There is so much to be discovered in God’s Holy scriptures. It all ties into the history of our world revealing where we are today in prophecy. Truths that have been hidden from us come together piece by piece when we ask the Lord to guide us in reading his Word and searching for truth. So if you are a newcomer to Bible study, or an old timer who always let the pastor interpret for you here is a tip to help you get started.
When we come as a fresh student, ready to learn from the Lord, we see things with fresh eyes. That is when we have the most questions. Especially questions about Bible day culture and customs. Without understanding the customs of the times, we have no grasp on what a saying may truly mean.
The Strong’s Concordance is a good book to have to help you understand and study the Bible. It is simply an index to the Bible. It helps you find a phrase or passage you want to study or cross reference. Let’s say you want to know where in the Bible it talks about a donkey, like Balaam’s talking donkey…it will show you all the passages where the word Donkey is used and find where Balaam’s donkey is in the scriptures. You can also look up Balaam and find it that way. It also helps you to re-find a phrase or passage you were studying but forgot which book it was in. It is actually a hand held google search and you are the search engine. There are also many types of concordances to choose from online. For hand held home use a good one is The Strong’s Concordance with Greek and Hebrew lexicon’s included. You can compare the original word and its’ usage with the one the English translator chose to use in its’ place.
If we aren’t sure what is meant by a word used in an allegory (displaying a moral by symbols in a story) we can more fully understand it by using a Bible concordance to reference the key words in other places it was used in the Bible. This helps build our reference to a theme, a time, an event, or something of the culture those at the time understood. Such as the Jewish customs. For example the saying, “Selling the poor for a pair of sandals” what does that mean? With a concordance you can look up every where in the Bible it refers to Sandals…or the entire phrase itself and find where they spoke of it.
By looking up the phrase, the page will show you many scriptures where it was used. Find the one that is referring to your question, go to the scripture in your Bible, read it and you gain an understanding that deepens the meaning of the scripture.
I like using this one.
As I watched several videos to find one that you can use as a tutorial… what I found was that some were confusing and others complicated a very simple thing. I suggest, if you are just starting out, simply use it as an index dictionary. It is really a no brainer. It’s easy, and if you love learning, it’s fun finding scriptures and seeing what words mean or meant.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube that explain Bible numbering with the Concordance numbering to find scriptures quickly. Some can come across a bit confusing. I don’t like to read a Bible with all the numbers after every word but some don’t mind. But, those videos are for numbered Bibles that match the Strong’s numbering. So, if you find some of those, move on and watch those after you have enjoyed your concordance. Watching first can make you feel you have to be a theologian to use it… and you don’t. It’s a BIBLE INDEX DICTIONARY!!!!!!!!!!! NOT BRAIN SURGERY! That being said… God bless and stay in the Word. Keep it simple and let God will show you all the rest.
You can use an online reference such as in the links below, but I strongly suggest to buy a Concordance book for home study. Preferably, get one with both Greek and Hebrew lexicons included
https://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/genesis/
H2020 – haṣṣālâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV) (blueletterbible.org)
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Hebrew 2020. הַצָּלָה (hatstsalah) — deliverance (biblehub.com)
Stay Strong! No pun intended.
Dianne
