"Study To Show Yourself Approved Unto God,"  2 Timothy 2:15
J. Deering, AncientPath.net

Lesson 8 - Explore The Word

• In this lesson you should have one or two "study Bibles."  These are Bibles that have book introductions, chapter headings, paragraph headings, an other Bible helps.
• The Ryrie Study Bibles and the Scofield Reference Bibles have extended Bible notes at the bottom of each page.  These Bibles,  Open Bible, the Thompson Chain Bible, and several other study bibles also have concordances, dictionaries, and topical studies (or topical groupings of verses) in them as well.
• Start with the notes at the bottom of your study Bible.  Go to the pages where your study verses are and read about them there.
• Find the "key words" (words that carry the meaning of each verse or phrase (words like: Love, Money, Death, Conscience, suffering, temptation) and look them up in the Topical Index.  Find out how these words are used in other verses that may help you understand how they are used in your verses.
• Take these same "key words" and look them up in the Concordance in the same manner as you did with the Topical Index.
• Check the Book Introduction for the date of the writer then find the "Bible Timeline" to see what else was happening in the Bible world when the book was written.
• Also look at the Maps in your study Bible, now that you have a date for the author, and see where the events of your passage take place.
• Feel free at this point in your study to go outside the information contained within your Bible - However, I will again remind you to STAY AWAY FROM COMMENTARIES.  Our aim is for YOU to learn to "comment" on Bible passages. Referring to a commentary (or many commentaries) is saved until YOU have drawn your conclusions for yourself.  Then you can compare them with a book commentary.

Some terms and books you should be familiar with for your continued studying.

Bible Dictionary - Comes in many sizes, for small I like the "Handy Dictionary of the Bible," by Merrill C. Tenney.  For my personal library size I have the "Unger's Bible Dictionary," by Merrill F. Unger.
Bible Maps, Maps of the Holy Land, Bible Geographies
Bible Companions - Books that contain just Bible helps and not the Scriptures themselves.  I use the "A Companion to the New Scofield Reference Bible" by E. Schuyler English


Move to the Next Lesson: Lesson 9 - "Discern the Word"

2021-08-11