Ashley LyonThe word selah is prominent in the Psalms, occurring 71 times (as well as 3 in Habakkuk)— but what does it mean?
Mark WardIs it dangerous to accept changes to our language? Does doing so amount to moral relativism? I once had to stand as a young man in front of an adult Sunday school class and wait for ten minutes (it felt that long, anyway) while a much older man in...
Bible Study MagazineReformation Day is October 31. In remembrance, keep reading to explore with David P. Barshinger how the Reformers offer us a model for Bible study. (Or dig deeper into Reformation exegesis with Reading Scripture with the Reformers or The Martin...
Nathaniel J. EricksonThis is the second article in a two-part series dealing with the common myth that Greek is the most precise language known to mankind. (Article one here.) I’d like to look at a few more examples of imprecision in the Greek of the New Testament...
James Strong’s 1890 Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is one of the most frequently cited Bible study resources out there—perhaps because it is freely available in many places online. But its dictionary portion is often misused. I humbly offer...
There is an idea which floats around in pulpits and Bible studies, and it goes something like this: “Greek is a perfectly precise language which clearly conveys its meaning, and this is the reason why God used Greek for the New Testament.” I do not...
If you want to interpret the Bible correctly, you’ll need to use the right tools, and use them rightly. This is surely true for Paul’s letter to the Romans, which is long, complex, and very important to Christian faith and doctrine. Let’s take a...
Randy LeedyOur Savior was a master of enigma, a device by which he made his hearers think. In Matthew 6:22–23 we find a teaching whose initially enigmatic character resolves, under patient study, into delightful clarity. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if...
I spent a significant portion of my twenties reading productivity blogs, especially those recommending the latest cool apps that promised to make my work umpteen-percent better/faster/easier. Until I realized one day that the time I was spending...
In the new book Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church (Kirkdale Press, 2022; foreword by Tim Keller), Chinese house church pastor Paul Peng urges Western Christians to look to the future “sea of glass” (Revelation 15)...
In this excerpt adapted from the March/April issue of Bible Study Magazine, Jared Garcia explores the terrible events leading to Jesus’ resurrection—and why we can call his crucifixion the “glory of the cross.” *** Just days before his death, Jesus...
One of my most important mentors earned that role in my life in part through faithfully upholding the simplest of evangelical obligations: he read his Bible every day. He would then come to work (we were coworkers) and share his reflections on that...
The Dead Sea Scrolls have impacted our understanding of the history of the biblical text—learn how in this article by Jeremy D. Lyon.
In this excerpt adapted from the November/December issue of Bible Study Magazine, Stephen G. Dempster, author of Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible, provides a big-picture overview of the story of the Old Testament.
Colossians 3:8 leaves many believers hesitant to merge the worlds of philosophy and Christianity: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world...
In this “Word Nerd: Language and the Bible” video (full transcription below), Mark Ward (author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible) explores the origin of the word “Lord” in the English language—a word that, of course, shows...
What happens when a scholar dies in the middle of writing a New Testament commentary? Lexham Press’s Scott Corbin talked with New Testament scholar and Regent College (Vancouver, BC) professor George Guthrie about the well-loved Osborne Commentary...
We see our pastors each week on-screen or up front. We typically recognize key ministry leaders. We know (and ask God to bless abundantly) our children’s nursery workers who graciously receive our crying babies each week with smiles on their faces...
Many of the 150 canonical psalms have superscriptions or titles, like: “Of David,” “For the choirmaster,” and “According to the lilies.” Are these superscriptions in the psalms original? Or were they added at a later time? In this excerpt...
Christians pray for their enemies—but should they also pray against them? Consider two verses. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). But David says—of an enemy—“Let there be none who extend to him loyal...
Pastor H. B. Charles Jr. began ministry at age 17 when he inherited the pulpit at his father’s church. Now with more than 30 years of ministry experience, Charles has written books on prayer, preaching, and ministry. He is a popular conference...
In this excerpt from the May/June 2019 edition of Bible Study Magazine, Bronwyn Lea shares why author and Bible study teacher Jen Wilkin refuses to leave biblical literacy to the experts—and why she’s passionate about teaching others how to study...
Who was Paul’s audience in Romans? Paul’s writings and the book of Acts give us more data about him than they do about the Roman church. We know nothing about its origins and only a little about its history. Some have claimed that Peter...
Can we learn how to pray like Jesus? We know he prayed in the wilderness and in the garden of Gethsemane. We hear snippets of his conversation with the Father in John 11 when he raised Lazarus from the dead and in Luke 23 when he hung from the cross...
We can learn a lot from others about prayer, but often we forget to seek out the Bible and how others throughout biblical history prayed. Yet we can glean much from Old Testament prayers and those faithful few who prayed them and approached God...
Do you love a great conversation about the Bible? Then today—National Podcast Day!—there’s one you need to give a listen: the Bible Study Magazine podcast. Join host Mark Ward (author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible) as he...
John D. BarryContext is king, as they say. But when it comes to studying the Bible, context is far and wide. A verse is contextualized in a passage; a passage in a biblical book; a biblical book in a particular place and time; and each time and place is...
Hezekiah’s tunnel, where archaeologists found an inscription describing the completion of the tunnel (source: commons.wikimedia.org) The work of archaeologists often overlaps with places, people, and events we read about in the Bible. Some of...
Because Christianity is built upon certain historical events, discussions about Scripture’s historical truthfulness are constant. Regarding Genesis, such discussions revolve around several issues, including the flood and patriarchal narratives...
Dreams dominate the story of Joseph, but their importance in the narrative derives from the significance of dreams in the culture and theology of the ancient Near East.