Studying the Bible is the intentinal act of discovering what the Word of God says. It is an endeavor to find the meaning that the author was giving to the original audience. To understand the le, we must understand it as those who first received it would have understood it. Any meaning foreign to the original recipients is a meaning that is foreign to the Bible.
In my Bible studies, I have found five tools to be absolutely indispensable. They are:
1) A Good Bible Translation
2) A Strong’s Concordance
3) An Interlinear Bible
4) Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
5) Lexicon
We hear it from the pulpit continually, “read your Bible.” Read your Bible every day. Think
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Bible Reading is NOT Bible study.
Studying the Bible means finding the meaning the author intended to send to the original audience. We can read the Bible and learn the histories of the Old Testament. We can read the gospels and learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can get wisdom from Proverbs.
But to truly understand the Bible, we must understand it as the original audience did. Words have meaning, but unfortunately, often in translation from one language to another, some of that meaning is lost. It is good to study the words of the Bible in their original language.
Does this mean you have to learn Greek or Hebrew? No, but you can and should become familiar with many Greek and Hebrew words through your study.
The meanings of words and statements also come from context. The context of the sentence, the paragraph
Sadly, many, I would guess most, Christians have bad theology because they only get their doctrine from casual Bible reading, topical preaching, and Christian books. They never dig into God’s word. I have found digging in and seeing what the Bible says from the Bible is exciting and fulfilling.
God split the Red Sea, but did you ever ask WHY God split the sea? Why did he have the Israelites change direction and head back towards the Egyptians? Why did God pick that specific spot to have the Israelites cross? You can read the account of the crossing in Genesis, but when you start studying and see the significance of where they crossed, the message God was sending to the Israelites, the Egyptians and even to the inhabitants of Canaan where they were heading, it is an amazing story.
Solving this mystery was great fun for me and gave me a better understanding of the event, a greater appreciation for the greatness of God, and it inspired me to study even more about what was happening throughout the Old and New Testament, with locations and messaging.
But to solve this mystery, I needed to study out the words of the Bible, I had to study the culture
These are the tools I
1) A Good Bible Translation
Obviously, I would hope it’s obvious, in order to study the Bible, one must have a Bible. Today, there are many English translations available and they use different methods of translation. This can be very confusing when choosing a Bible.
Some Bible translation teams work hard to get a very literal, even word for word translation from the Greek and Hebrew to the English. This word for word translating is called Formal-Equivalence. Others use what is called Dynamic-Equivalence methods of translation, which simply means they are more concerned with translating the meaning of the words than the words themselves. And there are also paraphrases of the Bible which basically puts the Bible into the words and thoughts of the translators.
Although you may have your preference for reading the Bible, for studying the Bible, a literal translation will be the better choice. Many people prefer a dynamic-equivalence translation like the New Improved Version (NIV) or even a paraphrase like the Message Bible for casual reading.
For study though, a formal-equivalence translation like the King James Version (KJV) or the New American Standard Bible (NASB) is a better choice. Words will be translated with more conformity throughout the Bible, making word searches easier.
I personally only use the King James Version for both study and casual reading. I believe it is a trustworthy and accurate translation of God’s Word into English. It is the Bible I preach from and the Bible my little girls learned to read from age three. It is the Bible I recommend.
However, even though I can read and study the KJV with all confidence that it is God’s Word, I still use other tools when studying.
2) A Strong’s Concordance
Strong’s Concordance lists every word in the Bible alphabetically and references them with a numbering
Strong’s list every times a word is used and the Greek or Hebrew the English word was translated from. You can
Strong’s is very valuable in doing a word study. Many
In Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in
Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
These two words have
Additionally,
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].”
If you are studying out power in the English, you would miss this usage of
Hopefully, this demonstrates the importance of not just using the English.
3) An Interlinear Bible
An interlinear Bible will have the Hebrew and Greek texts with a direct English translation below each word. It will also have a gloss (short description) for the words. An interlinear Bible will help greatly in doing a proper word study. It allows you to find where and how a Greek or Hebrew word is used in context. As mentioned previously, since words are often translated differently in different places in the Bible, even sometimes in the same verse.
Psalm 82:1 says, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” An interlinear will show you that the Hebrew word “Elohim” is used twice in this verse. An interlinear will let you see how the word is used ad the meaning it conveys.
This verse actually shows a divine council that is obscured in many English translations. As you study out the word elohim, you will see it is translated several different ways in English Bibles and can refer not only to God or gods, but to men and spiritual beings.
4) Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
The Bible is full of imagery. Word pictures that convey a meaning that the original audience would have understood are used, just as we use word pictures to give meaning today. This imagery is often unique to the people or culture it is addressed to. A Dictionary of Biblical Imagery will help you understand how various similitudes and metaphors are being used by the author to give meaning.
For example, in the ancient near east, the sea was often used to represent chaos. Sometimes in the Bible, the word sea means a body of water. Other times, it is symbolic. When the Bible says in Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea,” it is not talking about a literal sea. It is referencing the idea that there will be no more chaos and that there is perfect order when God restores his creation.
5) Lexicon
A lexicon will give you definitions of the Greek and Hebrew words used by the Bible authors. It will give the context of the words and the cultural meaning. You can study out the root meanings of a word. A lexicon will help you better understand the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words underlying your English translation.
You do not need to be fluent in Greek or Hebrew to understand some of the words used. I have heard and read many pastors saying that one should only study their English translation since they don’t “know Greek.” This is a lie. Learning the meaning of even a few words in the Hebrew or Greek texts can open up a lot of understanding. I don’t know Hebrew. But, I do know the meaning of many key Hebrew words.
For example, the word “Elohim” is used in many places in the Old Testament and is translated many different ways in the English Bibles. In the same translation, you will see Elohim translated as God, gods, “mighty ones,” and several other different ways. By learning exactly what the word means, when you come across it in various passages, you will have a greater understanding of what the original author meant when using it.
ADDITIONAL TOOLS:
6) An English Dictionary
An English dictionary will come in useful at times. This is particularly true if you use the King James Bible Translation, but in all English translations, you will at times come across a word you do not know the meaning of.
7) Halley’s Bible Handbook
Halley’s Bible Handbook is an excellent tool for the Bible student. It includes outlines of the books of the Bible, maps
8) Commentaries
Commentaries are helpful in the study of your Bible. A commentary is a book written by a scholar on the meaning of passages. A commentary will tell you how the author understands a passage and often references other men’s study on the same passage. It is very important when using commentaries to know something about the author.
Matthew’s Commentary published in the 1700s is a well-known and trusted commentary.
John Gill’s Commentary is another trusted commentary from the 1700s.
I seldom use commentaries, because they are exactly that, one man’s comments on the Bible. Commentaries are not reliable for getting Bible understanding, because how a man understands the Bible is too often clouded with his theology and preconceived ideas. If a man is a Calvinist, his theology will show through in his commentary. If a man is Arminian, then he will interpret certain scriptures completely contrary to the Calvinist.
For a new Christian, an older, respected commentary like Matthew’s or Gill’s can help, but I would hope that eventually, the student would be able to wean himself from the commentaries and using the first five tools I listed get understanding from the scripture itself.
Word of warning: there are many commentaries written that will confuse and mislead a Christian. People like the late Peter Ruckman have written Bible commentaries that have introduced many speculative and false readings into the Bible.
9) Study Bibles
I used a study Bible for several years. A study Bible is a Bible that has commentary on different passages at the bottom of the pages. Unfortunately, like commentaries, the notes in a study Bible only give the author’s interpretation of scripture. A big problem with study Bibles is that since the notes are right in the Bible, as opposed to separate like a commentary, they are often accepted by the reader as authoritative. C.I.Scofield published a study Bible in the
Study Bibles can also make for a lazy Bible student. When the reader comes to a difficult passage, rather than digging into the language, they often just read the notes at the bottom of the page and accept that one interpretation.
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