When I went through my study of Psalm 23, I absolutely loved the slow pace that allowed me to go deeper into what I was reading. I went through a phrase a day, not even usually a full verse, because I translated each word into Hebrew and learned about the original meaning of the word. I felt like I was able to actually sit and meditate on each verse, and that was very powerful for me. In the past, I've held myself to standards of getting through a minimum of a chapter a day, but that can feel very rushed and kind of miss the whole point of Bible study - which is stillness and intimacy with the Lord.

So today, I want to share with you a couple of resources that have helped me slow down and go deeper into my Bible study. Anyone can use these tools, not just those further along in their faith or who are better at reading. It might take a second to figure it out, but it will be so worth it when you get to experience a new intimacy and understanding of the Lord and His word.

1.Bible Hub Interlinear

This is one of my FAVORITE resources of all time. If you get lost around the website, it can be a little hard to navigate, but click this link, and it'll take you right where you want to go. This is a verse by verse, word by word English to Hebrew translation of the Bible. At the very top, you can change the book, chapter, and verse that you want to study. Above the English translation of the verse is the Hebrew translation, and above that are a code of usually four numbers.

Those numbers are the Strong's Hebrew Concordance, where you can study the definition of each word. This may seem silly, but oftentimes the original Hebrew meaning can get lost in translation, so by doing this, you can dive into a whole other lesson in every word. On this page, I try to Control - F and search up the exact verse I'm studying so I can find the meaning for this particular verse, because sometimes the same Hebrew word is used in many verses that still have different meanings.

Sometimes, however, I can't find the exact verse I'm reading, so there still may be multiple meanings to the Hebrew word that I want to narrow down. That's when I use this next tool.

2. The New Strong's Guide to Bible Words

This is a book I received as a gift, and I love it. I personally think it's best used alongside the Bible Hub Interlinear tool, because it uses the Strong's Hebrew Concordance to point you to the correct definition. You can use it just like a regular dictionary, but underneath each word is usually multiple Strong's numbers and the corresponding definition. For example, on Bible Hub, it tells me that the number for "my shepherd" is 7462, so I would look up "shepherd" in the book and find 7462 to read the definition. This typically works better with adjectives and verbs, because there's not many other ways to say "shepherd", but you get my drift.

This particular book is $14 on Amazon, and it's been super helpful to me in my time with the Lord!

3. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

This was also given as a gift to me, and it's been awesome in every study that I've done. If there's a particular word, person, place, or book of the Bible that I don't know much about, this is where I turn for more information. (I know, super old school compared to just looking it up on Google.) There are maps, graphs, and images, which make my nerdy heart very happy. It even breaks down each book of the Bible and describes the context and history behind it, as well as main points and lessons that you'll read about. Almost anything you might have questions about is in here, and it often has gone above and beyond in explanations!

This dictionary is currently $22 on Amazon!

4. Enduring Word Commentary and Blue Letter Bible

If you've read very many of my Bible study posts, you know that I absolutely LOVE the Enduring Word Commentary! I have the app on my phone, but you can also use it through your search engine here. Commentaries are perhaps the most helpful tool when you don't understand what you're reading, and the Enduring Word Commentary is my favorite. I've used it for years, and I've learned so much through it.

During my Psalm 23 study I also started using Blue Letter Bible alongside Enduring Word, and I really liked the additional perspective to get a well-rounded understanding of what I was reading. There are TONS of tools through Blue Letter Bible, but I personally used the Matthew Henry commentary. I know that I have only reached the surface of all of the resources through this website, and I'm excited to keep exploring through it. I will say, I attempted to download the app a few years ago, and it was very overwhelming to me and a little hard to navigate. Maybe it's different now, or it would be different for you, but just throwing that out there. I think the online version is a bit easier to work through.

5. Bible Project App

This is my latest discovery, but I've been loving it. I've been going through the Sermon on the Mount playlist, because that's what we're studying at Switch, and it's been awesome breaking down the context, meaning, and literary devices used throughout this sermon. There are tons of videos, podcast clips, and articles to walk you through this part of Scripture, and it is in depth, but it's not difficult to follow at all. This app has so many resources for so many different topics, and it's awesome to keep going deeper into your Bible study and growing a more complex, mature understanding of what you're reading. You can find this in the App Store (I think both for Apple and Android!).

Bible study is one of the most important parts of our relationship with the Lord, and I'm trying not to stay stagnant in my faith, but instead keep digging deeper. Each of these resources are unique and accessible ways for all of us to take that next step in our Bible study, and I'm excited to share them with you! You don't have to incorporate them all at once, but just try them as you see fit, and I'm confident that you're going to learn so much along the way. Let me know if you use any of these tools or have additional ones that you recommend in the comments below!