3281

Lexical Summary

(Not Used): (Not Used)

(Not Used)
Part of Speech:
Transliteration: (Not Used)
(Not Used)

Topical Lexicon

3281

Place in Strong’s Numbering

3281 is one of a handful of blank entries that remain in the numbering system created by James Strong. The index was built on the Textus Receptus behind the King James Version; when later editors discovered that a supposed word was either a duplicate spelling, a marginal gloss, or a manuscript error, the word was removed but its number was kept to preserve concordance pagination. Thus 3281 has no Greek lemma, no translational data, and no New Testament occurrences.

Witness to Textual Transmission

The empty slot underscores the care with which the Greek text has been sifted. Through centuries of collation, copyists and scholars compared thousands of manuscripts, weighing variants so that God’s people might read the pure word. When an item proved spurious, fidelity to truth required its excision (Matthew 24:35; Proverbs 30:5). Leaving the numerical placeholder transparentizes this process and prevents accidental renumbering that would ripple through every concordance, lexicon, and coding system that depends on Strong’s.

Relevance for Exegetes

1. Exhaustive searches. When students discover a Strong’s number that yields no Greek term, they are reminded that concordances are tools, not Scripture itself. The silence directs researchers back to the inspired text, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Timothy 3:16).
2. Discernment of sources. Because some older commentaries cite 3281, knowing it is now vacant helps readers weigh those notes properly.
3. Appreciation of providence. Preserved gaps highlight the Lord’s oversight in guiding copyists and scholars so that the church possesses a reliable Bible.

Historical Footnote

Most blank Strong’s numbers trace to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collations where a word seemed to occur in a late Byzantine manuscript but not in earlier witnesses. As critical editions improved, these few readings were set aside. The decision to freeze Strong’s numbering rather than compress it was ultimately pastoral, shielding congregations from confusion that would follow renumbering.

Theological Reflection

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” Blank numbers embody that principle: whatever once stood behind 3281, God did not see fit to preserve in the canonical text. Its absence therefore carries no doctrinal loss. Instead, the placeholder quietly testifies that “the word of the Lord stands forever” (1 Peter 1:25), whereas human errors are exposed and corrected.

Ministry Application

• Teaching about Scripture’s preservation: showing a class the empty 3281 can illustrate how God uses scholars to refine our editions without eroding confidence in inspiration.
• Encouraging careful tool use: pastors can remind congregants that Greek numbers, dictionaries, and software aid study but must always submit to the plain reading of Scripture in context.
• Modeling humility: when an apparent textual candidate proves unwarranted, believers gladly yield to evidence, mirroring the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures daily to see if these teachings were true” (Acts 17:11).

Conclusion

Strong’s 3281, though blank, serves the church by spotlighting the meticulous transmission of Scripture and by calling students to deeper reverence for the God whose every authentic word endures.

Englishman's Concordance

μελῶν — 2 Occ.
μέλος — 5 Occ.
Μελχὶ — 2 Occ.
Μελχισεδέκ — 8 Occ.
ἔμελεν — 2 Occ.
μέλει — 7 Occ.
μελέτω — 1 Occ.
μεμβράνας — 1 Occ.
μέμφεται — 1 Occ.
μεμφόμενος — 1 Occ.
μὲν — 182 Occ.
Μενοῦν — 1 Occ.
μενοῦνγε — 2 Occ.
μέντοι — 8 Occ.
ἐμείναμεν — 2 Occ.
ἔμειναν — 2 Occ.
ἔμεινεν — 10 Occ.
ἔμενεν — 3 Occ.
ἔμενον — 1 Occ.
μεῖναι — 6 Occ.