3…GETTING STARTED

If you can confidently open a Bible & find a passage you want to look up, this posting’s not for you. Skip it, but hopefully rejoin us for No.4. Otherwise, read on, do.

[1] If you don’t have a Bible, obtain a copy of say, the Revised Standard Version or the New Jerusalem Bible. Get good sized print on sensible paper & with Notes.

a) Forget about page numbers. What matters is this: Bible references are always given in the order:  Book, Chapter, Verse.

b) What’s the Name of the Book we're looking for? If we know whether it's in the Jewish Older (O.T.) or Christian Newer Testament (N.T.) that’s a help, but not essential. Bibles have an Index at the beginning.

c) What’s the number of the Chapter in the book we’re looking for? Then, d) What’s the number of the Verse within that Chapter?

e) Practise looking up <Genesis Chapter 11, Verse 4>. Then try <Exodus Chapter 2 Verses 1-4>. (We usually abbreviate names of books to GEN or GN, EX, etc. See your  Index.  Sometimes the system extends further by the use of, say, (a), (b), (c), etc after a verse, meaning the 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd part of the verse.

[2] Not all churches agree on which books are Scripture & which are not. A collection of books known as the 'Apocrypha' (from the Greek word for 'hidden') is sometimes omitted, printed within the O.T., or between the O.T. & N.T.      

[3] Every copy of the Scriptures is a translation from the original languages they were written in. Each is known as a 'Version', e.g. Revised Standard, New Jerusalem, King James & so on. Most of what we now have available in print (or online!) stems from telling by word of mouth long before being committed to any written form. Apart from a few small sections, the O.T. was written in Hebrew, & books of the N. T. in Greek, a common language of the Mediterranean world in those days. As Jesus Himself spoke a Middle Eastern language, Aramaic, early Christians had to explain   their teachings about Him in common language. Later, as the Church became centred more & more on Rome, Latin became the language of the Scriptures for most of the Western world. Over the centuries story-tellers, translators, & editors have differed over what makes better sense (or in some cases, what better suits their cause!) But first we need to ‘get the hang of’ looking up references! 

[4] Each Book of the Bible has its own name. When more than one Book has the same basic name they’re distinguished by placing a number before the name of such Books. In the O.T., to take the Books of Kings, we find the first is (logically enough) called 1 Kings, & the second, 2 Kings! Similarly, in the N.T. three letters by a writer called John are called 1JN, 2JN, and 3JN, none of which is to be confused with the Gospel of John! As mentioned in e) above, Book names are usually abbreviated in references & indices. There may be slight variations, but it's usually obvious which book is meant. The Index should be our first port of call if we need help to find a particular Book. But that’s another story…