Interpreting the Bible, or biblical exegesis, is an important part of understanding Yahweh and His plan for His people. However, even the newest portions of the Bible were written almost 2000 years ago and in ancient versions of Greek and Hebrew. Over the centuries, interpreters have done an amazing job translating these texts into versions readable by their contemporary audiences. However, they were are and humans, as are we all. Because of this there are (usually small but sometimes important) differences in translations. In addition, even very accurate translations can still obscure the meaning of verses if they are not read in their original context. While humans have always been humans, cultures change and reading the Bible with modern eyes can often lead to skewed meanings.
While these facts can seem daunting, there are some important things to remember. First, the Gospel of Jesus Christ easily transcends languages and teaches us that salvation comes from faith in Yahweh and acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to bring us into right relationship with Him. Second Yahweh chose the people and cultures that are in the Bible to share what He wanted His people to know. It takes practice and work, but gaining a strong understanding of the Bible is VERY doable and is a journey infinitely worth taking.
With all that said, this series of articles will look at some of the best Bible study tools on the Internet.
Logos.com
Logos.com is kind of like the Amazon of Christian texts. They sell most religious texts including Bible translations, commentaries, reference books, and books on various aspects of the history and topics of the faith. In addition, they offer a very powerful software platform to read and study said texts. One can do things like see the original language behind Bible verses, find every instance of a particular word, see how a specific word is used in various parts of the Bible, and find any instance of a particular word or topic in one’s Logos library. These are all extremely valuable tools to seriously study the Bible and the Ancient Near East. Here is a video about using the Logos software:
Here is the thing about Logos: it can get very expensive very quickly. Luckily, there is a way to get a lot of its best features for just a few dollars a month. Faithlife connect offers the Logos software and a collection of texts starting at $8.99 a month. I currently pay for the $14.99 plan which has full access to the Logos tools and a 129 volume research library. To me its definitely worth it at the cost of a (in 2020) Netflix subscription. The $14.99 level also gives 3 additional free books a month to add to the library, access to their Faithlife TV Plus video service, and the choice of 2 Faithlife video courses a year.
Bonus: Faithlife currently has a book service in beta that is free and gives access to an additional 8000 texts. It looks to be very similar to Google Books. This service can be found at books.logos.com.