By Gardiner Jones

A good word study of scripture will do wonders to your understanding. The main thing is to do all the grunt work for yourself - FIRST. Then, when you’ve done a thorough word study, check with various reputable commentaries to check your own work.

I want to start this by looking at Psalm 119:1-8. Psalm 119 is divided into 22 “pericopes” (groups of verses). Each of these pericopes constitutes the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse in each pericope begins with the corresponding letter. For example, the first eight verses - in Hebrew - all begin with the letter Aleph. It is a very poetic way of writing. First, let’s look at the eight verses in the Modern King James translation.

Psa 119:1-8

 (1) ALEPH: Blessed are the upright in the way, who walk in the Law of Jehovah.

 (2) Blessed are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek Him with all the heart.

 (3) They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.

 (4) You have commanded us to keep Your Commandments carefully.

 (5) O that my ways were fixed to keep Your Precepts!

 (6) Then I shall not be ashamed, when I have respect to all Your Commandments.

 (7) I will praise You with uprightness of heart when I have learned Your righteous judgments.

 (8) I will keep Your Precepts; do not forsake me completely.

In doing a word study one needs a number of good references. I use Spiros Zodhiate’s “The Complete Word Study Old Testament” (or the one for the NT), “The Complete WOrd Study Dictionary Old Testament”, Strong’s Concordance, “The New Brown-Drive-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon”, “The New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance” (Wigram), “Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words” (W.E. Vine), and when working with the New Testament, “Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament.” Naturally one also needs a good Bible. I prefer the NIV version Keyword Study Bible” published by AMG. A number of my fellow biblical scholars prefer the KJV of the same.

Begin by prayerfully reading the passage a number of times, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what those verses contain. I am always amazed at how much more there is to learn even after going through a pericope of Scripture multiple times!

Next, for each verse, write down which words you feel warrant an extended study of their meaning. These are the “key words” of the passage. For example, in Psalm 119, in the first verse I chose “undefiled”, “way”, “walk”, and “law.” Your study may lead you to focus on different words, but the result will be the same - a deeper living awareness of God’s word.

For each key word you select, study the meaning of the word using the excellent study materials listed earlier. Again, don’t just write down Strong’s definition verbatim, but rather prayerfully seek what God wants to say to you specifically about that word. Some knowledge of the grammar involved (i.e., Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Syriac) is helpful, but you won’t be wasting your time if you don’t have such knowledge. Chart out what you mine out of your study of each word you dig into. For example, my study of “undefiled” led me to focus on the moral implication of blamelessness. The term is used of one’s relationship with another person, and in this case especially of your relationship with God. It is the blamelessness of God’s way, God’s knowledge, God’s law.

Once you have done your grunt work for each of the words selected, check your work with various commentators like Henry, Clark, Gill, Barnes. The idea here is not so much to change what you got out of your study, but just to double-check your results to ensure that you didn’t go off in an entirely wrong direction. I generally find a connection with my study and these great commentators thoughts, but not always. And when I don’t line up with their take it does not always mean I am wrong either. Sometimes the Holy Spirit reveals a different facet of what a verse is saying - but never in contradiction.

I then generally try to write my own paraphrase of the passage I’ve been studying. Doing so helps me to put into my own words what I believe the Holy Spirit was saying to me while I studied. It helps me to organize my thoughts. Here is what I came up with after studying Psalm 119:1-8:

(1) How happy are the people who are pure and uncompromisingly sold out to God’s instructions of right and wrong!

 (2) Happy are those who obey his decrees of what is right and wrong, who guard and keep his truths in their thoughts and actions; with a sincere desire to know his will and to do it.

 (3) They do not compromise with evil, but habitually do what is right in the eyes of God: the motivation for their conduct and way of life is to be in full agreement with his instructions.

 (4) You, God, have charged us to diligently keep watch, and to constantly and faithfully pay heed to all your edicts.

 (5) My earnest desire is that my choices in life be established, firm, stable, and enduring; so that my actions in observing and obeying your laws reflect your principles that are set in stone!

 (6) When I have a strong regard for, and pay close attention to all your judicial decisions that tell us how to conduct ourselves, then I will not have occasion to feel ashamed or to be disgraced.

 (7) In my learning, when my heart is humbled and I am submitted to you, I will thank you by living as I should!

 (8) I will lay down everything that hinders me from following you. If I mess up, trip or fall, please don’t give up on me!

If you want to go further, meditate on the passage, and then write a lesson about it. (I have a “regular article” on this site titled “The Proper Response to God’s Word” which is a lesson I made as a result of my study of Psalm 119:1-8.) You will be amazed at how rich God’s word is, and you will never tire of learning and feeding more and more upon it. Shalom!

Dr. Gardiner B. Jones III holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Christian Life School of Theology, is an ordained minister, and with his wife raised four children. They now live near Nashville, Tennessee.

Strong in integrity and doctrinal beliefs, he has the heart of one softened by the Master.

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