Bible Tips

[Fidelis]

MJC’s question in another thread got me thinking:

So when I see a bible verse printed such as “Mt 26:26ff” what does the ‘ff’ (or any letter for that matter) stand for?

For those of us who are long time Bible readers, we kind of take navigating around the text for granted, guided by special symbols and directives. For someone just starting out however, it must be kind of bewildering.

One that comes to mind for me is the cross references to specific Scriptures usually found at the bottom or in the mid-column of most Bibles. If you are reading the New Testament especially, it is almost always worth looking up any Old Testament references.

Aside from study guides and reading plans like “The Great Adventure” that help you the big picture, what are some other little tricks and tips for becoming adept at reading the Scriptures?

 

[Pug]

Looking up references with “John” in them can be confusing. There is the gospel of John and then there are three letters very close to the end of the bible.

John2:3 is the gospel of John, second chapter, third verse
2John1:3 is the second letter of John, first chapter, third verse
1John3:11 is the first letter of John, third chapter, eleventh verse

Also, I highly recommend reading Paul’s letters one by one, each in their entirely. I mean it…doing a small letter in one sitting helps a lot. This allows you to come to understand him, and to see how he reuses the same words later on in a letter… Phillipians is a fine one to start. Also, do Galatians before Romans. In fact, you can look up the “historical” order of them and do it in that order. 2cor is hard, so I might save it for last. Do Eph and Col close in sequence, as they are similar.

Hebrews is another ball of wax. I’d do it separate from “Paul” stuff.

A possible historical order to try on Pauline corpus:

1 thes, 2thes, Phillipians, Philemon, Galatians, 1cor, 2cor, Romans, Col, Eph, 1tim, 2tim, Titus.

Those last three go together in being similar. Yes, I know there is argument about this order and which are from Paul.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Ok here is what that stuff means they are all latin words so I dont know what it is in latin but here it is in english:

f (following verse) = that verse + the very next verse

ff (following verses) = that verse + the following verses that pertain to the subject at hand

cf (compare) = compare this verse to what was written

examples:

John1:1 -1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John1:1f-1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God
John1:1ff-1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

Example of John1:1cf - The Word really was God.

Example of John1:1-14cf - The Word was God, and had all the qualities of God, it became flesh and lived as humans do. John was not the Word but a messenger sent to proclaim the news.

This is done to make referencing Scripture easy, so like when an Early Church Father or Pope writes something they dont have to say John1:1-2, they can say John1:1f, or instead of John1:1-14 then can say John1:1ff. Or if they need to reword a Scripture passage but not lose the content, they can reword it to fit with what they are writing and just acknowledge that they got the idea from that verse so they would say John1:1cf or it can be written Cf John1:1.

 

[Fidelis]

Great replies! Keep 'em coming.

Todd Easton just added this on the other thread:

When the letters a or b appear after a verse designation, a refers to the first half of the verse and b the last half of the verse. These are used when only part of a verse is quoted.

 

[Mystophilus]

Fidelis:

Aside from study guides and reading plans like “The Great Adventure” that help you the big picture, what are some other little tricks and tips for becoming adept at reading the Scriptures?

Good concordances and online search engines.
Study Bibles.
Multiple translations.
Spending lots of time reading the text so that you are familiar with all of it, its internal structures and the interrelationships of the various books.
Studying non-Christian historical sources.
Studying Church history.
Studying the languages of the original texts.
Studying the art of translation.
Studying commentaries of the text, and especially engaging in diachronic (over time) studies of same.
Studying non-Christian religious texts.
Talking with rabbis.

Most importantly: continually discussing the text with others while trying to discover what is right rather than prove who is right.

 

[Pug]

Don’t get so caught up in word studies, cross-references, original languages, sources, parallel accounts, etc. that you forget to just read a psalm from time to time and pray with it, or just read a parable and apply it to your personal life.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Pug:

Don’t get so caught up in word studies, cross-references, original languages, sources, parallel accounts, etc. that you forget to just read a psalm from time to time and pray with it, or just read a parable and apply it to your personal life.

I agree, I think the OP was more concerned with some of the lingo and symbols that commonly appear in Church Documents and Bibles, that can be helpful when you know what they mean, but confusing when you dont and you keep seeing them show up.

 

[Pug]

Catholic Dude:

I agree, I think the OP was more concerned with some of the lingo

Yes, I agree. I wasn’t doing it to criticize, although upon reflection it could sound like that. It was a problem I let myself fall into in the past, so I wanted to pass on my experience to other bible readers. I impulsively added that second post. I did not mean anyone on the thread was doing this (execpt me, of course)!

Okay, I meant to put this in my first post. I used to get thrown for a loop on this abbreviation: Phil, thinking it was Philemon:

Philemon = Phlm (it has an M in the abbreviation)
Phillipians = Phil

 

[anawim]

It can also be interesting to read Pauls letters against the background of the chapters of Acts when they were written.

Beg. Acts 19: 1 & 2 Thes
Middle of Acts 19: Gal.
End of Acts 19: 1 & 2 Cor.
Beg. of Acts 20: Romans
Acts 28: Phillipians., Philemon, Ephesians, Colossians

Paul is released from prison when he writes 1 Tim. & Titus
Paul is then re(name removed by moderator)risoned when he writes 2 Tim.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

anawim:

It can also be interesting to read Pauls letters against the background of the chapters of Acts when they were written.

Beg. Acts 19: 1 & 2 Thes
Middle of Acts 19: Gal.
End of Acts 19: 1 & 2 Cor.
Beg. of Acts 20: Romans
Acts 28: Phillipians., Philemon, Ephesians, Colossians

Paul is released from prison when he writes 1 Tim. & Titus
Paul is then re(name removed by moderator)risoned when he writes 2 Tim.

I have always been interested in finding out where the letters match up with the timeline in Acts (ie specific verses). Does anyone have any websites or anything that can go into details on how they know when a letter was written in relation to the history of Paul’s travels in Acts?

When I look at what was posted why were letters 1&2Thes and Gal placed towards the end of the Bible when Romans is placed first but was written later?

 

[anawim]

Catholic Dude:

When I look at what was posted why were letters 1&2Thes and Gal placed towards the end of the Bible when Romans is placed first but was written later?

Paul’s letters are arranged according to length starting with the longer ones.

 

[Fidelis]

Catholic Dude:

I have always been interested in finding out where the letters match up with the timeline in Acts (ie specific verses). Does anyone have any websites or anything that can go into details on how they know when a letter was written in relation to the history of Paul’s travels in Acts?

Catholic apologist and Bible teacher Steve Ray to the rescue:

catholic-convert.com/Portals/57ad7180-c5e7-49f5-b282-c6475cdb7ee7/Documents/St_Paul_Timeline.pdf

Steve has several good Bible resources on his site www.catholic-convert.com.