How to Study the Scriptures
Bible Study Tools
Article II
2 Tim 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
This article investigates a variety of ways of studying the Bible, using the proper tools and various methods that are available today. These tools and methods are designed to help you, the reader, understand the Scriptures more fully. By properly utilizing them, they will assist you in understanding what the original authors intended as each of them penned their writings so many thousands of years ago as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.
Most Christians have not studied intensely the languages of the original Hebrew and Greek to excrete the accurate meanings of biblical words. As a result, most Christians do not know how to accurately study the Word of God. For most of you who do not know how to read the Greek and Hebrew languages, there are fortunately biblical scholars who have already studied those languages and have researched and compiled tools for the average Christian today in understanding the Word of God more clearly. We, most fortunately, live in an age where there are many Bible study tools and methods which are essential to glean more out of the Word of God.
Through these tools and methods, you will, as the active participant of this series of articles exegetically working your way through time, culture, socio/political/economical differences that are so different than today.
Bible Study Tools
If you could have only three good Bible study tools to do your studying of the Word, a good study Bible (preferably the KJV), a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and a good Bible Lexicon are recommended.
A good study Bible
Look for a Bible that has been translated from the early Greek and/or Hebrew manuscripts. Such authoritative literal translations could range from the tightest being the King James Version, loosening down to the New King James, New American Standard, Revised Standard, and the more free-est literal authoritative translation is the New International Version. Other more paraphrased versions, such as the Living Bible (original and newer versions), the Message Bible, Century Version, or other simple-to- read versions should not be used as a study Bible. Most of them have not been translated correctly through the ancient languages; they are simply the interpretation of the translator or publisher, and prone to a lot of error.
A good study Bible has footnotes/endnotes or margin commentaries, which are extremely helpful and can give tremendous insight to your study; but please note that some of the information could be the interpretation of the commentator or editor. A good way to find out if the study Bible you are reading follows your doctrinal beliefs is to look at who the publisher is and check to see if it supports your belief system. Study Bibles tends to lean toward denominational persuasions and may or may not reflect accurate truth. For example: The Revised Standard Commentary Bibles have a Lutheran slant, while the Dakes Annotated Study Bible leans toward the Assembly of God, and the Living Study Bible lean toward the Baptist view on its commentaries. None of them are totally correct; however, they are helpful in understanding the text. In addition, the historical knowledge gained through good study Bibles can be of tremendous help. You will also discover that a good concordance with maps and charts in the back of your Bible are a necessity. Obviously, more than one study Bible will give you additional information and greater accuracy, which will then bring more fullness to the text you are studying.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
Researched and written by James Strong around 1900 A.D., the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance took the words from the King James Version of the Bible and attached a number to each word and aligned them to the researched meaning in either Hebrew or Greek. To find the meaning of a word you must then match the numbers with the dictionary section of the concordance. The meanings, however, are very limited. To use the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, you must use the King James Version of the Bible. (More will be discussed later on the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.)
There are other concordances that support some versions of Bible translations; however, the Strong’s gives the most accurate information. Because of that, theonlinebibleschool.com uses the King James Version for most of its research.
Bible Lexicon (Dictionary)
There are many Bible dictionaries on the market. Good ones are Holman Bible Dictionary (easy to read and filled with pictures), Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, and Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Historical, socio/economical, political and environmental information coming from Bible Lexicons is imperative when researching a text.
Lexicon means Bible dictionary
Other Bible Study tools
As stated above, the minimum tools to properly study the Bible are a good study Bible, a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and a Bible Lexicon. Having additional tools will not only enhance your study but give you greater knowledge and insight to your study. Other good tools are the Thayer Lexicon, which is a New Testament support to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, followed by a Brown-Driver Briggs, or other Old Testament Lexicons, can also be used to give additional Old Testament support to the Strong’s Concordance. The Vine’s Expository Dictionary, a Bible atlas, a book of charts and maps, writings of Josephus, and other related material are also helpful in your exegetical research of the Word of God.
NEVER use an English dictionary to research a meaning of a biblical word. You must use accurate Bible dictionaries and concordances that will give you the proper Hebrew or Greek meaningsw. There have been too many changes to meanings of words through history and translations.
Bible study tools are an investment
The purchase of Bible study tools is an investment to your spiritual growth. They can be purchased in hard copy and/or electronic. Studying the articles and pictures from a hard copy gives greater clarity and understanding and enjoyable reading. For copying and pasting to a text, however, an electronic version is much easier and faster. Many people choose to have both . Since Bible study tools can be costly, it is important to buy wisely. It’s an investment that will last you a lifetime.