Some standard aids for studying Scripture
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Some standard aids for studying Scripture |
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I have discussed throughout the Bible
Study Template series a number of the
techniques and methods which can bring a serious student to a thorough
and
accurate understanding of the Word of God.
Along the way, several study tools and references
were mentioned as
important aids in this venture; here is a summary of many of the most
reliable
and best known. They
represent a portion
of the standard reference library used by many of the best of
today’s Bible scholars,
and though it may not be a complete list, and scholars will differ in
their
opinions of which are the most important, these are undeniably vital to
have—or
to at least have access to and know how to use.
Purchasing all the books mentioned
here can be cumbersome and expensive (hint: try to find good used
copies at a
book re-seller), and you will find more use for some than for others. So whenever possible, I
have sought for
electronic versions and on-line resources to lighten that burden (see
the final
section). Many
Bible software packages
also contain many of the helps described below or very similar ones;
and the
more you spend, the better extras package you will get with your
purchase. I have
provided all citations on the separate
citations page which is linked below. Bibles,
of course
Let us set aside all the squabbling
about which of today’s versions of the Bible in English is
the best, most
accurate, most readable, most user-friendly, etc.
Let us also look beyond the marketing ploys
and gimmicks that are employed by Bible salesmen and publishers, the
study
Bibles aimed at a particular niche audience, and the
not-really-very-useful
extras such as illustrations, family record pages, or glowing
endorsements from
Christian “celebrities.”
Let us abandon
myths about whether it is proper to “deface” a
Bible, or else the idea that a
Bible is worthless if it isn’t worn, marked, dog-eared, or
otherwise showing
the signs of much use. Let’s
be
pragmatic enough to get what we can, and actually will, use to get to
our goal
of serious study. 1) “Loaded”
study Bible – This will most likely be your main
Bible, and will be the one
you use for notes, underlining and highlighting, etc.
You may choose to let this be the one you
carry to meetings, particularly if you are accustomed to hearing good
teachings
at your gatherings, or possibly you will want to keep it at home and
carry a
different one. Some
of the features that
are good to have in this Bible are: Other
features that are nice but not really necessary include:
When using a study Bible, there are
practical things to remember to keep from making a mess. First, most Bibles use a
very thin,
“onionskin” paper; Do NOT use ink for underlining,
or liquid highlighters which
can bleed through to the other side of the page and obscure other
scriptures. Instead,
use very light, dry
highlighters, or even colored pencils for marking text and making
marginal
notes which will not show up on the other side of the page. Even standard weight paper
can still show
bleeding, so be careful to make marks that will stay on the correct
side of the
paper.
Second, it can be confusing to see a
note that you wrote in a margin and forget why you wrote it there. Be clear enough so that
others (or even a
future you) can pick up on the thought easily.
And third, don’t overdo it. Keep
a separate notebook for the more extensive notes, and don’t
try to put notes
for an entire teaching or a detailed outline at the bottom of one page
or a
blank page in the back. Again,
create
notes that can be readable for the next time you need them. 2) Plain
text Bible – This is a Bible that is stripped of
all the “bells and
whistles” and leaves you with nothing but the raw,
unembellished scriptures. It
may be an inexpensive gift Bible or a “pew
Bible” as provided by a church for reference during worship.
There are certain occasions when the
footnotes, cross references, marginal doodlings, outlines, and all the
rest can
get in the way and divert you from some of the purposes of your study. For example, if you are
survey reading, those
can slow you down. If
you are meditating
on a particular passage, other older notes can draw your mind back to
previous
ideas and prevent you from gaining a new insight.
Or if you are outlining, the outlines in a
study Bible can influence you to see a breakdown of a section in a way
other
than the way you would have seen it on your own.
In short, there are times when a fresh view
is needed, and a plain text Bible is the best means to that end. So keep this one plain and
unmarked so that you
can prevent the possible distractions. 3) Paraphrased
version – There are two categories of versions:
translations and
paraphrases. A
translation is taken
directly from the original languages in some fresh way, where a
paraphrase is a
version that is more focused on readability and story-telling than on
being a
stickler for translational accuracy.
A
paraphrase is often good for survey reading, particularly in history or
prophecy sections, and can also be useful as a commentary of sorts for
passages
that are more difficult to comprehend.
One of the best known paraphrases in
English is The Living Bible,
written
by Kenneth N. Taylor in 1971. This
project started out as a retelling of the New Testament epistles based
loosely on
the American Standard Version from 1901, and was released as Living Letters in 1962; this became
popular enough that in 1967 he released the Living
New Testament and finally published the full Bible in this
style. A newer
version of this is called The New Living
Translation published by
Tyndale, which began as an update, but soon grew into a new project
altogether
while keeping most of the style of its predecessor.
The editing committee refers to their method
of translation as a “dynamic equivalent” rather
than a paraphrase, implying
that this work is somewhere in between.
A very popular paraphrased version geared
especially for teenagers is called The
Message, written by Eugene H. Peterson.
It makes interesting use of current English figures
of speech and even
occasional slang, yet stops short of silliness; for example, a recent
revision
is referred to in the title as a “remix.”
This approach is much easier to take seriously than
the comic book or
manga versions of the New Testament that sit on the shelves next to it,
and is
especially good as a supplement to direct translations.
Conversely, another interesting
specialty version (which may qualify as an
“anti-paraphrase”) is the Amplified
Translation. The
intent of this version is to expand on
the various shades of meaning in the original languages right within
the
text. This approach
results in some odd
run-on sentences and is often tedious when you attempt to read it
through. But the
primary problem is the selective
nature of when the translators choose to expand on a word and when not
to in
order to save space and quell useless repetition.
We can give them “brownie
points” for
thoroughness, but the result is sometimes uneven in its treatment of
the
interpretive insertions. 4) Interlinear
or Greek text New Testament – If you get serious
about doing original
language studies, either one of these can be a good source for further
New
Testament amplification and for unraveling grammatical subtleties in
the
Greek. An
interlinear is laid out with
the Greek text as its basis, usually using the Greek alphabet, and
below the
main text is written out the best raw English translation of each word
or
phrase. This is the
general approach
that scholars use when creating a translation, but by having the direct
translation underneath, the research is mostly already
done—so all that remains
is to see how the translators converted the text from the direct
renderings
into a readable form of English. If
you want
to do your own research, this makes it just too easy.
For those who seek a more
do-it-yourself approach, a pure Greek text without interlinear
translation
provided is more desired. These
are a
little more difficult to find, especially in a modern Christian
bookstore, but
they do exist. My
favorite of these is
called the Analytical Greek New Testament,
which has a quite helpful layout.
The
Greek text is the basic line, but instead of interlinear translation,
there is
a code under each word which can be referenced to a grammar chart
telling which
part of speech, person, case, etc. the word is.
This way you are still doing your own translating,
and you have the
information about the grammar provided for you. Concordances
A Bible concordance is an
alphabetical listing of all the words used in the Bible, followed by a
listing
of every place that word is used, usually by reference order and
including a
snippet of the verse so that you can see its placement in the sentence. For example, if you know
that the word
“trumpet” is used in a verse, or if you are
studying a topic that is connected
to trumpets, you can turn to the T’s and scan the listings
for trump, trumpet,
trumpets, and trumpeters until you get what you need.
This is the first and most basic use of a
concordance, but there are variations that have further uses. 1) Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance – By far the most popular,
James Strong (1822-1894)
first published his master work in 1890, and many publishers have since
reprinted it with revisions of its comparative concordance feature,
which gives
references to the alterations made in the more modern translations than
the
King James version upon which the first edition was based.
There are two unique features in
Strong’s—first, it is truly exhaustive, which means
that every word in the entire Bible
is listed, right down to the a’s,
and’s and the’s.
This is accomplished by
the means of a supplemental section called the appendix, which gives
the
reference only for 47 “unimportant particles of very frequent
occurrence.” This
is of course basically useless, but if
one of the goals is to be truly exhaustive, then they would have to be
included
somehow.
The other feature, and the main
reason for Strong’s immense popularity, is the ingenious
numbering system which
gives references to the original language words listed in their
alphabetical
order for both the Hebrew (and Aramaic or Chaldee) and the Greek. Each language has a brief
lexicon in the back
of the book, and every word listed in the concordance is given a number
which
corresponds to its entry in the lexicon.
In print form, the Hebrew/Chaldee numbers are given
in boldface while
the Greek numbers are in italics; in electronic versions they are often
distinguished by the letters H or G in front of the number to refer you
to the
correct lexicon.
Despite its high reputation, critics
of Strong’s Concordance will often cite the short entries in
the lexicons as a
drawback, saying that its oversimplified translation notes can be
misleading and
suggesting that the author sacrificed accuracy for the sake of brevity. This can be true in some
cases; it appears
that it was not Strong’s intention to provide in-depth
analysis of original
language vocabulary. So,
keeping that in
mind, I recommend using supplemental resources such as Vine’s
(see below) when
doing any serious study in the original languages; truly much confusion
is
possible if one does not “rightly divide” a
Strong’s Concordance entry. 2) Young’s
Analytical Concordance – Considered preferable to
Strong’s by many of its users,
Robert Young (1822-1888) published this work in 1879.
Its critics, however, say that it is only
truly advantageous if you use it alongside the author’s Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible,
even though it is based
on the King James Version.
The reason for the word
“analytical”
in the title is because Young has organized the entries by first the
English
word, followed by a breakdown into subcategories based on the original
word
used as it is translated to the English.
For example, all of the New Testament entries for
“iniquity” are
followed first by the Greek word anomia
and its definition “lawlessness,” and then by each
occurrence in Scriptural
order in which that Greek word is rendered as
“iniquity,” then the word adikia
with its definition of
“non-righteousness” followed by all the places
where “iniquity” is the
translation of that one, then poneria
(wickedness) and all the references for the places where that word is
translated “iniquity,” etc.
Therefore
the Greek is given in the text of the concordance itself, and the
reader does
not have to turn to the back of the book to see the original word and
its
definition. 3) Cruden’s
Complete Concordance – Another well-known older
work is the product of
Alexander Cruden (1699-1770) which has been in print continuously since
it
first appeared in 1737. It
is a good and
usable tool, but it has fallen into relative obscurity because it lacks
the
many features, and thus the popularity, of its rivals.
It, too, has sub-categories, but they are
listed by common English phrases; for example, hear,
then hear me, hear not,
would not hear, etc. 4) Vine’s
Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words – W.
E. Vine (1873-1949) first
published this important tool in 1940, and it was quickly recognized
for its
usefulness and accuracy with respect to the full treatment it gives to
the
original words in the Greek New Testament.
I have grouped it with the concordances because of
its usefulness as a
companion for Greek language study and how it integrates with their use. An expanded edition first
appeared in print
in 1984 when editor John Kohlenberger added marginal references beside
each of
the Greek entries indicating the Strong’s Greek number and
the corresponding
numbered entries in another Greek-English lexicon (Arndt-Gingrich) and
a
dictionary of New Testament theology (Colin Brown, ed.).
The two strongest points of Vine’s
are its ease of use—all English words are listed in their
English alphabetical
order, followed by an examination of each prominent Greek word listed
by part
of speech and frequency of use—and its comprehensiveness and
thorough treatment
of the shades of meaning inherent in each original word. It is thus indispensable
as not only a
supplement to Strong’s lexicon, but as a springboard for
beginners who wish to
learn foundational Greek vocabulary without having to get there by way
of
learning all the grammar, too. Whether
you have the original or the expanded, this is something to keep at
your
fingertips next to your concordance and study Bible. Handbooks/Dictionaries
It seems as though every Christian
publishing house has its own Bible dictionary, handbook, companion, or
other
helpful aid so that the serious student may have a source of
supplemental information,
in a format similar to an encyclopedia, which will enhance individual
study
efforts. There are
several very good
ones which I have not listed here; I have chosen some of the most
time-tested
and basic, and have given a variety of levels of scholarship in an
attempt to
help students at different levels find sources that are useful and
relevant. 1) Smith’s
Bible Dictionary – Written by Sir William Smith
(1813-1893) and first
printed in the 1860’s, this has become an enduring standard
of scholarly
information on pretty much every person, place, or thing in the Bible. Newer revisions are
available which include
more archeological findings and updated information in both abridged
and
unabridged formats. 2) Halley’s
Bible Handbook – Henry Hampton Halley (1874-1965)
first published this
encyclopedic work in 1927, and the newer revisions contain references
from the
New International Version, the latest being the 2007 edition. This is an excellent
beginning level work for
familiarizing the student with the wealth of information now available. It is colorful and
well-illustrated, with
clearly written articles and eye-catching sidebars such as charts, maps
and
tables which make it easy to use. 3) The
Revell Bible Dictionary – This is another
well-illustrated and easy-to-use
tool from Revell Publishers for the beginning student, featuring
several very
readable charts and tables which clearly and concisely make sense of
otherwise
obscure information. 4) Eerdman’s
Dictionary of the Bible – The edition published in
2000 is one of the more
scholarly works available, but is still very accessible. It is not heavily
illustrated or visual, but
contains the latest in archeological information and includes a very
good map
section at the end. This
is a particularly
helpful tool for the more intermediate level or advanced scholar or for
those
with an interest in the history, culture and geography of the Holy Land. 5) The
Oxford
Companion to the Bible – This is probably the most
scholarly and advanced of
the encyclopedia-type works available for general use in a single
volume. Some
interesting articles are included,
particularly those based on Greek terms and lesser-known Biblical
customs. 6) Illustrated
Manners and Customs of the Bible – Be sure and
“dog-ear” the table of
contents of this book—the arrangement is topical and in
seemingly random
order. Each of the
chapters begins with
an introduction and an outline of the content to follow, and there is a
convenient index in the back. Once
you know
how to navigate the layout, the information included is excellent and
readable,
and features the occasional side-bar or chart that is clear and
understandable. And
though it is
understandably heavy with archeological data, there are surprisingly
few maps;
nevertheless, this is an excellent addition to any scholar’s
library. Commentaries 1) Matthew
Henry’s Commentary – This famous and very
basic work by Matthew Henry
(1662-1714) was originally published in 6 volumes, the first was
released in
1704, and the final volume was completed after his death by a group of
thirteen
other “divines” who picked up where he left off at
the beginning of
Romans. Sometimes
considered more of a
devotional than a theological commentary, most of the research was the
best
available at the time. He
has a knack
for clarity and directness, though there are places where he simply
restates
what some might consider obvious. 2) Jamieson,
Fausset & Brown – First published in 1871,
and frequently updated and
revised since, this work is a fine scholarly product of three of the
prominent
English and Scottish theologians of that time.
One can see an Anglican twist in some of the
entries, but overall the
thinking behind the writing is sound and accessible. 3) Christian
Worker’s Commentary – Published in 1915
by Dr. James M. Gray (1851-1935), this
is not a commentary in the usual sense, but instead contains summaries
of each
section of the Bible, followed by some questions for further study
which demand
additional reading and analyzing of the passages.
It bears more resemblance to a cross between
a textbook and a self-study manual than to the usual commentary. Other 1) Nave’s
Topical Bible – This revered standard, first
published in 1896 by U. S.
Army Chaplain Orville J. Nave (1841-1917) is arranged alphabetically by
topic,
and then by subtopic with references in Biblical order.
This work is a little uneven in that there
are times when only references are given, and other times when entire
portions
of Scripture are written out in the text (I’m not really sure
why he chose to
write out some but not others). There
is
also an index of Scriptures in the back so that you may find the page
number
where that verse or passage is included in an entry.
Nave makes every effort to be thorough, yet
this work should be a supplement and not replace your own efforts in
researching a topic. 2) Atlas
– Many good study Bibles have a reasonably good collection of
maps in with
their study helps in the back. Some
are
more easy to use than others however, so there may be times when a
better set
is called for. I
managed to find a
really good one many years ago which was published in 1959 by Hammond,
Inc.
simply entitled Atlas of the Bible Lands. It includes many
photographs of places and
artifacts, and because the pages are 9 1/2” by 12
1/4”, the maps are large,
well-detailed and annotated. There
are
smaller, stripped-down versions of these same maps in the back of one
of my
study Bibles, but the detail of the larger maps in this 32-page
collection, and
the timeline chart of Biblical history on the inner and outer covers,
makes
this atlas a pleasure to use. 3) The
Kingdom of the Cults – As I mentioned in the page
called Evaluation, this very
important
reference work on comparative religions and Christian deviations is
standard
for anyone who deals with persons whose faith is one which alleges to
be
Christian yet fails the test of true orthodoxy.
When it was first published in 1965, this master
work by Walter Martin
(1928-1989) was quickly well-received by the Church as the definitive
report on
those forms of counter-orthodoxy that many Christians frequently
encountered. It is
still considered especially useful for
evangelistic work, not only for those who deal with cult members, but
also for those
who may have been confused by their claims and teachings. 4) A
dictionary and a thesaurus – Without naming brand
names, it is always a
good idea to have basic English language tools such as an up-to-date,
reliable
dictionary close at hand, and also a good thesaurus. If
there is a thesaurus included with your
document processing software, it is probably enough; but a good
dictionary in
printed form is indispensable. 5) Hebrew
Interlinear Old Testament – This is more difficult
(but not impossible) to find
than the comparable Greek tool; apparently the demand is not as great
for the
Old Testament as for the New. It
works
the same as a Greek Interlinear New Testament, and has similar value to
your
study goals if you decide to delve further into the Hebrew Scriptures. Many other sources of the
Hebrew original
texts are available electronically and on-line, and may be preferable
to print
versions. Software
Software is difficult to review,
since it is rare to find enough people with good programs from
different companies
so that you can make an adequate comparison by using theirs. There are a number of
companies that offer
their products for download as well as on disk, so that a trip to a
retailer is
not necessary, and there are some that will bypass the dealerships
altogether. Many
feature PDA or cell phone compatibility
and other more cutting-edge features.
All
of the companies I know of have websites with examples of their
features, but
they are designed to sell the product and not to answer specific
questions about
ease of use or potential navigation problems.
I have yet to find a bookstore with computers for
customer access so
that the products can actually be tried out before purchase.
The two best approaches for finding
good software are: first—just talk to people who will be
honest about what they
have and let them brag or complain about what they deal with in their
package. Second,
check out free
shareware available on-line. Beyond
that, I can only suggest that if you are serious about buying a
software package,
find one that contains at least the minimum features that follow, and
has the
capacity for add-ons or upgrades that are not too cost-prohibitive:
Often there is a lot more in a
software package that you will probably never use, so think about what
you
really need and try to save money on the rest.
Sometimes the extra literature is good (I found
several that included Pilgrim’s
Progress, for example), but something
like this can be borrowed or checked out of a library; buy only what
you need
and actually will use. Online
Resources
There are some very generous
Christians putting things on-line these days, and it is a pleasure to
help
guide you to their offerings; after all, the idea here is to place the
wealth
of the Bible into the hands of as many as possible, and to help
everybody do
the necessary study to search out God’s Word.
It has been a pleasant surprise to see just how much
free information
and assistance is available on the internet. 1) Free
downloadable Bible software – There are quite a few
excellent programs in
cyberspace which come with shareware agreements rather than price tags. For the typical
cash-strapped beginner, this
is the most advantageous starting point.
A company called WORDsearch has two
main offerings: the more elaborate pay version and the free one which
they call
Bible Explorer (see bible-explorer.com or wordsearchbible.com). From the home page of the
former, you can
click on Browse FREE Books or Browse all
add-on books, and at any
time click on the download button for the basic program to become
available for
installation. From
the list of free
books, you may click on any of them for a sample, which puts you at a
WordSearch screen with info on that book.
From there, mouse over the Add-on books
tab, then mouse over the
drop-down, and then finally choose from the menu.
Downloading new modules is a little
complicated, since you have to “purchase” them,
then after the download you
must go into the program and unzip them one at a time with an account
number
and a password; once you do, they are fairly easy to work with. Overall, version 4 of BE
is an unusually
user-friendly and practical bit of software.
Another really good one is e-Sword
at e-sword.net. It
is easy to navigate
through to get the download and the features you want, it provides
preview
images if you click on features, and it also allows
you to see the help screens
in advance if you click on the word training. The drop-down on the
downloads page opens up
a lengthy list of material for you to pick from, and you have the
choices of
“I” for an image to see what you will get, a dollar
sign for an item that
requires payment, or a down arrow for a free download.
The program itself is more accessible and usable
than many that cost, even though there are a few minor bugs, especially
in
navigating the Strong’s lexicon.
For our European friends, there is a
site called onlinebible.org which features resources in several
different
languages. Here in
America I had trouble
finding the way to download it; after a lot of trial and error I found
that the
only way it would work is by clicking on “Online Bible
North-America” on the left
side in a box marked “Associated Partners.”
Once I got it downloaded, I returned to the
“download library” for
“settled users,” and eventually scrolled to the
bottom of that page to find the
statement “For American/Canadian customers there does exist
another library.”
This opened up a new window with a large
variety of add-ons. Using
the program
does not seem to me to be as intuitive for veteran Windows users as the
others
above mentioned, but it is still a worthwhile bit of software. 2) Free
Bible study helps – One can find a surprising
number of both personal and
company sites that offer commentaries, dictionaries, and lexicons for
general
use by the serious student without requiring registration or some kind
of
financial commitment.
Under christianity.com is a
sub-domain called bible.christianity.com which provides several
features for
study. From the
home page, click on “Study
the Bible” then on “Bible Study Tools
Home.”
Parallel readings of different Bible versions can be
done here including
the King James, the NASB and the NIV.
There is an optional free sign-up for membership,
and registered users
have access to more offerings in each category.
There is also a “References” tab
which includes non-member versions of
several good Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias and a couple of
helpful
commentaries. Also
worthy of inspection
are the tabs for “Devotionals” and “Study
Resources.”
Another good site with a free
membership is ebible.com, and there is an option for a
“premium” membership
which costs, but I couldn’t find a price.
However, even for those who don’t sign up
at either level, you can still
do a detailed Bible search or look at Matthew Henry’s
Commentary, Smith’s Bible
Dictionary, Nave’s Topical Bible, and a few more good titles.
For Greek study, there is
zhubert.com and the Resurgence Greek Project.
This takes a bit of trial and error to figure out
the navigation, and
the free membership here is little more than a way to keep track of
your preferences
and create a personalized easy-to-use screen accessible with a password. The information provided
here is thorough and
very enlightening, and brings the language within your grasp.
Finally, crosswalk.com has a set of
features very similar to chrisitianity.com, but takes a little more
time to get
used to. For
example, from the home
page, click on Bible Study Tools under the word
“Resources” at the left
of the screen next to “Channels”, then on the
“continue” button to get the rest
of the way in. From
there, you can
access the Greek lexicon by running a search based on an English word
geared to
the “KJV with Strong’s” feature, and in
the results you can click on the word
you want and see the lexicon entry.
Other resources are easily accessed by the directory
underneath the
“Bible Study Tools” tab (not the tab itself). 3) Free
classic Christian literature – Among the many
projects supported by Bible
colleges and seminaries in America are the books and devotionals that
are
placed on web sites for the benefit of the students, and then made
available to
the surfing public.
There is one truly excellent source
for these works, and it is ccel.org, which is the “Christian
Classics Ethereal
Library” made available by Calvin College.
From the home page, go to “Browse
Library” and pick a format.
Then prepare yourself for an ever-expanding
list of works, including Bibles, helps, devotions, classic literature,
and
more. Once you have
chosen a book, an
info screen appears with a choice of format.
The loading is a little slow, presumably from the
sheer amount of
information; but be patient, the results are worth the wait. *
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