Daily Bible Study Tips

Brief, content-oriented tips help you read and understand the Bible. The study tips range from serious Greek and Hebrew word studies to whimsical comments about life as a Christian. Join participants around the world as we read the Bible together.


Miscellaneous Comments arranged in Biblical Order

Comments on the Old Testament
Comments on the New Testament


About this study

Copyright information, disclaimers, and sponsors

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Frontispiece from the Binns Family Bible. Click to enlarge. See below for provenance.




Pool Party
Springs, Pools, and Other Waters in the Bible
Belief
Springs, Pools, and Other Waters in the Bible
From Time to Time
Biblical origins of modern expressions
Daniel Outside the Den
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery Furnace
Sermon Series
Long and Short Biblical Sermons
Letters from Paul
Letters from Paul
Biblical Values
Money and Measures in the Bible
A People in Exile
A People in Exile
Songs for Summer
Theology in Popular Music: Good, Bad and Truly Weird.
Street Signs in the City of God
Wandering through the ways, paths, roads, highways, and marketplaces of the Bible.
Gift of the Nutcracker
A study for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
As It Is Written
Matthew's Use of the Old Testament
Who Is This Guy?
Some minor characters are of major importance.
Perfect Sevens
Symbolic numbers in the Bible
Dead on Arrival
DOA:  Old Stories, New Acronyms
What Must I Do to be Saved?
Inquiring minds want to know.
A Religious Art Gallery
Not just a pretty picture.
Angels
The Archangel Michael Defeating Satan.
The Big Lie
A Biblical word study on the Devil
Get Ready for Work
God has work for you to do.  Are you ready?
Baptism
What's the scriptural basis for baptism?
Playful Appellations
Who was 'Drawn Out'?
Soup, Soap, & Salvation
Charitable Giving
The Law is the Law
The most casual observer knows that Christians and Jews don't keep all of the Law of Moses.  Why not?
A Horse of a Different Color
Translation is a tough business.  Some animals are mentioned once, and we don't really know what they are.
Saints of the Bible
A study in honor of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Image Copyright 1986 Turelio (via Wikimedia-Commons), 1986 /
Lizenz: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0 de
Five Funny Stories
Balaam argues with his donkey.

Wonders and Signs
Lunar eclipse, 9/27/2015, Albuquerque, NM.
Copyright 2015 Madison Link. Used by permission.
Psalms
The Good Shepherd, stained glass,courtesy of Merkel United Methodist Church.
Elijah
Elijah in the Wilderness.
Map of the Exodus
Where in the world were the children of Israel?

Who saw the risen Christ?
Touch Me Not; Mary Magdalene meets the risen Christ.
Chronological Gospel
The Nativity.
The Letter of James
Actions speak louder than words.
Christmas IQ Test
What's wrong with this picture?

Topical Studies

Reader Questions Answered
In thirty years of Bible study, I've learned the most from the students who ask questions.

Salvation for the Gentiles: A Study of Romans
God is so great that we have to tell the pagans!

Reading the Bible The Way It's Written
Knowing how the writer is using language helps us understand what is being said in the scriptures.

Bumper Sticker Theology
Remembering God's Word in a Cluttered World

God is Love
Praise him, praise him, all ye little children! God is love, God is love.

Gifted
You are among the gifted. What are you going to do about it?

Why Suffering?
The Bible seems less interested in answering the question as in giving us an answer to suffering itself: the divine and human presence of our comforters and friends.

14 "Verses" Not in the Bible
The whole point of the Bible is that God helps those who cannot help themselves.

The Rest of The Story
This is a series of comments to go along with your reading of The Story by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee.

The Law and Sin
The good news and the bad news is that The Law makes us all too aware of our sin.

Righteousness and Redemption
The great news is that God loves us enough to redeem us from sin and death

The UMC Membership Vow
What is the Biblical basis for the vows we take when we join the United Methodist Church?

Reading from the Lectionary
Does your pastor preach from the Lectionary? This short study helps you understand the readings.

Heroes of the Faith
Are you heroic? You might be surprised. The Bible considers faith to be one of the most heroic characteristics.

BibleGateway.com's Top 100 + 2 Most-Read Bible Verses
Find out which of your favorite Bible verses are everyone else's favorites, too.

Handel's "Messiah"
Our Advent study for 2012 examined the scriptural origins of the lyrics to "The Messiah."

A Call to Christian Living
The Bible talks more about our behavior than about heaven, end times, or theology. What does it mean to live the Christian life?

Bible Stories for Grownups
The Bible stories we teach to our children are expurgated, abbreviated, and annotated. This topical study takes an adult look at the Bible stories and songs we learned as children.

Singing from Advent to Epiphany
Last year's Advent study includes the words to favorite songs from Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, or Hanukkah and discusses the scriptural basis of the lyrics.

The Many Names of God

Biblical Prayer

The Character of God
Some of the most important words describing God's character don't mean exactly what we think they mean.

Holy Mothers (and One Unholy Grandmother)
Women have held every important position available in Judeo-Christian history, with the exception of Messiah.

Map of the Holy Land and an Index
From Ashdod to Zidon, it's on the map.

Comments on the Old Testament

Comments on Genesis
Comments on Exodus
Comments on Leviticus

Numbers - Adventures with Moses in the Wilderness

Deuteronomy
Joshua
Comments on Judges
Comments on Ruth
Comments on 1 and 2 Samuel
1 Kings - Early Kings of Israel & Judah
2 Kings - Late Kings of Israel & Judah
Comments on 1 and 2 Chronicles


Comments on Nehemiah and Job
Comments on Esther
Comments on Job
Psalms: Reading the Bible the Way It's Written
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's

Prophets

Here Am I - Send Me: Comments on Isaiah
The Prophets: Miscellaneous Comments on Jeremiah, Lamentations, Hosea, Amos, Habbakuk, Haggai, and Zechariah
The Prophets: Nahum
The Prophets: Daniel
Three Minor Prophets: Micah, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk
Four Minor Prophets: Haggai, Malachi, Obadiah, and Joel
The Prophets: Primary Message of Pre-Exilic Prophecy
The Prophets: Messianic Prophecy
The Prophets: Prophecy to Other Nations

Prophets without Books:
Elijah
False Prophets

Comments on the New Testament

Matthew: Overview
Matthew: Comments, Chapters 1 - 14
Matthew: Comments, Chapters 15 - 28

Mark: Overview
Mark: Comments, Chapters 1 - 8
Mark: Comments, Chapters 9 - 16

Luke: Overview
Luke: Comments, Chapters 1 - 12
Luke: Comments, Chapters 13 - 24
Acts: Overview
Acts: Comments, Chapters 1 - 2
Acts: Comments, Chapters 3 - 8
Acts: Comments, Chapters 9 - 17

John: Overview
John: Comments, Chapters 1 - 6
John: Comments, Chapters 9 - 14
John: Comments, Chapters 15 - 21

Letters from Paul
Overview of Paul's Letters
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galations, Ephesians, and Philemon
Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Timothy

General Letters: Overview
Quotations: A Study of the Book of Hebrews
Comments on James
Comments on 1 Peter
Comments on 2 Peter
Comments on I John 1 - 2
Comments on I John 3 - 5
Comments on Jude

Overview of Revelation from the Rev. Clyde Stanfield, Guest Contributor
Comments on Revelation
Comparison of Apocalyptic Writing and Prophecy
Revelation: Reader Question Answered

Singing from Advent to Epiphany

Advent Psalms
Christmas Carols - Part 1
Christmas Carols - Part 2
Christmas Carols - Part 3
Hanukkah Songs
Epiphany Hymns

The Many Names of God

Names of God - Introduction
Sacred Names - Part 1
Sacred Names - Part 2
Other Names - Part 1
Other Names - Part 2
Other Names - Part 3
Names of Jesus - Part 1
Names of Jesus - Part 2
Names of Jesus - Part 3
Names of Jesus - Part 4
Names of Jesus - Part 5
Names of Jesus - Part 6
Names of Jesus - Part 7
Names of Jesus - Part 8
Names of Jesus - Part 9
Names of the Spirit

Biblical Prayer

The Purpose of Prayer
Conversations with God - Abraham
Conversations with God - Moses
Conversations with God - David and Solomon
Adoration - Sing to the Lord a New Song
Liturgical Prayer
When God Speaks
God promises to answer all prayers...
... Except the prayers of the Wicked. But if the Wicked repent, God hears them, too.
Sometimes the answer is "No."
The disciples talk about prayer.
How Not to Pray
How to Pray: Effectively
How to Pray - Privately
How to Pray - Corporately

The Character of God

Glory, Old Testament, New Testament
Holiness, Old Testament, New Testament
Longsuffering, Old Testament, New Testament
Steadfast Love, Old Testament, which is Mercy in the New Testament
Graciousness, Old Testament, which is Grace in the New Testament
Jealousy, Old Testament
Intolerance of Sin, Old Testament, New Testament

Holy Mothers (and One Unholy Grandmother)

Sarah: Named by God
Rebecca protects the Covenant.
Rachel and Leah build the house of Israel.
Miriam the Prophetess
Deborah, Judge over Israel
Ruth the Moabitess
Queen Athaliah of Judah
Queen Esther of Persia
The Four Most Important Women Who Never Lived
Women Who Expected Miracles
Mary and Elizabeth
UMW in Bible Times

About this study

This website is a compilation of the brief study tips from an email Bible study begun on January 1, 2007, with five or six readers from one adult Sunday School class at St. John's United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was intended to be a single-year Bible study. By December 2 of that year, we had 54 readers, who had learned of the study entirely by word of mouth and who had asked to be included. The pastor at that time, Pastor David, decided that since it was the largest on-going study at St. John's, he wanted it to grow, and several rounds of announcements and sign-ups followed.

Now in its sixteenth year, the email study has grown to an address list of about 120. The readers are from several churches in Albuquerque and (literally) across the nation and around the world; several denominations; and two faiths, Christianity and Judaism. Not too long after the study began, one of the email readers asked a question, which gave rise to longer (sometimes much longer) comments called "Bible Study Supplements - Reader Questions Answered."

When the study began, I had no plan to do anything other than distribute scripture passages to a few friends who wanted to remember to do daily Bible readings. When I put in the first study tip on a passage I knew from teaching to be a little bit obscure, I had no plan to write study tips daily. When I started writing daily study tips, I had no idea that readers would find them valuable enough to print out, share with friends, or save. All this is to explain why the study tips include very few references. Not all of the facts, ideas, and errors in the study tips are original with me; however, since I have learned the facts, integrated the ideas, and continued in the errors for 30 years, finding the references would have taken much more time than writing and emailing the tips. And there seemed to be no call for references. If it turns out that this web site is being used - which remains to be seen - I will try to add references to both old and new study tips as we travel along.

Meantime, don't take my word for what's in the scripture! Don't take your pastor's word, your rabbi's word, your Sunday School teacher's word, or a written reference's word for what's in the scripture. Read it for yourself!


Copyright 2016, 2021 by Regina L. Hunter.  All rights reserved.

Opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author, Regina Hunter, and may or may not be shared by the sponsors or the Bible-study participants.  Thanks to the Holy Spirit for any useful ideas presented here, and thanks to all the readers for their support and enthusiasm.  All errors are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.

Our Sponsors:

St. John's United Methodist Church "Transforming Lives Through Christ."
St. John's UMC is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Traditional worship services are held Sundays at 8:15 and 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. Contemporary worship services are held Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in the Family Life Center. Jazz Vespers are held monthly on the second Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. St. John's feels especially called to the worship of God and to the service of our neighbors through our music program. St. John's YouTube channel brings you free concerts and choral music.

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Ducks in a Row, Inc.

This website is supported in part by the generosity of Mrs. J. Jordan.