Three Tools for Studying the Bible

If you’ve ever had to complete any projects around the house, you know that having the right tool makes all the difference in the world. You simply can’t turn a screw with a hammer or drive a nail with a screwdriver.

This principle applies to studying the Bible as well. Having the right tools saves one time, accomplishes one’s goals, and unlocks one’s greatest potential. You simply could not and would not attempt some projects without the proper tools.

This blog post is all about showing you three tools that can take your Bible study to the next level. By using these three titles, you’ll get more out of your study time, grow in your grasp of the Bible, and open some doors that you never thought would open.

The NIV Word Study Bible

At first glance, the NIV Word Study Bible simply looks identical to the NIV translation. If you take a closer look though, you’ll notice some words are a slightly lighter shade of color. That’s because we added tags for both Strong’s numbers and the Goodrick/Kohlenberger (G/K) numbering system.

Let’s see how this looks in the app. Select the NIV Word Study Bible in your Library. Then select Ephesians 2:1 in the Verse Chooser. Once you’ve navigated to this passage in the Bible, tap on the word mercy in verse 4. Once the pop-up window opens, you’ll see the word in the original language, the corresponding word number for Strong’s or G/K, a dictionary definition, the number of occurrences of the word, and how these occurrences translate the word.

With this window open, you can perform a number of additional searches. You can search for this word by its Strong’s number. This will show you every occurrence of the word. Or you can look up this word in the dictionaries you have in your library.

The NIV Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible

Let’s take this study a step further with the Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible. Select this resource in the Resource Guide and you’ll see the different topics associated with this passage in Ephesians. Since we’re studying the word mercy in Ephesians 2:4, tap on that verse.

The Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible is a tool that allows you to study topics found in the Bible. The words and phrases under each of the Scripture references show you which topics are found in those verses. Each of these topics is assigned a reference number. The Scripture reference to the right of the reference number is the next verse in the forward referencing system. Tap on the number next to mercy (2297).

All the verses associated with the topic of mercy are arranged here under the characteristic of divine. The verse is describing God’s mercy, the mercy that he has shown to sinners. This topic describes the characteristics of God’s mercy. His mercy is divine, eternal, boundless, etc.

The Scripture references listed for this topic show you all the references for God’s mercy from the beginning of the Bible to the end. The references in bold are the Chain Verses, the primary Scripture references for the topic in canonical order. Each of the Chain Verses in bold are listed in full below the complete list of references. You can then choose to review all the verses for this topic or just the primary ones.

At the end of these verses, there is also a list of other topics and their number related to the subject of God’s mercy if you’d like to broaden the scope of your study. You can also use this tool to search for topics within the Bible by accessing the alphabetical index of topics in the end matter.

NIV Greek-English Interlinear New Testament

For those wanting to take their studies to the next level, the NIV Greek-English Interlinear New Testament is a great additional tool. Usable in conjunction with the NIV Word Study Bible or the NIV Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible, this resource prioritizes the Greek text. You can find parsing information for each Greek word, perform searches by the Greek word or Strong’s number, or search the tagged NIV translation by just tapping on the word.

This resource displays in the main window or in the Parallel window as in the above image.

Getting the Right Tools for the Job

Now that you see how using these tools can save you time, grow in your understanding of the Bible, and create new opportunities for you, pick up one or all of these resources today!