John Kohlenberger We were saddened to hear yesterday that John R. Kohlenberger III passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 64, following a decade-long battle with prostate cancer.

Kohlenberger was known for his work connecting the words in English translations to underlying Hebrew and Greek languages, especially in the New International Version. Working with Edward Goodrick, John Kohlenberger improved and corrected previous biblical word numbering methods to develop what is referred to as the Goodrick-Kohlenberger Key Numbering System. The use of G/K numbers gives access to the underlying biblical languages of an English translation even to those who have never studied Hebrew or Greek.

The Accordance Team had the privilege of working closely with John Kohlenberger as he prepared the third edition of his NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance, published in hardback earlier this year. The fruit of this collaboration also resulted in the Accordance module of the NIV (2011) with G/K Numbers and Phrase Tagging.

We will greatly miss our friend John Kohlenberger, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and colleagues during this time of loss.

For more information about the life and work of John R. Kohlenberger III, see the press release from Harper Collins and a tribute written by Dr. Stan Gundry.