[shuttertalk]

Do you use a study bible? Which one?

I was just chatting with my wife last night about bible translations and how some can get so caught up in which translation is the most accurate (e.g. KJV only). I was thinking though, that many people including myself use study bibles in our personal bible study, to help them gain insight on what the original author was trying to say, etc...

Do you think that's a greater problem than inaccurate bible translations? I mean the study notes are one more step removed from the original bible text, and are more prone to the author's own interpretation and beliefs... we could then be potentially misinterpreting the bible...

Your thoughts?

[slejhamer]

I have one, and found it very superficial. "Bible Lite." (That's not what it's called, but that's how I think of it.)

Perhaps I should look for another.

I'd prefer something a bit more rigorous, preferably one in which the authors back up their interpretations with historical context and analysis. Let me know if you see something like that.

[shuttertalk]

Well the two that most people recommend are the NIV Study Bible by Zondervan and the Life Application Bible...

I'm currently using the former.

[de_axeman]

I use the Spirit Filled Life study Bible, which has a bit of what you're after slej. Not too much detail - just right for me. Each chapter comes with a short discourse on the historical background of the book, author and overall theme. It also has points on how the principles in the book can be applied in your daily life.

For serious Bible study buffs, nothing will ever replace the internet, a concordance, pen and notepad and a solid chunk of time to do a propoer Bible study.

[slejhamer]

Thanks Axeman I'll take a look.

Well the two that most people recommend are the NIV Study Bible by Zondervan and the Life Application Bible...

Oh, now that's weird. Mine is the Life Application Bible by Zondervan.

:/


I think I'm going to go rent the Discovery Channel's "Mysteries of the Bible" video series instead. Much quicker.

[teddyfingers]

I have a Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. I had to get it for a hermeneutics class I took in college. It's NIV, but I have seen it in NASB as well. It does not have that many notes in it. It has a partial Hebrew and Greek Lexicon in the back. Through out the bible it gives reference numbers to key words so you can look up the original Hebrew or Greek word. Being able to go back to the original words helps me to understand things better sometimes. I do love this bible a lot. I have an NIV study bible collecting dust in my closet.

Back to the question. You take notes as a guild not a rule. Some notes are historical in nature. I like these. One of the things I learned in hermeneutics was to go to the historical back ground of the text. Like who were Paul writing to, what they were going through and why Paul was writing the letter. Understanding the original audience allows you to better understand what Paul was trying to say.

Some notes link the scriptures together.

Some notes will be biased on what the note writer believes. Notes are not infallible the bible is.


Teddy

[slejhamer]

Some notes are historical in nature. I like these. One of the things I learned in hermeneutics was to go to the historical back ground of the text. Like who were Paul writing to, what they were going through and why Paul was writing the letter. Understanding the original audience allows you to better understand what Paul was trying to say.

That's the kind of context that I'm looking for. So I need to take a college course to get this level of analysis?

[teddyfingers]

slejhamer, you don't need a college course. You can find books that will give good historical back ground. Some Bibles already give a brief background before each book. You can also find it in commentaries. Find a good Old and New Testament survey book or books. Probably split between testaments.

Teddy

[de_axeman]

Some notes will be biased on what the note writer believes. Notes are not infallible the bible is.

Yeah I agree, although I have yet to read Bible notes that I thoroughly disagree with...