Rightly Dividing the Word

The Concordance

One of the foremost tools for Bible study, the
concordance, provides immediate access to any verse of Scripture, even
if one remembers only one word or a few words contained in it.

Three concordances are recognized as leaders in the
field: Cruden’s Unabridged Concordance, Young’s Analytical Concordance
to the Bible and Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. The latter two are
more comprehensive.

Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament and
Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament, along with a
Greek lexicon and Hebrew lexicon, can be of great value for more
advanced Bible students.

Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Another very important aid to Bible study is a dictionary
of the Bible. It is an alphabetically arranged compilation of words and
their definitions, all with biblical significance. Included are proper
nouns—the names of persons and places—as well as common nouns with
scriptural meanings.

Through the use of a dictionary and an encyclopedia, the
student can obtain a clearer understanding of difficult words and
unfamiliar names of persons, places and things. For example, the
“cubit,” a biblical unit of measure, is found to be nearly 18 inches.
The word “penny” is discovered to be the translation of the Greek word
“denarius,” which was the chief Roman silver coin, worth about 15 to 17
cents, or the equivalent of a day’s wages in Jesus’ time.

A Bible dictionary defines the word “publican” as the
collector of Roman revenue. It gives detailed information regarding
this class of Romans, hated among the Jews for their fraudulent
extraction under the vicious system of government.

A Bible dictionary and encyclopedia will bring a flood of
light to the student when he is looking for the meaning of unfamiliar
terms. Among the better-known works are The Concise Bible Dictionary by
Merrill F. Unger, The New International Bible Dictionary and
Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary, both by J.D. Douglas and
Merrill C. Tenney.

For those who desire a more exhaustive treatment of
subject matter, there is The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
by Geoffrey W. Bromiley in four volumes and A Dictionary of the Bible
by William Smith in one volume. The Westminster Concise Bible
Dictionary by Barbara Smith and George Ernest Wright is one of my
favorites to use.

Bible Atlas and Bible History

Though of secondary importance to the basic aids already
listed, a Bible atlas, along with books on biblical history and
customs, can make substantial contributions to the study of the Bible.

One example, the Holman Bible Atlas by Thomas V. Brisco,
is a source book of general information on Bible geography, geology and
archeology. Baker’s Bible Atlas by Charles F. Pfeiffer is a good tool
for study purposes.

For example, the missionary journeys of Paul as recorded
in the book of Acts, along with his epistles to the churches, take on
enriched meaning to the student who has a knowledge of the geography of
the lands involved. The same could be said for the journeys of Jesus,
Abraham and other significant Bible personalities.

A knowledge of Bible manners and traditions can broaden
your understanding of the Scriptures. Books such as The Land and the
Book by Charles R. Page and Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Manners and
Customs by Howard F. Vos are helpful in this regard.

Commentary

A Bible commentary, as the name suggests, interprets the
meaning of each Bible passage—verse by verse. For hundreds of years
Bible scholars and spiritual leaders have recorded the results of their
studies, and much of this has been gathered in various commentaries.

Some commentaries are the work of a single author, while
others are a compilation of the efforts of several scholars and range
in size from one volume to well over 50 volumes. Three of the
better-known versions are Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole
Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s New Commentary on the Whole Bible;
and The Wycliffe Bible Commentary by Everett F. Harrison and Charles F.
Pfeiffer.

Additional Resources

The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: New Testament (1992)
and The Complete WordStudy New Testament, both by Spiros Zodhiates, are
wonderful tools for studying the words in the original languages. They
give invaluable help in the digging of silver.

Nave’s Topical Bible is a kind of concordance with full
texts, a digest of 20,000 topics and subtopics and 100,000 references
to the Scriptures. Also, another valuable tool for study, and a mine of
general Bible information, is Halley’s Bible Handbook.

My purpose here is to introduce the believer to a variety
of effective tools for serious study of the Word. This list is limited,
but perhaps it will serve as a help to those who are beginning to
develop a Bible study library.

It is important to note that the serious study of the
hidden treasure in the Scriptures will not always be convenient. With
all of our timesaving devices, we are still the busiest generation that
ever lived. It will require sacrifice just to come to a place of study.

Once there, we need to be willing to exert effort in
study and prayer in order to uncover the rich veins of silver awaiting
us in the revelation of the Word of God. Whatever sacrifices and
efforts are required, it will be worth it all to savor the presence of
God in your soul, which is the only source of true satisfaction we can
know.

The late Fuchsia Pickett was a noted Bible teacher and author of numerous books, including Receiving Divine Revelation and How to Search the Scriptures, from which this article is adapted.