Going Deep in the Bible
What is the Bible?
• Two possible answers:
– Words of man about God? or
– Word of God
Word of God
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Revelation
Authority
Truth
Wisdom & Guidance
Comfort & Hope
Correction
What’s in the Bible?
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Hosea, Joel
Amos, Obadiah
Jonah, Micah
Nahum,
Habakkuk,
Zephaniah,
Haggai,
Zechariah,
Malachi
Joshua, Judges
Ruth, Esther
1 & 2 Samuel,
1 & 2 Kings
1 & 2 Chronicles
Ezra, Nehemiah
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
(& Lamentations)
Ezekiel
Daniel
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
-Acts
Romans,
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 & 2 Thess
1 & 2 Timothy
Philemon, Titus
Hebrews
James
1 & 2 Peter
Jude
1-3 John
-Revelation
Getting to know the Bible
• It takes time
– Little and often
• Find a good reading plan
– youversion.com
– audio Bibles
– Daily reading notes
Richly Interconnected
• You can’t make sense of the NT without the
OT
– OT is quoted 485 times in NT
– As many, if not more allusions
– “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven
opened, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51
• Cross-references and study Bibles
– esvbible.org
Bible Intertextuality
Richly Interconnected
• You can’t make sense of the OT without the
NT
– And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,
he explained to them what was said in all the
Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27
– Jesus is the central character of the whole Bible
Richly Interconnected
• Many stories are told more than once
– Jesus’ birth in Matthew & Luke
– Paul’s conversion three times in Acts
– Resurrection in all four gospels and 1 Cor 15
• Repeated words and phrases
– “Grace and peace”
– Do not be afraid
Psalm 1
• Blessed is the man who walks not in the
counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way
of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but
his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on
his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is
like a tree planted by streams of water that
yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does
not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Meditation
• Devoting time to going deep in a passage
– Read it carefully, several times
– Read it in multiple versions
– Memorise it
– Print it out, make your own notes
Gaining Understanding
• Can we understand it by ourselves?
– Roman Catholics: Bible and church
– Evangelicals: Bible and studying
– Charismatics: Bible and the Holy Spirit
Translations
• Literal / Formal Equivalence
– e.g. ESV, KJV
• Dynamic Equivalence
– e.g. NIV
• Paraphrase
– e.g. NLT, Message
Translation Difficulties
• Idioms and euphemisms (e.g. Gen 4:1)
– Now Adam knew Eve his wife (ESV)
– Adam made love to his wife Eve, (NIV)
– Adam slept with Eve his wife (MSG)
– Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve.
(NLT)
Translation Difficulties
• Original words or modern equivalents (Col
1:2)
– “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at
Colossae:” ESV
– “To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful
brothers and sisters in Christ:” NIV
Study Aids
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Concordance
Expositions
Commentaries
Original Language Tools
Concordances
• Find all places where a word is used
• Study Bibles
• Online search
– biblegateway.com
– esvbible.org
• Bible Software
– www.logos.com
– www.e-sword.net
Expositions
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Explain and apply the Bible verse by verse
Phil Moore “Straight to the Heart”
Tom Wright “For Everyone…”
Sermon Series
Commentaries
• Explain the original meaning in detail
– Leave the application to the reader
– Can be quite academic
• Often come in series
– Bible Speaks Today
– Pillar Commentaries
– New International Commentary
– Zondervan Exegetical Commentary
– NIV Application Commentary
Original Language Tools
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Greek and Hebrew word definitions
Interlinear Bibles
Bible software
ESV Greek Tools
biblewebapp.com
Summary
• Make it your life’s ambition to know the book
– It is key to knowing God
• Get a grip on the big picture
– Start to see the interconnections
• Choose shorter sections to go deep into
– Meditate on it
– Make use of the resources available to you