Showing posts with label Bible tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible tools. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

IBS-15 Resources in your Study Bible

 


Big Idea: How and where to easily find background information notably in your Study Bible.

Where can I find that?

The joke is that Inductive Bible Study is getting “in da Bible. ” Commentaries are off limits till you have simply read the Bible and pondered over it. In the interpretation phase one starts looking at resources. Commentaries should be your last search.

Where would one find background information?  In a good study Bible and resource books. Some of these are found online too.

Pray for God’s guidance as you choose resources. They are useful, but Study Bibles and commentaries are man’s reflection, not inspired by God. Serious study and prayer has gone into them but there will be doctrinal bias because they are the work of human beings. 

The ABC's of Interpretation suggest verifying the author, audience written to, date written, themes, genre of writing and more. All these and much more can often be found in a Study Bible in the book introduction. YouVersion NIV also offers book introductions.  

Valuable Resources for Interpretation

1. Book introduction.  Often includes author, audience, date, outline, themes, genre. Found in study Bibles, Bible handbooks,  Bible websites such as biblehub.com, bluebetterbible.org.  Youversion at Bible.com also have introductions with the NIV Bible.

Finding YouVersion chapter introductions

2. Timelines and period maps. In order to understand time period, location of the story, movement of people groups the timelines and period maps are useful (such as Exodus desert wandering, Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys, etc). Found in study Bibles,  Bible handbooks,  Bible websites such as biblehub.com, bluebetterbible.org

3. Cross references. Many Bibles, including some regular Bibles, have cross references. These indicate other places with a similar references or backstory. Marked by a small letter usually in margin or at the  bottom of page. 



4. Concordance. Many study Bibles have a concordance which is an alphabetical index of key words in the Bible, with their reference. It is very useful. For instance, you want find the reference for the verse about the pearl of great price. Look under P in the concordance.  There are a lot of applications for using a concordance, especially Strong’s exhaustive concordance. 



5. Charts, Lists and Illustrations. Many study Bibles and Bible handbooks have a lot of charts and illustrations. They provide invaluable information giving  perspective.

Examples:

  • Prophesies of Jesus’ birth
  • The Tabernacle and the Temple with placement of sacred objects
  • Kings of Israel and Judah
  • Spiritual gifts
  • Names of God
  • Timeline of the life of the Apostle Paul

6. Notes and commentaries. The bottom of a Study Bible page usually has historical notes and commentary to shed light on a passage. It might note the modern equivalent of money or time of day. It could explain a cultural habit or an archeological find that sheds light. Commentary notes give additional understanding to a verse. It is good to check out a couple of study Bibles or commentaries and compare them.

More information is ahead on how to use various resources.

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This is fifteenth in a series called Practical Starter Guide for Inductive Bible Study.

Up next: What is a Word Study?
Previous post: That's Really What it Said!

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Reflect:

1. Do you own a Study Bible? Do you use any of the feature? What have you used most and why do you find it helpful?

2. If you have a Study Bible take a look at the table of contents and look in the back of it too. Is there something in it you never looked at before? When or how might it be useful to your study?


If you have never looked at a Study Bible or don’t have one, take a look inside the first few pages of an electronic Bible on Amazon kindle. It is NIV Version but it is only $14.99 as I write this which is an excellent sale. It is an interesting Bible and easy to look around on Amazon.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

My 5 Favorite Bible Apps

 


The Big Idea: Many use YouVersion Bible App but are unaware of some great features of other Bible Apps.

 Most likely you already know about at least one of these great online Bibles and Bible Apps. Let me introduce you to the ones I go to the most quickly. Clearly they each have their strengths for different situations. On a basic level they are all free. Some have a "Plus" plan you pay for which includes a lot more resources and features. A couple have devotional reading plans. Several are in multiple languages. Take some time to explore each one and get to know what they have to offer for free! There is nothing like a paper Bible in your hand. But having a Bible available everywhere you have your phone, or looking up a Bible dictionary anywhere is quite a tool available, unique to our era. 

Get into God's Word today! 





biblegateway.com - Simply the Bible and suggested ways to get into the Bible. More than 200 versions and 70 languages. Partners with many publishing houses and organizations.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The Great BibleProject

The Big Idea: If you don't know about the videos from the BibleProject, you are missing out on a great resource. Here's why.

You think you know the BibleProject? Think again!  


Here are some things you might not know!
The day my Bible study co-leader introduced me to The BibleProject videos I was blown away. This non-profit computer animation video production company is about books of the Bible, Word studies, Biblical themes and so on. It is purely crowd funded and intends to always teach about the Bible for free. It uses fairly simple animation and illustrations that are able to be translated into other languages. In fact it has been  translated so far into 18 languages (with 10+ videos per language) and viewed in 200+ countries.

Tim Mackie, the theologian, is an excellent verbal communicator. His friend, Jonathan Collins, is the communications and animation specialist. These two guys roomed together at Multnomah Bible College and several years later decided to share their passion for the Bible to create this powerful vehicle of Bible education. Their videos can mesmerize young children and bring joy and profound understanding to adults. Launched in 2014 in Portland, Oregon, they have gathered a very skillful team around them. 

WHAT THEY OFFER:

Videos: Book overviews, Bible themes, Word studies and the How to Read the Bible series.

Podcasts: They spend about 50 minutes with deeper explanations. Tim Mackie also has posted some of his sermons and teaching sessions in a blog called "Exploring my Strange Bible."

Blog: Posted by various members of their team

A Church at Home Series, especially helpful during the COVID 19 period, but also great for small group Bible studies and home schoolers.

Classroom: (NEW in Beta form) Graduate level Bible Classes Free. Currently 2 courses available. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (18 hours) and Heaven and Earth (19 hours).

Shop: Coffee Table book of each of the books of the Bible and another of the informational posters. The individual posters on each book of the Bible are also available for download on their website. They also have a couple t-shirts, and a stick drive with all their Bible Videos.




WHAT IS MY FAVORITE THING?

That is hard. I love their videos that give an overview of each book of the Bible. If I start studying a new book I always go to that first. We bought the coffee table book of all their charts.

I am very excited about their How to Read the Bible Series. These are uncommonly excellent in explaining the various genres and themes of the Bible, weaving together the basic theme and brilliant ways it is put together to express this basic theme about God and His partnership with us.

They have videos like: 

How to Read Ancient Jewish Meditational Literature 


How to Read Metaphor in Biblical Poetry


Spiritual Beings focus Angels and Cherubim


Theme: The Tree of Life 


Theme: Day of the Lord 


I refer to these videos and show them every chance I get! I currently teach a Sunday School class of an Overview of the Bible and I use one or two in each session. You always see light bulbs going on in people's heads as they watch them.

Check them out!


One last resource I just discovered… Top 75 Bible Study BlogsI recently checked into it and submitted my blog, and it was chosen to be featured as part of their list! How exciting! And if you go to this site you will find so many ideas from an amazing variety of sources.  You can check out the list of each blog's last five posts and it will give you so many wonderful ideas. It includes blogs from Bible Gateway, Bible Publishing companies like American Bible Society and author Liz Curtis Higgs.

Wow! I am passionate about the Bible and I hope it rubs off on you too! What an amazing God we have who has made a way to communicate with us in the written word, the spoken word and You Tube also! Join me on this fabulous journey! 

Up Next: My favorite Bible Versions

Previous Post: Old Testament: God's Partnership Plan

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Choosing a Bible Translation


The Big Idea: Why there are so many translation today and how to choose one for my studies.

For over a century the King James Version of the Bible was read in most English Speaking churches.  Today there are so many excellent translations it is hard choose one. There are at least 50 decent translations. Some are very similar. Some sound very different from each other. Why so many? And why doesn't everyone just settle on one to use?

FROM THE BEGINNING TO 1000 A.D.

In the days of the Early Church, the Old Testament was available in Hebrew, translated into Greek a couple hundred years before Jesus was born (the Septuagint). The New Testament was written in Greek. Greek was clearly a widely used language in many countries, especially among the educated and literate.  In 400 A.D. A Latin translation (later version called the Vulgate) was carefully translated. Latin was another language used globally for the educated.

MIDDLE AGES BIBLE EXPLOSION

The early Middle Ages is sometimes called the Dark Ages. It was a time of feudalism, a church of hierarchy and territorial demands, and the Plague of Black Death. Out of it came Martin Luther (1483-1546 A.D.), a monk who wanted people to know God for themselves and learn the Bible in their own language. He translated the Bible into German for his people. Out of it Lutheranism and a fresh movement of excitement for God's Word was born across Europe. Other voices before and after him championed the Bible for non-clergy, the common man. The era coincided with the invention of the printing press.  William Tyndale (1494-1536 A.D.) was burned at the stake for translating and printing the Bible into English. The Tyndale Bible was instrumental in the careful construct of the King James Version of the Bible which came into print in 1611 A.D.

KING JAMES BEST SELLER!

For the next couple hundred years, the King James Bible would be the most popular version of the Bible. To this day it is preferred by many. It was created in the period and language style of Shakespeare and is stunningly beautiful and memorable. It remains my favorite version for memorizing Bible verses because it is so poetic. Its unique language style makes it easier to remember as it flows in a musical manner. Many verses and sayings you know come from this Bible. However, many new to the faith who have not grown up with it find the archaic language slows down their understanding of what God says.


NEED FOR MULTIPLE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

Up until about 80 years ago there were only a small handful of English translations of the Bible. Now Christian Bible Distributers carries 45 different Bible versions! So, what's up with that? Why are there so many? Here are a couple of reasons.

  • Language changes over time, such as spellings and word meaning.  ("gay")
  • English language differences in different parts of the world. (US-"trunk" vs UK "boot")
  • Efforts for different reading levels. (Scholarly language vs. 5th grade reading level)
  • Archeological discoveries of older Bible portions and Biblical land clarifications. (Dead Sea Scrolls)


TRANSLATION METHODS

King James reigned at a time in history where Christian divisions were sometimes violent. In an effort to bring clarity and unity to God's people, the King James Bible translation was born. King James called a conference of church scholars to discuss his idea. Ultimately almost 50 scholars worked on it. Working groups were formed, and peer review essential. The model of a large scholastic team with peer review is done still today for the best translations.

Just as a side note on teamwork, the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Old Testament is abbreviated the LXX, meaning 70. It is so called because in 3rd Century B.C. 72 Jewish scholars were commissioned to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek for the Greek King, Ptolemy of Philadelphus.

 WORD FOR WORD VS. THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT

There are two basic sides to explain translation methodologies. On the one side is a word for word translation. That is, the most literal efforts to translate what the original languages of the Bible are saying into English, word for word. It is a formal equivalence of the ancient words.

The other side of the spectrum is the thought for thought method. It takes these ancient languages and explores the thought, the intention, to communicate words to God's people. It then seeks to translate that thought in such a way that the audience today, in a given cultural setting, can understand. It has been referred to as a dynamic equivalence method.

At first you might be tempted to say the word for word would certainly be the most accurate. However, the ancient writings of the Bible were used in a Middle Eastern culture a couple thousand years ago, using ancient languages that don't always have a modern English equivalent. So translators have to ask themselves, how can this be written so people can understand what God is saying to us in our world? Most of the best translations have some blend of both sides.

Jaqueline and me

We can learn from this by looking at what Bible translators have to do in a completely different culture around the world. For instance, where I worked for a number of years in Guinea, West Africa, there is a people group there, the Kissiens, who have remote towns that still do not get bread. Rice is their staple. The question, "Have you eaten? actually means, "Have you had rice yet today?"  Their nickname is "People of the Rice".  To translate "I am the bread of life" directly, inventing a word for bread, a product that has never been seen or eaten, would not be meaningful. To say "I am the rice of life," would not be an exact word for word translation. But it is a necessary adjustment for understanding. I asked my Kissien friend, Jacqueline, what is written in the Kissien Bible. It is a word that means powdered rice made into a little cake. I recall eating some. It was a treat. To think of Jesus as their rice of life is beautiful. Jesus is something they need every day, just like they need rice.

Finally there is the paraphrase. This is generally an explanation of what God's Word is saying. It may be done by one person rather than a scholarly team. It is based on another Bible in the same language, and is not a direct translation of Hebrew and Greek. A good example is the Living Bible. It started as a godly man, Kenneth N Taylor of Tyndale Publications, sought to read the Bible to his children in family daily devotions. He would write out passages in an explainable way for kids to grasp. He was encouraged to share it with others. A couple epistles were printed first in 1962. His rendition made the Bible come alive in modern language.


TRANSLATIONS ON THE SPECTRUM



Here is a chart from Christian Book Distributors showing the Word for Word vs. Thought for Thought translations. You will see that the most literal translations are the New American Standard Bible (NASB) the English Standard Version (ESV) and the Amplified. The most thought for thought Bibles are the Living Bible and the Message.


WORD FOR WORD TRANSLATIONS

  • Advantage:  Accurate and literal renderings of what the Bible says. It seriously take more attention to the text, themes, Biblical terms, and so on.  
  • Disadvantage: Sometimes the translation can sound a little wooden, or use terms that are more scholarly which need to be looked up.



Use these when you want more detailed Bible study with the desire to be true to the original text. Precept, Intl. uses the NASB and ESV for their studies. 


THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT TRANSLATIONS


  • Advantage: Easy to understand, and fresh thoughts about what it in the Bible. Sometimes it is helpful for a difficult passage, to gain understanding for our world today.
  • Disadvantage: At times it may interpret the Bible too general, or miss some of the nuance of what is in the verse.

Use these when you want a fresh look at what a verse means for your life. It helps greatly with application to our lives. It is often written at a vocabulary geared for a children's audience. It is a wonderful tool for children, teens and new believers. They create a thirst for God's Word.


IN THE MIDDLE

In the middle of the chart, with a nice blend of the two approaches is the popular New International Version (NIV). This has been used by many churches now for years. It is a very readable, understandable version of the Bible. Also somewhat near the center is the New Living Translation (NLT) and the Christian Standard Bible (CSB/HCSB). They are also beautiful to read and well understood.


CAN I MAKE A MISTAKE?

Years ago, my husband, a pastor, went to a new area to work. Someone approached him and said, "Now Pastor, do you use the King James Version of the Bible, or one of those Devil Bibles?"

The feeling was that the King James was the absolute best, unpolluted version of the Bible out there and the others were tainted. Honestly, God's Word is powerful. Why shouldn’t it be? It is just that. God's Word. He is not going to give the Devil opportunity to totally ruin God's Word and cause others to go astray in hordes. Give God some credit. If we read it asking God's blessing, with the intention of God speaking in to our heart, the Bible will speak, even if it is a version that is less accurate than some might like.

There is a place for various translations.  I would expect the pastor's pulpit and our seminaries are going to look to texts that are more accurate, scholarly works. But it was on the Living Bible, the paraphrase, that I got hooked on reading the Bible at age 16. I was not worried about verb tenses in the original language or any kind of difficulty with the texts. I just LOVED to read what God had for me and it changed my life and my view of the Bible forever.

What version is right for you? You need to ask yourself if you need something right now that is clear to your understanding and applicable to your life (more thought for thought), or if you need to get into the meat of the Word, figuring out what the intricacies of study have for your soul. You might just need both types in your life. Just as someone need to live on adult food rather than mother's milk, so we should learn to take in the deeper meat of God's Word.

God's Word is GOD's Word. It will accomplish His purpose as it is read. READ IT TODAY!

"It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."
Isaiah 55: 11




Saturday, June 13, 2020

Bible Passage Worksheet


The Big Idea: Print off a Bible passage so you can mark it up with colors, word correlations, etc. Having a worksheet like this is one serious Bible study method! 

WHY MAKE A WORKSHEET?

I learned about Bible worksheets from my college days when InterVarsity Christian Fellowship offered a Manuscript Bible Study. Everyone in the group worked from a double spaced page of a Bible passage with plenty of room to circle, color, and write questions. Everyone had the same Bible version and passage in front of them. Talk about all being on the same page! More about a manuscript study in a few minutes.

What I like about a worksheet:

  • A lot of room to make notes.
  • Use markers and pens and not worry about it bleeding through or messing up your Bible.
  • Multiple people talk about it from the same version.
  • Larger print than most Bibles for easier reading and observation.
  • A fresh look at a Bible passage you may have read many times before.


TYPES OF WORKSHEETS I HAVE MADE

I find a worksheet to be so helpful, I've used it many years in various ways. I almost always include chapter and verse.

Personal Study. I use a worksheet for personal study of a passage. This is especially useful in examining a difficult passage.  With my ipad, I have even taken a screenshot of a passage and used a coloring feature to highlight and circle words. 

Side by Side. I use side by side worksheets of 2 or 3 translations for comparison. There are parallel Bibles available in hard copy. You can view the YouVersion app with 2 versions side by side. Comparisons can be useful. I don't double space these.




Group Worksheets. I do not give a worksheet for every Bible Study I lead. But for a particularly difficult passage, or for working together on a passage, I make a worksheet to hand out. Thus we are in the same translation for vocabulary and ease of discussion. Usually everyone will read the passage several times, each time looking at something different.

Often I create a passage with wide margins.  Occasionally I arrange a it with a Quarter page margin So more notes or correlations can be written. One could also use this space to make drawings or charts next to sections of the passage. 



Pre-marked Worksheets. At times I have prepared a worksheet with some of the work done for the class ahead of time. I may mark key words, or mentions of God. The class takes the task further. This works well for ease of listing multiple points such as actions of God in a given section.  This is a time saver since Our class is hemmed in by time.



MAKING YOUR OWN WORKSHEET

With internet Bible availability I copy the text in the version I want and paste it into my Microsoft Word program. Here are three excellent websites for an electronic Bible on the web.


You will most likely make a worksheet on your computer and print it. Decide what Bible Version to use. Copy, cut and paste onto a document in a word processor program such as Microsoft Word. Make it about 12 pt print or larger for easier reading.  Word has a double space option. With Word and other programs you can change the margins, even specifying how wide from the left or the right. For making a side by side with different versions, I use the columns feature. Word also has a feature to number rows as you will see is valuable for a manuscript study. Also www.bibles.org allows you to remove verse marks in the settings feature. 

Use colored pencils, markers or highlighters to mark it up. If you don't have contrasting colors use circles and squares around words, and underline/double underline. Symbols can be used. But the point is to SEE the relationships of words.



ORGANIZATIONS USING A BIBLE WORKSHEET

Precept Ministries has worksheets for everyone to have the same version and the same
passage. You can get a study for the New American Standard Bible (NASB) or the English Standard Version (ESV). The packet is usually for a book of the Bible and each chapter is on a page. Chapter and verse numbers are included. There is a line at the heading for the chapter theme to be inserted, and a chart at the end of the study for you to record the theme of each chapter you have studied. It is a good recording tool. 

Precept provides suggested colors and symbols to help get you started marking the passages.  Suggested symbols include a purple triangle filled with yellow for God (the Father), purple for royalty the king, and yellow because God is light.

Manuscript Bible Study was started in the 1950s by a staff member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Paul Byer. He discovered it was helpful to have a double spaced passage of the Bible. It really enriched his learning as he marked the pages up and identified correlations in the text. Purists of this method remove the chapter and verse markings and paragraphs. It is printed only on one side. As they work through the book or section, they may lay them all out in order on the floor to get a sense of what the original Bible passage looked like when the writers in Bible times put down the Words of God.

In looking at paper with the words put together without chapter, verse or paragraph, you have a chance to view it the way the early church did. It is a fresh way to interact with God's Word. This is why it is called a Manuscript study. Many who do this will put line markings every 10 lines so a Bible Study group can refer to it more easily.




The Bible was originally written in mainly Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT). It was put on papyrus, parchment, vellum (animal skins) and even pottery chards. There were no chapters or verses assigned. It was purely written like a letter, story or document.



For the first 1000 years of the church, there were no chapter and verse divisions. The first thing to be added prior to 1000 a.d. was paragraph markings to divide the Word into readings to cover a year. Chapters were first introduced in the 12th century in the Latin Vulgate. Verses were added to the first English Bible, the Geneva Bible, in 1560. They were considered helpful for reference and quotation. The artificial chapter and verse divisions has caused some problems in breaking up a coherent thought or theme that should go together. There is a good chapter and verse history on Wikipedia. We have become so used to chapter and verse markings it is hard to imagine it another way. We must remember the chapter and verse markings are not inspired, just a useful tool for finding our way.

The authors of the Bible wrote it so we could understand the story of God as a whole. It is a story with themes that synchronize together to tell us of God and his desire to communicate with us, that we can know him and be his friend. It is great to study it and dig deep into his Word. But don't break the Bible into small favorite parts so much that you miss the woven tapestry of the whole story.




Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Why use a Study Bible?


The Big Idea: Study Bibles have a lot of tools to enhance your study of the Bible but there are many to choose from. 

I spy a Study Bible!

As of today Christian Book Distributer's website has 2,439 different kinds of Study Bibles. Granted many of them are multiples of the same Bible, with various covers. Black or brown leather, soft cover or hard cover, etc. Some vary mainly as being marketed to men or women. And some vary in being King James or New International Version. Or another version. But they have almost identical Bible helps content for the same kind of Study Bible.


Perhaps this is you.  "What is a study Bible and why should I have one? I use my YouVersion Bible App all the time."

Perhaps you have three or four Study Bibles to your name. You like the content unique to each one.

You can get all kinds of Study Bibles. Geared for men. For women. For teens. For teen boys. For teen girls. For professionals. Large Print. Pocket sized. Some are in the English Standard Version. Some in the New American Standard Bible. Some in Today's Living Version. And more.

If you wonder about the variety, here are some samples!

Apologetics Study Bible - for one who wants a defense of the Faith
Life Application Study Bible - notes on difficult passages, Bible life and times, and questions of application. This is so chock full of information it is one of the best selling Study Bibles.

Key Word Study Bible - Key Bible Words from Hebrew and Greek noted and explained.
Thompson Chain Reference Bible - over 8000 topics chained together, and cross references. A series that has been around for a while and is much beloved.
Rainbow Study Bible - uses color coding for themes throughout the Bible.
Complete Jewish Study Bible - For both Jewish and non Jewish people alike with explanations of Judaism to add to understanding of the background of the Bible.

Aside from it being a very heavy book to carry around, often with over 1000 pages, there are so many tools available to you through your Study Bible. Before you go out to buy one, check out this list of what many include. Then look around and compare the difference in them and what you think might be helpful.

Study Bible Tools


Articles and photos. Many Study Bibles have articles on hard to understand subjects, or on key words, main characters in the Bible, archeological findings, and so on. Each Bible is different as to what they offer.  Some have photos too, of Bible Lands, or plants mentioned in the Bible, and so on.


Book Introduction and outline.  Almost all Study Bibles have an introduction of each book of the Bible, giving background, authorship, time reference, intended audience and themes. Many add key verse and an outline of the book.


Concordance. A concordance is an alphabetical listing of words or phrases used throughout the Bible. There are listing where the word or idea is used. Strong's Exhaustive concordance is a tome in itself that has every word of the Bible ever mentioned, and where it is found. The concordance at the back of a study Bible cannot be that exhaustive, but what is there is helpful when you are studying.


Cross References. Cross references in the margins will tie together verses from other parts of the Bible. This is especially helpful when a fulfillment of prophecy is mentioned and it is linked to the Old Testament source of origin. Some Bibles have very few cross references, and others like the Scofield or Thompson Chain Bible will have quite a few.

Scofield Study Bible 1917

You can see in this photo how a verse has a little letter next to it. You will find the corresponding cross reference verse in the middle column. 


Devotional thought. Some Bibles feature special devotionals or small articles to give insight to the Christian life. Women's Bibles are specific to women's concerns. A Military Bible will have devotional thoughts for those in the Armed Forces. Sometimes one Bible teacher will have his or her teachings through the whole Bible, such as the Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible, or the Pursuit of God A.W. Tozer Study Bible.


Maps and charts.  Most Study Bibles have key maps for Biblical Periods. These are usually dispersed throughout the Bible. For instance, a map of the Apostle Paul's missionary journeys would most likely be among the Epistles written by the Apostle Paul. There may be a chart for the Life of Paul. Each study Bible is different in what subjects it expounds on, but you should look for a study Bible based on the resources it has.  There is always an index, usually at the beginning, of where those maps and charts are located. 


Study notes/textual remarks/commentary. Most study Bibles have comments that accompany multiple verses, on the bottom of the page. Some are textual references for clarification. Some may have a full blown commentary available, such as the Matthew Henry Study Bible.
Scofield Study Bible 1917

Practical considerations

Since a study Bible may be a heavy large book, you might want it mainly for your home study and use your electronic Bible when you go to church or Bible Study. Or you may want to mark up your Bible on the passage your pastor is preaching from to help you remember what you are learning.

In the old days, Family Bibles were historical documents that recorded the family births, marriages and deaths. Over time I hope you will find that your go-to Study Bible will be a sort of spiritual time capsule for you. You can mark a date that a passage really spoke to you and changed your life. You can mark up passages you have studied heavily with different colors. 

The Bible will help you remember favorite passages, and passages you want to share with others. As your Bible gets more and more worn, you will know that the Word of God is being used and changing your life. Beware of marking your Bible with a pen if you have the very thin leaves in it. Ball point pen will bleed through over time. Archival quality pens are ideal for that. Having the thin leaves is helpful to make the book less heavy, but the pages can also tear easily. These are a few things to consider.

A really good study Bible, especially if you get it in leather, can be a very expensive purchase. They can be from $20-$95 or more. There are a couple of options for you to get a nice study Bible more reasonably. Though you may not find it in the translation you had hoped for.  Yet the reference tools therein are valuable for you have access to. If you have an Ollie's Bargain Outlet near you, they often have a good supply of Bibles, including Study Bibles.  Also thrift shops and garage sales might have one you run across. Our daughter recently got 2 very nice Study Bibles for $1 each at our local library book sale.  All in near new condition.  

Now you might find it sad to find a Bible at a Thrift shop or garage sale. However, imagine someone being awarded one in Sunday School or at a conference, or gifted with one for Graduation or Christmas. But they already have their own Bible they are familiar with and use all the time, so they lighten their shelf and give it away. My husband and I have sometimes obtained an extra Bible at a bargain price. We knew we did not need it, but we knew we will find someone who will. We get it and we pray over them. Our give-away Bibles always find a home.

One more tip. Sometimes a publisher will offer an e-Study Bible for the kindle for free on Amazon.com for Kindle. I have about 5 study Bibles available for my kindle that way. You need to look for them under Kindle Bibles time to time and snatch them when you see them. 

We are so privileged to be able to have the Bible in our language. There are still thousands of people groups around the world who do not have that yet. And we have many different translations available to us. And we can read. In the day of King David and Paul the Apostle, the literacy rate was much lower than it is in America today. Let us not take this for granted. Get one of these tools, the Study Bible, and begin to investigate the depths of what is in God's Word. It is valuable for your life and godliness. They are the very words of God intended for YOU!

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Bible Word Search


Big idea: How to do a word search to reaseach specific words used in the Bible. 

Why look for special words in the Bible? 


Topics are a reason to do a word search.  If you want to  know what the Bible says about "grace" in the Bible, you might ask yourself where the verses are located that talk about "grace". Compare how often they occur in the Old Testament and the New Testament. If you are studying the book of Ephesians, you might check how often the word "grace" appears in that book. You could see what chapters seem to focus on it more. You could see if it occurs as a word more in one epistle than another. The one with more occurances might be a good place to study if you want to learn about that topic. 

Focus on a subject can be done using a word search. Let's use the word "grace" again. You could look up a number of verses in one book of the Bible, or the whole if you wish, and write down each verse reference and what it teaches you about grace. Then look at everything and compare and contrast. 

Finding a key verse based on a key word is another way to use a word search. Say you have always heard the verse, "For by grace you are saved through faith." But you are not sure where in the Bible to find it. You can look up the word "grace" and most likely will find it's address, it's reference, in the Bible.  

Concordance

One of my favorite concordances is called the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. It is one of the oldest and best ones out there. It was put together by James Strong and published first in 1890.  It was first used with the King James Bible. Now it is also available for the NIV.  It lists the occurance of every word. See the second photo for the list of every occurance of "the." Since it is so old, it is very easy to find it available for free on many software programs and websites. For instance https://biblehub.com/
 

There are other concordances available as well. Cruden's Concordance and Young's Concordance are two examples. Many study Bibles will have a less exhaustive concordance at the back of the Bible. 



Electronic Word Search 

One of the most common electronic Bibles is YouVersion, espcially as an app for tablets and phones. You can find the app by the Appstore or Google Play.  https://www.youversion.com/

Here is how to do a word search using the YouVersion Bible. You will want to look in the upper right hand corner of the Bible page in the app and find the magnifying glass.  Put the word in you are looking for. 


You will find there are options for your search. You can isolate the word to the Old Testament or the New Testament, or confine your search to just one book of the Bible. 



It is even intruiging to see how many times a certain word occurs in each book of the Bible. You can then go to each instance and note what it says about a particular word. 


There are other excellent Bible programs out there, each with a different way to search. Bible Hub, mentioned above does. Another one I like using is https://www.biblegateway.com/.  Play around with them and see what you find! Bible Hub also has tools that include Bible dictionaries. Those are helpful too. More on that another day!

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