God And His Word - A Question And Answer Approach To Understanding The Bible

LESSON 4: SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR BIBLE 1. WHY ARE SOME WORDS IN THE KING JAMES VERSION IN ITALICS? Italicized words in the King James Version were written this way by the translators to us know that the words were in the Hebrew or Greek text; they merely help to express the meaning the verse. 2. WHAT DOES THIS SIGN ( ¶ ) MEAN? This is a paragraph sign, which means (usually) that the verses between two of these refer to the theme or subject. 3. ARE THE CHAPTER NUMBERS AND VERSE NUMBERS INSPIRED BY GOD? No. These have been included in Bibles by the translators as an aid for quick reference. Generally they follow the basic thought breaks. Unfortunately, there are places where the chapter or verse notation interrupts the flow of thought; for instance, 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 13:1. 4. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND A WORD IN THE BIBLE THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND? The answer is simple - you look it up! Some words are explained in your regular dictionary, whereas other words will have more explanation in a Bible dictionary. Don't be discouraged, since there are only about 6,000 different English words in the entire Bible, you'll soon be moving easily through its pages. 5. WHY HAVE A "CENTER COLUMN REFERENCE"? Your study Bible probably will have a column down the middle of each page. This handy reference column is filled with other Bible references for the various verses as well as amplified word meanings for the more difficult words. This column will be of great help to you! 6. HOW SHOULD I USE MY CENTER COLUMN REFERENCE? When you see a small letter beside a Bible statement, look that letter up in the center column; the Bible references beside it will be concerned with the same subject. If there is a small numeral beside a word, you will find that numeral repeated in the center column with additional meaning for that word in italics (this meaning is based on the original language).

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