How To Dig Deeper Into Your Bible Study - Three Tools To Change Your Life
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Photo by Mikhail Pavstyuk on Unsplash
We’ve been talking about learning to study the Word of God going deeper than just reading it. We learned when we study God’s Word, we’re actually learning to feed ourselves. We go from a baby who has to be helped to eat to a toddler who now can begin to feed themselves. As we practice, we get better and better. Eventually, we get to start using knives and other special utensils to fully enjoy our meals.
To begin this learning process, we started with 5 simple steps to study the Bible. If you missed it, click here to read, “How to study the Bible in five simple steps.” This is by no means extensive, but it’s a great start to get you comfortable feeding yourself the Word of God.
Why do we want to dig deeper? Isn’t it enough to just read a devotional and call it a day?
I like to think of devotionals as supplements. They can be great for us. They help fill in some gaps in our nutrition, but they were never meant to be our only meal source.
Again, we want to learn to feed ourselves not just be spoon fed for the rest of our lives.
As we personally spend time in His Word digging deeper, we will more fully understand who Jesus is and what he’s done for us. This is where life change happens.
Bible study is one of the ways we can abide or remain in the Vine. And as we learned in the post “The Christian woman’s foolproof way to bear fruit,” if we remain in Him, we will bear fruit.
So, today, we’re going to add some extra cutlery to your Scripture Study arsenal that will bring even more clarity and understanding to God’s Word.
Word Studies
Word studies will give you the actual definition and meaning that the original author meant in the language it was written in.
While you’re reading a scripture, what words in the sentence pop out to you?
Write those down.
Then look ups those words using one of the tools listed below.
Tool 1
Biblehub.com
Type in your scripture in the search bar
You’re given multiple translations you can read
Click on the Interlinear tab
You’ll see something that looks like gobbledygook. (Please note gobbledygook is in the Merriam-Webster dictionary)
It will show you the verse in the original language it was written in.
Above that will be the transliteration (meaning you’ll see the Greek or Hebrew word written with English letters so you can actually read it.)
Above that you’ll see a number. That’s the Strong number.
Click on this little gem (aka Strong’s Number) and you’ll see the definition. Not a current day definition, but the real definition from the time period and language in which the text was written.
Some more helpful tools on that same page are the NAS Concordance and the HELPS word-study. Depending on the word you’re looking up, usually one or the other will pop up. They are helpful to get a better understanding of the definition.
Biblehub.com
Tool 2
Blueletterbible.org
Type in your scripture in the search bar.
Click on the Tools button next to your verse.
It will put you on the interlinear tab automatically.
It will look something like the Biblehub.com version does, but in horizontal form.
Click on the Strong’s number to see the definitions.
A handy tool it has is an audio clip of the pronunciation. Just look for the mic button on the pronunciation key.
It will also give you a few other Bible tools, like Vine’s Expository Dictionary.
Scroll down further to see a Concordance, giving you all the scriptures that also use this exact word.
Blueletterbible.org
Want to go even deeper into the word? I promise, you’ll come back up for air.
Parsing
One of my favorite tools that Blueletterbible.org gives me is a little something called parsing (meaning: examine it’s parts).
On the Interlinear tab, some words will have an extra button under the parsing column (see above picture).
Click on the Parse button to reveal the word’s tense, voice and/or mood (information listed varies according to the word you select).
So, what this tells you is how this particular word is used.
Now, I’m no Bible Scholar and I can’t diagram a sentence to save my life. So, I started googling to figure out what tense, voice and mood meant.
Here’s more two resources I found that bring clarity.
For Old Testament (Hebrew): http://pathoftorah.com/resources/hebrew/ and http://www.hebrew4christians.com/
For New Testament (Greek): http://www.ntgreek.org/
Still wondering why you should check this out?
In my post on remaining in the vine, I broke down John 15:5. When we got to the word bear, I learned through the Parse button that this word was a Present, Active, Indicative verb.
When I looked up what the indicative mood meant, I discovered it was a statement of fact from the writer or speaker’s perspective (which was Jesus speaking in this verse).
So, when Jesus said, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear fruit,” He stated this as fact. When you continue in Him or spend time with Him, you WILL bear fruit. Period.
Doesn’t understanding how the parts of speech are used bring so much more clarity and understanding?
Tool 3
Verse Mapping
This is another way to study the Bible besides the Five Steps I listed in my last post.
Kristy Cambron introduced this to me (not personally, but at a ladies conference she was speaking at.) and the nerd in me was all a flutter.
Now, this method of study is not just for the word nerds among us. It’s for anyone wanting to dig deeper into their Bibles for themselves.
Kristy Cambron explains verse mapping in her blog post here.
“DEFINITION: Verse-Mapping is a method of studying the historical context, transliteration, translation, connotation, and theological framework of a verse in the Bible.
Plain and simple? Verse mapping is: getting real about studying the Bible. All of it. It’s not just reading. It’s researching everything you can in a verse to learn more about who God is and how He wants to speak to you through His Word. In short? It’s serious study.” - Kristy Cambron
I’m still new at this one, so I’ve linked to Kristy’s post so you can get the full low-down. She also has links in this post to videos that other ladies have made to help you understand how to get started.
If you’re thinking, I’m not great at researching, I’m creative. Well, it’s for you too. You get to use every pen color in the rainbow to create your verse maps. And, for those non-rule followers, (You know who you are) you don’t have to stick to the exact format either. Get creative.
There’s only ONE RULE for verse mapping: “If I can’t back something up with Scripture, then I can’t write it down. That’s it. Everything is fair game in studying, as long as God said it first.” - Kristy Cambron
Spending time with Jesus in His Word should be something that brings you joy not sucks it out of you.
So go to it ladies! You now have some serious tools you can use to dig into and feed yourself the Word.
I can’t wait to hear the amazing things you discover as you dig in!
Resources
Word Study: Biblehub.com or Blueletterbible.org
Old Testament (Hebrew): http://pathoftorah.com/resources/hebrew/ and http://www.hebrew4christians.com/
New Testament (Greek): http://www.ntgreek.org/
Verse Mapping: https://kristycambron.com/verse-mapping-101-steps-to-study-the-bible-like-never-before/