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Understanding the Holy Bible which is a very large volume containing 66 books within two major parts--the Old and the New Testament can be difficult. At first, the Bible could seem a little hard to navigate, but with some basic knowledge on how it is organized and practice, you will be able to quickly find any scripture to check for accuracy of what people say or that you need for any other reason.
Steps Download Article
1Learn how the bible is organized. It is divided into Book Chapter:Verse. For example, if you wanted to look up John 3:16, first you would turn to the book of John. You would then turn to the 3rd chapter (the number before the colon is the chapter.). You would then find the 16th verse.
- Verses are usually arranged with small numbers within the text. Some Bibles are formed into paragraphs and only have the number of the verse that begins each paragraph.
- The first part of the Bible is called the Old Testament (Tanakh -- Jewish) Bible of the "books of Moses" and other ancient prophets' writings and second the New Testament of Christian books starting with the four Gospels of Christ written by Christian Jews -- and as many as fourteen (or as few as seven, some say) books all ascribed to one Greek Jew, the Apostle [Saint] Paul (born Saul of Tarsus), more on his contributions to the Bible Christianity in the "Tips" section. X Research source
2Look in the back of your Bible; it may have a Bible concordance (index) which will direct you to a few verses that contain each word that you find in the concordance.Advertisement
3Study with a much larger, separate concordance including a dictionary of Bible and Holy Land atlas of maps, all in one volume, spanning various times in the history of the eastern Mediterranean Sea region, Middle East -- or find a set of Bible commentary books -- all available at bookstores (especially Christian, Jewish and Western-commercial booksellers).
4See whether or not there is a cross reference in your Bible--which is usually setup in two text columns, and then the cross reference may be found in the middle of the page in a very narrow column. It serves as a kind of footnote section to list other places you find the same, a similar/related topic in the Bible.
5Inspect the bottoms of most pages or above the beginning of each chapter, or in subtopic headings between groups of verses to see if your Bible has selected comments about the subject, meaning and/or history of the material in that chapter.Advertisement
Method 1 of 1:Bible Research on the Internet
1Search for a Bible subject/verses on the Internet that refer to your topic. Bible subject:marriage or try Bible verses:marriage for example to find several websites that may contain your reference. Some will be sermons, others commentary and some will be arguing or discussion pages.
2Find a Bible quotation on the Internet like Bible quote:for God so loved the world. If you have several of the words from a verse but want its chapter and verse location in the Bible, this is used like a concordance.
3Find many language translations of the entire Bible with various, different versions (older or more modern language usage, etc.) on the Internet.Advertisement
QuestionWhere do I find the scripture that begins "When two or more gather together..."?Community AnswerMatthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
QuestionHow do I connect with my angels?Community AnswerGod knows you like you know yourself. All you have to do is talk to God. You can talk formally, informally, whatever you like. God likes to hear from you, and talking to him to connect to your angels will help you find inner peace. Secondly, do some research on the angels' names in specific that you'd like to connect with. God can sometimes be "an operator" while we are "on hold" for "the phone call" with our guardian angels.
QuestionHow do I understand the Bible better?Community AnswerGet a historical background so that you can better understand the context. Much of the Bible is allegorical rather than literal, and it helps to understand the times in which it was written.
QuestionWhere can I find where Jesus said "I am the door"?Community AnswerJohn 10:9 ("door" is translated as "gate" in many versions).
QuestionWhere is the scripture that says God will deliver those who are not innocent because of the cleanness of our hands?Community AnswerJob 22:30.
QuestionWhere in the Bible does it say that a disabled child will go to Heaven when they don't understand anything?Community AnswerLuke 18:16. There are also verses that say that a person cannot believe on their own, it is the Holy Spirit that allows them to believe, therefore newborns and the mentally disabled will go to heaven (1 Corinthians 2:14).
QuestionWhere can I find references to music being either good or evil in the Bible?Community AnswerYou won't find anything specifically addressing music, but you will find verses that say you should do everything for the glory of God (Colossians 3:17).
QuestionIs there a scripture related to not visiting people too often?Community AnswerYes: "Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome." - Proverbs 25:17
QuestionHow do I find the verse that tells us to call no man father because we have a heavenly father?Community Answer"And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father." Matthew 23:9.
QuestionWhat passages in the Bible might have information about eating fats?Community AnswerLeviticus 7:23 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat." Note that this is part of the Law of Moses, which was replaced with the Higher Law given by Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is no longer explicitly forbidden.
- Some Muslims study both parts of the Bible along with their Qur’an (Koran). As the prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, instructed to study the Injeel (Bible) in case of confusion in understanding the Qur’an.
- Practice! Choose random verses or a scripture reference you find in an article or book to look up and you will soon get the hang of it.
- Many verses in the Book of Isaiah are believed to refer to the Messiah for example Isaiah 53 (entire chapter).
- Paul, who wrote in Greek language to the Greek Christian churches, became an early Christian missionary to the Gentiles (non-Jews), largely Greeks, and to Greek Jews, using scriptures to contend daily whether Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecies of the Jewish Messiah. As a remarkable theologian, he was writing books (voluminous letters to Churches) for years during house-arrest in Rome, while appealing to Caesar's Court. As a Roman citizen, he had appealed his arrest (and probable, impending, summary execution) by Israel's Roman rulers as an alleged Jewish-Christian zealot/"troublemaker", i.e.: serving a Lord/ruler other than Caesar. He was held in Caesarea of Judea for about a year and a half. Finally, Paul and his followers sailed under guard for Rome where Paul was to stand trial. Acts states that Paul wrote and preached in Rome for two years from his rented home while awaiting trial (in about the time of "trials" of Christians in the Roman Coliseum): there is no known report of or means of death. Several early Church, extra-biblical sources said he had gone west from Rome and taught extensively "to the extremity of the west" and "Spain" (the Romans ruled England, the "extreme west"). X Research source
- The earliest known surviving copies of Jewish Biblical scriptures, among other documents, preserve evidence of great diversity of late Second Temple Judaism in about 940 ancient documents, and are called the Wikipedia: Dead Sea Scrolls. These were hand transcribed in Hebrew and Aramaic plus some in Greek, including several copies of the Book of Isaiah. These ancient documents were found between 1947 and 1956 in small caves near ruins that may have been an Essene, Jewish sect, monastery who are often credited with making and hiding these scrolls.
- When finding scripture, realize that the entire Bible may be used by Christians (for study, teaching, doctrine and correction of misunderstandings) while only the Tanakh (in the Old Testament) is used as scripture by the Jewish.
- The book of Acts written by Jesus' disciple (the Apostle) Luke wrote that Paul the Apostle (c. AD 5 – c. AD 67), reportedly the major writer of the New Testament, was born a Roman citizen in Tarsus of Cilicia (Armenia, part of south-central Turkey) then part of greater Grecian territories, though he never said he was native Roman (some people purchased citizenship). X Research source
Things You'll Need
- The Holy Bible (contains both the Old and New Testament)
- The Tanakh (Jewish Bible/old testament)
- The New Testament (contains only the Christian books)