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18 Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible – Notes Download
Why do we need extra-biblical tools to help us understand the Bible?

Different geography
Different history
Different cultures (ancient Near Eastern, first-century Jewish, Greco-Roman)
Different economics
Different literacy rates
Different scientific and philosophical knowledge

Bible Dictionaries

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2015)
The IVP Bible Dictionary Series

Dictionary of OT: Pentateuch (2002)
Dictionary of OT: Historical Books (2005)
Dictionary of OT: Wisdom, Poetry, & Writings (2008)
Dictionary of OT: Prophets (2012)
Dictionary of NT Background (2000)
Dictionary of Jesus & Gospels (2013)
Dictionary of Paul & Letters (2023)
Dictionary of the Later NT (1997)



Commentaries

Fee & Stuart: “Jesus says, ‘…It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ You will sometimes hear it said that there was a gate in Jerusalem known as the “Needle’s Eye,” which camels could go through only by kneeling, and with great difficulty. The point of this “interpretation” is that a camel could in fact go through the “Needle’s Eye.” The trouble with this “exegesis,” however, is that it is simply not true. There never was such a gate in Jerusalem at any time in its history. The earliest known “evidence” for this idea is found in the eleventh century(!) in a commentary by a Greek churchman named Theophylact, who had the same difficulty with the text that many later readers do. After all, it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and that was precisely Jesus’ point. It is impossible for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom. It takes a miracle for a rich person to get saved…”1
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary (ZIBBC – 10 vols.)
New International Commentary (NICOT – 30 vols.; NICNT – 20 vols.)
New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC – 12 vols.)
The New Testament for Everyone by N. T. Wright (18 vols.)

Bible Project Videos

Book Overviews (OT – 39 videos; NT – 26 videos)
How to Read the Bible (19 videos)
Themes (41 videos)
Word Studies (21 videos)
Many more at com/explore/

Software

Lots of translations
Original language resources
Cross-references
Outlines
Search tools
Accordance & Logos

Search Tools

Artificial intelligence chat bots (openai.com)
Crowd sourced websites (info/topics)

Review

Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias provide short articles on places, individuals, and topics in the Bible.
Older and free research tools sometimes contain inaccuracies that more recent scholarship has overturned or updated.
A good commentary tells you the options for interpreting a verse, reasons for each of those options, and a suggestion for which one makes the most sense.
The Bible Project’s book overview videos are really helpful to get a general understanding of a book of the Bible.
Bible software on PCs, tablets, and phones provide worldclass research tools to help you study scripture.
When searching for a phrase, a topic, or something specific, you can use a Bible app, openbible.info, or AI.

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014). p. 29.The post 18: Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible first appeared on Living Hope.

17 How to Choose a Bible Translation – Notes Download
Translation basics

Fee & Stuart: “Your Bible, whatever translation you use, which is your beginning point, is in fact the end result of much scholarly work. Translators are regularly called upon to make choices regarding meanings, and their choices are going to affect how you”1
“Every translation is a commentary” -Lee Brice

The Bible is in three languages.

Hebrew: Old Testament except the Aramaic part

Nearly 99% of the OT (22,945 of 23,213 verses)


Aramaic: half of Daniel and two passages in Ezra

Daniel 2.4b-7.28; Ezra 4.8-6.18; 7.12-26
About 1% of the OT (268 of 23,213 verses)


Greek: New Testament (all 7,968 verses)

How to begin learning Hebrew or Greek

Immersion program in Israel or Greece

Whole Word Institute offers a 9-month program.


In-person college class (usually 2 semesters)

Local colleges, RTS offers an 8-week summer program.


In-person classes at a Jewish synagogue or Greek church or community center
Online program with live instructor

Biblical Language Center, Liberty University, etc.


Digital program with pre-recordings

Aleph with Beth (YouTube), Bill Mounce’s DVD
course, etc.



How to improve your existing knowledge of Hebrew or Greek

Reading group in-person or online

Read a portion each week together.


Daily dose of Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic

Daily YouTube videos of one verse each (email list)


Read every day.

Read the Bible; read devotionals; read comic books (Glossa House produces great resources)


Watch modern Hebrew and Greek shows.

Izzy is like Netflix for Israel/Hebrew
Greece has lots of channels streaming online.



Translation process (1 Timothy 2:5 example)

Greek New Testament (NA28)

Εἷς γὰρ θεός,
εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων,
ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς

Literal translation
One for god,
one and mediator of god and men,
man Christ Jesus
Finished translation
For (there is) one God, and (there is) one mediator between God and mankind, (the) man Christ Jesus.

New Testament critical editions

Nestle Aland 28th Edition (NA28) based on the Editio Critica Maior (ECM), which employs the coherence based genealogical method (CBGM)
Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT) prioritizes trusted physical manuscripts over the CBGM.

Old Testament critical editions

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and the partially completed Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) print the Leningrad Codex in the main text, but include alternative readings in the footnotes.
Hebrew Bible Critical Edition (HBCE) by Ronald Mendel is a project of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) to develop a critical edition.

Resources to see decisions about alternative readings

NET Bible (accessible at org)
New Testament Text and Commentary by Philip Comfort
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger

Formal equivalence translation philosophy

Fee & Strauss: “If the Greek or Hebrew text uses an infinitive, the English translation will use an infinitive. When the Greek or Hebrew has a prepositional phrase, so will the English…The goal of this translational theory is formal correspondence as much as possible.”2
Ron Rhodes: “Formal equivalence translations can also be trusted not to mix too much commentary in with the text derived from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. To clarify, while all translation entails some interpretation, formal equivalence translations keep to a minimum in intermingling interpretive additives into the text.  As one scholar put it, ‘An essentially literal translation operates on the premise that a translator is a steward of what someone else has written, not an editor and exegete who needs to explain or correct what someone else has written.’”3

Dynamic equivalence translation philosophy

Ron Rhodes: “Dynamic equivalence translations generally use shorter words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. They use easy

The General Epistles

Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
Some consider Hebrews to be Pauline, but even if Paul wrote it, it’s not to a church or a pastor, so it still fits as a general epistle
2 John and 3 John are technical to specific individuals and thus not general epistles

Hebrews

Authorship

Evidence for Paul

Associated with Timothy and Rome (Heb 13:23-24)
Pauline themes


Evidence against Paul

Non-Pauline themes
Ancient uncertainty (Origen, Eusebius, etc.)
Non-standard opening
Not an eyewitness (Heb 2:3)


Daniel Wallace suggested Barnabas with help from Apollos.


Audience

As title indicates, the audience was Jewish.
Persecuted (Heb 10:32-36)


Occasion

Became aware of some falling away from faith (Heb 3:6; 4:14; 6:4-6; 10:23, 26-27)
Concern that they will return to Judaism


Purpose

Convince Jewish Christians to endure in the faith instead of falling away (presumably back into Judaism)


Mode

Show that Jesus is better
Ch 1: Jesus as God’s promised Messiah is better than the angels who gave the Law.
Ch 2:  Jesus’ salvation is better b/c he is human.
Ch 3:  Jesus is better than Moses.
Ch 7: Jesus’ priesthood is better than Aaron’s.
Ch 8:  Jesus’ covenant is better than the old covenant b/c it has better promises.
Ch 9:  Jesus’ heavenly priestly service is better than the priests serving at the temple on earth.
Ch 10:  Jesus’ sacrifice is better than animal sacrifices.
Ch 11: The unshakable Mt. Zion covenant is better than the covenant at Mt. Sinai.
Overall rhetorical effect to ask, “Why in the world would Christ-followers want to downgrade to Judaism after they’ve tasted something so much better?”



1 John

Authorship

No author in the document itself (1 John 1:1)
Early Christians refer to this letter as written by John

Irenaeus (a.d. 180) attributed the Gospel of John and 1 John to “John, the disciple of the Lord”1
Later Christians agreed, including Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and the Muratorian Canon
Eusebius says, “But of John’s writings, in addition to the Gospel, the first of the letters is unambiguously accepted [as genuine] both by people today and by the ancients” (H.E. 3.24.17)2


Definitely the same John who wrote the Gospel of John (John the Apostle)

Same vocabulary and writing style


Audience

Christians that John is worried about


Occasion: concern over rogue Christians

“They went out from us, but they did not belong to us”
(1 John 2:19).
They are trying to deceive the regular Christians (2:26; 3:7).
Many false prophets have gone out (4:1).
They are denying that Jesus is the Christ (2:22).
They may have been teaching that sin is ok (3:7-10).


Purpose

Equip Christians to discern and resist false teachings
Encourage them to

Live righteously
Believe correctly about Jesus
Love one another


Mode

Christology

“Confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (4:2)
“Testify that the Father has sent his son as the savior of the world” (4:14).
“Confess that Jesus is the son of God” (4:15)
“Believes that Jesus is the Christ” (5:1)
“Believes that Jesus is the son of God” (5:5)
“Believes in the son of God” (5:10)
“Life is in his son” (5:11)
“Believe in the name of the son of God” (5:13)


Behavior (1 John 3:7-10)

“It is unlikely that John has in mind absolute sinless perfection, since earlier he has denounced those who say they are without sin (1:8, 10). Rather, John has in mind the blatant sinning to which those who have left the community have fallen prey (2:19). In view of the letter as a whole, such sinning probably involves denial of Christ’s human nature (4:2-3; theological lapse), flaunting of God’s (or Christ’s) commands (2:4; ethical lapse), failure to love (4:20; relational lapse), or some combination of these grave errors.”3
Many appeals to live righteously (1 John 1:.5-6; 2:1-6; 3:4-10, 23-24; 5:18)
Live differently than the world (1 John 2:15-17; 3:1, 13; 4:

Letters in the First Century

Letters written on papyrus with ink by a professional scribe (amanuensis)
Though most letters that have survived from the ancient world were short and to the point, Paul’s Epistles are extremely long.
Because there was no postal system, someone had to carry the letter to its destination.
Upon arrival, most people couldn’t read, so a professional would need to read it aloud.
This was difficult because there were no chapters, verses, paragraphs, punctuation, or spaces between words (scriptio continua).




Name
Greek Words
English Words
Verses
Chapters


Romans
7113
9506
432
16


1 Corinthians
6832
9532
437
16


2 Corinthians
4480
6160
257
13


Galatians
2232
3227
149
6


Ephesians
2424
3047
155
6


Philippians
1631
2261
104
4


Colossians
1583
1993
95
4


1 Thessalonians
1484
1908
89
5


2 Thessalonians
826
1065
47
3



 
Church Epistles in Chronological Order

Galatians 48
1 Thessalonians 49-51
2 Thessalonians 49-51
1 Corinthians 53-55
2 Corinthians 53-55
Romans 57
Philippians 62
Colossians 62
Ephesians 62

Developing Your Knowledge of the Greco-Roman World

Get background books like The World of the New Testament by Green and McDonald and Zondervan’s Illustrated Bible Background Commentary by Clinton Arnold.
Read the literature that has survived. Hundreds of volumes are available in the Loeb Classical Library.
Learn about archeology in the Mediterranean world around the time of Christ (Biblical Archeological Review).
Take a tour to visit the sites in Greece and Turkey (Spirit and Truth International).
Study the geography of the region on maps that show the correct place names for the first century.

Deciphering the Occasion

Each letter arose out of a specific circumstance. What was going on among the Christians in that city that caused Paul to write?
Galatians: Judaizers had visited churches Paul founded, telling people they needed to follow the law of Moses.
1 Corinthians: Chloe sent word of divisions in Corinth; Paul also received a letter asking specific questions.
2 Corinthians: false teachers had ensconced themselves in Corinth who criticized and undermined Paul.
Philippians: Epaphroditus brought Paul financial assistance from Philippi.

Reading the Church Epistles

The first time through, just get your bearings. Read for scope.
What’s going on in that church? What’s going on in that city? What are their concerns? What are the doctrinal errors that Paul is correcting?
The second time through, read more slowly, paying attention to major units of thought (usually paragraphs). Ask yourself how each section contributes to the whole.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand a particular sentence or phrase.

1 Cor 15:29  “baptism on behalf of the dead”
1 Cor 11:10 “because of the angels”


No one understands everything. It’s more important to get the main point than understand every little nuance.

Form of ancient letters1

Author(s)
Recipient(s)
Greeting
Prayer/thanksgiving
Content
Final greeting(s) and farewell

Content Section

These Epistles are loaded with theology and practical application.
Not systematic theologies, neatly organized
Rather, they move from topic to topic based on the need of the congregation, oftentimes based on a previous (now lost) letter or communication they made to Paul.
Romans and Ephesians come closest to laying out a theological system.

Application

What is Paul asking them to do?
Are my particulars similar enough to say this instruction applies to me as well?
How much of what he said is culturally conditioned?
Can I derive a principle that applies in general today?

Review

Sending long letters in the Roman world was expensive and difficult due to the cost of materials, the skill required to write, and the need to have someone carry and read your letter aloud to the recipients.
Paul sent the Church Epistles to Christian churches living in major Greco-Roman cities.
We know much about the culture, politics, and geography of these cities due t

12 How to Read Acts Download
Luke wrote Acts.

Acts 1:1-2
Acts is the second volume.
Luke is about the life of Christ.
Acts is about the early expansion of the church.

Major events of Acts

1:1-11  Jesus commissions and ascends.
1:12-27 Peter initiates replacing Judas.
2:1-47 Spirit is poured out, and Peter preaches.
3:1-26 Peter heals lame man and preaches.
4:1-6:7  Communal living in Jerusalem
6:8-7:60  Stephen’s martyrdom
8:1-40  Philip’s expansion to Samaria, Ethiopia
9:1-31  Paul’s conversion, expansion to Damascus
9:32-9:43  Peter’s mission to Lydda and Joppa
10:1-11:18 Peter converts Cornelius in Caesarea.
11:19-30 Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch.
12:1-24 Peter’s arrest and miraculous escape
12:25-16:5 Paul’s 1st missionary journey
16:6-19:20 Paul’s 2nd missionary journey
19:21-21:17 Paul’s 3rd missionary journey
21:18-28:31 Paul’s arrest and trip to Rome

Organization of the book

The first half is about Peter (1-12).
The second half is about Paul (13-28).
Acts 1:8 outlines the book: they expanded from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.

Leading and experience of God’s spirit

Baptized with the spirit, filled with the spirit, pour out the spirit, receive the spirit, spirit fell upon: 1:5, 8; 2:4, 17; 4:31; 8:17; 9:17; 10:44-45; 11:15-16; 13:52
Speaking in tongues; prophecy: 2:4, 17-18; 10:46; 11:28; 19:6; 20:22-23; 27:21-22
Exorcisms: 5:16; 8:7; 16:18; 19:12-16
Healing and miracles: 3:6-7; 5:12, 15-16; 8:39; 9:17-18, 34-35; 12:7-10; 13:11; 14:10; 19:11; 20:9-10; 28:3-6, 8-9
Supernatural direction: 1:16, 26; 8:26, 29; 9:10-16; 13:2; 15:28; 16:7; 18:9-10; 20:28; 21:11; 23:11; 27:23-24

Rapid expansion through conversion

Convert 3,000 on day of Pentecost (2:41)
5,000 after healing lame man at the temple (4:4)
Conversions of whole towns: Samaria (8), Lydda, and Joppa (9)
Conversions of key people: Ethiopian treasurer (8); Paul of Tarsus (9); Cornelius the centurion (10); Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, (13); Lydia, a wealthy Philippian merchant, (16); Crispus, a synagogue leader in Corinth, (18); Publius of Malta (28)

Perseverance through persecution

Sadducees arrest Peter and John (4).
Sadducees arrest apostles (5).
A mob stones Stephen (7).
Paul leads persecution in Jerusalem (8).
King Herod executes James (12).
King Herod imprisons Peter (12).
Jewish leaders expel Paul and Barnabas from Pisidian Antioch (13).
Jewish leaders stone Paul at Lystra (14).
City magistrates arrest Paul and Silas at Philippi (16).
Jewish mob attacks Jason at Thessalonica (17).
Jewish leaders accuse Paul before Proconsul Gallio at Corinth (18).
Demetrius instigates riot against Paul at Ephesus (19).
Jewish mob attacks Paul at Jerusalem (21).
Plot of Jewish leaders to murder Paul (23)
Paul’s trial before Felix (24)
Paul’s trial before Festus (25)
Paul’s defense before King Agrippa (26)
Paul’s shipwreck (27)
Paul’s house arrest at Rome (28)

Respectful of Roman authorities

Paul is respectful to his arresting officer, Claudius, (21:33, 37-40).
He asserts his Roman citizenship (22:24-29).
He cordially converses with Felix, Roman governor of Judea, (24).
Paul appeals to have a trial before Caesar in Rome b/c he’s afraid he won’t get a fair hearing in Judea.
Paul interacts respectfully with Festus and King Agrippa.
King Agrippa says Paul should’ve been set free (26:31-32).
Paul complies on the whole journey while under arrest.

Including the Gentiles

Originally, Christianity was 100% Jewish.
Gentiles (non-Jews) began believing in Jesus, and God demonstrated his acceptance through his spirit (see Acts 10:44-45).
Both Peter and Paul preached to Gentiles and accepted them as part of God’s family.
After a disagreement broke out over the Gentiles (Acts 15:1-2), the disciples decided Gentiles could be part of the church without keeping the law.

Acts is the historical spine of the NT

Acts tells you about how Christianity came to many places mentioned in other parts of the NT.
On

The Four Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Gospel = good news
The Gospels are biographies about Jesus which seek to convince readers about the good news that he is the Messiah.

Basic Storyline of the Gospels

Birth narratives
John’s ministry
John baptizes Jesus.
Jesus calls the twelve.
Teachings of Jesus
Miracles of Jesus
Conflict with critics
Triumphal entry
Intensified conflict
Last supper
Arrest, trial, execution
Resurrection appearances
Great commission

Mark (11,305 words)

Papias: “And the elder used to say this: ‘Mark, having become Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of the things either said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, followed Peter, who adapted his teachings as needed but had no intention of giving an ordered account of the Lord’s sayings. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things as he remembered them, for he made it his one concern not to omit anything that he heard or to make any false statement in them.’”1

John (15,633 words)

Purpose statement: John 20:30-31
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Matthew (18,348 words)

Five blocks of teaching

5-7 Sermon on the Mount
10 Missionary Instruction
13 Parables of the Kingdom
18 Discourse on the Church
24-25 Olivet Discourse



Luke (19,483 words)

Luke’s method: Luke 1:1-4
1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start, to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed.
Luke’s historical precision: Luke 3:1-2
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

The Synoptic Gospels

Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Matthew and Luke quote Mark extensively.
Both quote another source of sayings as well.
Still, much of Matthew and Luke is unique to them.
Fee & Stuart: “Take, for example, the fact that there is such a high degree of verbal similarity among Matthew, Mark, and Luke in their narratives, as well as in their recording of the sayings of Jesus. Remarkable verbal similarities should not surprise us about the sayings of the one who spoke as no one ever did (John 7:46). But for this to carry over to the narratives is something else again—especially so when one considers (1) that these stories were first told in Aramaic, yet we are talking about the use of Greek words; (2) that Greek word order is extremely free, yet often the similarities extend even to precise word order; and (3) that it is highly unlikely that three people in three different parts of the Roman Empire would tell the same story with the same words—even to such minor points of individual style as prepositions and conjunctions.”2
Fee & Stuart: “The best explanation of all the data is …that Mark wrote his gospel first, probably in part at least from his recollection of Peter’s preaching and teaching. Luke and Matthew had access to Mark’s gospel and independently used it as the basic source for their own. But they also had access to all kinds of other material about Jesus, some of which they had in common. This common material, however, is scarcely ever presented in the same order