How Can I Study the Bible More Deeply?

Without becoming too technical, the different translations usually fall into one of three categories:

Word for Word – Tries to match the translated words as close as possible to the original text. Some examples include the King James Version, The Amplified and The English Standard Version

Thought for Thought - Tries to match translation to the meaning of the original text. Some examples include the New International Version and The New Living Translation

Paraphrase – This is not necessarily a translation and may read more like a summary or a personal commentary. Some examples include The Message and The Good News Translation.

If you would like to look a little deeper into this, here is an article I wrote on which translation is the most accurate.

As a student of the Bible, one suggestion I would give you is to begin with either the word for word or thought for thought. I would refer to a paraphrase more for reference than for your primary study.

3. Start Reading

I know this might sound very elementary, but this is also very necessary. You cannot study deeper without reading. My suggestion is to read systematically. By this I mean don’t just jump around to a different verse every day. I know sometimes when you follow devotionals, this is how they are often setup. However, a weakness in doing this is you sometimes miss the full cohesion and context of the chapter or even the book.

By reading systematically, this means you are taking a book of the Bible and reading it straight through (this does not have to be done all in one sitting). So rather than read a verse in Psalms today and then one in Acts tomorrow, you would choose the book of Acts and read through it from beginning to end.

You can use this approach, for example, if you want to read through the New Testament or even the entire Bible. You don’t necessarily have to read it in order, but when you read a book, start at the beginning of the book and read it straight through.

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A great learner is going to know how to ask the right questions. If you will simply add this into your Bible study, you will be amazed at how much information you will be able to gather. I originally heard this from Chuck Swindoll. After you read a passage of Scripture here are three questions you should ask:

1. What does it say?

2. What does it mean?

3. What does it mean to me?

These are great foundational questions to ask, but you can also include others such as what I call the W questions: Who, What, Where, When, and Why? By asking questions you engage your mind in the process and you make learning and understanding God’s word possible. Being a student of the Bible is not just one that involves your spirit, it will involve your brain and asking questions is a great way to do that. 

5. Ask the Holy Spirit for Help

The greatest help we have in studying the Bible deeper is relying and depending on the Holy Spirit. Not only is he the author of the book, but his role and function are to guide us into all truth. If you lean on him, he will help you understand what the Bible is saying and reveal the truth of Scripture to you.

Ultimately the truths of Scripture that burn deepest into your heart will come by revelation and not just education. What God does is he uses the education (the questions we ask) to bring us the revelation (the thing that God reveals to us). This revelation comes by the Holy Spirit and the great thing is he lives inside you.

A Mid-Term Break

If you notice, the first five things I have shared with you require no outside assistance, except from the Holy Spirit. The reason I highlight this is because we sometimes forget the primary tools we need to study the Bible deeper, we already have. Once you recognize that, then these next things can be used as aids that can give you more information, whether it is historical or understanding the original language better.

Here are five more things you can use to study the Bible more deeply.

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These are great if you are doing a word study or if you know a word from a verse and you are trying to find the verse. These will tell you all the occurrences of that word in the Bible. Be aware that concordances are usually based on the translation you are using, so a word in one translation may not appear the same in another.

7. Use an Interlinear

The original language the Bible was written in was Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). Sometimes in translating these words into English or another language, the language may not be as expressive as the original. For example, in English there is one word for love, in Greek there are upwards of six.

What the interlinear will be able to do is give you better insight into what the word means in the original language. That by itself is not going to make you a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but it can help you gain more understanding of the passage you are reading.

8. Consider Using a Study Bible 

Study Bibles can be helpful because they can give you a lot of the insights and backgrounds you might need to help you gather more information about the chapter, verse, the culture, or many of those W questions you might be asking. Study Bibles come in all different translations of the Bible we mentioned earlier. Sometimes well-known pastors and teachers may also create their own study Bibles. I have a further comment about this, but I will save it for the next area.

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These are great because they take a much deeper look into the passages you are studying. You may garner insights and learn about the culture of the day and lots of great information that will really help you learn the Bible.

As I mentioned, sometimes well-known teachers and pastors may write study Bibles and commentaries. One of the things you must be aware of is when you are reading a commentary or study Bible, you are reading someone else’s understanding, interpretation, or opinion of that particular Scripture. It is possible you may agree or not agree, and as long as their opinion is not an egregious doctrinal error, then it is fine to disagree. Just be mindful that they had to go through the process of reading, studying, asking questions, looking at background information to come to those conclusions. While they are good to refer to, you can do the exact same thing in your own study.

10. Go Electronic

Living in the 21^st Century gives us an advantage because there are many electronic resources available to aid in your Bible study. It is impossible to list them all here, but sites like Bible Study Tools can provide a wealth of resources to help you.

The Last Thing You Need…

The main thing you need to bring to studying the Bible is desire. Even if all you have is a Bible you still have the best teacher in the world, the Holy Spirit, who can help you. No matter where you are in your journey, you can become a real student of the Bible and all it takes is getting started. Aside from that if you have any questions about this, I am more than happy to help you on this journey because the rewards along the way truly are priceless.

Related articles
How Can I Get Started Reading the Bible?
What Are the 5 Most Accurate Bible Translations?
Is it Important to Know Greek and Hebrew When Studying the Bible?

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