Tune in: Helpful tools

Revelation 22:19

Intro: What are some words that are the same but have different meanings? Some example I have thought of are the word trunk, crane, park, sink, read, leaves, and drop. Now when you look at these words how often do you get confused with an English word with its multiple meanings? Not often if you understand the context of the sentence you are reading or the conversation you are having. Now when it comes to the Bible Greek and Hebrew words have multiple meanings also. And like our words in English, A words context will help us find its meaning. Today I am going to be showing you some helpful interpretation tools that will help with your own Bible study.

1. Bible study tools

A. Study Bible

A study Bible is a great first tool to purchase if you are looking to deepen your study of the Bible. Study Bibles offer a condensed concordance, outlines, commentaries, word explanations, glossary, key maps, some historical background materials, and cross reference index. (open the study Bible you have with you).

B. Concordance

Now you might not use a concordance very often but it is an important tool. There are printed ones like this one but we have the internet and we can find one online instead of looking for a long time in a big book.

A concordance uses numbers to identify the original Hebrew or Greek word for any term in the English Bible. Once you know the number for a Hebrew or Greek term you can use the concordance to find other places in the bible where the same Hebrew or Greek term is used.

Most concordances also include a definition for every major Hebrew or Greek word. those definitions, rather than the definitions of the English words, reveals what the original writer wanted to communicate. For example the word “love”. It is mention many times in the bible but there are many different meanings when it comes to the word love. Like agape love (unconditional or sacrifical love), phila love(brotherly love), and eros love (Romantic love)

C. Commentaries

These offer valuable insight from different bible scholars and professors. Commentaries are a good resource to use if you want to check if your interpretation is right. It can also answer a lot of questions you might have about a verse, passage, or book of the Bible. There are physical commentaries and online commentaries. (show them your physical commentaries. Show them the online ones later) One commentary that I use a lot is The Bible Knowledge Commentary. But I also reference to other commentaries to see if it says anything different or have a better way to help me understand.

D. Online resources

Online resources are very helpful in this day and age especially if you don’t like having a ton of books. I am going to show you guys some helpful online resources that have helped me with my study of the Bible.

BibleGateway- Now this is one online resource I do not use a lot but it is a helpful resource. Its a free site that lets the user search several different Bible versions languages by passage, keyword, or topic. (demonstrate)

Blue Letter Bible- This is a resource that I used throughout college. This resource allows you to search several resources such as concordances and Bible dictionaries. (demonstrate)

Bible Hub- This resource I still use time to time today. This is a simple and easy resource to use if you are just starting out to use online resources. It provides different verses of the Bible has a concordance and has many small excerpts from commentaries. Warning be careful when you read some of the commentaries on these free online resources because some can be a little off. (demonstrate)

Logos- Now this is a program you have to purchase but I wanted to show you some of the features of it. Also this is a very helpful program for anyone who is going into ministry. (demo the commentaries, Bibles, and interactive tools).

E. Other Resources

Bible Project- I use Bible project every now and then when I want to get an overview of a certain book of the Bible. They have other resources on here about other topics and those are very helpful also.

Chara project- This is something that was given to me this past year and it is a very helpful Bible study tool. It guides you on how you can understand the passage.

Books of the Bible paper- This is something that Pastor Dave showed me and found it very helpful. It gives you a one sentence summary of what the book is about and highlighted chapters.

2. Types of studies

A. Word study

One that we kind of touched on already but we can do a word study. A word study helps us understand how the writer and original recipients would have understood the term. Just like our English language many words have many meanings the same is true in the Bible. The resource you can use for this a concordance or one of the online resources I have shown. (demo with the word “love”)

B. Biographical study

While studying the Bible you can study one certain person or even a people group. The tools that you can use for this are dictionaries and encyclopedias. The best online resource that I have found for this is Blue Letter Bible. (demo and type in the name Peter)

C. Geographical and historical study

There are many times in the Bible where there is a place mentioned and it can benefit us if we learn about it and know where it is located. Not every place that is mentioned in the Bible is significant but many of them are. Geographical location is part of the writer’s context. Tools that can be used for geographic places are Bible atlas, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.

Con: It is very helpful to have many tools when it comes to studying the Bible. These tools are not meant to replace God’s Word or try to be God’s Word but to help us understand what God is saying. We must be careful when we read certain things and make sure it lines up with Scripture.