Things You'll Need:
- Internet Connection
- Bible
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Step 1
First things first. To understand the writings of God, we must have His help! He freely gives the Spirit to those who accept Jesus as their Lord. Without the Spirit, we can only use our knowledge to try and understand. I encourage you to pray and seek the Lord's face before embarking on a study of His Word.
"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." 1 Corinthians 2:12
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14 -
Step 2
Choose a section of the Bible you want to research. As an example for this article, I'll use 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you". For the sake of this discussion, let's say that I want to know more about what it means to "cast" my anxiety.
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Step 3
One useful step is to compare as many translations of the same verse or chapter. Bible Gateway (BibleGateway.com) is an excellent resource. Use their "Passage Lookup" section, type in the verse you're researching, and choose the version you want to see from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen. Click "Update" to see how the verse reads in that translation.
Doing this with my example verse, I learn the following about the idea of "casting" my cares on God:
"Cast all your anxiety on him" (NIV)
"Give all your worries and cares to God" (NLT)
"Give all your worries to him" (NCV)
Do you see how comparing translations can help you expand your understanding of a verse? -
Step 4
If you want more information or want to dig even deeper, I recommend researching the Hebrew or Greek language (the original languages that the Bible was written in). This is where a Strong's Concordance comes in handy. You can do an internet search for "Strong's Concordance", and find many great resources. The site I use is linked at the bottom of this page. Type in the verse you're researching, and you'll see the verse re-written with little numbers to the upper right of the words in that verse. That little number is the "Strong's Number".
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Step 5
Now that you have the Strong's Number for the word you're studying, you can use it to find the Greek or Hebrew word that was originally used in the writing of the Bible. Do an internet search for "Strong's Greek or Hebrew Lexicon Search".
Using the same example, I found that the Strong's Number for "Cast" (as used in 1 Peter 5:7) is 1977. When I type "1977" into my Strong's Greek Lexicon Searcher, I learn that the original greek used in this passage was the word "epirrhipto", which means "To throw upon".
Don't worry, you don't need to know Greek or Hebrew...the definition of the word is outlined for you when you do a search. -
Step 6
Not only do I see many English translations for the same verse, but I can also know more about the original words used. There is no longer a need to worry that something was "lost in translation" - it's clear that the English translations I've been using are true to the original language in this verse.
