The Tauernhof Quick and Dirty Bible Study ToolBox

A collection of rapid links to the top web-based tools for exciting Bible study. I've listed eight key areas, but of course there's a lot more out there. Spend some time clicking around, and you'll find your personal study becomes steadily more powerful and rewarding. Have a great time!

1. Concordance   

Why you would use this tool: to find any passage or story anywhere, or how many times a certain topic comes up in the Bible, or how different books tell the same story

Bible Gateway - the best and quickest

Others that are occasionally useful

2. Translations  

Why you would use this tool: To check on how different versions translate the same passage

Bible Gateway - more translations than you'll find anywhere else, including many in languages other than English.

Biblehub - 25 translations available, plus links to others they don't have, which are hosted on other websites. Don't miss their "Chronological Bible", which tries to put all the contents of the Bible into the order in which they were written; it can give you a great sense of (e.g.) the timeline of Jesus' life and ministry, or which prophets were writing at the same time as one another. Or the Parallel Gospels, which try to sort out all the stories from all four gospels in to the order in which it all happened.

YouVersion - download it on to your phone, tablet of computer. Many different translations at your fingertips.

3. Greek and Hebrew aids

Why you would use this tool: To find out the range of meaning of the original words used in Scripture - often the English/German translation is only approximate - and to find all the places where this particular word or phrase is used in Scripture

Biblehub   Put any passage you want to study into the search box, click to go there, then click on "Greek" or "Hebrew" or "Interlinear" or "Lexicons" in the tabs above the passage. All of these tabs do different useful things - click around and find out what!

Interlinear Bible (Greek/Hebrew on one line, English translation of each wortd immediately above - there's a good explanation of how it works before you get started)

Lexicons  for when you want to look up a particular Greek or Hebrew word, and explore its meaning

One of the most incredibly useful tools for exploring words and their meanings is Strong's Numbers, painstakingly put together in 1890 by James Strong. He gave every Hebrew word in the OT (8674 of them!) and every Greek word in the NT (5624 of them!) its own special number, which links to an in-depth explanation of the word's meaning and a list of all the places where it appears in the Bible. You'll find that most of these Bible study sites (such as Biblehub) give links to Strong's numbers for all the Greek and Hebrew words they quote. Click on the number, and you'll be taken to a page where you'll learn more about the word and its meaning than you ever thought you could know! You can read more about Strong's system here. And every single one of his words and definitions is listed here. (Scroll down to "Interlinear and Strong's".)

4. Commentaries

Why you would use this tool: To get help in understanding a passage, or a verse, or a book

Golden oldies: Matthew Henry Jamieson Fausset and Brown FB Meyer Albert Barnes
More modern: Peter Petts David Guzik William Barclay
Helpful preachers: Ray Stedman David Legge C H Spurgeon Spurgeon on the Psalms

5. Background info     

Why you would use this tool: To dig into the background of Bible books and stories, and understand a bit more about the inside story of what you’re examining

Bible Study Tools
Studylight (go to this page, then click on “Bible Study Tools”)

6. Collections of maps  

Why you would use this tool: To see where things happened, or check distances, routes, etc.

Bible Maps
Bible-history.com
Biblestudy.org

7. Loads of resources in one place  

Why you would use this tool: To save time by going to just one website which has a staggering number of these tools just a click away

Precept Austin - which includes the biggest collection of good commentaries I've ever seen, on every book of the Bible, and all just a click away

Blue Letter Bible

8. Downloadable Bible study software

Why you would use this tool: To be able to use some of these resources when you're not online.

E-Sword - free to download, and has some useful features; but to get lots of translations, and the best commentary resources, you have to pay for individual modules. Still, you pay a lot less for really good commentaries in this electronic form than you would if you were buying the books; there are often lots of bargain offers; and it's a very convenient way to study. Best to download the free stuff and play with it for a while, rather than buying anything too hastily.

And if it's not working for you, or if you have questions I can help with...

Contact me at any time!