Knowable Word - Bible study help

Logos Bible Software: The Subscription Model Seems to be Working

November 21, 2025 By Peter Krol

About a year ago, I reviewed some major changes undergone by Logos Bible Software in switching to a subscription model. The biggest complaints against Logos over the years have been 1) affordability and 2) the huge learning curve required. It appears that the subscription model is truly working to address that first issue. And the second issue is largely addressed by the huge library of tutorials and training videos accessible not only on the web but also through the software.

As a reminder: You can select which tier of access you want to the software, including the size of resource library you want access to. And the truth is that only full-time Bible scholars really need the highest tier. A bottom- or middle-tier plan is more than sufficient for the average Bible student.

Why I still love Logos

For years, I have used Logos every day. So it was a no-brainer for me to agree to write an honest review for you in exchange for another year’s complimentary subscription. Now in no particular order, here are the reasons why I love Logos:

Access to the Scriptures on laptop, tablet, and phone.
I can pull up a quick search or library resource on the fly to help during a conversation or discipleship time with someone.
I click on a word to automatically all instances where that word is repeated in the text.
The Sermon Builder is a wonderful word processor designed from the ground up with preaching and preachers in mind.
I preach and teach from the Logos app on my iPad.
I read church history and theology in Logos like an ebook reading app.
I regularly watch videos from courses in Logos mobile ed.
I mark up my text in a certain way, which Logos saves. I can turn those highlights on when I want to revisit my work, and I can turn them off when I want a clean text.
I make use of a lectionary and a prayer book in Logos for personal devotions.
The Sermon Manager enables me to maintain a database of everything I’ve ever taught, when and where I’ve taught it, and how many times (and in what scenarios) I’ve taught the same text.
I can check many English translations of the text I’m studying in a few instants.
I can search my entire digital library and my entire print library for anything. Topic? Text? Quotation? You name it. Logos will find it, and even give me the exact page number for a print resource sitting on my shelf so I can get to the right spot instantly.

What I don’t love about Logos

I’m frankly concerned with the extent to which Logos has incorporated AI into the software, without granting users a setting to opt out of it. As with most other software on the market, AI is being pushed on us whether we want it or not.

Some of the AI features are wonderful, such as Smart Search. To perform a robust search in Logos, I used to have to spend lots of time looking up the proper search syntax for what I was seeking. But AI now enables me to search for anything in plain language, and the search results come clearly footnoted with sources in my library, so I can click on any source to verify the AI is not hallucinating on me.

However, the AI incorporation into the Sermon Builder is nothing short of troubling. So far, I have been repulsed by handing my work in teaching and preaching over to AI, but it is only becoming easier for students and teachers of the Bible to do so, with few safeguards. It’s packaged in Logos as mere suggestions for outlines, discussion questions, or illustrations. But the amount of work Logos will allow you to delegate to AI.

With a few keystrokes, you can submit a Scripture text, audience demographic, and general theme you want to cover. Logos AI will then spit out a full sermon outline, with summaries of sections, suggested applications, teaching objectives, and a main point. All you’ve got to do is take that with you into a small group or class, and you don’t have to do much thinking on the text for yourself!

This is not good for humanity, especially for the church of Jesus Christ, and we need heartier speed bumps for such dangerous tech.

Conclusion

I don’t refuse to ever use AI in my life. It just requires self-discipline and thick boundaries. But if you want to give Logos a try, feel free to shop plans here and give it a try for free for 60 days. If you buy a subscription after clicking this link, our blog will receive a small commission, which enables us to cover the fees associated with maintaining the blog. Thank you!

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How to Ask Excellent Discussion Questions

November 19, 2025 By Peter Krol

The Logos blog recently republished a classic piece by my most excellent colleague Ryan Higginbottom about “How to Ask Excellent Bible Study Discussion Questions.” This article summarizes a lot of important work about launching questions, observation questions, interpretive questions, and application questions.

Check it out!

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What I Learned By Reading a Passage 25 Times

November 17, 2025 By Ryan Higginbottom

Sharon McCutcheon (2018), public domain

In my last article, I described my latest experiment. In preparing to lead my small group through Luke 16, I read the chapter as many times as possible.

In this article I’ll provide the results.

An Overview

There are three sections to Luke 16.

The Dishonest Manager (verses 1–13)

Jesus begins the chapter with a story of a rich man and a dishonest manager. The manager squandered the man’s possessions and was fired. On the way out, he had to give an account of his business transactions (Luke 16:2).

The manager called the man’s debtors and cut their bills. He aimed to gain favor with these debtors in hopes of securing his next employment.

The rich man praised the manager “because he had acted shrewdly” (Luke 16:8). Jesus extracted principles about money from this story (Luke 16:8–13).

The Pharisees (verses 13–18)

Pharisees were listening and scoffed at Jesus (Luke 16:13). Jesus rebuked the Pharisees as those who justified themselves and sought only what is praised by men (Luke 16:15).

Jesus then spoke about the relationship between the Law and the Prophets and the preaching of the gospel (Luke 16:16–18).

The Rich Man and Lazarus (verses 19–31)

The chapter concludes with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived lavishly while Lazarus suffered severely just outside the rich man’s gate. After death, the rich man cried out from Hades to Lazarus and Abraham in heaven for relief.

The rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to warn them (Luke 16:28). Abraham told him that Moses and the Prophets were warning enough.

Themes in Luke 16

The major themes in Luke 16 become obvious when we pay attention to repetition: money and the law and the prophets.

The “rich man” is a character in two stories in this chapter. In between, after Jesus says “You cannot serve God and wealth,” the Pharisees are introduced as “lovers of money.” There is also instruction on wealth in Luke 16:8–12.

Earlier portions of Luke (Luke 6:1–11, Luke 11:37–54, Luke 14:1–6) show the Pharisees’ devotion to and distortion of the law and the prophets, so the Pharisees’ self-justification is likely related to the law. Jesus then talks about the preaching of the law and the preaching of the gospel, concluding that not even one stroke of a letter of the Law will fail (Luke 16:17). Abraham tells the rich man that the law (Moses) and the prophets should be enough to bring his family to repentance.

How Rereading Brought Clarity

It didn’t take long for me to identify the most confusing verse in this chapter.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)

By reading this chapter multiple times, I began to see the structure of the passage, and this helped me grasp the main point. (Most commentaries on Luke were not helpful, because they took the text in too-small portions. Despite good analysis of the trees, there was no analysis of the forest.)

When we consider the context of a passage, we usually look backward: an earlier passage sheds light on a later one. In this chapter the opposite is true.

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus shines a spotlight on the rich man’s money (Luke 16:19). The rich man ignored Lazarus, who needed just a bit of the rich man’s abundance. Further, since wealth often runs in families, the rich man’s concern for his brothers (Luke 16:28) was a concern for other rich men. The rich man’s wealth produced a numbness in him toward his neighbor (Lazarus). Wealth is dangerous, as it can also lead to an ignorance of Moses and the Prophets (Luke 16:29–31).

We need this story to understand verse 9. The dishonest manager was shrewd with his master’s wealth, hoping to be welcomed into the homes of others, and Jesus praises this shrewdness. But, lest we think too highly of this manager, Jesus criticizes him in verses 10–12.

In contrast to the dishonest manager, the “sons of light” (verse 8) are to do better things with their wealth. He used wealth for worldly gains; followers of Jesus are to use wealth for heavenly gains.

Here’s the key. Money kept the rich man (at the end of the chapter) out of the eternal dwellings (verse 9). Christians are to use money in such a way that we make friends who can receive us into the eternal dwellings. This points to generosity.

The middle section of the chapter brings all of this together. You cannot serve God and wealth. In particular, you cannot serve God if you are a lover of money. However, you can (in fact, you must) serve God with your wealth.¹

Main Point and Conclusion

The main point of this chapter can be stated succinctly.

You cannot serve God and wealth, but you can (and must) serve God with your wealth.

I don’t claim a perfect understanding of this passage, but I owe the understanding I have to reading this passage multiple times. This practice unlocked the chapter’s structure for me, giving me insight into a confusing verse. I commend this discipline to you.

This interpretation depends on the phrase “unrighteous wealth” referring to wealth on earth as opposed to treasures in heaven, not wealth gained in an evil way. This interpretation depends on Luke 16:11. ↩

This was originally published in 2019.

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Your Buying Guide for Bible Study Resources: Updated for 2025

November 14, 2025 By Peter Krol

If you’re in the market for gifts to encourage Bible study, here are our top recommendations. We’ve reviewed most of these products on this site at many times and in many ways, but here they are in one place for you.

Bibles

You can’t beat a good Bible. Our top recommendation is to get yourself or someone you love one of the best editions of the Bible to hit the western world: the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set.

Our first review. Second review.

Get it at Amazon

And while we use the ESV translation more than any other, we must mention that the 4-volume NIV Sola Scriptura Bible Project has perhaps the most innovative layout and presentation of the Scriptures, which make it a sheer delight to read.

If 6 volumes seem too much to you, the single volume ESV Reader’s Bible is still well worth picking up.

Our review

Cloth over board: Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Reader’s Bibles are arriving with increasing frequency in other translations as well. See our reviews of the CSB, NIV one-volume, NIV 4-volume, and ESV Gospels. They’re even producing some editions for kids.

And for something completely different, consider getting an entire book of the New Testament on a single page spread, with the ESV Panorama New Testament.

Chronological Bible

The ESV Chronological Bible is worth your attention. It’s not what you want for deep study, but it’s wonderful for extended reading or reference. Here is our review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Study Bibles

There are so many options. See our buying guide for recommendations about which ones succeed at promoting OIA Bible study.

Markup Bibles

For something you can write in with greater ease, see our recommendations. Also consider large print and journaling Bibles. Or Scripture journals. If you prefer more space between lines of text, see the Inductive Version of the Journaling New Testament.

Journibles

If you or a loved one like the idea of copying out the Scriptures by hand, you might want to consider a Journible.

Audio Bibles

The Dwell app for mobile devices is a remarkable tool designed completely for listening to the Bible. NIV Live is a terrific dramatized audio Bible.

Bible Study

For a snapshot of the OIA process, see this blog post.

For a little more explanation of the principles, see our free booklet.

To go even further, with lots of illustrations, examples to follow, and exercises to practice, see One-to-One Bible Reading or Peter’s book Knowable Word (now revised and expanded).

If you’re familiar with the OIA model, and you’d like to hone your skills to perfection, consider getting Methodical Bible Study by Robert Traina. This book is dry and doesn’t tell many stories. But it delves the depths of the model like nothing else.

Leading

If you’d like to grow as a Bible study leader see Peter’s book Sowable Word or Colin Marshall’s terrific book Growth Groups.

Commentaries

See our page with recommended commentaries that promote OIA Bible study skills. We don’t have recommendations for every Bible book yet, but we update this page as we come across helpful volumes.

Beginners

Great places for beginners to start in gaining familiarity with the Bible’s layout and message are The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible (see Peter’s review), The Visual Theology Guide to the Bible (see Ryan’s review), and The Visual Word (see Ryan’s review).

Software

Peter still happily recommends Logos Bible Software, as it has drastically improved the speed and quality of his Bible study. See his reviews of Logos 7, Logos 8, and Logos 9 for details. Logos is now more affordable than ever through subscriptions (see Peter’s review of this latest development). Here is a link for a 30-day trial.

While Logos is remarkable with its reference libraries and powerful features, it’s not for everyone. If you are more interested in slimmer, free software, you may want to check out E-Sword or STEP Bible.

Children’s Resources

The best thing you and your church can do for your children is to buy them a Bible and teach them to use it. In my household, that means we buy ESV pew Bibles (the cheapest we can find) almost by the case. These things will get beat up and need to be replaced often, so there’s no use in getting the authentic-porpoise-leather-imported-from-Mars-heirloom-editions just yet.

When children are first learning to read, it may be helpful to give them the NIrV. This builds their confidence in reading the very words of God in their own language. Remember, the story Bibles are good, but God’s undiluted word is even better.

And before dipping into the supplemental resources below, perhaps you’d consider printing out a few simple devotional pages for your kids, so they can explore the Scriptures for themselves before hearing what others have to say about the Scriptures.

Ages 0-2

The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Read Aloud Bible Stories – Brief Bible stories that draw in young children, letting the children know these are their stories. Get it at Amazon.

Ages 3-5

The Gospel Story Bible – Retellings of 156 Bible stories, synchronized with the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, and devotionals Long Story Short and Old Story New. The best part of these stories are that much use is made in the retelling of the actual text of Scripture. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

God’s BIG Promises Bible Storybook – Traces 5 major promises through the Bible from beginning to end. Great to read aloud to preschoolers, or to have young elementary students read themselves. See our review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

The Jesus Storybook Bible – Gripping gospel focus, though it sometimes seems to suggest that Bible stories are not meant to serve as examples (contrast with 1 Cor 10:6, 11, etc.). Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Ages 5-7

Mark’s Marvellous Book – I still hope this becomes more of a trend: A children’s story Bible that follows the shape and themes of a book of the Bible (rather than cherry-picking certain stories, ignoring the fact that they were written to an audience in a context). See my review. Get it at Amazon.

God’s Daring Dozen – Similar to Mark’s Marvellous Book, these short volumes each follow the shape and theme of a book of the Bible. These sets work through the twelve minor prophets, from Hosea to Malachi. And they are simply extraordinary. See my review. Get box 1 (Amazon | Westminster), box 2 (Amazon | Westminster), or box 3 (Amazon | Westminster).

The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Read this to your kids at ages 0-2; then have them read it to themselves at ages 5-7. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Ages 8-14

The Radical Book for Kids – This is the kind of gift you get for your kids, but it’s also, sort of, partly, perhaps, for you. You know, like Legos, football tickets, or family room surround sound systems. It’s an engaging and delightful handbook of the Christian faith. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

The Really Radical Book for Kids – Just as wonderfully radical as the first one, only really so. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster. Or get a deal on both Radical books at Westminster.

Or perhaps you’d like to consider getting them their own beginner reader’s Bible.

Family Devotions

I highly recommend the series of devotionals by Marty Machowski. These volumes don’t merely communicate Christian truth, as important as that is; they train children to study the Bible and find that truth for themselves. In addition, the “daily” family devotions take only 5 days/week, and they truly take only 10 minutes per day. The payoff is high, but the price of entry is low. This makes it more likely you’ll be able to stay consistent with them. Every volume in this series has the same high quality; each also has the same basic structure for each day’s devotion. See my review.

Long Story Short – 78 weeks in the Old Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Old Story New – 78 weeks in the New Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Prepare Him Room – 4 weeks in Advent season. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Wise Up – 12 weeks in Proverbs. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Listen Up – 13 weeks in the parables of Jesus. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Happy gift shopping!

Disclaimer: Links in this post to Amazon, Westminster, and Logos are affiliate links, which means this blog receives a small commission when you click those links. Doing this helps us to cover our costs, enabling us to continue recommending decent resources. Thank you.

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Leading Small Groups with Teenagers

November 12, 2025 By Peter Krol

If you work with a youth group or have opportunity to lead small groups of young people, how can you pique their interest and make best use of the time? Douglas Allison has some helpful suggestions. Here is a taste:

Most often, we tend to think of small group time as a chance to fill in gaps in the students’ knowledge or understanding. But a large part of the benefit of small group does not come from filling in the gaps but exposing them. Students who do not know that they have gaps in their understanding that materially affect how they live are not likely to be motivated to fill them in. For students, small group is not helpful so much for filling in gaps but helping the students to see the ones that are there.

Check it out!

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Announcing the 2026 Bible Reading Challenge

November 7, 2025 By Peter Krol

We believe one of the best ways to learn to study the Bible is to read it. A lot of it. Over and over again. That way, when the foundations are destroyed, the righteous will know what to do. When the wicked bend the bow, the children of God hide in the one who is their refuge. When surrounded by those who have lost their minds, the people of God have sure footing and a stabilizing security.

If you’re not sure what I mean by all these foundations/bow/sure footing metaphors, then maybe this is your year to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Objective truth and emotional stability are yours for the taking. Not by toughening yourself up (Prov 18:11, 26:12), but by perceiving who really sits on throne (Psalm 11:1-7, Matt 6:19-21). You’ll only see, though, if you’ve got the eyes for it.

But I digress and perhaps ought to get to the point.

The Challenge

I’m writing to announce our 2026 Bible reading challenge. The challenge is to read the entire Bible within 90 days. If you wish, you may begin today. Regardless of when you begin, your 90-day period must end no later than March 31, 2026. Once you complete your reading, you may submit an entry form (see below) to enter a prize drawing.

And why—you ask—would you embark on such a strange venture? (“Has the day finally come,” they inquire, “when the Lord has struck with madness the riders of this horse we call the blogosphere?” Zech 12:4, my paraphrase.) I can think of at least three reasons.

Your grasp of the Bible’s big picture will surge like a “little” cloud in the shape of a man’s hand (1 Kings 18:44-45).
Your reward in the age to come will be great.
We’ve got a sweet set of prizes to urge you on in the present age.

Due to popular demand from last year, we’ve got a repeat grand prize for you this year. And for every 10 people who complete this year’s challenge, there will be an additional prize package. On top of all that, we will grant extra entries into the drawing for anyone who recruits first-timers to complete the challenge with them.

Grand Prize

Back by popular demand, this year’s grand prize is a premium book rebinding provided by Pro Libris Rebinding. Many thanks to Pro Libris for their generous provision of this prize for our giveaway. The winner of this prize is invited to take their favorite Bible, novel, or other book, send it to Pro Libris, and have it re-bound with a premium leather cover and binding. Or if you can’t decide which book of your own to get rebound, we will provide you with a free copy of a one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice, and Pro Libris will give it the premium treatment. You can view samples of Pro Libris’s amazing work at their Facebook and Instagram pages.

We want you to read and re-read God’s word for years to come, so we’re offering this prize to catalyze a habit of such delightful romps.

Additional Prizes

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the grand prize, we will offer one additional prize for every 10 people who complete this year’s Bible reading challenge. That means that if only 10 people complete the challenge, one of them will win the grand prize, and one will get an additional prize. If 100 people complete the challenge, one will win the grand prize, and ten will secure an additional prize.

That means your odds of winning a prize are greater than 10%. (Last year, 11.7% of participants won prizes.) Can you find any other giveaway on the Internet with such great odds of winning? And though the physical discipline and training of reading the Bible in 90 days is of some value, the character and godliness which it instills in you holds promise not only for the present life but also for the life to come.

Everyone selected to win an additional prize will get to choose one of the following options:

A one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice.
A copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word.

Please note: Physical prizes are limited to people with addresses in the United States. Winners in other parts of the world will receive a $50 Amazon gift card via email.

Referral Bonus

On the entry form for this year’s challenge, there will be a place for you to mark whether this is your first time completing the challenge. And if it is your first time, there will be a place for you to provide the name of the person who recruited you to try the challenge.

Both recruits and recruiters will benefit:

First-timers will gain one extra entry in the drawing for naming the person who recruited them to this year’s challenge, if that recruiter also completes this year’s challenge.
Anyone who completes the challenge and is mentioned by one or more first-timers who also complete the challenge will gain three extra entries in the drawing for each person they recruited to complete the challenge.

Note that both the recruit and the recruiter must complete the challenge. All recruits must be first-timers; recruiters can be either returnees or first-timers themselves.

And as usual, fake, incomplete, or spam entries will be deleted. For example, anyone who fills out the form today or tomorrow clearly hasn’t read the entire Bible within the time window, so their entries won’t count. Also, entries submitted before Bible reading has been completed will be thrown out; this drawing is only for those who read the Bible in 90 days and not for those who intend to read the Bible in 90 days.

So it will do you no good to recruit millions of people to complete the entry form without completing the actual reading challenge. God sees and knows what you are up to, and your entries will be chucked to the place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

Help is Available

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. You may make a copy and update the dates, if you plan to start on a date other than January 1.

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan. You may also want to consider making a reading plan in the Dwell listening app if you prefer audio. And perhaps you’ll want to bookmark this post so you can find the entry form once you complete the reading.

You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Official Rules

Here are the rules:

You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but the Lord sees and knows when you are being honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
The last day of that 90-day period must be between November 9, 2025 and March 31, 2026. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or appear to be fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 9, 2025 and March 31, 2026, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
In the first week of April 2025, we will randomly select 1 grand-prize winner from those who have submitted the form.
Then we will randomly select, for an additional prize package, one winner for every 10 legitimate submissions to the drawing (e.g. 50 total submissions means 5 additional prize packages).
We will email all winners (both grand-prize and additional-prize) requesting contact info to deliver their prize. If a winner does not respond to our request for information (such as a shipping address) within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
The grand-prize winner (if in US) will receive a premium book rebinding for a Bible or book of their choice (from their personal library), or for a new one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.) If you choose a book you already own, you will be responsible to ship it to Pro Libris. Pro Libris will then cover the return shipping to get it back to you when it is ready.
Additional-prize winners (if in US) will select either a copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word or a one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.)
Any winner who does not qualify for a physical prize will receive a US $50 Amazon gift card via email.
Unfortunately, though they are among the most courageous and competent people on the planet, staff members of DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.

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7 Tips for Small Group Questions

November 5, 2025 By Peter Krol

We’ve provided lots of guidance on this blog for leading small groups. For another angle, consider this helpful post from Derek Fekkes with 7 tips for small group questions. His tips:

Locate authority in God’s Word, not the facilitator
Help the group discover what the text says for themselves
Avoid questions that spark unhelpful theological debates
Choose your rabbit trails wisely
Don’t make questions too hard—or too easy
Include some boilerplate questions
Move questions beyond personal opinions & feelings

Check it out!

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Keep Rereading the Passage

November 3, 2025 By Ryan Higginbottom

Susan Yin (2018), public domain

What’s the key to understanding a Bible passage? Ten different people may give you ten different answers to that question, all of them helpful.

Today I’ll share the best advice I know on this topic. It’s not complicated or sophisticated or newsworthy. It’s difficult but extremely effective. Are you ready?

To understand a Bible passage, you need to read it. A lot.

Read to See the Structure

This advice is not ground-breaking, but I’ve recognized its value on several occasions since a discussion with my co-blogger Peter back in February.

We were talking about the way we prepare Bible studies, and he mentioned that his main practice is to read a passage as much as possible to determine its structure. Peter is convinced of the value of structure in understanding a passage’s train of thought and main point. He tries to understand the structure by listening for the rhythm, repetition, and other literary markers that occur in the Bible.

The more we read a passage—and this is especially true for longer passages—the more we understand the author’s intent. We notice words and phrases and themes that show up in neighboring chapters of a narrative. We see a character’s description change throughout an extended story. We observe the way a Gospel writer groups parables together to make a common point.

Peter has already written a great deal on structure. I encourage you to read his posts, starting here or here.

Advice for Rereading

Rereading a passage may be challenging. But the hard work will pay large dividends. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Allow yourself time. It may take 10 or 20 or more readings before you get a grip on a passage’s structure. That’s ok! We are fallible and finite, so we should not expect instant understanding of divine truth.
Approach the passage from multiple angles. Read the passage from at least two translations. Listen to an audio version of the passage for a change of pace.
Make an outline. After five or ten readings, sketch your own outline of the text. Don’t worry about trying to be perfect! Since we often think as we write, forcing yourself to diagram and label the various parts of a passage will help you think through the big picture.
Adjust your outline. Change your outline as you go. Your first version will rarely be your last. As we continue to read, God often reveals more to us, so be willing to modify your work.

An Upcoming Case Study

In my next article, I’ll explain how this rereading strategy helped me prepare a Bible study on Luke 16.

If you’re unfamiliar with the chapter, it contains some confusing verses. (See especially Luke 16:9.) Heading into my preparation, I knew this might be the case, so I decided to put Peter’s advice into practice. I read the passage as much as I could before my small group meeting, and while I won’t pretend to have a definitive interpretation to offer, the repeated readings were immensely helpful.

I’ll share it all next time.

This was originally posted in 2019.

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Why We Harm Others

October 31, 2025 By Peter Krol

In seeking wise humility, we must not pridefully withhold good or plan evil against others. To help us, the center of Proverbs 3:27-35 illuminates our motivations.

Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways (Prov. 3:31, ESV)

If God opposes the proud so severely, why would anyone ever choose such a path? Because, Solomon reasons, we are tempted to envy violent people.

Remember our discussion about violent people from Proverbs 1:10-19? The attraction to violence is that it will gain us more stuff. And more stuff means improved security and increased community, or so we think.

We love ourselves enough to believe anything just to get a little satisfaction. We’ll even believe that “love your neighbor as yourself” means that we first have to love ourselves. Nowhere, however, does the Bible command us to love ourselves; it assumes that we already do. Whenever we put ourselves at the center of the universe, we are choosing to act like violent men. The antidote to such a poisonous choice is to fear the Lord, who really is at the center of the universe. “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day” (Prov. 23:17).

If you’re anything like me, you may have a hard time with this teaching. I want to love people; I really do. I’ll do whatever God wants me to do for most of the people in the world. There are just a select few whom I can’t love. In particular, there are those who have hurt me deeply, and those who don’t deserve my trust because of some failure on their part.

Next week, we’ll see how the New Testament applies Proverbs 3 to these situations.

This post was first published in 2013 and is part of a series walking through Proverbs 1-9.

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How the OT Presumes Resurrection

October 29, 2025 By Peter Krol

Bruce Henning asks a fascinating question: When defending the doctrine of resurrection against the Sadducees from the Old Testament, why does Jesus appeal to Exodus 3:6: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”?

He casts doubt on common answers, such as the assertion that the Sadducees recognized only the books of Moses as authoritative. Then he offers an alternative from the Old Testament’s more basic logic of resurrection.

The covenant wasn’t about a bodiless existence in heaven but a physical one, living in the tangible land. And this land prophetically anticipates the entire world (Rom. 4:13). Since God promised the land personally to Abraham and he hasn’t received it, Jesus expects his audience to conclude he must be raised from the dead and receive his inheritance (see also Heb. 11:19).

If Henning is on to something, it’s worth considering how much of God’s old covenant promises similarly presume the fact of bodily resurrection.

Check it out!

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