How Do I Study the Bible? Part III
For our last post on Bible Study, I'm going to share some of the actual books and resources I use, and what they're good for.
Study Bible
I use a John MacArthur Study Bible (NASB 95), but there are many good study Bibles out there. ESV Study Bible and Reformation Study Bible are a couple other good options. For every day study, these kinds of Bibles are great. They offer short and concise notes for most verses. This is helpful because, let's face it, sometimes the Bible is hard to understand.
Bonus Point: Pick a Bible you'll read. Study notes are great, but you need to get a good, solid translation that you can understand. There are certainly some to avoid (The Message, Passion translation, for example), but many translations are great. For a first time Bible reader I recommend the ESV. If You're a solid reader, then the NASB is a good option as well. I understand many feel they need to read the KJV. I've been in that boat myself. Hopefully the video from James White I shared earlier in the week will help you in that regard. But if you feel the need to stick closer to that, then the NKJV is also a good choice. But the main thing is—find a Bible you will read and can understand.
Commentary
For the average person, you can find a lot of good commentary on websites like Preceptaustin.org or Bible Hub. I have some of John MacArthur's commentary on various books from the New Testament. Matthew Henry's commentary is a good and relatively affordable option as well. I also have a Wycliffe Bible Commentary, which offers a really easy to understand commentary. Another good online resource is Bibleref.org.
Bible Helps
Other resources to look into are things like "Halley's Bible Handbook" or "What's in the Bible" by R.C. Sproul and Robert Wolgemuth. These kinds of books give overviews of the various books of the Bible, some of the historical context, and primary ideas that each Bible book deals with.
If you can find them, Rose publishing has some interesting Bible aids, especially regarding maps (it's called "Then and Now"). They're doubly nice, as (unless something has changed) you can print copies of the pages for group studies without needing a license. I can't vouch for all of the theology in all of their books, however.
Dictionaries
Bible Dictionaries are a great aid to have. They can give detailed information on books of the Bible, different people or places in the Scriptures, and key doctrines and topics. I use the Holman Bible Dictionary, but there are many options. And find one that's illustrated; who doesn't love pictures?
Concordance and Original Languages
I'm going to bunch these together as this is where you can go super deep. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As such, going to the original languages can be helpful in our studies. But I say that with a caveat: it's easy to learn just enough to be dangerous.
That said, Strong's Concordance has every single word in the Bible, along with a basic definition of that word as well as related words. It is a helpful tool, but realize that the numbers assigned to each word are not some supernatural thing, it's just a concordance. It's sad I have to say that, but you'd be surprised how many people out there make mountains out of mole hills.
Greek New Testaments (and of course, the Hebrew for the Old) are another thing you can get into, if you're up to learning the language. But for the average person, I don't think you need to delve that far.
Some final thoughts:
This can seem like a lot. What I don't want you to take away from this is that you have to do all of these steps just to read the Bible. These aids are useful for preparing a Bible study or doing a deep dive into a book or passage. For everyday reading, sticking with just a study Bible is just fine. The key thing is to read the Bible. If these things will help you do that, and to better understand it, than by all means, use them.
I hope that this resource-filled week has been helpful to you. And I hope it is an encouragement to you to read the Bible.
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