If you were allowed only one book (apart from the Bible)for the rest of your life what would it be?
If you say “apart from the Bible”, are you just talking about my English Bible, or are my Greek NT and Hebrew OT included? If not, then I’ve got to take my Greek NT. My Greek is sufficient to get more value out of that than anything else (my Hebrew isn’t as good).
If you count both my English and original language Bibles under “the Bible” (and you should), then I’ve got a tough choice, between a Hebrew lexicon, a Hebrew grammar, and Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. I’m going to say that the English Bible and Hebrew Bible side by side give me a sort of interlinear Hebrew lexicon of a rudimentary sort, enough clues on Hebrew grammar to stimulate my memory a little, and I’m going to fall back on TSK.
It’s invaluable for comparing Scripture with Scripture, which helps protect from all kinds of errors, and often provides useful inspired indirect “commentary” on the passage I’m studying. It’s great for theological studies where you want to find many verses on a topic to chase down. It’s kind of a pain to use in book form, so I hope I get to take a computer version with me wherever I’m going, which allows me to hover over the list of cross-references and have them pop up so I can look on them without clicking through one at a time.
Since I’m taking a computer, I’ll smuggle these onto a password-protected section of my hard drive, so you don’t know they are there:
1. Strong’s concordance or software equivalent — this isn’t #1 for me because I’ve been blessed with a very good memory and I’ve read the Bible enough times that I can usually find what I’m looking for even when away from this kind of resource. I’ll be able to find a related verse, anyway, and then track down the one for which I’m looking with TSK.
2. Greek concordance — I like “New Englishman’s”, which has the added bonus of a rudimentary lexicon included. That made this a contender for the top spot as well.
3. Hebrew concordance — Again, I like “New Englishman’s”. These two are powerful tools, and together would easily be #1, but you said I only get one, and neither, standing alone, makes the cut.
4. Edersheim’s “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”. This one probably wouldn’t be near the top for most people. It is for me. An amazing wealth of Jewish background information that goes far beyond the four Gospels in its usefulness — I never really understood Paul’s “lifting up holy hands” statement until I read Edersheim on synagogue traditions. This might have been close to #1 except that I’ve been through it a couple of times and will probably remember a lot of it anyway.
Treasury of David will be hard to let go. So will my set of Lenski’s commentaries. I’ve been finding a lot of value in Waltke’s NICOT 2 volume set on Proverbs — Proverbs is pretty tough at times, so I’d hate to lose that one, too. I love Strong’s Systematic Theology, but he went off on creation and then the atonement, sounds almost pantheistic at times, so significant sections of it I’d be glad to leave behind.
I’ll probably cut some pages out of my Bible atlas and glue them in the back of my Bible where you don’t notice them. Do I get to take all my handwritten notes with me? What about all my old sermon outlines? THEY AREN’T BOOKS!
I’ll brush up on my Greek declensions and all before I go. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I actually cheat and look at an analytical Greek lexicon. I really should be able to get by without it, though. There’s no real excuse for that.
Of course, my boss might tell me my single book would have to be Fabozzi’s Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, and then I’d have to do what he says, unless I’m headed for a desert island and won’t be working any more.
As usual, I wrote more than you wanted to read. :)
If you count both my English and original language Bibles under “the Bible” (and you should), then I’ve got a tough choice, between a Hebrew lexicon, a Hebrew grammar, and Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. I’m going to say that the English Bible and Hebrew Bible side by side give me a sort of interlinear Hebrew lexicon of a rudimentary sort, enough clues on Hebrew grammar to stimulate my memory a little, and I’m going to fall back on TSK.
It’s invaluable for comparing Scripture with Scripture, which helps protect from all kinds of errors, and often provides useful inspired indirect “commentary” on the passage I’m studying. It’s great for theological studies where you want to find many verses on a topic to chase down. It’s kind of a pain to use in book form, so I hope I get to take a computer version with me wherever I’m going, which allows me to hover over the list of cross-references and have them pop up so I can look on them without clicking through one at a time.
Since I’m taking a computer, I’ll smuggle these onto a password-protected section of my hard drive, so you don’t know they are there:
1. Strong’s concordance or software equivalent — this isn’t #1 for me because I’ve been blessed with a very good memory and I’ve read the Bible enough times that I can usually find what I’m looking for even when away from this kind of resource. I’ll be able to find a related verse, anyway, and then track down the one for which I’m looking with TSK.
2. Greek concordance — I like “New Englishman’s”, which has the added bonus of a rudimentary lexicon included. That made this a contender for the top spot as well.
3. Hebrew concordance — Again, I like “New Englishman’s”. These two are powerful tools, and together would easily be #1, but you said I only get one, and neither, standing alone, makes the cut.
4. Edersheim’s “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”. This one probably wouldn’t be near the top for most people. It is for me. An amazing wealth of Jewish background information that goes far beyond the four Gospels in its usefulness — I never really understood Paul’s “lifting up holy hands” statement until I read Edersheim on synagogue traditions. This might have been close to #1 except that I’ve been through it a couple of times and will probably remember a lot of it anyway.
Treasury of David will be hard to let go. So will my set of Lenski’s commentaries. I’ve been finding a lot of value in Waltke’s NICOT 2 volume set on Proverbs — Proverbs is pretty tough at times, so I’d hate to lose that one, too. I love Strong’s Systematic Theology, but he went off on creation and then the atonement, sounds almost pantheistic at times, so significant sections of it I’d be glad to leave behind.
I’ll probably cut some pages out of my Bible atlas and glue them in the back of my Bible where you don’t notice them. Do I get to take all my handwritten notes with me? What about all my old sermon outlines? THEY AREN’T BOOKS!
I’ll brush up on my Greek declensions and all before I go. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I actually cheat and look at an analytical Greek lexicon. I really should be able to get by without it, though. There’s no real excuse for that.
Of course, my boss might tell me my single book would have to be Fabozzi’s Handbook of Fixed Income Securities, and then I’d have to do what he says, unless I’m headed for a desert island and won’t be working any more.
As usual, I wrote more than you wanted to read. :)
Discussion