|
How do I use resources like concordances, commentaries and Bible dictionaries?
Concordances are very handy tools. They allow you to see at a glance all the references for verses that use a specific word. So, if you want to study "suffering," you can go to the commentary and discover that in the NIV, the Old Testament uses "suffer" 21 times, the New Testament, 29; "suffered" is in the OT 9 times, the NT 20 times; "suffering": OT - 27, NT - 26; "sufferings": OT - 1, NT - 13; "suffers": OT - 2, NT - 2. To truly understand what the Bible says about suffering, you must read all of those verses - in context!
Concordances sometimes include references to the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic words. This is marginally helpful. If you get a GK Concordance it includes not only the reference to the word used, but how many times that word is used in the Bible and the different ways it's translated. For more information on how to properly use a GK Concordance, I recommend Grasping God's Word. (See the reference list on the bottom of the Bible study page.)
Commentaries contain reports of in-depth studies of the Bible by theologians. They can help you understand things that aren’t clearly stated in the Bible, like the cultural issues of the day. They will help you go deeper in your understanding, but not all commentaries are created equal! Some commentaries might confuse your understanding rather than clarify it. Here are some basic rules for choosing a commentary.
- Don’t use a commentary that was written by only one person. There is no way any one person could have studied deep enough in all the different books of the Bible to have a truly good understanding about everything. Most theologians will specialize in one area. Make sure the commentary you use has multiple authors for the different books of the Bible.
- Don’t use commentaries written before 1970. Archaeological finds in the twentieth century have made a big difference in our understanding of the culture in which the Bible was written. The older commentaries don’t have the same depth as the newer ones. Some things that were previously universally believed by Christians (like that Jesus was born in a stable) have been proven to be untrue.
- Be careful of commentaries put out by a denomination. They will hold denominational biases.
- For deepest understanding, use at least three commentaries. If you find a conflict of opinions, you might want to refer to another commentary.
- Don’t trust “new” revelations about understandings of the Bible that are not backed up by scientific evidence. While understandings of physical things such as the katalyma in Luke 2:7 were lost somewhere in antiquity, God would not have allowed deep spiritual truths to be lost. That is the stuff cults are borne of. However, always remember that some of the spiritual truths you were previously taught may be wrong. If someone can prove to you through the context of the Bible itself or through the historical evidence from biblical days that what you were told was wrong, let it go and embrace the truth. If they can’t prove it, don’t accept their “new truth.” Always stick with what can be proven.
- Don’t use free online commentaries. Most of them are untrustworthy since they don’t require academic excellence in researching. Never rely on an article that doesn’t have an author. Don’t use Wikipedia – anyone can post on Wikipedia; there is no oversight for accuracy.
Share your studies with others for accountability, but do make sure they’ve been at least as well trained as you’ve been.
Bible dictionaries are great resources for quickly finding out information about things that are mentioned in the Bible but not fully explained, like
Pharisees and Sadducees. Make sure that your Bible dictionary wasn't written by just one person. Like with commentaries, there's no way one person can be an expert on that many topics. Also like commentaries, beware of what you can find on the internet.
|
