How I Study Books of the Bible

It’s my desire to be a lifelong student of God’s Word. As a Christian, this means that I should be continually meditating on God’s Word and applying it to my daily life. In addition, I have unique opportunities to teach the Bible through my local church and other ministries that I am involved in. This requires a deeper understanding of Scripture, so that I would rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). This has created a habit in my life of going through the Bible, book by book, to increasingly understand each part of the Word. I’ve developed three approaches to Bible reading and study, and I use all three.

Level 1 – Reading

Don’t neglect simple reading of the Bible. I find that scholasticism is a real danger for Bible readers – the desire to study the Word so deeply that we skip over the clear meaning and application of God’s Word. There is something to be said for quantity, not just quality. I make it a practice to read large sections of the Bible, regularly moving through the text without spending too long in any one part. I take notes along the way, jotting down anything that stands out or application that readily hits me. I think it’s important to be exposed to large sections of the Word, to develop a familiarity with it and to be familiar with the storyline. I just pick a book, then start reading – chapters at a time.

Level 2 – Devotional Study

Sometimes I slow my reading down by reading the text alongside a devotional commentary. For example, I love the devotional commentaries of Dale Ralph Davis, and I just finished Derek Kidner’s excellent work on Jeremiah. These are not technical commentaries, but they help me to slow down and draw application from the text. By reading a solid devotional commentary, someone else is drawing some application for me that I might readily miss. I come away from these studies with a deeper understanding of the Bible, but it doesn’t take nearly as long as technical study, and it exposes me to greater depth than mere reading. It’s a great balance of quantity and quality.

Level 3 – Technical Study

This is what I do when I want to deeply understand a book of the Bible, often in preparation for intensive teaching (such as a Bible study or college-level lectures). I begin by purchasing 1-4 of the very best commentaries on the book. Ligonier and Challies are very helpful in finding these commentaries. I intentionally select technical commentaries rather than ones that are billed as devotional or general. The quality of a commentary series will vary from book to book, though I’m generally a fan of the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, and the New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Then, I read the biblical book carefully, reading the commentary(s) as well. I highlight or underline significant sections in the commentary, then type these sections out word-for-word on my computer. I also read the Biblical book slowly and think through the text, doing word studies where helpful, reading it in the original language, thinking through application, and considering illustrations. I take notes through all of this and compile all these notes (both my own and those from the commentary) in a document on my computer. Often, these documents are massive! By the time I’m done, though, I have a helpful resource that I can draw on for the rest of my life. I refer back to these notes in preparation for teaching, or just to refresh myself on the meaning of specific passages.

A note on commentaries: Going through a commentary is like going taking a class on a book of the Bible. Remember, the quality of a class is directly linked to the quality of the teacher. So, it’s worthwhile to get the very best commentaries that you can. Don’t go through a commentary just because you have it; pay the money to buy the best you can. The quality of your knowledge is dependent on who teaches you. Also, it’s a biblical precedent that those who know the Word of God teach those who don’t. I once was of the opinion that to do ‘good’ Bible study, I shouldn’t use a commentary or anything else that might ‘sway’ me to someone else’s opinion – Bible study should be just me and my Bible. But there is a place for good teachers of the Scripture, so don’t discount the value of a good commentary.

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