Joint Heirs Adult Bible Fellowship October 15, 2017 Will Duke, Guest Speaker How to Study the Bible Part 2 Review: I. The Bible Is a Unique Book. We must begin by remembering what we are studying. The Bible is not like any other book. A. The Bible is not actually A book, but a whole library of books written by at least 50 different authors over at least 2,000 years, in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Yet it is a miraculously integrated whole with no conflicts. B. Inspired by the Holy Spirit. 1. Although the Holy Spirit used human authors to write these books, the Holy Spirit Himself is the ultimate author. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Ti. 3:16a). 2. The Bible is inerrant in its original manuscripts. The Holy Spirit so guided the words that were written that no errors were included in anything it teaches. 3. Because the Holy Spirit had us in mind when He wrote what He wrote. Bible study is not like reading someone else s mail; it is God s word to us, collectively and personally. You must not study Scripture remotely, impersonally, as an observer. You are intimately involved with what is written on each page. C. Purpose of the Bible: 1. To provide what we need to live the faith-rest life. 2. To do the tasks God had planned in eternity past for us to do. D. Although we have no original manuscripts, the copies we possess are faithful representations of what the prophets and apostles originally penned. When you come to the Bible, come with great expectations! II. Resources to Study the Bible. A. Bible Translations: 1. Because we don t read the biblical languages, we depend on others to translate them into English. 1
2. We have available more and better English translations than any time in history. 3. The King James Version (KJV) (1611) and The New King James (NKJV) (1982), and I explained my two objections to these translations and why I cannot recommend them for serious Bible study. Two main problems: a. The English language of the KJV we no longer speak it. b. The New Testament of both based on the Textus Receptus collection of Greek manuscripts. Not the oldest nor best manuscripts of the New Testament available to us today. Today s Lesson: 4. Recommended translations for Bible study: a. Spectrum of versions. There is a spectrum of different versions running from very free paraphrases to much more strict translations Formal Word-for-word Functional Dynamic equivalence b. All recommended Bible translations use the same manuscript collections: (1) Old Testament: The Masoretic Text (Hebrew and some Aramaic) (2) New Testament: Nestle-Aland (NA) collection of Greek manuscripts United Bible Societies (UBS) collections of Greek manuscripts Together, these are sometimes referred to the NU text. The NIV also uses these but has made some substitutions on different New Testament manuscripts, so their NT manuscripts collection is called the Eclectic Text. Almost identical with the NA/UBS text. 2
c. Bible paraphrases: (1) Paraphrases attempt to express the teachings of Scripture using more common parlance, even slang, in order get our attention and help us see the meaning of a passage in new ways. They make no attempt to preserve the structure of the original language. Paraphrases are often written by a single individual rather than a translation committee like most translations. (2) Paraphrases include: J.B. Phillips New Testament in Modern English (1960, 1972) The Living Bible (1971) Eugene Peterson s The Message (1993-2002) (3) The Voice (2012) A newer and not quite so free paraphrase that I have been using for over a year now for devotional reading, and I have been very impressed with how close it stays to the biblical text yet has been able to challenge me to think about old, familiar texts in new ways. I highly recommend it over any of the other paraphrases. (4) Use freer translations like paraphrases for devotional reading or getting a general feel for a passage of Scripture, but they will not serve you well for serious, detailed Bible study. For that you need a good, modern English study Bible. That should be your primary tool for Bible study. (5) Importance of a good study Bible. A study Bible will assist your Bible study by giving you much information you could only discover with extensive research. In effect, a good study Bible will provide you with many of the benefits of a seminary education. (a) Each book will have an introduction that provides extremely important background material, to include: authorship, date of writing, historical background and occasion for writing, genre and literary features, theological teachings, organization and outline. Additional information is provided from the work of modern archaeology and textual studies. (b) There are also extensive verse-by-verse footnotes to help you understand what the author meant. These notes will provide specific background information that makes it easier to understand the passage. They will give you key insights into the original languages that impact on how you are to understand the passage. They also provide possible alternative texts and insight from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, explain how the results of archaeology help us understand the passage, give links to other places in the Bible where this topic is treated, provide explanation for difficult passages, etc. 3
(c) Offer charts, pictures, maps, word studies, essays on specific topics by leading Christian thinkers, and illustrations that make understanding so much better. (d) Back of the book study helps like tables of weights and measures, index of topics, concordance, index of names, index to study notes, and maps. (e) I don t know how anyone can effectively study the Bible without a good study Bible. d. NIV Study Bible. (NIV) (2011) Today, the NIV is sold more than any other English Bible in the world. It is a solid translation that tends more to the dynamic equivalence side of the spectrum rather than the formal equivalence side. The latest revision to the NIV was made in 2011. Prior to that, it was the 1984 edition. (1) When the 2011 revision came out, it took some criticism because some people thought that the translation team had compromised with feminists and the politically correct crowd in their rendering of gender language. When the Greek text uses the word brethren and it clearly refers to both male and female believers, the NIV substituted brothers and sisters. Similarly, where the Greek used a masculine pronoun but clearly meant to include both sexes, the NIV opted for a gender-neutral pronoun. E.g., changing he to them. (1984 NIV) John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (2011 NIV) John 14:23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." (2) The NIV is not a perfect translation, and there are a few things I wished they had done, but these problems are largely technical and not serious. In my mind, it is the best translation for general use available today. (3) There is an excellent study Bible published by Zondervan; it is called The NIV Study Bible. This is the one I have used with great satisfaction since it first came out in 1985; its last update was in 2011 for the new NIV revision. This is the Bible I carry to church and build my Bible study around. (4) Happily, the Pastor s Jeremiah Study Bible is now available in the NIV, as well. 4
(5) KEY RECOMMENDATION: Use a variety of translations in parallel, alongside each other as you study. You can gain a lot of insight into the meaning of the original text by seeing how different translators translate the same verses. Since the NIV is not one of the more strictly literal translations, it is good to use a more literal translation along with it. e. English Standard Version (ESV), published in 2001. (1) For many years, Bible students have used the New American Standard Bible (NASB) (1960-1995) to perform this role, and it has done a great job. (2) However, we now have a new translation that I believe does a better job at this, takes advantage of the latest research, and is not quite as wooden as the NASB. This is the English Standard Version (ESV). (3) It is available as a good study Bible as well: The ESV Study Bible (Crossway Books, 2008). f. Christian Standard Bible (CSB): This is one of the newest major Bible translations; it was published this year (2017). It is good, solid, evangelical translation, and many on the translation committee were Baptists. It is much like the NIV in translation philosophy, but they use the NA and UBS Greek texts and not the Eclectic Text used by the NIV. The CSB translation committee calls their approach optimal equivalence. In this they seek to achieve a balance between translating word-for-word (formal equivalence) and thoughtfor-thought (dynamic equivalence). The approach they take is similar to that taken by any good translation team, so here is their description of their approach: The CSB uses optimal equivalence as its translation philosophy. This starts with an exhaustive analysis of the text at every level (word, phrase, clause, sentence, discourse) in the original language to determine its original meaning and intention (or purpose). Then, relying on the best language tools and experts, the nearest corresponding semantic and linguistic equivalents are used to convey as much as possible of the information and intention of the original text with as much clarity and readability as possible. This process assures the maximum transfer of both the words and thoughts contained in the original. They also take the same approach to gender language as does the NIV. Also available as a good study Bible: The CSB Study Bible (Holman, 2017) 5
g. The Expanded Bible (EXB): Before I jump into a detailed Bible study, I read the passage I intend to study in another new translation that provides an interesting service. This is The Expanded Bible (EXB) which came out in 2011. It is something like The Amplified Bible, but does more and does it better. It uses the New Century Version as its basic translation (not a poor translation, but it is freer than I would like for a study Bible.) But then it adds very interesting and helpful comments scattered along in the text. E.g., Ro. 8:26-29: 27 God can see what is in people s hearts and [ L The one who searches hearts] knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God [intercedes; appeals] for his people [or his holy people; T the saints] in the way God wants [or in harmony with God; L according to God]. 28 We know that in everything God works [or God works everything together; or everything works together (see text note)] for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan [ L according to his purpose]. 29 God knew them before he made the world [ L For those whom he foreknew ], and he chose them [ he also predestined/chose beforehand] to be like [molded to the pattern of; conformed to the image of] his Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn [ C the preeminent one, but also indicating others will follow] of many brothers and sisters [ C Jesus resurrection confirms that his followers will also share in God s glory]. Text note: 8:28 We... him. Some Greek copies read We know that everything works together for good for those who love God. Scattered throughout the text are dots followed by a portion of the text and then a set of brackets [ ]. Everything between the dot and the first bracket can be replaced by what is in the brackets. The material in the brackets may contain alternate ways to translate the phrase (much like the older Amplified Bible does). The material in the brackets is also sometimes marked with a superscript L which means the bracket contains a literal rendering of that phrase. Or it may be marked with a superscript T which means it is the traditional (i.e., KJV) rendering. Or it may be marked with a superscript C which provides a comment by the EXB committee to try to explain the meaning of that phrase. Periodically, tere are also Text Notes which provide readings from different New Testament manuscripts that are significant. These notes alert me to issues and concepts that I will want to watch for as I begin my study of this passage. 6
h. The New English Translation (NET), published 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, provides a unique and helpful insight into the thoughts that all translators go through as they translate the biblical languages into English. It provides over 60,000 notes: Translators Notes give alternative translations and explanations for the rationale for the translation. Text-critical Notes provide alternative reading from other ancient manuscripts and discusses why the translators picked the ones they did. Study Notes provides background information and cross references helpful to the modern reader. Map Notes link to the locations on the excellent satellite maps in the back of the Bible. These are some of the best maps available today in a study Bible. i. We have an embarrassment of riches in study Bibles today. Here is a list of the one s I have and consult: The Amplified Study Bible (Zondervan, 2016) The Apologetics Study Bible, HCSB (Holman, 2007) The Chronological Study Bible, NKJV (Thomas Nelson, 2008) The Criswell Study Bible, KJV (Thomas Nelson, 1979) The CDB Study Bible, CSB (Holman, 2017) The Defender s Study Bible, KJV (Word, 1995) The ESV Study Bible, ESV (Crossway, 2008) The Expanded Bible, EXB (Thomas Nelson, 2011) HCSB Study Bible (Holman, 2010) The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible (1984, 1990) Holman Illustrated Study Bible (Holman, 2006) The Jeremiah Study Bible, NIV (Worthy, 2016) The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Worthy, 2016) The Literary Study Bible, ESV (Crossway, 2007) The New English Bible, NET (Biblical Studies Press, 1996-2006) NIV Archaeological Study Bible (Zondervan, 2005) NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2016) NIV First-Century Study Bible (Zondervan, 2014) NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, 1995-2001) NIV Zondervan Study Bible (Zondervan, 2015) The Orthodox Study Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2008) The Quest Study Bible, NIV (Zondervan, 2011) The Reformation Study Bible, ESV (Reformation Trust, 2015) The Ryrie Study Bible, NASB (Moody, 1986, 1995) The Scofield Study Bible, NIV (Oxford, 2004) The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, NIV (Zondervan, 1983) 7
B. On-Line Resources: In Part 3, we will discuss Bible study resources that are available to you on the Internet. I may not have the opportunity to teach this in class right now, but I will include this material as Additional Material-Part 3 on the Joint Heirs Website Lessons Page. 8