Through the Bible in 2007

[mark kennedy]

Happy New Year and this is an attempt to work my way through the Bible in a year or less. If the Lord's willing and the creek don't rise I intend to put together my own study Bible. I am removing the superscripts that number the verses and including quotes and word searches as footnotes. It's not an ambitious project but a whole lot more work then I thought when I started planning for this a several weeks ago. I'm starting the thread in order to share what resources I find and hopefully get a little help here and there with the project. Feel free to post whatever thoughts you might have, especially as it relates to the texts I am currently working on.

My primary resource is the Johnhurt htmlbible a free resource that includes Matthew Henry's Commentary, The Easton's Dictionary Strong's Dictionary and Hebrew and Greek Concordance and a bunch of other stuff. I highly recommend it for online study.

Since I have no idea if there will be any interest in the thread I will just post some of the footnotes and check back to see if there is any response:

Genesis 1

1. beginning (re'shiyth ) - the first, in place, time, order or rank specifically, a firstfruit. (Deu 21:17, Prov. 1:7 )

2. created (bara') – to create absolutely (Psa 148:5, Isa 40:26, Deu 4:32, Jer. 31:22) ‘create’ and renew (Psa. 51:10)

“The stars are spoken of as they appear to our eyes, without telling their number, nature, place, size, or motions; for the Scriptures were written, not to gratify curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.” (Matthew Henry Commentary)​

Genesis 2

3. LORD - Jehovah - the special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord [adonai]) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews (Ex. 6:2, 3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice was founded on a false interpretation of Lev. 24:16. The meaning of the word appears from Ex. 3:14 to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a covenant-keeping God. (Compare to Mal. 3:6; Hos. 12:5; Rev. 1:4, 8.) (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

There was the tree of life in the midst of the garden. Of this man might eat and live. Christ is now to us the Tree of life, (Revelation 2:7. 22:2). and the Bread of life, (John 6:48,51). (Matthew Henry Commentary)​

Genesis 3

4. yada` (yaw-dah') - To know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses. advise (2 Sam 24:13), aware (S of Solomon 6:12, Jer 50:24), certain (1 Ki 2:37, 1 Ki 2:42, Jer 26:15), considereth (Prov 28:22, Prov 29:7), cunning (Gen 25:27, 1 Sam 16:16, 1 Sam 16:18, Dan 1:4), diligent (Prov 27:23), discern (2 Sam 19:35). “Your eyes shall be opened - You shall have much more of the power and pleasure of contemplation than now you have; you shall fetch a larger compass in your intellectual views, and see farther into things than now you do.” (John Wesley). “He would have what he pleased, and do what he pleased. His sin was, in one word, disobedience, (Romans 5:19). disobedience to a plain, easy, and express command. He had no corrupt nature within, to betray him; but had a freedom of will, in full strength, not weakened or impaired. He turned aside quickly. He drew all his posterity into sin and ruin.” (Matthew Henry). “The exclamation of Augustine, ‘O wretched freewill, which, while yet entire, had so little stability!’ And, to say no more respecting the shortness of the time, the admonition of Bernard is worthy of remembrance: ‘Since we read that a fall so dreadful took place in Paradise, what shall we do on the dunghill?’ At the same time, we must keep in memory by what pretext they were led into this delusion so fatal to themselves, and to all their posterity.” (John Calvin)

5. Desired = Chamad (khaw-mad') - To delight in:--beauty, covet, precious thing. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house et al. (Exo 20:17), covet fields and take [them] by violence (Micah 2:2) gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted (Jos. 7:21)​

Genesis 4

6. Cain's offering = minchah (min-khaw') - From an unused root meaning to apportion, specifically a sacrificial offering (usually bloodless).

7. Abel's firstling = bkowrah (bek-o-raw') - The firstling of man or beast (Deu 12:17, Deu 14:23, Neh 10:36), also translated firstborn (Deu 21:17) and birthright (Gen 25:31, Gen 27:36, Gen 43:33, 1 Chr 5:1).

8. Sin = chatta'ah (khat-taw-aw') - Translated 'sin' (Gen 18:20, Gen 31:36, Exo 34:9, Lev 4:3, Job 10:6, Job 35:3, Psa 32:5), punishment (Lam 4:6, Zech 14:19) and offering (Exo 29:14, Lev 4:3, Eze 40:39)

9. Sign = 'uwth (ooth) - A signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc. ensign (Num 2:2), miracles (Num 14:22, Deu 11:3), sign (Exo 4:8).

“The land Cain dwelt in was called the land of Nod, which means, 'shaking,' or 'trembling,' and so shows the restlessness and uneasiness of his own spirit, or 'the land of a vagabond:' they that depart from God cannot find rest any where else.” (Matthew Henry)​

I put most of Genesis 5 in an excel spreadsheet and imbedded it in a Word document. That made it possible to fit Genesis 6 on the same page. That does not leave much room for footnotes so I'm going to work on making a spreadsheet for the diminsions of the Ark and times included in the narrative. Of course I really want to include New Testament referances but I don't know if I can fit them in.

I think that's it except that the quotes from Wesley and Calvin were from saved webpages. One is from CCEL and the other from a website location that I don't have available at the moment.

Your thoughts...

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[skittle_kat]

omgosh thats kwl...im working with a friend to see how long itll take us to read thru the whole bible good luck on the study bible..i might as well say i have an obsession for study bibles... i have an entire box...

 

[mark kennedy]

omgosh thats kwl...im working with a friend to see how long itll take us to read thru the whole bible good luck on the study bible..i might as well say i have an obsession for study bibles... i have an entire box...

It's cool allright but it is more work then I ever realized. The first real study Bible I ever saw was advertised by the Billy Graham people and that was back in the early 90s. The Thompson Chain Referance had been around but I never really liked it, just a personal problem with the referances really.

If you are going to work through the Bible you can take something like 4 chapters a day to get through it in a year, 7 will get you through in just under 6 months.

Like you I have a collection of study Bibles and I have developed my own personal philosophy of how one should be made. I think an emphasis on traditional views and the original languages is absolutly key to getting a good study Bible. I also think it should springload study materials that could help a person customize their own study.

Thank you kindly for you words of support, it is greatly appreciated.

At any rate, I am just going to post what I have and hope I'm not the only one interested in doing something like this. This is a collection of my latest footnotes:

Genesis 7

“The six hundredth year of Noah's life, was 1656 years from the creation. In the second month, the seventeenth day of the month - Which is reckoned to be about the beginning of November; so that Noah had had a harvest just before, from which to victual his ark. The same day the fountains of the great deep were broken up - There needed no new creation of waters; God has laid up the deep in store-houses, Psalm xxxiii, 7, and now he broke up those stores. God had, in the creation, set bars and doors to the waters of the sea, that they might not return to cover the earth, Psalm civ; Job xxxviii, 9-11, and now he only removed these ancient mounds and fences, and the waters of the sea returned to cover the earth, as they had done at first, chap. i, 9. And the windows of heaven were opened - And the waters which were above the firmament were poured out upon the world; those treasures which God has reserved against the time of trouble, the day of battle and war, Job xxxviii, 22, 23. The rain, which ordinarily descends in drops, then came down in streams. We read, Job xxvi, 8. That God binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them; but now the bond was loosed, the cloud was rent, and such rains descended as were never known before or since.” (John Wesley)

Righteous = tsaddiyq (tsad-deek') - just, lawful, righteous (man). Character quality of being righteous is ascribed to God and those who walk by faith: "The Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he." (Dt. 32:42, Sam 23:3, Neh 9:33) "Behold, his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4 Romans 3:21; 16:25,26 )​

Chapter 8

“And after the end of the hundred and fifty days. Some think that the whole time, from the beginning of the deluge to the abatement of the waters, is here noted; and thus they include the forty days in which Moses relates that there was continued rain. But I make this distinction, that until the fortieth day, the waters rose gradually by fresh additions; then that they remained nearly in the same state for one hundred and fifty days; for both computations make the period a little more than six months and a half. And Moses says, that about the end of the seventh month, the diminution of the waters appeared to be such that the ark settled upon the highest summit of a mountain, or touched some ground. And by this lengthened space of time, the Lord would show the more plainly, that the dreadful desolation of the world had not fallen upon it accidentally, but was a remarkable proof of his judgment; while the deliverance of Noah was a magnificent work of his grace, and worthy of everlasting remembrance. If, however, we number the seventh month from the beginning of the year, (as some do,) and not from the time that Noah entered the ark, the subsidence of which Moses speaks, took place earlier, namely, as soon as the ark had floated five months. If this second opinion is received, there will be the same reckoning of ten months; for the sense will be, that in the eighth month after the commencement of the deluge, the tops of the mountains appeared. Concerning the name Ararat, I follow the opinion most received. And I do not see why some should deny it to be Armenian the mountains of which are declared, by ancient authors, almost with one consents to be the highest. The Chaldean paraphrase also points out the particular part, which he calls mountains of Cardu , “ על טורי קרדו . ( Al toorai Kardoo ,) Super montes Cardu . — Chaldee paraphrase.” — Walton which others call Cardueni .But whether that be true, which Josephus has handed down respecting the fragments of the ark found there in his time; remnants of which, Jerome says, remained to his own age, I leave undecided.” (John Calvin)​

Chapter 9: The Curse of Ham and Canaan.

Covenant = briyth (ber-eeth') - In the sense of cutting like 'bara'' (Strong's 1254); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh). Noahic covenant (Gen 6:18, Gen 9:9), the LORD made a covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob (Gen.15:18, 17:2-5, Exo 2:24), Abraham made a covenant at Beersheba with Abimelech (Gen. 21:32, Gen 26:28). The word is also translated confederacy (Obad 1:7) and confederate (Psa 83:5).

# Egypt was settled by the descendants of Ham. “And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of [their] strength in the tabernacles of Ham” (Psa 78:51), “Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham” (Psa 105:23).

# Canaan = Kna`an (ken-ah'-an) - from 'kana`(Strong's 3665); humiliated; Kenaan, a son a Ham; also the country inhabited by him:--Canaan.

“And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.” (Exodus 6:4,5)​

Chapter 10: The Table of Nations

Nimrod - firm, a descendant of Cush, the son of Ham. He was the first who claimed to be a "mighty one in the earth." Babel was the beginning of his kingdom, which he gradually enlarged (Gen. 10:8-10). The "land of Nimrod" (Micah 5:6) is a designation of Assyria or of Shinar, which is a part of it. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

“Nineveh - First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised Version, "He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh." It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is described (Jonah 3:3; 4:11) as a great and populous city, the flourishing capital of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 19:36; Isa. 37:37). The book of the prophet Nahum is almost exclusively taken up with prophetic denunciations against this city. Its ruin and utter desolation are foretold (Nah. 1:14; 3:19, etc.). Zephaniah also (2:13-15) predicts its destruction along with the fall of the empire of which it was the capital. From this time there is no mention of it in Scripture till it is named in gospel history (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32).
This "exceeding great city" lay on the eastern or left bank of the river Tigris, along which it stretched for some 30 miles, having an average breadth of 10 miles or more from the river back toward the eastern hills. This whole extensive space is now one immense area of ruins. Occupying a central position on the great highway between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, thus uniting the East and the West, wealth flowed into it from many sources, so that it became the greatest of all ancient cities.
About B.C. 633 the Assyrian empire began to show signs of weakness, and Nineveh was attacked by the Medes, who subsequently, about B.C. 625, being joined by the Babylonians and Susianians, again attacked it, when it fell, and was razed to the ground. The Assyrian empire then came to an end, the Medes and Babylonians dividing its provinces between them. "After having ruled for more than six hundred years with hideous tyranny and violence, from the Caucasus and the Caspian to the Persian Gulf, and from beyond the Tigris to Asia Minor and Egypt, it vanished like a dream" (Nah. 2:6-11). Its end was strange, sudden, tragic. It was God's doing, his judgement on Assyria's pride (Isa. 10:5-19).” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)​

That is roughly where I am at with this, I expect it will become nessacary to take notes for an improved version if I ever get through this one.

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[skittle_kat]

i think u have some great ideas. i to gen 12 in my study...im studying bout two hours a day since i have two bible studies to get through...well good luck...