from ancient times down, Acts 15:21; εἰς γενεὰςγενεῶν unto generations of generations, through all ages, forever (a phrase which assumes that the longer ages are made up of shorter; see αἰών, 1 a.): Luke 1:50 R L (דּוֹרִים לְדוֹר, Isaiah 51:8); εἰς γενεὰς κ. γενεάς unto generations and generations, ibid. T Tr WH equivalent to וָדוֹר לְדוֹר, Psalm 89:2; Isaiah 34:17; very often in the Sept.; [add, εἰς πάσας τὰςγενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων, Ephesians 3:21, cf. Ellicott at the passage] (γενεά is used of a century in Genesis 15:16, cf. Knobel at the passage, and on the senses of the word see the full remarks of Keim, iii. 206 [v. 245 English translation]).
All of this brings us to the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer when using a concordance or lexicon.
The illegitimate totality transfer is a formal logical fallacy (often discussed in biblical interpretation, law, or philosophy). It occurs when someone takes the totality of attributes, conditions, or meanings from one context and improperly applies them to another context, assuming that everything that applies in one case automatically applies in another.
In other words, if you use Strongs concordance to say γενεά (genea) can mean nation, generation, age, or time and thus genea in Matthew 24:34 can mean nation, you’ve have used the concordance incorrectly, and have committed the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer.
Additionally, If you used Thayers lexicon and saw that γενεά (genea) is defined as birth, family of same stock, multitude living at the same time or age, AND you saw that Thayers defines genea, in the context of Matthew 24:34 as a multitude living at the same time, BUT you argued that genea can mean family of same stock in the context of Matthew 24:34, then you have incorrectly used Thayers Greek lexicon and have committed the fallacy of the illegitimate totality transfer.
The point is that Thayer’s lexicon and strong’s concordances are not tools for selecting a definition to suit your theological preferences; rather, they exist to show the word’s usage and meaning in a specific context.
1. Where the Preterist Argument Is Correct
A non-preterist who argues “genea = this people/this race” in Matt 24:34 is NOT committing an illegitimate totality transfer IF they justify it from the context of Matthew 23–24.
A lexicon is descriptive, not prescriptive.
