Have you ever been reading along in your bible when a word seems to leap off the page at you? Perhaps you’ve noticed a theme in your life and suddenly the topic is everywhere, including your bible.
Or maybe you feel the Lord has shown you a word to focus on for a season. Some people like to choose a word at the beginning of the year, to inspire them to change or growth. Communities have even arisen around this concept.
If God created the world with words (“And God said…”), and if Jesus is the Word (John 1:1), then it goes without saying that words matter!
When a word becomes particularly meaningful to me, I like to make lists of scriptures that include that word.
Doing word studies and making scripture lists has been one of the more fruitful exercises I have undertaken in studying the bible. I enjoy digging into the original meaning of the words, but I also like to see different instances of the word side by side.
Perhaps you might like to try this exercise as well. We’ve created a free printable Scripture Word Sheet for you to add to your bible study notebook! There is space for each scripture reference, as well as a place underneath to write out the verse. If you enjoy researching, you’ll also find an area to note the original Greek or Hebrew word and its meaning.
To download this free printable pdf, just click on the picture above. We’d love to hear what you are learning in your word study! Please share with us in the comments.
Patti, this is great! I love doing word studies, especially as it relates to the rule of first mention–first time a word is mentioned in Scripture. For those studies I’ve found it essential to use a word-for-word translation rather than a thought-for-thought, otherwise I’ve found it can lead to misunderstandings at times. i.e. The first mention of love in NKJV vs. in NIV. Since the first mention sets the standard for what that word means throughout the rest of Scripture, I found the first mention of love between the NKJV and NIV shocking. (Sacrifical love vs. Lying for your husband.)
That example is fascinating Brooke. Thank you for making the point that translation matters! ESV, NASB and NKJV are good choices for this purpose.