About two months ago, one of the Wartburg wrestlers was telling me about a nutrition program he was doing. The plan required him to eat a small meal every 2-3 hours, usually something high in protein or nutrient-dense like a piece of chicken or a Greek yogurt. This program aimed to raise his metabolism, so that when it was time to lose weight in season, his body would burn the weight right off. In other words, eating several small meals would bring him great nutritional gains.
That’s kind of what we’ll see in this week’s Bible study method as we continue our Consuming Scripture blog series. While there can be great spiritual gain from "consuming" large amounts of Scripture, there can also be great gains by "eating small" through a Word Study.
A word study is not just "study the Word" (as in, study the Bible). Rather, it is exactly what it sounds like—studying just one word. Sometimes, in order to gain a deeper understanding of Scripture, you need to see how all of the Bible defines a specific word.
To do a word study, you might find some study tools helpful, like...
To help you see how to do a word study, I want to invite you to do one with me right now. Because I recently taught a lesson to the Wartburg wrestling team using Psalm 1:1-3, I want to study the very first word of Psalm 1 – "blessed." Here's one way you might dig deeper into your understanding of this "churchy" word...
Step 1: Open a browser window on your computer and head over to the NET Bible study environment. (If that link doesn't take you directly to Psalm 1, use the navigation tools at the top left to go to Psa (abbreviation for Psalms), then select chapter 1.)
Step 2: When Psalm 1 loads in the left pane, notice that the NET Bible translation has a study note on the word "blessed" (indicated by the hyperlinked number after the word). Click that number and read the corresponding note in the right pane of the window. After reading the note, ask...
What do I learn about the word "blessed" from this translators' note?
Step 3: Next, go to the search box at the top right and type in the word "blessed." Notice that the right pane now populates with every Bible verse that contains the word (or some derivative of it). You can filter these verses by Old Testament, New Testament, or even in a specific book of the Bible. Because we are in the Psalms, let's see how some of the other psalms use the word 'blessed' by clicking "By Book" and selecting "Psalms." As you peer through the search results, ask:
How do the other psalms use the word "blessed"? Who is blessed? And who does the blessing?
Step 4: Now, look toward the top-center of the right pane for this sentence: "There is a dictionary entry for: blessed." The word "blessed" should be blue, indicating it is a hyperlink. Click that link.
This will bring up some dictionary options. You can now see how Webster's Dictionary, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, and the Oxford Dictionary defines our word. (Note: The grayed-out dictionaries would be clickable if they had dictionary entries for our word.) Now we ask...
How do these well-known dictionaries define "blessed"?
Step 5: Lastly, notice at the top of the right pane the navigation menu that says "Notes, Bibles, Hebrew, Library, etc." Click on the word "Hebrew." This will load the Hebrew translation of Psalm 1. (I don’t expect you to know Hebrew—even I don’t!—but I want you to see a powerful tool here.) The Hebrew language reads right-to-left, so if you hover over the first word at the right next to 1:1 (indicating chapter 1, verse 1), you will see it highlight in yellow and a definition will appear at the bottom of the right pane. Now ask...
What do I learn about the word "blessed" from this Hebrew dictionary?
Sometimes, to go deeper with Scripture, you need to "eat" small. So I encourage you to use tools like Blue Letter Bible, NET Bible study environment, a cross-reference Bible, or a concordance to go deeper with words like love, patience, Immanuel, or immorality. Don't be content to just skim across the surface of Scripture, consuming large portions. Rather, occasionally plunge deep into one word, that it might illuminate your understanding of life and God's love.
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