“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15 ESV). Every worker needs the right tools for the task at hand, and with the right tools enjoys creating masterpieces or restoring damages, for example. “Rightly handling” literally means “correctly cutting,” so the Amplified Bible reads “correctly analyzing and accurately dividing,” and the Concordant Literal Version reads “correctly cutting the word of truth” (see also Darby’s 1889 Bible.)
To conclude this series on enjoying your Bible, I want to suggest some tools that are lifetime investments. I will deal with books first, and then digital products. First you need an essentially literal translation, and there’s plenty to choose from. In this category there is, in no particular order, the KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV, HCSB and the ESV, the ESV being my current preference. However, there are more tools available for the good old KJV than any other translation. I prefer just a plain Bible with large type so you can make your own notes above the words and in the margins.
You may prefer other popular bibles, such as the NIV, but they were created as paraphrases and are not essentially literal or formal equivalence translations. For example, in II Corinthians 5:17 the NIV reads, “The old has gone, the new has come!” There is no change of doctrine or inaccuracy there, but they failed to translate one Greek word. Between the two phrases, God placed the word “behold” or “lo” or “see”, to stop the flow and emphasize the greatness and importance of the new. So in the NIV we just notice the contrast but in most literal translations we pause and focus our thoughts on the new. In other places, the NIV authors have inserted their own doctrinal preferences, and you can check the Internet for discussions on this.
Many of the example verses I have previously quoted cannot be seen in a paraphrased version. These are good sources for illustrative phrases, and in the last large book I published I quoted from over 15 other bibles and paraphrases in addition to the ESV, so I make good use of them in my teaching.
An annotated Bible is a standard bible with marginal references and comments on words to save you looking up an outside source. Some use symbols in the text, or footnotes and appendices, to give you textual help. Examples would be the Companion Bible, the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, or the older Newberry Bible; all three are KJV based. The man who produced the Concordant Literal Version (NT) (download sample chapters here) wore out two Newberry Bibles and a Wigram’s Concordance in his studies!
On the other hand, a study Bible is influenced more by the beliefs of the producers, with doctrinal teaching in addition to marginal references. The original Scofield Study Bible (KJV), Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (KJV), ESV Study Bible, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, and scores of other study bibles are on the market.
Second on the list is a concordance, a valuable aid that lists usages of a word. You can download our list of “In Christ” scriptures, which is really a concordance of that phrase. Popular choices of concordances are Strong’s and Young’s and Cruden’s; huge volumes with every one of the 12,143 words in the King James Version. The first two also give the meaning of Hebrew and Greek words. Other concise concordances are available; some small concordances are even bound with various translations. If you remember part of a verse and want to read the whole or the context, this is the tool you use to find it. Everyone needs a concordance.
A lexicon is a book much like an English dictionary, which explains what a word means and how it is used. Thayer’s is a long-standing favorite, as is the popular Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.
On the other hand, a Bible Dictionary, like Smith’s, Unger’s, Holman’s and many others, is actually more like an abbreviated Bible encyclopedia, describing places, people, flora and fauna, currency, measurements, and so forth.
Turning to the digital world, many of the long established books mentioned above are available online at sites such as www.bible.org and biblestudytools.com, and many others. Better yet, many Bible programs are available for different operating systems, ranging from free to $100 or more. These combine all the above in one program or linked programs, and are widely used.
For those with a Windows or Mac operating systems plus iPhone and iPad, you can’t pass up E-Sword from www.e-sword.net, which is what I personally use. E-Sword is free, so you can’t beat the price! It combines all the above types of books, with multiple translations, resources, and even your own note-taking area. See the screenshots on their home page. There have been 30 million downloads to date! You can purchase additional recent Bibles to add to the stack you get with your free download.
So I encourage you to get your Word Toolbox organized and use it to enjoy your Bible even more!
Dear Peter,
Thank you for reminding me of the Greek, and why I miss the KJV. In this newsletter I am fed the word I am missing in my church.
Great to see that you are among the one in four people who open the newsletter, Maxine. And better than that, you get something from it! Yes, I still think in KJV even though I use other translations. Blessings!
I know what I’m asking Santa for this Christmas!