Welcome to Day 1615 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom 

Bible Study – The NET Bible and Commentaries – Meditation Monday

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps; thanks for coming along on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy Today is Day 1615 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.

 We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our current insights are focusing on practical tools for Bible study. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – The NET Bible and Commentaries

·      Insight Seventy-Five: Use the NET Bible

Are you the kind of person who likes to use things until they can no longer be fixed? Some people don’t want to upgrade until whatever their use passes the point of being inconvenient but workable to be useless, even dangerous. Admit it: we all have something that’s “good enough for what we need to do.” In those cases, if we are honest, we also have to admit that when we do upgrade, we wonder why we waited so long.

That’s how it will be when you start using the (New English Translation) NET Bible.

What’s the NET Bible? Close your eyes and think about the study Bible you’re using. Can you see the tiny footnotes scattered through your translation here and there? They direct your attention to a few words at the bottom of the page, maybe suggesting another translation or something about a manuscript. There aren’t that many, but they’re helpful. Have you got that fixed in your mind? Now give your study Bible a performance-enhancing drug, maybe a growth hormone. The NET Bible is what all other study Bibles want to be when they grow up.

I’m not kidding. The NET Bible is freely available online at netbible.org and is a translation created by dozens of scholars experienced in Bible translation. It has over 60,000 notes, most of which explain precisely why the translators did what they did or how a different manuscript reading might affect translation. The preface to the NET Bible explains why it’s distinctive:

The translator’s notes make the original languages far more accessible, allowing you to look over the translator’s shoulder at the very process of translation. This documentation level is a first for a Bible translation, making transparent the textual basis and the rationale for key renderings (including major interpretive options and alternative translations).

There’s no other tool that comes close to it for English readers who don’t know Greek and Hebrew. If you are growing in your Bible study skills, at some point, you need to breach the English translation. The NET Bible has an unparalleled focus on the biblical text and the decisions the English translators made.

·      Insight Seventy-Six: Acquire a Clear, Succinct Theological Dictionary

Of the many tools for Bible study available today, commentaries are among the most familiar. A commentary might be a tool you associate with your pastor, but every serious Bible student should use them. But all commentaries are not the same.

There are basically three different kinds of commentaries: devotional, expositional, and scholarly. They have widely different aims. Here is a sampling of their attributes.

Devotional:

• English-only focus
• Surface-level observations that often repeat the English translation
• Usually not verse-by-verse
• Comments aimed at practical application
• Gives the reader an interpretation
• No analysis of other views
• Moderate cross-referencing
• May include advice for preaching or teaching

Expositional:

• Focus on the English text, but comments on the original languages
• Usually verse-by-verse
• Some attempt to take the reader through interpretive options
• Offers nontechnical background material
• Occasional discussion of variant manuscript readings
• Occasional discussion of literary features (e.g., parallelism, genre)

Scholarly:

• The writer includes his or her own translation
• Verse-by-verse, word-by-word
• Detailed discussion of original languages, parallel ancient literature, literary features, and manuscript variations
• Concerted effort at informing the reader of all interpretive options

The more you develop Bible study skills, including either learning some Hebrew and Greek or mastering original language tools, you’ll be able to make use of all different types of commentaries.

Joshua 1:8

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

That is a wrap for today’s Meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of the past 1614 daily treks or read the daily Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and Journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow for more daily wisdom!