The screen display of the program is usually as follows:

This is the main menu of the Study Bible app.
Here you can choose a Bible translation, Bible book, chapter and verse.

BACK and CONTINUE can be used to go to previously selected Bible sections.
The SEARCH option allows searching in Bible books and Word Studies. In Bible books on the sections Articles, Bible Translations, Commentaries, Original Text and Footnotes.

Clicking on the bar at the top of the Bible book will open the VERS CHOICE.

Here you can choose the BOOK, CHAPTER and VERS.

The main functionality of the Study Bible program is discussed on the following pages.

By opening the VIEWER, a Bible book, chapter and verse can be chosen.

At the top of the App is SEARCH. The SEARCH option allows searching in Bible books and Word Studies. In Bible books on the Articles, Bible Translations, Commentary, Original Text and Footnotes sections.

To take your own notes make at a Bible verse, you highlight a section of text and then a box opens with the option "make note. 

Clicking on NOTICE in the left menu will open the notes window and you will see all the notes you have taken.
You can also create and delete the notes here.

With this button above the various windows, the active window is downloaded as a PDF and can then be printed.

By default, the contents of the Study Bible are displayed in the following windows of the main screen.

In addition to the original text visible above with word-for-word translation and commentary, Bible translations and word studies (with concordance, New Testament only), the Study Bible also includes introductions by Bible book, articles, a synopsis of the four gospels and a concise grammar of New Testament Greek.

The window below the Bible text window contains the Bible text in its original language (Hebrew/Aramaic or Greek), with a transliteration (a conversion to Roman script) and a word-for-word translation.

See also Text editions in SBNT

The Old Testament was for the most part originally written in Hebrew and for a small part in Aramaic. The window at the top left of the main screen contains Hebrew text including transliteration and translation.

The Hebrew text printed on the left-hand pages of this Bible commentary is taken from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and thus follows the Masoretic text (MT). This is also the Hebrew text that underlies modern Bible translations.

To prevent the pages on which the Hebrew text is printed from becoming very cluttered, divergent readings in other text witnesses are not listed with the Hebrew text, but in the notes to the explanation. Also, in cases where in the explanation the text of the BHS is abandoned in favor of the text in other text witnesses - something that does not happen very often, by the way - this is mentioned only in the notes, while the Hebrew text continues to follow the BHS.

In the rendering of the text with word-for-word translation, the reading direction of the Hebrew has been followed (from right to left), with the word-for-word translation each time is placed below the corresponding Hebrew word.

For example, for Gen. 1:1, this yields as an interlinear translation:

Spelling of the Hebrew text
There are several ways in which Hebrew can be written. In the Study Bible, we chose to display the Hebrew text as vocalized text. This way of printing the text is consistent with the most common way in which reading the Hebrew text is taught in training and courses. Masoretic accents are not printed. These usually have little impact on the text interpretation and make reading the text difficult for the average reader due to the multitude of characters surrounding the Hebrew letters.

Examples of the different spellings:

Consonant text
Gen. 1:1, written as a consonant text (including "reading mothers" or matres lectionis)

The Hebrew alphabet, like some other ancient Semitic languages and modern Ivrit and Arabic, has only consonants. Originally, therefore, the text of the Old Testament was written exclusively with consonants. Very early on, people found this not entirely adequate and the desire arose to be able to express vowels as well. Initially, letters of the alphabet (consonants) were used which in certain cases were given the function of vowels. These letters are also referred to as "reading mothers" (matres lectionis). Because in fact this is still a text consisting exclusively of consonants (consonants), although some of those consonants have the function of a vowel, we speak of a consonant text.

For a long time, the text of the Old Testament was handed down as a consonant text. The pronunciation of the words posed few problems in practice because Biblical Hebrew was still a living, spoken language.

Vocalized text
Gen. 1:1, written as vocalized text (the spelling in the Study Bible)

Over the centuries, Hebrew has evolved, as every living language evolves. The Hebrew spoken by the rabbis in the centuries after the beginning of our era became increasingly distant from Biblical Hebrew. As a result, people began to have increasing difficulty pronouncing Biblical Hebrew. Thus the need arose to add vowel marks (vocals) to the biblical text. However, it was not considered permissible to interfere with the consonant text. Hence, systems were designed with dashes and dots above, below and within the Hebrew letters (vocalization systems). Several vocalization systems saw the light of day during this period, of which the Babylonian, Palestinian and Tiberian systems are the best known. The Tiberian system - so named because it was developed by rabbis in Tiberias (from the families of Ben Asher and Ben Naftali) - eventually prevailed. Consequently, the text of the Old Testament as handed down by the Masoretes (lett. "transmitters") from at least the ninth century onwards contains this vocalization system. The resulting text thus contains not only consonants, but also (later added) vowel signs, so that we speak of a vocalized text.

Obviously, the masorets had to make choices when they provided vocalizations to the consonant text. After all, some consonant combinations can be the designation of different words. This is no different in Dutch: gnd can be agenda, but also grace; plp can be pulp, but also oploop. This situation was further complicated by the fact that originally people did not write spaces, so it is not always clear where one word begins and another ends.

Almost always it is clear from the context which word a consonant combination points to. There are places in the Old Testament, however, where the consonant text is open to multiple interpretations and where the masoretes had to choose. We find a well-known example in Gen. 49:11. The masoretes interpreted the text of the third verse as "until Silo (HîlOh) comes" (so SV, NBG). However, the same consonant text can also be understood as 'until estimation (Hay lOh) is brought to him' (cf. GNB; see explanation locally for still other translation options). We find another example in Mal. 2:3, where the masoretics interpret the text as 'I will threaten your seed (hazzerav)' (cf. SV, NBG), but where we can also interpret the same consonant text as 'I will threaten your arm (hazzürOav)' (cf. WV). In such cases, the masoretic interpretation does no more justice to the text than the other view: both assume the same root text. It is possible, however, that the masoreticists did not choose at random, but went back to an ancient oral tradition.

Masoretic accents
Gen. 1:1, written as a text with masoretic accents:

From the Middle Ages on, the Bible text was recited in the synagogue in a lilting (cantilating) manner. In order to record this manner of recitation, the masoretics provided all words or word units with accents. These accents also indicate which phrases belong together according to masoretic understanding.

There are several ways in which Hebrew can be written. In the Study Bible, we have chosen to display the Hebrew text as vocalized text. This way of printing the text is consistent with the most common way in which reading the Hebrew text is taught in training and courses. Masoretic accents are not printed. These usually have little impact on the text interpretation and make reading the text difficult for the average reader due to the multitude of characters surrounding the Hebrew letters.

Examples of the different spellings

Gen. 1:1, written as a consonant text (including "reading mothers" or matres lectionis) Gen. 1:1, written as vocalized text (the spelling in the Study Bible) Over the centuries, Hebrew has evolved, as every living language evolves. The Hebrew spoken by the rabbis in the centuries after the beginning of our era became increasingly distant from Biblical Hebrew. As a result, people began to have increasing difficulty pronouncing Biblical Hebrew. Thus the need arose to add vowel marks (vocals) to the biblical text. However, it was not considered permissible to interfere with the consonant text. Hence, systems were designed with dashes and dots above, below and within the Hebrew letters (vocalization systems). Several vocalization systems saw the light of day during this period, of which the Babylonian, Palestinian and Tiberian systems are the best known. The Tiberian system - so named because it was developed by rabbis in Tiberias (from the families of Ben Asher and Ben Naftali) - eventually prevailed. Consequently, the text of the Old Testament as handed down by the Masoretes (lett. "transmitters") from at least the ninth century onward contains this vocalization system. The resulting text thus contains not only consonants, but also vowel signs (added later), so that we speak of a vocalized text. Of course, the masoretes had to make choices when they added vocalization to the consonant text. After all, some consonant combinations can be the designation of different words. This is no different in Dutch: gnd can be agenda, but also grace; plp can be pulp, but also oploop. This situation was further complicated by the fact that originally people did not write spaces, so it is not always clear where one word begins and another ends. Almost always it is clear from the context which word a consonant combination points to. However, there are places in the Old Testament where the consonant text is open to multiple interpretations and where the masoretes had to choose. We find a well-known example in Gen. 49:11. The masoretes interpreted the text of the third verse as "until Silo (HîlOh) comes" (so SV, NBG). However, the same consonant text can also be understood as 'until estimation (Hay lOh) is brought to him' (cf. GNB; see explanation locally for still other translation options). We find another example in Mal. 2:3, where the masoretics interpret the text as 'I will threaten your seed (hazzerav)' (cf. SV, NBG), but where we can also interpret the same consonant text as 'I will threaten your arm (hazzürOav)' (cf. WV). In such cases, the masoretic interpretation does no more justice to the text than the other view: both assume the same root text. It is possible, however, that the masoreticists did not choose at random, but went back to an ancient oral tradition.

Gen. 1:1, written as a text with masoretic accents:


From the Middle Ages on, the Bible text was recited in the synagogue in a lilting (cantilating) manner. In order to record this manner of recitation, the masoretics provided all words or word units with accents. These accents also indicate which phrases belong together according to masoretic understanding.

Of none of the books of the Bible have the original manuscripts, the autographa, survived through time. For the text of the Old Testament, therefore, we depend on the text as found in the various later text witnesses. Among those text witnesses are:

(1) Hebrew manuscripts belonging to the following text groups:

Masoretic text

The oldest manuscripts known to us containing the Hebrew text of the entire Old Testament date from around 1000 A.D. These manuscripts were handed down and from vocalization (vowel marks) and comments provided by the Masoretics, hence we speak of the Masoretic Text (MT).

One of the most important manuscripts belonging to the Masoretic text is the Codex Leningradensis from 1008 or 1009 AD, which gets its name from the fact that it is kept in a museum in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). The mainstream scholarly edition of the Old Testament text, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), takes the text of this manuscript as its starting point. Through BHS, modern translations are based on this Hebrew text. The successor to BHS, the Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ), expected in a few years, also incorporates the text of this manuscript.

Another important manuscript, also belonging to the Masoretic text, is the Aleppo codex. This manuscript is slightly older than the Leningradensis codex (early tenth century) and, like it, gives the official text as established by the Masoretes.The oldest manuscripts known to us which contain the Hebrew text of the entire Old Testament date from the time around 1000 A.D. These manuscripts were handed down and from vocalization (vowel marks) and comments provided by the Masoretics, hence we speak of the Masoretic Text (MT).

One of the most important manuscripts belonging to the Masoretic text is the Codex Leningradensis from 1008 or 1009 AD, which gets its name from the fact that it is kept in a museum in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). The mainstream scholarly edition of the Old Testament text, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), takes the text of this manuscript as its starting point. Through BHS, modern translations are based on this Hebrew text. The successor to BHS, the Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ), expected in a few years, also incorporates the text of this manuscript.

Another important manuscript, also belonging to the Masoretic text, is the Aleppo codex. This manuscript is slightly older than the Leningradensis codex (early tenth century) and, like it, provides the official text as established by the Masoretics.

Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran)

In 1947, in the desert of Judea close to the Dead Sea, near the archaeological site of Qumran, seven ancient scrolls were found, including a scroll containing the biblical book of Isaiah. The announcement of this find set off a year-long search that led to the discovery of ten more caves in the immediate vicinity of Qumran containing ancient manuscripts or other archaeological material. In total, some 800 manuscripts were found in these eleven caves, almost all of them unfortunately very fragmentary in nature. All of these texts date from the period from the third century BCE to 68 AD.

Among the texts found at Qumran are some 200 - mostly very fragmentary - manuscripts with text from the Old Testament. Fragments of almost all the books of the Bible have been found; only the books of Nehemiah and Ester are missing. However, since our Bible books Ezra and Nehemiah form one book in the Jewish tradition and fragments of Ezra have been found, it is plausible that Nehemiah must also have been originally present. Of the book of Esther this is not certain; in any case, the Purim feast mentioned in Esther was not celebrated in Qumran. Especially of the books of Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah, many copies were found at Qumran. The most important Bible manuscript found at Qumran is the Isaiah scroll already mentioned, which is virtually undamaged and contains the text of the entire book of Isaiah (1QIsa). Another Isaiah scroll, found in the same cave, is also of great importance, although of this only about a third of the text of the book of Isaiah has been preserved (1QIsb).

In the decades following the manuscript finds at Qumran, ancient Bible manuscripts have also been found at other sites around the Dead Sea. Although the term "Dead Sea Scrolls" is usually used in reference to the texts found at Qumran, it is also used in a broader sense, including these manuscripts.

The manuscripts found in 1951 at the wadi Muraba'at contain mainly correspondence from Bar Kochba, the leader of the Jewish revolt against the Romans (132-135 AD). The other manuscripts found here also date from that period and from before. Among these manuscripts is a manuscript of the minor prophets (Hosea through Malachi). A short time later, a scroll containing the books of the minor prophets was also discovered from a southern part of Judea, at Nachal Chever.

Another important manuscript find is that at Masada (1963-1965). The manuscripts found here are all older than 73 AD, when Masada was conquered by the Romans in the Jewish War. Among the manuscripts found at Masada are also some fragmentarily preserved manuscripts of the Bible text, including the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms and Ezekiel.

The Bible manuscripts found in the desert of Judea are invaluable for the study of the OT, since not before have so many manuscripts of such age been found (some 1,000 years older than the Masoretic text). It is true that in a few places there are differences between the text of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic text, but on the whole it is notable that the differences are not too great and that the Old Testament text has been handed down very accurately over the centuries. In a number of places, the Dead Sea Scrolls offer an anomalous text previously known only from the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch. Clearly, great weight must be given to such text variants.

Samaritan pentateuch

The Samaritans have their ethnic and religious roots in the Tribal Kingdom from the time of the kings. Therefore, like the Judeans, they worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses enjoyed great reverence among them and they strictly kept the Torah. In fact, the five books of Moses were the only books recognized as authoritative by the Samaritans. The Torah as handed down by the Samaritans is called "Samaritan Pentateuch" (abbreviated as SamP in the explanation).

Although the available manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch all date from the late Middle Ages and are thus relatively young, their value lies primarily in the fact that the textual tradition of the Samaritan Pentateuch has remained separate from the textual tradition among the Jews.

Apart from spelling issues, the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch largely corresponds to that of the later Masoretic text, but shows discrepancies in a number of places. In a number of places, the quality of the text lore of the Samaritan Pentateuch is clearly inferior to the Masoretic text, for example, in places where the wording of parallel verses is aligned or where explanatory additions are present in the text. In other places, however, the Samaritan Pentateuch offers a text that may be more original than the one found in the Masoretic tradition. This is especially true in a number of places where the discrepancies in the Samaritan Pentateuch correspond to the Dead Sea Scrolls and/or the Septuagint.

Other Hebrew text finds (including papyrus Nash, Cairo geniza, Ketef Hinnom)

In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Samaritan pentateuch, several other ancient Hebrew manuscripts have been found that are older than the Masoretic text. The so-called papyrus Nash from the second or first century B.C. contains the Ten Commandments in a text that appears to merge Ex.20 and Deut.5, followed by Deut.6:4v..Furthermore, in a geniza (= repository for disused manuscripts) at an ancient synagogue in Cairo, a large number of texts have been found, including some Bible manuscripts from the time from the fifth century A.D. onward. However, these have been preserved in a very fragmentary manner.

Sometimes other types of text are also found, for example two silver amulets from about 700 B.C., found at Ketef Hinnom, bearing the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:22-27. This is discussed in more detail in the on-site explanation.

(2) Early translations of the Old Testament, viz.

Septuagint(LXX)

Septuagint (LXX) is the designation for the Greek translation of the Old Testament, compiled from 200 BCE.

Reason
After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE, Jewish communities arose in many cities in the Mediterranean. In the Jewish community of Egyptian Alexandria, from the third century BCE onward, people worked on a Greek translation of the books of the Old Testament and some other Jewish writings. The result of this labor became known by the Latin name Septuagint or Septuagint (usually, and also in this Bible commentary, abbreviated to LXX). The translation of the books of the Bible had been completed well before the beginning of our era.

Naming
The name Septuagint - an abbreviation of the Latin septuaginta et duo "seventy-two" - is derived from the legend that soon circulated among Jews after the translation was created. The legend states that the translation would have been made by order of the then Ptolemaic (Egyptian) king who would then add the translation to the impressive library of Alexandria. At his request, the high priest in Jerusalem is said to have sent seventy-two elders to Alexandria, who translated the Torah there in separate, locked rooms each in exactly seventy-two days. Their translations turned out to correspond verbatim. It is now clear that the historical value of this legend is very low, although there may be a historical core.

Characterization
The Septuagint was compiled by many different translators, who also used different translation principles. Some books, including the five books of Moses, were transcribed more or less word for word into Greek, sometimes - as in the case of the book of Ecclesiastes - so literally that the rules of Greek grammar seemed to be trampled upon. In other books of the Bible, such as Daniel, for example, translators allowed themselves greater liberties in translating the text. Sometimes when translating, the text was even updated. For example, Isa. 9:11, where the Hebrew speaks of "Aram in the east and the Philistines in the west" has become "Syria in the east and the Greeks in the west" in the Septuagint. Moreover, of some books, such as Judges and Daniel, several Greek versions were in circulation, and for some books the chapter order (e.g., Proverbs) or the scope of the book differs (e.g., Jeremiah).

In particular, the books that were more freely translated have in the past quite often led to the idea that the translators of the Septuagint did not take the Hebrew text very seriously. However, modern textual research, especially in comparison with the biblical fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls, has shown that this idea was incorrect and that the translators of the Septuagint did generally try to render the Hebrew text as faithfully as possible, albeit sometimes starting from different translation principles than modern translators (as in the case of updating). Moreover, it has become clear that the Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint differs in some respects from the Masoretic text. Of particular interest for the study of the Old Testament text are those cases where variants in the Septuagint reflect a Hebrew text that we also find in the Dead Sea Scrolls and/or the Samaritan Pentateuch.

Other early translations, including Peshitta (Syr.), Vulgata (Vulg.) and Vetus Latina

In the first centuries of our era, the Hebrew Bible, often along with the New Testament, was also translated into other languages. The Syriac translation, called the Peshitta, dates from the second century A.D. However, we know most of its text from manuscripts dating from the fifth to seventh centuries A.D. Because with regard to the text history of the Peshitta, many questions remain unanswered and it is clear that the text known to us has undergone edits from the Septuagint and the Hebrew text would later be referred to as a Masoretic text, its value for research into the text of the Old Testament is quite limited. Between 390 and 405 AD, the Church Father Jerome, by order of the then Pope Damasus I, produced the Latin translation of Old and New Testaments that would become the Church text (called the Vulgate) in the Middle Ages. Although Jerome translated the Old Testament from Hebrew, in many places his translation is so heavily influenced by the Septuagint and other Greek translations that there is hardly any question of an independent text witness. Even less is this the case with the older Latin translations, the so-called Vetus Latina from the second and third centuries A.D. For these were not translated from Hebrew, but from the Septuagint.

In the Hebrew text and word-for-word translation window, the text is followed in each case as it appears in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
For text variants mentioned in the explanations, Qumran manuscripts, the Samaritan Pentateuch (SamP) and the Septuagint (LXX) have been listed as text witnesses where applicable. Other text witnesses have been excluded in most cases because of their relatively small value for Old Testament textual research. Incidentally, not all divergent readings from the listed text witnesses are listed. In deciding whether or not to include a text variation, the main consideration has been whether the text difference in question is relevant to the translation and/or explanation of the Bible text.

Four text editions are included in full in this program:

TR - the Textus Receptus, which is the oldest text edition and has served longest compared to other text editions
H-F - the Majority Text of Hodges and Farstad
N25 - the 25th edition of Nestle-Aland
N28 - the 28th edition of Nestle-Aland

However, in comparing editions, some differences disregarded.

Using the manuscript information and these editions, one can easily identify the text lore through the ages follow.

In the toolbar above the Greek text window, you can choose which of these four editions you want to see the text from (in the example above, it is the TR).

In case there are deviations from other text editions, at the bottom of the verse is indicated by which editions and possibly manuscripts the text of the particular edition is supported and which Bible translation follow that text.

All four text editions feature transliteration and translation.

When one clicks on a Greek word, the word study window automatically loads the relevant word study.

See also What do I do with the Greek on the left page?

The New Testament was originally written in Greek. The window at the top left of the main screen contains the Greek text in a text edition of your choice, including transliteration and translation.
In case there are differences between text editions in a Bible verse, a so-called text-critical apparatus is included below the Greek text, with data on text editions, Bible translations and ancient manuscripts (see further explanation).

The four Greek text editions included in the Study Bible sometimes show differences because they evaluate the various Greek manuscripts differently (see Text lore through the ages). In places where this is the case, the Greek text is displayed in a different color and labeled with a number.

Below the Greek text one finds the so-called text critical apparatus, where one gets further information about the text differences. Most text differences in the NT are such that they cannot be recognized as differences in a translation (for example, when there are differences in word order or when there are two words with the same meaning). In those cases, the text-critical device lists only the editions that have the same text as the edition one has chosen in the toolbar.

Example (Matthew 25:32):
When one chooses to render this verse as TR, one gets the following information

One can see from the two purple words, which are preceded by a number, that there is a text difference here. In the text critical apparatus, one sees that in both cases H-F has the same text as TR. From the fact that only editions are mentioned (and not translations or manuscripts), one can conclude that the text difference is such that it would be unrecognizable in a translation.

If one now chooses to render one of the other two text editions, one can compare what the text difference between the editions is. Moreover, one sees that in both text differences in this verse N25 and N27 match each other. That the compared to TR variant text is not provided with a translation, further emphasizing that there is no difference in meaning between these words and those used in TR (and in this case also H-F) are used.

Other cases do involve a difference that is recognizable in a translation. When this occurs, after the sign  indicated which translations underlie this text.

In addition, after the sign   mentioned on which Greek manuscripts this text is based.

Greek manuscripts are divided into three groups, Eg for Egyptian manuscripts (older, but fewer in number), Byz for Byzantine manuscripts (younger, but more in number) and Ov for manuscripts that do not belong in either of the two previously mentioned categories (for more information, see the article "The New Testament Text"). If one wants more information about a Greek manuscript, one can consult the list of Greek manuscripts consult.

Example (Matthew 25:31):
TR has here:

The word shown in purple (numbered 1) has a text difference. Comparison with N25 and N27 shows that this is a word that does appear in TR (and H-F) occurs, but not in N25 and N27 (which thus have "the angels" and not "the holy angels").

Of the eleven Bible translations in the Study Bible follows only SV the text appearing in TR and H-F.

This text appears in the Greek manuscripts 017 and 045 of the Byzantine text type, in manuscript 02 of Egyptian text type and in manuscript 032.

If one wants to see the support for the other text (i.e., without the word "saint"), one can look at N27, for example.
It appears that the text without "holy" is followed by 10 translations (all translations except SV).

There are no manuscripts of the Byzantine text type to support this text. The two main representatives of the Egyptian text type, viz. 01 and 03, do, as well as the manuscripts 05 and 038.

The sign ♦, which is sometimes mentioned after a Greek manuscript, implies that in that place there is a correction made in this manuscript itself (sometimes shortly after this manuscript was produced, sometimes several centuries later). Both the text originally contained in this manuscript and the change made by the corrector are marked with a ♦ highlighted.

When a Greek manuscript is mentioned in round brackets, it implies that the text is in this manuscript:

- either does not read well, but with high probability supports the text in the edition
- either does not exactly match the text in the edition, but that the deviation is so small that this manuscript can still be seen as supportive.
See further the article "The Text of the New Testament.

See also How do I determine the value of a text and variant reading?

The way in which we have shaped the text of the Greek New Testament and the text-critical apparatus allows us to broadly follow the text lore through the centuries:

1. One finds the Greek text before the invention of printing represented in the clues in the text-critical apparatus: the manuscripts we have selected are divided into Byzantine, Egyptian, and others that do not belong to the Byzantine or Egyptian text type, abbreviated by Byz, Eg, and Ov, respectively (for further explanation, see the article "The Text of the New Testament").
The witnesses for the readings corresponding to the edition selected are listed below the text. (A witness in this case is a manuscript - in a broader sense also a translation or edition - that guarantees a particular text, reading or also letter by virtue of the fact that it itself also exhibits that particular text, reading or letter.) The selected manuscripts, which may vary by book of the Bible, are included in a overview. They are always mentioned where it appears that the Greek text difference forced the translators of the eleven Bible translations on the right-hand page of the Study Bible to choose from the Greek readings, likewise where the text difference is not visible in the eleven Bible translations, but still involves a significant difference in meaning, and furthermore where the commentator of the Bible book in question considers a Greek variant important for exegesis. No manuscripts are mentioned when it comes to differences in spelling and placement of words in a verse without distinction in meaning, nor in the case of grammatical differences without significant distinction in meaning.

2. The Textus Receptus (TR), which was the common text in the four centuries following the invention of printing, roughly between 1500 and 1900, is found as the first edition from which to choose. This is the (3rd) Stephanus edition of the Textus Receptus, from the year 1550. Only we have limited the capital letters to the proper names, and the comma at the beginning of a direct speech has been replaced by the colon. The not very numerous differences between this edition and the Textus Receptus in the 1624 Elzevier edition have been mentioned only when they had noticeable influence on the 1637 Statenvertaling, which is based on it.

3. The most recent text edition along the lines of the Byzantine text type is found in the text critical apparatus represented in H-F, the designation for The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text. This edition was prepared under the direction of Z.C. Hodges and A.L. Farstad and appeared in 1982. As its name suggests, its text is based on the majority manuscripts, and thus this edition along the lines of Byzantine text lore.

4. The text criticism that rejected the Textus Receptus in the 19th century and beyond is found in the text criticism apparatus summarized in N25, the designation for the 25th Nestle-edition from 1963. The most important recent text edition in this line is N27, the 27th Nestle-edition from 1993. The Greek text of this edition is identical to the text of the 26th edition (N26). However, the text-critical apparatus - the basis for the manuscript information in the Study Bible - has been adapted to the current state of textual research. The differences and similarities between N25 and N27 and thus the change, as well as the persistence in view of certain readings and related theories, can be seen immediately.

5. The relationship between differences in the Greek text and differences in the text of the translations listed in the window to the right of the Greek text is made visible in the text-critical apparatus (below the Greek text), insofar as it concerns Greek text differences listed in this Study Bible. Namely, does a translation reveal that it has based the text section in question on a text with a reading that corresponds to the Textus Receptus, then it is listed, abbreviated, with the text witnesses. Turns out that a translation is based on a text that contains a variant listed in this Study Bible, then it is listed, abbreviated, with the witnesses for that variant.

To summarize, one can see in the text-critical apparatus how the Textus Receptus (TR), the edition of Hodges and Farstad (H-F), the 25th and 27th Nestle editions (N25 and N27), relate to each other. Usually N25 and N27 will be opposite TR and H-F, two versus two, Egyptian versus Byzantine. It is interesting, in the case of deviations from this general rule, which nevertheless occur regularly, to observe which manuscripts led to the different conclusions. In addition, one can see in many places how Greek text differences have caused Bible translations to differ in text as well.
A more detailed explanation of text lore and research on the Greek text of the New Testament can be found in the article "The Text of the New Testament.
See also How do I determine the value of a text and variant reading?

When comparing Greek text editions, differences based on:
1. Punctuation, unless it gives rise to a difference in interpretation
2. Upper or lower case letter
3. The optional -n at the end of some word forms, e.g. estin / esti (the so-called nu-ephelkustikon)
4. The spirit sign in the Greek spelling of Hebrew names, e.g. Abel / hAbel
5. Thematic or athematic endings of the aoristus, e.g., eipon / eipan
6. The iota subscript, insofar as there is no difference in meaning, e.g. hades / haides
7. Accents, insofar as there is no difference in meaning
8. Certain spellings, namely:
- houtôs / woodô
- tessara / tessera etc.
- Dabid / Dauid etc.
-ei- / -i-
-mps- / -ps-
- letter duplication insofar as there is no difference of meaning
- elision, e.g., alla / all'

Where appropriate, the text of the Textus Receptus has been followed.

Transliteration is conversion of Hebrew or Greek letters into letters that are easy to read for Dutch people. It is therefore intended for people who cannot read or write Hebrew and Greek. In the screen with Bible text and word-for-word translation the transliteration is always included directly below the Hebrew or Greek word. Moreover, transliterated text has been used in references to Hebrew or Greek words in explanations of the Bible text or in word or name studies.

The transliteration in the Study Bible is not based on the pronunciation of the Hebrew or Greek words, but on the Hebrew and Greek characters. As a result, the system can also be used internationally. A transcription that would be based on sound rather than letters would limit its usefulness to the area where current Dutch spelling and pronunciation rules apply. Moreover, there is a difference of opinion among linguistic scholars about the then-current sound of some letters or letter combinations in Hebrew and Greek. Furthermore, in the case of Greek, in terms of word image, the transition from a transliteration to the spelling in the Greek alphabet is less than would be the case with a sound-based transcription.

See further:
Transliteration and pronunciation of Hebrew
Transliteration of Greek
Pronunciation of Greek

The line immediately below the Hebrew text in this Bible commentary contains a transliteration, a conversion of Hebrew letters into script easier to read for the Dutch. There are several transliteration systems. The system chosen in this Bible commentary is a text-based system, where each Hebrew letter or vocal (vowel mark) in the transliteration is represented by one character. Transliteration can also be used to aid in the pronunciation of Hebrew words. However, it should be noted that one then pronounces the words according to pronunciation rules from later times. The way Biblical Hebrew was pronounced in Old Testament times cannot be determined with certainty and has undergone changes over the centuries. In the transliteration overview below, the most common pronunciation of consonants or vocals is listed in parentheses when it differs from what one would expect based on the Dutch alphabet.

Transliteration of consonants

The Hebrew vocal signs and the sewa are transliterated as follows:

sewa

: = e (mobile; pronounced as the e at the)

The so-called sewa quiesens, also written in Hebrew as : , is not pronounced and is omitted in the transliteration.

Vowels with sewa

When the h or the y as the so-called mater lectionis ("reading mother") functions, in some cases it is represented by one letter sign together with the preceding vocalic in the transliteration. This is the case with the following combinations:

In other cases, the mater lectionis is represented in the transliteration in the same way as the corresponding consonant.

Consonants with dageš
When one of the so-called begadkefat letters (b g d k p t) contains a dageš lene (dot), in transliteration the dash above or below the letter is omitted. Then these letters are pronounced "hard" (i.e., as b, g, d, k, p, t); in the other cases soft (indicated by the dash). If a consonant contains a dageš forte (also indicated by a dot), then the consonant is doubled in the transliteration. This also applies to a dageš forte in one of the begadkefat letters, with the understanding that in transliteration no dash is placed above or below the letter (as with dageš lene).

Mappiq
When the h at the end of a word includes a mappiq (also indicated by a dot) (i.e. Ðh), this character combination is rendered in transliteration as h÷. These are the main rules for transliteration and pronunciation. For more details, it is necessary to consult a Hebrew grammar.

The line immediately below the Greek text in the Study Bible contains a transliteration, a conversion of the Greek letters into Dutch, as follows:

Transliteration excludes: punctuation, Greek accents and the spiritus lenis , the sign indicating absence of an h sound at the beginning of a word. The spiritus asper , the sign indicating presence of an h sound, is represented by the h.

Sometimes in Greek writing, the h sound at the beginning of a word or part of a word is already visible in the last letter of the preceding word or part of the word. In such a case, the h is noted only once and with the word or part of the word to which it naturally belongs, for example:

As the last example shows, in compound verbs, the prefix is distinguished from the rest of the verb using a hyphen.

Although it transliteration system in SBNT is not based on the (assumed) sound of the Greek words, it does provide help with pronunciation. According to the pronunciation commonly used in the Netherlands, one reads the transliteration text as if it were Dutch, except in the following cases:

Clip
Anyone reading Greek will need to know where to put the emphasis. For this, two systems are in use in the Netherlands. The already mentioned Erasmus proposed the system where one puts an emphasis on the syllables written with an accent in Greek. The difference between the Greek accents can no longer be heard in the pronunciation.

The system traditional in the Netherlands was proposed by the 17th century Dutchman Henninius. In this system, Greek is pronounced with the stress rules of Latin, which are as follows:

1. The emphasis falls on words
2. Of two syllables on the first syllable (e.g., kalos)
3. Of three or more syllables
4. On the second syllable from behind if it is long, as in mathçtos
5. On the third syllable from behind if the second is short, as in heteros
6. A syllable is long if it contains:
- a long vowel
- a diphthong
- a vowel followed by two or more consonants, where the h is not counted and the z and x, on the other hand, both count as two consonants.

A diphthong is a sound in which two vowels blend together within one syllable. The Greek possibilities of diphthongs are:

For other combinations, remember that the vowels always belong to different syllables, especially when they belong to the same syllable in Dutch (aa, ee, ie, oe).

According to both pronunciation systems one can now read the transcription. However, if one reads with emphasis according to Erasmus' system, one will have to read the accents from the Greek text. If one reads according to Henninius' system, one will have to know the Latin rules of stress.

In order to determine the emphasis, one needs to know whether the second syllable from behind contains a long vowel or a short vowel, the transliteration finds the decisive answer in the form of a dash above the letter: presence indicates long, absence indicates short.

The basic unit in translation practice is usually the sentence. When translated, the order, number and meaning of the words in a sentence can often start to differ from the original. Some translators assume even larger units such as paragraph, pericope or even book. The order of sentences can then also start to change. The basic unit in the interlinear (i.e. included between the lines of the original text) translation of the Hebrew and Greek text in the Study Bible is the word. As much as possible, word for word is translated. The order, number and meaning of the words are basically preserved in the translation, taking into account, of course, the broader context in which the word occurs. Expressions and sayings remain visible in their verbal composition.

How the words are made into Dutch sentences can be seen in the window with Bible translations, where examples from Dutch (and foreign) translations are included. Attention is also regularly paid to this in the explanations, especially when, on the basis of the Hebrew or Greek text, several translations are possible or the translation is uncertain. Incidentally, in such cases the interlinear translation sometimes gives several possibilities, separated by the character /. However, because of the available space and clarity, such translation alternatives have been reduced to the minimum. We have chosen an appropriate translation based on the context, but it is not possible to draw conclusions from this interlinear translation that this is the only possible or the original meaning of the Hebrew word.

With the interlinear translation we try to make the ground text maximally accessible to readers who know little or no Hebrew or Greek. However, it must be pointed out that in many cases a more thorough knowledge of these languages and also of current translation science is required in order to draw exegetical conclusions.

See further:
Agreements regarding interlinear translation in the Old Testament
Agreements regarding interlinear translation in the New Testament

Because Hebrew is read from right to left, the interlinear translation is also based on this reading direction, i.e. different from what one would expect in Dutch. For example, if one wants to read the interlinear translation of a complete Bible verse, one begins with the word immediately to the left of the corresponding verse number. For each Hebrew word, the eye then jumps to the left, after which one reads the translation of the Hebrew word in question in the Dutch reading direction.

For example, for Gen. 1:1, this yields as an interlinear translation:

Some of the arrangements made in producing the interlinear translation of the Old Testament we would like to mention here in particular.

Greek, like Dutch, is written from left to right. Therefore, the Greek text and the interlinear translation have the same reading direction.

Some understandings regarding interlinear translation with the New Testament are as follows:
1. Between round brackets is added what is not verbatim in Greek but is assumed in the sentence or what is required for Dutch concepts in the sentence.
2. Between square brackets is placed the translation of variants. However, variants are not translated if they involve only minor spelling differences or a transposition of words that causes no difference in translation.
3. Not translated is:
- the article in proper names where an article is unusual in Dutch;
- the article in combinations of article and demonstrative pronoun where only a demonstrative pronoun is common in Dutch;
- the conjunction hoti at the beginning of direct speech. However, a colon (:) is included in such cases.

The following rules apply to some Greek word combinations:
1. The fourth case in the Greek construction of indefinite mode with fourth case appears in translation as a first case (fourth case with infinitive - Greek has a sentence construction in which a direct object (accusative) and an infitive (indefinite mode) are placed together (accusativus cum infinitivo). More about this at grammar.)

For example:

In the window at the top, different Bible translations are presented in the toolbar.
 

SV - Statenvertaling
NBG - Netherlands Bible Society 1951
NBV - New Bible Translation
HSV - Revised State Translation
KJ - King James
NaB - Naarden Bible

The choice between including or not including a translation alternative is based on the following principle question: does the difference clarify the understanding of the meaning of the text'? In other words, does the alternative translation convey a different meaning (of word or phrase)?

The use of the fixed order and choice principle means that in order for the Willibrord Translation to be cited, it must have named differences from the first two translations. For New Testament verses, the New English Bible must differ sufficiently from five translations to be cited and the Bible de Jérusalem, last, even from ten. Quirks of the English, German and French languages can, of course, slightly increase the chances of being quoted again.

The following should be said about the method of quoting Bible translations:

1. The Bible texts are displayed at the top left. By clicking on this window:

the selection window opens:

There are several translations to choose from here.

2. All text details from the relevant translations, such as capital letters, punctuation, round and square brackets, and italics, are retained (see the overview).

3. Punctuation marks before the included phrase are omitted, with the exception of quotation marks.

4. Where words are omitted in a running phrase, this is indicated by three dots: ...

5. In a few places, the verse layout of one or more Bible translations differs from that of the Hebrew or Greek text.
When this occurs with sections of text from the Old Testament, the renumbering of the Hebrew text in the BHS adhered to, which is also followed in the WV, GNB and NBV, while at SV In each case, the anomalous verse numbering is included in parentheses. See also the overview of different verse numbering in the Old Testament.

When this occurs with New Testament passages of text, the window of Bible translations shows the verse numbering of the TR followed, while for the relevant translations the different verse number is given at the appropriate place in the citation.

The following textual data, which have been taken in part when quoting Bible translations, require explanation according to the introductions of the respective translations (in SV, WV, NFIP and BJ no explanation of the characters used is given):

NBG: indicate that the embedded words are inserted in Dutch for clarification.
SV and GNB: indicate that a particular section constitutes a kind of interjection that somewhat interrupts the actual course of the story; often these are explanations or clarifications.

NBG, GNB, NEB, NASB and RLU: indicate that these words do not appear in a number of important manuscripts.
HV: indicate that the words do not occur in the root text, but have been inserted in Dutch to make the text understandable.

HV: indicate that these words do not appear in a number of important manuscripts.
REU: indicate that these words do not appear in the root text, but have been added to make a sentence flow well in German.

SV and NASB: indicates that the word or words in question have been added in Dutch or English for clarification.
WV and BJ: indicates that this is a quotation from the OT. In WV moreover, it can indicate emphasis.

In several places in the Old Testament, the verse numbering of the Hebrew text (BHS) differ from that of the Statenvertaling (SV) and the New Translation (NBG). In such cases, the verse numbering of the Hebrew text is used as a guide (both in the Bible translation window and in the explanations), with the different numbering given in parentheses in each case.

The following cases involve different verse numbering

SV - Statenvertaling Edition 1977. Edition of the Dutch Bible Society, Haarlem 1977.

NBG - Bible. Translation by order of the Dutch Bible Society edited by the committees named for that purpose. Published by the Netherlands Bible Society, Haarlem 1951, 1984, 1996.

NBV - The New Bible Translation. Publication of the Dutch Bible Society, Heerenveen 2004.

NBV21 - The updated and improved version of the New Bible Translation. Published by the Dutch-Flemish Bible Society, Haarlem 2021.

WV - The Bible translated from the ground text. Willibrord Translation. Published by the Catholic Bible Foundation, Boxtel 1977.

GNB - Great News Bible. Translation in colloquial language. Publication of the Dutch Bible Society. Haarlem 1982-1998.

HV - The New Testament. Revised Voorhoeve edition, Vaassen 1982.

NEB - The New English Bible. Oxford/Cambridge 1970.

NASB - New American Standard Bible. Nashville /London / New York 1960-1995.

NIV - The Holy Bible. New International Version. New York 1973, 1978, 1984.

RLU - Die Bibel. Nach der Uebersetzung Martin Luthers. Revidierter Text, Stuttgart 1984.

REU - Die Heilige Schrift. Revidierte Elberfelder Übersetzung, Wuppertal / Zurich 1985/1991.

BJ - La Bible de Jérusalem. Nouvelle édition entièrement revue et augmentée, Paris 1973.

The commentary window displays the explanation of a verse being recalled. The objective of the explanation is to explain the Bible text. Not the question "what can be said on the basis of this verse?" but the question "what does this verse say?" has been the starting point in writing the exegesis.

An effort has been made to make a sharp distinction between verse-by-verse exegesis and matters covered elsewhere, such as introductory issues, biblical theology and word studies. In some cases, reference is made to the Study Bible website (www.studiebijbel.nl).

Explanations often refer to other Bible verses, which are then displayed as hyperlinks. If you click on it, the Bible text for this verse is displayed. If you click on the corresponding link, the remaining windows will display the text of the verse. interlinear translation OT or interlinear translation NT, the Bible translations and the explanation of that verse.

Old Testament
In the case of the Old Testament, the commentary window shows the explanation of an entire chapter (with the verse numbers to which the explanation refers in parentheses). At the end of the explanation of a chapter or section of text, lines are often drawn to the New Testament or current events.

The explanations include a number of notes. These are displayed when you click on the footnote number.

New Testament
For the New Testament, the commentary window shows the explanation of the chosen verse in each case. Greek words mentioned in the commentary are linked to the word studies. When one clicks on these words, the word study window automatically loads the relevant word study.

In the word study window, one finds further explanations of each Greek word or name (of persons, places, peoples, etc.) about which one wants to know more. The desired information is placed in this window when one clicks on a word in the Greek text window or when one has found a Greek word through the search function.

Basically, this program of each word includes three pieces of information: the word study (or name study), the word forms, and the concordance data.

The first piece of information for each word is a word study that systematically presents the meaning of the word in question. A word study focuses on linguistic rather than theological information. Basically, no Bible verses are discussed; that is done in the commentary in the text sections. The theological importance of this linguistic information is therefore no less: the explanation of a particular Bible verse or of a Biblical concept is partly based on linguistic data about words of the Greek NT.

Each word study begins by mentioning the word type to which the word in question belongs. In the case of nouns, immediately after mentioning the word type, the gender of the word is mentioned: masculine (mnl.), feminine (vrl.) or neuter (onz.). After mentioning the word and its word type, also in the first paragraph, the (main) meaning of the word is mentioned. Further paragraphs may deal with various nuances of meaning, expressions or particularities, usually referring to text places in the NT that can serve as illustrations of word usage.

Included are word studies of every Greek word that and every name that appears in the NT.
For names of persons, places, peoples, etc., a name study included. This differs slightly in design from a word study.

Included in this program are name studies of all persons, places, peoples, etc. that appear in the New Testament. Each name study begins by mentioning the type of word to which it belongs. In the case of nouns, the indication ' proper name' suffices. and immediately after it the grammatical gender of the word is given: masculine (mnl.), feminine (vrl.) or neuter (onz.). After mentioning the word and its word gender, the Dutch rendering of the corresponding name is given:

The proper name (mnl.) Abraam is rendered "Abraham" in Dutch.
The adjective Ioudaios is rendered in Dutch as "Jewish.

When the same Greek name is rendered in different ways in our Dutch translations, these are included with the corresponding translations in round brackets:
The noun (mnl.) Asiarches is rendered in Dutch as "Asiarch" (WV) or "superior of Asia" (SV, NBG).

Differences between translations are not included if they are due to differences in spelling; e.g. under 0217 Tamar the spelling variant Thamar (SV) is not mentioned separately. With names of cities, by the way, it is not unusual in Greek to use a plural form, although in Dutch we render them with a singular, e.g. 018 Athenai 'Athene'. For the spelling of the names, the List of Biblical Personal and Place Names, compiled on behalf of KBS and NBG (fourth revised edition 1984) was used as a rule.

Further paragraphs' provide a brief description of the person or thing in question, supplemented as far as possible with historical, geographical and theological background information. Unlike the case of the word studies, the emphasis of the name studies is not so much on the philological aspects (the meaning of the words), but more on the broader historical context in which the name appears. The name studies are thus an important complement to the commentaries. It is not always possible to determine the meaning of a particular name. Nor is it always useful to name it. We must take into account that where a name passed from father to son through generations, its original meaning was not always sensed or even played a role in naming anymore. Where the original meaning does play a role, it is addressed, see e.g. 091 Barnabas.

In the event that one person or case has several names, the general discussion is generally categorized under one number, with reference to it under the other numbers of the name in question, unless that name gives rise to additional discussion:
For example, under 0502a Simon is simply referred to 0431 Peter, while 0295 Kephas contains a brief study on the name Kephas. Further reference is then made to the main discussion and the other relevant numbers.

Names that occur as text variants are also referred to, and this is the number of the form used in the Textus Receptus, e.g. under [066II] Asaph is referred to the discussion of 066 Asa. In case there are several persons with the same name in the NT, the different persons are distinguished by including a lowercase letter at the beginning of the discussion of each name. In the concordance the same letters are used so that it is immediately clear which text place refers to which person.

Most of the approximately 5,000 words in the Greek NT have the ability to vary their meaning through change of form. Change of form can include changing number (singular or plural) and - in the case of a verb - person (I, you, he, we, you or they) and time (present, past or future). In Dutch, for example, "loop, loopt, lopen, lopend, ran, walked, walked, gelopen" are all word forms to the one word "walk.

The different forms a word can take to vary its meaning are called "word forms. One of the word forms is established as a "keyword form," that is, the word form used to list the word in its alphabetical place in a dictionary. When, exceptionally, a word changes its form for reasons other than to vary its meaning, the different forms are not considered different word forms according to this definition: of word 4598 hupo, for example, the 'form' hup, which results from omitting the last vowel before a subsequent word beginning with a vowel, is not considered a separate word form.

The words that can vary their meaning by changing their form belong to the following word types: article, numeral, adjective, noun, pronoun and verb. The word types of adverb, conjunction, preposition, particle and interjection cannot change their form to vary their meaning; thus, a word in these word types has only one word form, which then naturally must also be used as a keyword form.

Many names of non-Greek origin remain unchanged because they are not adapted to the Greek language system. These are classified as inflectional (unverb.).

To properly understand the meaning of a single word form, it is necessary to have an overview of all word forms of the same word that can occur in addition to this one form. An orderly division into types of word forms is that in noun and verb.

In the representation of word forms, each word form is labeled with a number one and translation.

The noun system includes word types:
- article
- numeral
- adjective
- noun
- pronoun

Three types of information can be varied in these word types, namely the grammatical case, the number and the gender.

The grammatical case indicates the function of the word in the sentence. There are five cases; they are named with an ordinal number: first, second, third, fourth and fifth cases.

In the overview of word forms, the cases are represented by (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5), respectively, e.g., under word 3958 sabbatismos 'Sabbath celebration, Sabbath rest':

.1 sabbatismos - sabbath rest (1)

Only in the common case where a word form in the fifth case corresponds to that in the first, this fifth case is not mentioned separately, but always included with the first. The main functions indicated by the cases are: subject (first case), the adjective we represent using the word "of" (second case), cooperating object (third case), direct object (fourth case) and addressed person (fifth case). In the following example sentences, the words are italicized whose Greek translation would be in the named case:

- first noun: An apostle of Christ Jesus makes this known to you, brothers.
- second noun: An apostle of Christ Jesus makes this known to you, brothers.
- third noun: An apostle of Christ Jesus makes u this known, brothers.
- fourth noun: An apostle of Christ Jesus makes you this known, brothers.
- fifth noun: An apostle of Christ Jesus makes this known to you, brothers.

In modern Dutch, the name case endings of earlier times have almost completely disappeared. Remnants include a second case of "the house" in the phrase "the master of the house," or a third case of "house" in the saying "at the house of.
See further at grammar.

The number indicates how many persons or things are spoken of. In New Testament Greek, as in Dutch, there are two numbers: one or more. We speak of singular and plural number, or shorter: singular (ev) and plural (mv). When a word form indicates a singular or plural number, the abbreviation of this fact (ev or mv for singular and plural, respectively) is added in parentheses to the translation of the word form, unless this is obvious from the translation, e.g., under word 3970 sapros "rotten, spoiled.
.1 sapros rot (1 ev m)
but under word 3969 sanis "plank; plank object.
.1 sanisin shelves (3)

See further at grammar.

Gender divides existing reality into three groups: a group of male, a group of female and a group of neither male nor female persons or things. We speak of male (mnl.), female (vrl.) and neuter (onz.) gender. This linguistic classification corresponds to our biological view in many cases, but often not. In this respect, there is little difference between Greek and Dutch. The Dutch word "woman," for example, like the corresponding Greek word, is feminine, but the word "female," again like the corresponding Greek word, is neuter, even though the female indicated by that word is still female in the biological sense.

In Dutch, neuter words can be recognized by the fact that one can put the article "it" in front of them (e.g.: the house); to know whether a word is masculine or feminine, most Dutch nowadays have to consult the dictionary.

When a word form indicates a particular gender, the abbreviation of that gender (m, v or o for masculine, feminine and neuter, respectively) is added in parentheses to the translation of the word form -except in the case of nouns, because there this fact is already mentioned in the description of the word meaning, e.g., under word 3970 sapros 'rotten, spoiled':
.1 sapros rot (1 ev m)

See further at grammar.

The verb system includes only the word type verb.

Six types of information can be varied in the verb, namely:
- the person
- the number
- the time
- the wise
- the aspect
- the subject relationship

In addition to the shapes created by these variations, there are a number of noun verb forms, which know distinctions in time, aspect, and subject relationship, but not in person and mode; distinctions in number know these noun verb forms partly and partly not.

The person indicates whether the subject is the speaking, the addressed, or the neither speaking nor addressed party. The speaking party (I, we) is called first person, the addressed party (you, thou, you, you) second person, and the neither speaking nor addressed party (he, she, it, and also plural they) third person.
Because the Greek verb forms, apart from the noun forms, already have an indication of the person in them, it is not necessary to indicate the person of the subject in a separate personal pronoun; if the subject is mentioned with a personal pronoun anyway, it usually implies that it has a little more emphasis.

See further at grammar.

As with the noun forms, the number indicates whether it refers to one or more persons or things. The number of verb forms in both Dutch and Greek corresponds to the number of the associated subject or - in the case of a imperative - the associated person addressed. In Greek, however, a plural subject of neuter gender can be combined with a singular verb form.

In the following example from Heb. 2:14, the verb in the Greek is in the singular:
Since now the children (onz. mv) partake of blood and flesh (ev), ...
See further at grammar.

With time, the speaker indicates the moment at which the content of his communication takes place in his representation. In New Testament Greek, there are only three tenses: during, before and after the moment of speech. These three are called present, past and future tenses. The words italicized in the following example are translations of Greek verb forms indicating a past, a present and a future tense, respectively (see Matt. 5:2 and 6:21):

And He taught them: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

See further at grammar.

The mode indicates how the speaker imagines what is being said in relation to existing reality. In New Testament Greek, there are four modes: the demonstrative, the subjunctive, the desiring and the commanding modes. The demonstrative mode presents the saying as realized or being realized; the subjunctive as not realized but realizable (immediately or easily); the desiring as not realized and not realizable (immediately or easily); the imperative as a command for realization. Incidentally, the subjunctive in particular is used in several other ways, especially in subordinate or dependent sentences. To elaborate on these, however, would go too far at this point (see further on this in the grammar).

In the following Bible verses, the words are italicized that are a translation of the Greek verb forms in the modes mentioned behind them in parentheses:
John 8:56 Your father Abraham looked forward to seeing my day (demonstrative)
Rev. 19:7 Let us ... rejoice (subjunctive)
Acts 8:20 Thy money be with thee unto destruction (wishing wise)
Matt. 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread (imperative)

See further at grammar.

Display at the word forms
The feature in the translation of forms in the subjunctive is: (that), e.g., under word 3966 salpizô 'blowing the trumpet or trumpet, trumpets, trumpets':
.4 salpisçis - (that) you blow the trumpet (aor)

The feature in the translation of forms in the wishing mode is: may/may, e.g., under word 4002 sthenoô "to make strong, give strength.
.1 sthenôsai - may he make strong (aor)

The feature in the translation of forms in the imperative is the exclamation mark, e.g., under word 4004 sigaô "to keep silent; to keep silent.
.1 sigatô - he must be silent!

The mode indicates how the speaker imagines what is being said in relation to existing reality. In New Testament Greek, there are four modes: the demonstrative, the subjunctive, the desiring and the commanding modes. The demonstrative mode presents the saying as realized or being realized; the subjunctive as not realized but realizable (immediately or easily); the desiring as not realized and not realizable (immediately or easily); the imperative as a command for realization. Incidentally, the subjunctive in particular is used in several other ways, especially in subordinate or dependent sentences. To elaborate on these, however, would go too far at this point.

See further at grammar

In the following Bible verses, the words are italicized that are a translation of the Greek verb forms in the modes mentioned behind them in parentheses:
John 8:56 Your father Abraham looked forward to seeing my day (demonstrative)
Rev. 19:7 Let us ... rejoice (subjunctive)
Acts 8:20 Thy money be with thee unto destruction (wishing wise)
Matt. 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread (imperative)

See further at grammar.

Display at the word forms
The feature in the translation of forms in the subjunctive is: (that), e.g., under word 3966 salpizô 'blowing the trumpet or trumpet, trumpets, trumpets':
.4 salpisçis (that) you blow the trumpet (aor)

The feature in the translation of forms in the wishing mode is: may/may, e.g., under word 4002 sthenoô "to make strong, give strength.
.1 sthenôsai may he make strong (aor)

The feature in the translation of forms in the imperative is the exclamation mark, e.g., under word 4004 sigaô "to keep silent; to keep silent.
.1 sigatô he must be silent!

The subject relation indicates the relationship between the subject and the action of the verb. In New Testament Greek, there are three subject relations: activum or active, passivum or passive, medium or medial. The active relation, corresponding to our corporate form, implies that the subject performs the action of the verb (I loosen), the passive, corresponding to our suffering form, that the subject undergoes the action (I am loosened), and the medial that the subject's own sphere or interest is involved in the action (I loosen in my own interest, I loosen, I let myself be loosened, or in certain cases also: I am loosened). The forms of the passive and the medium coincide for a considerable part, namely in the durative and in the static aspect. In that case, only the designation (med) is used.

In the following Bible verses, the words are italicized that are translations of verb forms whose subject relationship is active, medial and passive, respectively:
Matt.3:11  I baptize you with water to repentance
Matt.3:6   They had himself in the river, the Jordan, by him baptisms
Matt.3:14 I need through You to be baptized

Since in many cases the translation of medial forms does not differ from that of active or passive forms, the abbreviation of medium (med) is added in brackets to the translation of all medial forms, including those where the medium and passivum coincide. An example can be found under word 3961 sainô "to move back and forth; to set in motion, to shock.
.1 sainesthai being shaken (med)

Since the translation of passive forms sometimes does not differ from that of active or medial forms, the abbreviation of passive (pass) is added in parentheses to the translation of all passive forms, e.g., under word 3963 saleuô "to shake, to cause to falter.
.7 saleuthçsontai they will be shaken (pass)

See further at grammar.

In addition to the actual verb forms, the verb also has forms that can be interpreted as nouns and adjectives. The forms that serve as nouns (less fortunately also called "indefinite tenses"), however, know no distinction in case, number and gender, nor in person and tenses, but rather in time, aspect and subject relationship. The forms that can be regarded as adjectives (also called 'participles') have distinctions in time, aspect and subject relation, as well as in case, number and gender, but not in person and mode.

In the following verses, words are italicized that are translations of verb forms that serve as a noun and an adjective, respectively:
Matt.15:20 the food with unwashed hands does not make a person unclean
Matt.11:18 John has come, not eating

See further at grammar.

The different word forms belonging to the same word are always listed and numbered immediately after the word study. Unlike the word numbers, the form numbers are always preceded by a dot, which corresponds to the dot in the text sections that connects the form number to the word number. The form number is enclosed in square brackets if the form in question is not in the Textus Receptus occurs (e.g., under word 3977 sarkinos 'carnal': .[2]). If only one form occurs in the text sections of the Study Bible, this one form has been given a form number where the forms are listed and numbered, but this number is not otherwise used in the text sections nor repeated after the phrases in the concordance.

The word forms mentioned after the word study are distinguished from each other in a systematic way. A Dutch translation is given for each word form, and in the event that this translation does not sufficiently distinguish the word form in question from other word forms, the information by which other interpretations are excluded is added in parentheses. All possibilities of interpretations of word forms, that is, all variations in meaning caused by form changes, are schematically represented in the Concise Grammar in a number of form overviews.

Sometimes more than one description of one word form is possible because the same word form appears in different places in the noun or verb system. We then speak of "double forms. In the case of a double form, one finds the different interpretations listed together, even if one or more of those interpretations does not occur in the NT.

When a word form has more than one grammatical case or gender may indicate, the different cases or genders are separated with a slash; in the case where a word form may indicate both a first and a fifth case, this fifth case is not stated separately, but is always included with the first. Thus, in the case of the following word form, found under word 3959 sabbaton "sabbath; week," 1/4 may be understood as 1/4/5:
.1 sabbaton sabbat (1/4)

When a word form allows more than one interpretation - apart from differences in noun and gender alone, which are indicated by a slash - the different interpretations are separated by a horizontal dash, e.g., under word 3981 sbennumi '(extinguishing), (extinguishing)':
.1 sbennute you deaf - deaf!

However, when the translation of the word form is the same in the different interpretations, only one translation is given, e.g., word 3963 saleuô "to shake, cause to falter.
.4 saleuomenon being shaken (4 ev m; med - 1/4 ev o; med)

The third and last part under a word number in the word study and concordance volumes is a listing of all places, or Bible verses, where the word occurs in the Greek text of the Study Bible. All these parts of all words together form a so-called Greek-Dutch concordance: all the places where the Greek word occurs are listed, and in Dutch translation a phrase from the Bible verse mentioned is given. Thus, the basic text is the Greek text. Included in this text are the variants: even when only one of the Greek text editions has included the Greek word in question, the verse reference is present in the concordance.

This makes it possible to see the different Dutch translations that may be used for the same Greek word in one overview. This is not possible in a Dutch concordance: there the different translations of the same Greek word can be found under different keywords.

A number of words are very common in comparison with other words of the same word type and have been excluded from the concordance for this reason. This mainly concerns prepositions, personal pronouns, some verbs (have, are, say, etc.) and some particles (and, or, that, etc.). When a word that occurs very frequently is relevant in theological terms, the full concordance is included (as in the case of "God" or "Christ").

Even though the locations of these words are not mentioned, the corresponding word studies and possible word forms are of course presented.

The concordance display includes the following information:

– placeholder
– phrase
– reference to the word form(s) used
If one wishes to consult a rather than the Greek-Dutch concordance for word studies, one may consult a concordance at, for example SV or NBG, then one can use the search form for that.

The locations of all words included in the concordance are indicated by Bible book name, chapter number and verse number. These place numbers are based on the verse classification as found in the Greek text of the Study Bible; this verse classification corresponds to that of the Textus Receptus in the Stephanus edition from the year 1550. If there are more places in one Bible book where the same word occurs, the Bible book is not repeated in the enumeration of places. For the Bible books that have no chapters (Philem., 2 Jn., 3 Jn. and Jud.), there is obviously no chapter number printed.

After each placeholder in the concordance, a line of text is printed in Dutch translation. The translation from which this line of text is selected is usually the Nieuwe Vertaling, i.e. the NBG translation of 1951. Only in those cases where, because of a difference in the Greek text, no translation in the NBG translation can be indicated of the Greek word whose finding place is mentioned, if a translation of that word can be found in the Statenvertaling, a line of text from the Statenvertaling (1977 edition) printed. Before such a phrase, the abbreviation SV is always added, e.g., under word 3978 sarx "meat.

Eph. 5:30 SV we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

When the verse arrangement of the New Translation or of the Statenvertaling differs from the verse arrangement in the Greek text, the differing verse number is included in the phrase in parentheses, e.g. under the same word:

Rom. 7:25 (26) Therefore I am ... servant ... with my flesh to the law of sin.

The translation of the Greek word whose place is mentioned usually appears in a bold letter. If there are no boldface letters, it means that one cannot point to one or more words in the NBG or Staten translation as a translation of the Greek word. Usually, a literal translation is then given on the second line in which one does find one or more words in a bold letter, e.g., under word 3961 sainô "to move to and fro; to set in motion, to jolt.

1 Thess. 3:3 that no one would falter under these tribulations.

literally: the faltering (of) no one under these tribulations.

For each time the same Greek word also occurs within one verse, a separate line is taken, e.g., under word 3959 sabbaton "sabbath; week.

by the dawn of the first day of the week,

If in such a case the text of these consecutive lines does not continue, three dots are placed at the end of the first line or at the beginning of the second, e.g. under the same word:

John 7:23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, ...,

Because I made a whole man healthy on Sabbath?

When the text of a second line is taken out of the middle of a preceding line, the place in the first line where the second line belongs is marked with the character )( , and this character, followed by a colon, is then repeated at the beginning of the second line, e.g., under word 4494 trechô "to run, trot, move quickly.

1Cor. 9:24 Know ye not, that they, )( , all do walk,

)( : running in the racetrack

When two or more numbered word forms are listed in the overview of word forms (see above under 3.3), the concordance lists the number of the form that appears in the Greek text of the relevant Bible verse to the right of each phrase and preceded by a period. In this way, one can find out information that is not visible in the translation, but is locked in the Greek form, by looking at the word form referred to. Information regarding noun, number, gender, time, mode, aspect and subject relationship (see Chapter 3 The Word Forms) is often lost in translation. For example, in the following example, the designation .3 refers to the third form in the list found under word 4026 skeuos '(use) object':

Matt. 12:29 how can anyone enter the house of the strong man and rob his household goods, .3

For example, by looking at the translation of form 3 in the list, one can conclude that a plural (i.e., "objects") was used in Greek, which is no longer visible in the Dutch translation "housewares.

When one clicks on the number of the word form behind the concordance phrase, an asterisk is placed in front of that word form in the overview of word forms.

One can reach different parts of the Study Bible.

This concerns:
– introductions by Bible book
– articles on numerous topics
– synopsis
– grammar

Each book of the Bible is provided with an introduction. In it, matters such as authorship and dating of the Bible book in question are discussed, as well as the structure and outline of the book. It also broadly discusses the message that the particular Bible book proclaims. In the NT it is called Introduction, in the OT the article is called Structure.

The introduction or build-up can be opened at ARTICLES and is always at the top of the list.

Excerpts or thematic articles discuss issues (exegetical or otherwise) that would require too much space in the verse-by-verse commentary and introductory questions that are not addressed in the concise introduction or not in sufficient detail.

At ARTICLES all available items can be selected.

In the synopsis, parallel sections from the four gospels are displayed side by side. Here it is then shown which text portions parallel the active Bible verse. When there are synoptic parallels, they are presented in the commentary window under heading SYNOPSIS

For example, at Mat.13:10

If one wants to consult the SYNOPSIS in its entirety through the index, go to the library.

You click on READ there and will see the INDEX of the synopsis. There you can read the desired paragraph.

When the text portion occurs in only one gospel, only the text from that gospel is presented.

The Study Bible includes a grammar of New Testament Greek. You can access this GRAMMATICA through the library.

Some terms used in the Study Bible are:

apocrypha
Apocrypha (= deuterocanonical books) is the collective name for a number of Jewish writings included in the Septuagint in addition to the books of the TeNaCH (Jewish canon). See section 3.3 in the article "The Jewish World of the New Testament.

codex
A codex (plural: codices) is a manuscript with pages that can be turned (as opposed to a scroll), the predecessor of our book. See the article "The Text of the New Testament.

edition, text edition
A (text) edition is a printed edition of a text. In SBNT are four text editions included.

papyrus
Papyrus is an aquatic plant growing in Egypt. The word is also used for the writing material made from the fibers of the plant (the forerunner of our paper) and for texts written on this material. See the article "The Text of the New Testament.

septuagint (LXX)
The Septuagint(a) (LXX for short) is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. See the article "The Jewish World of the New Testament," a summary of it in this help file.

Below are the abbreviations of the Bible books of the Old Testament, the New Testament , as well as the abbreviations of the apocryphal or deuterocanonical books.

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Old Testament

New Testament

Apocryphal or deuterocanical books

The manuscript information below the Greek text refers to the following manuscripts where applicable:

There are quite a few references to books and journals in the Study Bible. Most references can be found below.

Abbreviations of reference works and journals

Text of the Old Testament

For the text of the Old Testament and Septuagint respectively, use was made of:
K. Elliger, W. Rudolph (ed.), Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. 4. Auflage. Stuttgart, 1990.
A. Rahlfs (ed.), Septuagint. Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes. Stuttgart, 1935, 1979.

New Testament Word Studies

For the word studies, we mainly used:
Abbott-Smith, G., A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. 3rd ed. (reprint Edinburgh, 1994).
Balz, H.R. / Schneider, G., Exegetisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament. Stuttgart, 1980-1983, 3 dln.
Cremer, H. / Kögel, J., Biblisch-theologisches Wörterbuch des neutestamentlichen Griechisch. 11. Auflage. Gotha, 1923.
Harting, D., Greek-Dutch Hand Dictionary on the New Testament. 2nd dr. Utrecht, 1888.
Liddel, H.G. / Scott, R. / Jones, S., A Greek-English Lexicon, With a Revised Supplement. 9th ed. Oxford, 1996.
Louw, J. / Nida, E.A., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Based on Semantic Domains. 2nd ed. New York, 1989.
Moulton, J.H. / Milligan, G., Vocabulary of the Greek Testament. 1930, reprint Peabody, 1997.
Muller Jzn., F, Greek Dictionary. 3rd dr. Groningen/The Hague/Batavia 1933.
Thayer, J.H., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. 2nd. ed. Grand Rapids, 1889, reprint s.j.

Many commentaries and other reference works have also been used for the verse-by-verse explanations.

Specific abbreviations used in the Study Bible:

In this contribution we want to make the large amount of information offered by this Study Bible accessible and usable for the interested Bible reader. We do this primarily with that user in mind who does not know Greek. How can you use the digital Study Bible for your personal Bible study or when preparing, for example, a women's group or circle evening? Secondly, we will also show the added value of the Study Bible for the more advanced Bible reader.

The first thing we point out is the use of the Study Bible as a reference book. When, while reading the Bible or study materials, you come across texts that you do not understand or of which you think "did the writer get this right?" then look up the relevant section in the Study Bible.
It also happens that literature mentions arguments from one's own translation of a Bible verse or based on a particular Greek word. You can use Study Bible to weigh the arguments. You look up the passage or Greek word in question and read the explanation. You are then aware of the alternatives and can make your own reasoned choice.
We will now move on to discuss some of the forms of study as practiced and show you how the digital Study Bible can serve you in the process.

One form of Bible study is word study or concept study. The Bible is written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, languages that most of us do not master. Even if you do not know these languages, you can still study these concepts using good resources, such as the Study Bible.
The word study method takes a close look at the meaning and context of a specific word. The aim is to learn the meaning of a particular concept as precisely and comprehensively as possible. Someone once said, "Just as a large door hangs in two small hinges, so important theological dogmas in the Bible often depend on small words such as prepositions and articles, for example. Central teachings in the Bible sometimes revolve around a single word, for example grace, atonement or faith. To understand the deepest meaning of Scripture, we must study the root words. But now to practice. When I want to study concepts like grace, love, righteousness or holiness etc. in the Bible, how do I proceed? As an example, let's take the concept of peace.

Step 1
Establish the meaning of the Dutch word. We look in a dictionary and see that in Dutch the main meaning of the word is "absence of strife or war. Four of the six meanings given by Van Dale Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal are related to "war.

Step 2
If we want to know what the word 'peace' means in the NT, we must first identify the Greek root words used for it. Through the 'search' function in the main menu and the search form "Searching word studies" on "word(s)" we find ten Greek words, but only four where "peace" appears detached in the meaning: 1358 eirēneuō, 1359 eirēne, 1360 eirēnikos and 1361 eirēnopoieō. A reading reveals that there is only one root word for peace, which is the Greek eirēnē (word number 1359). But we also see that there are Greek words for, for example, "to keep peace" (1358 eirēneuō), "to make peace" (1361 eirēnopoieō), "peacemaker" (1362 eirēnopoios) and "peaceful" (1360 eirēnikos), which, although the same root word eirēn- always occurs, we have to read along with it.

Step 3
We click on the Greek eirēnē (word number 1359) and scroll down to the "concordance" of word study 1359 to see how and where the word is used and how it is translated. The word appears in all books of the NT except the first letter of John. Thus, it is a very common and widely used term in the NT. Moreover, we see that the Greek word is very consistently translated "peace" in the given translation (NBG-51). This also appears to be true of the compound words. The root word 'peace' recurs throughout. Indeed, this is far from always the case elsewhere. Often Greek words in translations are translated with another Dutch word according to the context.

Step 4
Next, we want to study the root meaning of the Greek word. For this we turn to the text of word study 1359 eirēnē. Here we read, among other things, that the word also occurs occasionally in the NT in the sense of "absence of war or discord" (e.g. Luke 14:32 and Jac. 3:18). Most often, however, the term is used in the sense of the Hebrew shalōm, indicating a "complete or gifted state. This meaning thus transcends the Dutch that usually describes peace in a negative sense as the absence of something (e.g., war). We find the essence of the New Testament "peace" in two passages. First, the passage about the peace Jesus gives that the world cannot give (John 14:27), and second, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7). This peace is a characteristic of the Kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17), excludes disorder (1Cor. 14:33) and unites where there was first a wall between (Eph. 2:14-15). This peace has been proclaimed as the Gospel since Jesus' first coming (Eph.2:17; cf. Luke 2:15), hence the expression "Gospel of peace" (Eph.6:15).

Step 5
Next, if you want to dig even deeper, go through the explanations of the Bible verses mentioned as key texts in the word study. To do this, go to the concordance list open under word study. Clicking on a verse reference in the list will give you a popup and in it clicking on the verse reference will immediately take you to all the data (Greek text, Bible translations and commentary) of the particular passage. Thus, you can deepen and expand your study of the concept of peace at will. If you proceed in this way and constantly take notes, the word study will naturally expand into a thematic article or a study of the concept of "peace" in the New Testament.

Another form of Bible study involves name studies. You want to study the character or biography of a person in the Bible. Man was created in God's image and likeness, and the Bible gives an account of God's dealings with people. So making a study of someone's life, a person's lifestyle, actions and motivations is very meaningful and instructive. Not only to be inspired by someone's good qualities, but also to learn from their mistakes or failures. We will give an example and use the Study Bible as teaching material. We choose the person of Mary, the mother of Jesus, not the easiest example, but not the most difficult either.

Step 1
To begin, we need to identify the text places where she is mentioned. Through the "search" function and the search form 'Searching in word studies' we find that the name 'Mary' can be a rendering of two Greek names, namely 0363 Mary and 0364 Mariam. So we will have to use two word studies and two concordance lists to find out something about 'our' Mary. For both names may represent the Mary we are looking for. We now turn to the name studies numbered 0363 and 0364. In the concordance there are lowercase letters after the gear numbers, starting with "a" and rising to "g. This means that there are as many as seven different Marys in the NT. This fact is, of course, of great importance, because if we want to limit our study to the mother of Jesus, we should not study text places that are about another Mary. We briefly consult the name study and it turns out that Mary, the mother of Jesus has the letter "a. Now we can start to collect the text places where she appears using the a designations. In the concordance list, the letter (a b c etc) is immediately after the form number (1) (2) etc. For the sake of clarity, we only list the chapters here. First, the list of 0363 Mary: Matt. 1-2; Mark. 6; Luke 1-2; Acts 1. The list of name study 0364 Mariam gives: Matt. 1; 13; Luke 1-2; Acts 1. We read through the text places once in our own Bibles.

Step 2
The next step after reading the texts is to give a first impression and ask clarification questions. What immediately strikes us is that during Jesus' public appearance after his baptism, Mary is mentioned only once in the Gospel (Matt. 13:55/Marc. 6:3). A question mark arises here. Besides the texts about the birth, does Mary appear only once in the Gospels? We need to remember this and possibly find out further later.

Step 3
Then we are ready to make a chronological survey of Mary's life. We find these in the name study 0363 under '(a)'. On a first reading, we already get an immediate answer to the question just raised about Mary's appearance in the Gospel. It turns out that she is mentioned three more times, but not as Mary, but as the "mother of Jesus," namely at the wedding at Cana (John 2), when she visits Jesus once when He is preaching (Mark 3:31 vv.) and at His crucifixion (John 19:26-27). This completes the picture.
The chronological overview of Mary's life is given to you in the name study under '(a)' and we will not repeat it here. We are made aware of the fact that Mary was present at the crucifixion but not at the burial and resurrection of Jesus. She may have been defeated for days by the death of her son.

Step 4
Next we turn to identifying the character of Mary. For this, the Study Bible offers two sources. The first is the word study just read. Here we read that Mary generally supported Jesus' ministry. This is evident, for example, at the wedding at Cana (John 2), where she urges Jesus to help the embarrassed bride and groom. Her trust in Jesus is also evident in what she says to the servant ("Whatever he tells you, do that"). She seeks Jesus out when He is preaching (Mark 3:31 vv.). Mary was also present at the crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:26-27). And finally, after Jesus' resurrection, we see her back in the upper room, where she is in prayer with 120 others (Acts 1:14). So we can assume that she was also present on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. We conclude that Mary is characterized in the NT as a particularly faithful woman who was willing to place herself at the service of God's plan of salvation.

Step 5
If you want to go into even more detail about the character of Mary, you can make use of a second resource in the Study Bible, namely the explanations in the fourth column of the Bible volumes (volumes 2 through 10) to the passages mentioned in the name study. By including the explanations of said texts in column four of the Bible volumes in your study of the person of Mary, you can expand your paper as much as you like.

The next Bible study method we will discuss is that of studying the outline of a book of the Bible. How do I get the outline of a particular book of the Bible? You can compare it to a "bird's eye view" or a "telescopic" view as opposed to the magnified detail or microscopic view of a verse explanation. The point of this study is to gain an overall understanding of the book's purpose, theme, structure and content. The NT contains 27 books, collected together in one volume, and each book is unique and contains an important message for us today. Obtaining an overview is important because only from here can you properly place the meaning of individual verses. Cults and heretics usually arise where one particularly emphasizes certain Bible verses and bases an entire theology on them independently of the rest of the Bible. We will now proceed to discuss the method.

Step 1 - Read the entire book of the Bible
Read the entire book of the Bible, consecutively if possible and in a modern easy-to-read translation (GNB, WV or NBV).
This may sound obvious, but it is not. Some Christians spend a lot of time reading books about the Bible instead of reading the Bible text itself. In the case of a long book, you can do it in two sessions. You will be surprised what you are going to see when you do this. Read at a stretch and pay no attention to chapter divisions and pericope titles. These are added later. The point is to discover the author's common thread. Each time you read through the book completely in this way, you will discover new things and the overview will become clearer and clearer. Two more comments are important for this first stage. In this phase, read mainly without comments or even your own notes. You will fall back too quickly into old patterns or other people's opinions. And secondly, read prayerfully. Ask the Lord to open your heart and eyes to understand His words and see His wonders (Ps. 119:18).

Step 2 - Take notes on what you read
Write down what your first impression is and what things stand out to you. A first impression can be on any level, such as what you think the writer's purpose is or what reading edits in yourself. In addition, note the following things:

- Key terms, which words and terms recur over and over again.
- Key verses, which verses do you think summarize the entire book.
- Literary style, does the book describe history, poetry, a (personal) letter, a sermon or a combination of these?
- Emotional tone, is the writer happy, sad, angry etc?
- What themes do you think are covered?
- Do you see a particular format in the book? which one?
- Who are the main characters in the book?

Step 3 - Background study
In this step we are going to gather information about the background of the book. To do this, we go to the respective book via the menu on the top left. Then in the right window we go to the Articles tab and choose the article Introduction (for NT) or Revival (for OT). We open the article "Introduction [name of Bible book]." Under the headings "The book [name Bible book]", "The author of [name Bible book]" and "The time of [name Bible book]" you will find a brief introduction about the author of the book, when and for whom it was written, why it was written and more such background information. In the articles Structure (OT) you will find the same info, but organized slightly differently.

Step 4 - Mapping Book Layout
We are now going to augment our own notes that we made in step 2 with information from the Study Bible and specifically from the 'Introduction' to the Bible book. Here you will study the sections 'Keys to [name Bible book]' and 'Overview of [name Bible book]' and then compare them with the notes you made yourself. Next, it is important to create a compact visual summary of the book's layout. This will help you summarize the main themes of the book. Also, in this way you can see at a glance the content of the book and the connection between the main sections. In the Study Bible, such a diagram is given in the "Introduction" to the Bible book. You will find here a breakdown by chapters (and verses), theme, place and time. You compare these with your own notes and adjust the given diagram to your own findings, if desired.

Step 5 - Detailed layout
This step is optional, since with step 3 you can also consider the "Overview of a Book of the Bible" study completed. But you may still need a more detailed breakdown at this point, to track down main points and minor points of the author in a more detailed way. In this case, go to the 'Introduction' to the Bible book, section 'The main points of [name of Bible book]'. It should be noted here, however, that there are many ways to classify a scripture and the studies of Bible scholars tend to differ here as well.

When we want to study a book of the Bible in even greater depth, after studying "Outlines of a Book of the Bible," the next logical step is to make an analysis of each chapter. After the overview, now the parts. This method of Bible study will give you a thorough understanding of the content of a particular chapter. In this method, we deal with chapters and pericopes. The verse-by-verse exegesis, which we discuss below, focuses on the meaning and the word. The chapter study is actually the connecting link between the "Biblical-theological" approach of the book review and the exegetical approach of the verse-by-verse explanation. The chapter-by-chapter study helps us understand the Bible in the way it was written. It is therefore a very popular method of study. Now the practice, how does it work?

Step 1 - Read and reread the chapter several times
This first step involves a general observation. To understand the content, it is helpful to summarize the chapter in your own words without interpreting in the process. It is strongly recommended that this summary be written out.

Step 2 - Writing down observations
In this step, we look at each verse and phrase individually and write down our findings. For each verse, you try to answer the following question: what does this Bible verse say? The goal is to saturate yourself with the content of this chapter. We often miss so much of the Bible message because we read or listen poorly. By writing down what you notice, you retain it better and longer.

Step 3 - Ask questions of the text
We now move from observing to explaining. This begins by asking questions that require explanation. These are the "what?" and "why?" questions. What is the meaning of the word "x"? Why does the writer say this? What is his intent in what he says in verse 'x'? Why is this important? The more questions you have, the better you will discover this Bible passage. When you have gathered all your questions, it is time to start looking for answers. In doing so, you will use Study Bible, especially in the Bible translations window and the commentary window. Note that the answers to different questions can be found in different places. Background questions will usually be answered in the "Introduction" to the Bible book (found in the index window on the left), the explanations in the commentary window, in an article (found through the index window or the "articles" button in the purple menu bar). The answer to a question such as "why does the writer say this here?" must usually be sought in context. You first read the explanation to the Bible verse where you have the question, but then also the explanation in the verses before and after (accessed via the "previous verse" and "next verse" buttons). For questions regarding the meaning of words, click on a Greek word in the Greek text window and then read the explanation of this word in the word study window. For questions related to translations, in addition to the explanations in the comments window, look at the interlinear translation below the Greek text and the various Bible translations in the translations window. (For more details, see the "explanation of a particular Bible verse" section).

Step 4 - Compare scripture to scripture
The next step is to compare what is said in the present chapter with what is said elsewhere in the Bible. Unclear passages can be explained by clear portions elsewhere. In making this comparison, however, we should keep a certain priority. We should compare reference texts in the same book of the Bible first, then, if possible, texts in writings by the same author. Then texts in the same Testament, e.g. the New, and finally the rest. The closer a reference text is to the passage we are examining, the more weight the reference has. You can find these references in the commentary window of the Digital Study Bible.

Step 5 - Explanation and message
Recall that the final purpose of Bible reading is not so much "explanation," but "message. God has spoken to mankind in the Bible. This final step involves summarizing the message the Lord gives in this chapter. It is very instructive, after all the piecework and sleuthing of the previous steps, to take time for this final stage as well. Write out this summary message as well. This is beneficial for yourself and it is among the necessary preparations when you have to give an introduction or meditation on this chapter.

The use of the Study Bible that we want to discuss now is somewhat out of place compared to the previous one, because the study method partially overlaps that of the previous one. But since it discusses a form of group study, we do not want to withhold it from you anyway. The circle study we have in mind assumes a circle leader and a group of believers, who meet at a certain time, usually an evening, to read a portion of the Bible. We assume for convenience (also often practical reality) that the circle leader prepares for this gathering. So we can distinguish two phases, that of preparation and the circle evening itself.

The circle leader prepares for the circle night by reading up on the Bible passage that will be discussed that night. We will take 1Jn.3:11-17 as an example. Studying a Bible portion is basically done in the same way as the "chapter analysis" discussed in the previous section. Therefore, it is best for the circle leader when preparing to begin by going through the first 4 steps discussed there.

Step 1
Read and reread the Bible portion several times. (see Chapter Analysis).

Step 2
Writing down the observations (see Chapter Analysis).

Step 3
Ask content questions to the text (see Chapter Analysis). Since there will be another step in which questions will be formulated later, we want to give a few examples of content questions here from our text section. We ask these questions primarily from the translation used by yourself. In the example discussed here, that is the NBG51 translation.
By verse 11: What does John mean by "from the beginning"? Who are the "we" mentioned? By verse 12: Why did Cain kill Abel? At verse 15: Whoever hates does not have eternal life? How can this be reconciled with the fact that God is love? At verse 16: How did Jesus lay down His life for us?

Step 4
Comparing Scripture with Scripture (see Chapter Analysis).

Step 5
Formulating practical in-depth questions.
At step 5, preparation for the circle discussion takes a different path than the "Chapter Analysis. In preparation for the circle discussion, it is important to formulate deeper questions. These questions are not aimed at helping to explain the text, as in steps 1-4, but at its application in one's own life. They are questions such as "How do you experience this?", "How do you deal with this?", "What appeals to you in this?", "Why? Prepare these questions and formulate them as clearly as possible. This will help you give some depth to the conversation on circle night. For clarification, some questions to 1Jn.3:11-17 as an example.
At verse 11: Is there a difference between loving "believers" and "unbelievers? What difference? By verse 13: Why should the world hate us (sometimes)? At verse 14: That hating leads to killing is understandable, but what is the similarity between loving and living? By verse 16: How do we make a commitment to our "brothers"? Do we not have to do this for our 'neighbor'? At verse 17: What do you understand by 'suffering want' in the Netherlands today?

For example, the course of a circle evening can be arranged as follows. As mentioned, in our example situation we assume that only the circle leader has prepared. The purpose of the circle evening is to read and discuss the Bible passage from 1 Jn. 3:11-17 together. The following components are important for an edifying circle discussion.

- Informal conversation with coffee or tea.
- Singing some songs and dedicating the evening to the Lord in prayer.
- Then the Bible portion is read at least three times in a different translation each time. Usually there are two or three different translations in use among those present. If this is not the case, as a circle leader make sure that the different translations are present.
- Then we reflect on each verse. The circle leader addresses the prepared questions for each verse. First, the content questions that help us understand the meaning of the verse. Then the in-depth questions, which help us apply the text. If one does not know how to answer the content questions correctly, the Study Bible is consulted to find the correct answer. As the discussion leader, make sure that everyone is covered and also that one does not deviate too much from the topic. Always bring the circle back to the question being discussed at that moment.
- Pray together and submit the issues that came up to the Lord. When someone expressed that they are having a very difficult time with certain things, pray for that person.
- Opportunity for informal chat. Here sometimes deeper things are shared than during the circle discussion.

In the next section, we discuss the usefulness of the digital Study Bible for the more advanced Bible user. In particular, it concerns the undertaking of verse-by-verse exegesis (read also the article "The Explanation of Scripture") and the usefulness of the given Greek text with variant readings (see also the article "The New Testament Text").
Using the tools in the Study Bible, we will take you through all the areas of study that can shed light on the explanation of a particular passage. Please note, therefore, that this is exclusively about explaining a specific text and not, for example, thematic approaches. We take a short and therefore well-organized Bible verse, namely Matt. 26:32. We systematically go through the fields that can be examined using the information provided by the Study Bible.

Step 1
We must begin by establishing the Greek text, the so-called text establishment. About this the second column on the left page informs. It appears that the four text editions compared in the SB have no differences here. This, of course, is often the case. For a detailed exemplary discussion of a Bible verse with a text difference, see below, section 9.1.

Step 2
Next, we look at the translation of the text. The interlinear translation under the Greek words in the left window gives a word-for-word translation and shows us the structure of the Greek sentence: after - however - the - rising - I - will go before - you - to - Galilee. Under the Translations tab in the right window you will find several modern translations. We note here that especially 'the rising up' is translated differently. We find the following translations: 'after I will be resurrected' (SV), 'after I will be raised' (NBG), 'when I am raised by God' (GNB) and 'after My resurrection' (WV). In this there is quite a difference. In the SV the resurrection is described as an act of Jesus, in the NBG as the act of another, in the GNB as an act of God, and the WV keeps it neutral. It appears that this is the translation of the Greek word egerthçnai. Clicking on the Greek word takes us to the word study of that word. There we find that it is about the verb egeirō, which means "to arouse, to cause to rise. In the concordance (make sure it is checked) we click on the number after the text portion of our verse (.28), then we get to the word forms and see that it concerns the passive or suffering form (to be raised). So it refers to an act of another. So, according to this information, the NBG and the GNB (which translates slightly more explanatory) are closest to the intent of the text.

Step 3
Next, we consider the literary form (genre) of the text. This is also important for the explanation of "being raised," for in word study 1304 egeirō we read that in addition to a literal raising from the dead, "raising" can also be used metaphorically (cf. Matt. 11:11; Acts 13:22; Ezek. 37). If Jesus, as a wisdom teacher, is giving a wise saying or parable here, a metaphorical use is obvious. If he speaks a prophetic word here, a literal resurrection along the lines of the prophetic promise of the resurrection from the dead is obvious. In the commentary (see commentary window) we read that the latter is the case. Jesus here freely quotes Zech.13:7c.

Step 4
Next is the question of sources. Are there more sources that mention the same statement of Jesus and does this bring clarification? For this we go to the "synopsis" (click on "Synopsis" in index after Mat.28 - [Mat.26:32 should be the active entry]) to see if this verse also appears in other gospels. This is indeed the case; Marc.14:28 also gives this verse. However, it appears that there is only one difference: Mark adds the word "but" at the beginning of the verse. This does not change or clarify the meaning of the statement.

Step 5
Then we turn to historical research. Are there any issues of significance in this area? Now it has sometimes been suggested that in addition to the province to the northeast, there would be a village near Jerusalem named Galilee. Is this correct and what place is Jesus talking about here? We look this up in the word studies by clicking on the Greek word Galilaian in the Greek text window. Under the name Galilee we find an account of the province, but nothing about a village near Jerusalem. Nothing is known about the existence of a village of that name. We can therefore confidently consign that to the realm of the fables.

Step 6
We have arrived at the redaction study. First, here we look at the literary context to see if it clarifies the meaning of this verse. To do this, we go to the "Introduction to the Gospel to Matthew" (via the Articles tab in the right window). In the 'Outline' section we find the structure of the gospel explained and see that our verse is located in the pericope 'The denial of Peter' (26:69-75), a part of 'The execution of Jesus' (26:57-27:25), which in turn is a part of 'The suffering of Jesus' (26:-27:66). Furthermore, in the commentary window of our verse we can read a reference to Matt. 28:7b,10,16, which shows that the words Jesus utters here were fulfilled after Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

Step 7
For the explanation in terms of salvation historical context, we must consult the commentary in the commentary window. Matt.26 verse 32 is a free rendering of Zech.13:7c "but I will turn my hand to the little ones" (SV). Just as in Zech.13:7-9 the emphasis is on forming a believing remnant, so in Matt.26:31-32 the emphasis is on the promise in verse 32. Jesus' death heralds an era of scattering and tribulation (vs.31), but his resurrection the beginning of the salvation time promised by the prophets.

Step 8
With the discussion of the salvation-historical context, we have arrived at the second main form of explanation that we could distinguish among the apostles, namely theological interpretation (see the article "The Explanation of Scripture"). Through articles and word studies (and summarily also in the commentary window) you can find the more theological information. However, this category of explanation is less prominent than the linguistic and historical. This is a choice that comes from the design and structure of the Study Bible. In view of our sample verse, the theological information is limited to the commentary window. Nevertheless, from Zech.13, we can say the following in this context: the resurrection and "going before" Jesus to Galilee is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah that speaks of a shepherd, who is pierced by the people (Zech.12:10; cf. Matt.26:31), but whose death leads to the time of salvation (Zech.13:1-6). In principle, with the resurrection of Jesus, the promised salvation time begins.

Step 9
Finally, that leaves us with current interpretation. You will understand that this information is not within the scope of this study work. This interpretation should be sought prayerfully and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit "together with all the saints. Following our verse, we may perhaps think of a typological analogy between Jesus' first and his second coming. Just as Jesus would precede us to "Galilee" after His death on the cross and resurrection, so He will precede us to "Jerusalem" after the great tribulation in the last days and the great resurrection that takes place at His return.

From explaining the text in the commentary window, we now move to the Greek text window. A common question is what one can do with the Greek (see also the article "The Text of the New Testament"). Surely there is quite a bit to say about this. First, there is the possibility for someone who cannot read Greek to still communicate Greek words to others who do know Greek. This is possible because under each Greek word there is a transliteration (conversion of letters) given in our own font. You can thus also pronounce Greek words more or less correctly. In any case, a connoisseur will know exactly what you mean. For those who do read Greek, the transliteration given is also useful when quoting Greek words in publications, because the transliteration given here is a more or less internationally accepted encoding.

Moreover, by clicking on a Greek word you can read a word study and find out what the field of meaning of this particular word is. Indeed, this can rarely be captured in just one Dutch word.

Below the transliteration is a word-for-word translation, the so-called interlinear translation. There you can see how the Greek sentence is constructed and are thus not completely at the mercy of the conversions (so-called transformations) that are more and more common in all modern translations. The interlinear translation helps on the one hand in understanding the Greek and on the other hand in assessing the differences between modern Bible translations. It thus acts as a kind of zipper between the Greek text and the Bible translation.

The most difficult part of the Greek window concerns the variants in the Greek text. Almost every Bible verse has one or two alternative text readings. We discuss an example to show you how you can use the manuscript information in the digital Study Bible to come to an assessment in your choice between a text and its variant reading (see also the article "The New Testament Text," and for how the manuscript information is listed, see the explanation at the Text Critical Device).
We take Matthew 18:15 as an example.
"But if your brother has sinned [against you], go and punish him in private.
The question we face is whether the words "against you" (demand se) were in the original or not. Indeed, this makes quite a difference to its explanation.

We pose a number of questions to the text, which are important for forming an opinion.
1.Which text is found in most manuscripts? This is stated by the edition H-F. This one does have the "against you.
2. What text do we find in the oldest manuscripts? For this you need to find the ages of the manuscripts mentioned after Byz, Eg and Ov via the index manuscripts look up. For our text, the oldest manuscripts are the Egyptian manuscripts 01 and 03, both from the 4th century. The manuscripts mentioned under Byz and Ov are from the 5th and 9th centuries. These oldest Egyptian witnesses lack the "against you.
3. What is the distribution of manuscripts of the text and variant reading? Byz, Eg and Ov largely coincides with a geographical designation. Indeed, it is argued, that the more scattered the manuscripts are, the more likely there is an original reading. The text with 'against you' is found in both Byz and Ov manuscripts. The reading without 'against you' we find only in manuscripts of the type Eg.
4. What has been the church text through the centuries? We find these under the attribute Byz. For those who believe in divine preservation of the text in the church over the centuries, this may be an argument. In our verse, the Byz manuscripts have a text with "against you.
5. What does modern text critical science choose to do? We find this one behind N25 and N26 or N27. This one is not unified in our verse. In N25 we chose the oldest Eg witness without "against you," but in N26 we have changed this and do render the "against you," albeit in text brackets, to indicate that this is not entirely certain.
6. What is the choice of modern translations? We see that about three translations have a text with "against you" (SV, HV and NIV) and eight translations have a text without "against you" (NBG, WV, GNB, NEB, NASB, RLU, REU and BJ). Often these data parallel the year of publication of the various Nestle editions, since most Bible translations had one of these editions as a starting point. So one should not attach too much independent value to this last finding. The translations are listed specifically to give you an insight into whether a particular difference is a translation difference or a text difference.

Conclusion
If we are now to make a judgment based on all the data collected, it depends in part on our positioning on two fronts. First, there is the theorizing related to historical data. For example, it is important to know to what extent the process of spreading and multiplication of manuscripts has been influenced by historical events, so that it is no longer a matter of a "normal" process and one cannot simply assume, for example, that most manuscripts lead to the most original reading. Much study is still needed in this area.
A second issue is that of internal and external proofs. The questions we just asked, the answers to which we could find in the second column of the Study Bible, all lie in the realm of external evidence. However, does one attach more value to internal arguments and individual readings, then the answers to the questions we posed are not sufficient to reach a final judgment. As for our verse, one can argue that the "against you" was an early addition, borrowed by an overwriter from verse 21, where it also occurs. However, one can also assume that the "against you" was deliberately omitted to generalize Jesus' statement. It may also have been done unconsciously by later transcribers, because in later Greek the pronunciation of the second part of hamartçsçi (sin) and eis se (against you) were the same. As you can see, it is very difficult to come to a judgment based on internal evidence alone. There are usually arguments for both positions.
At the end of this somewhat technical treatise, we would like to point out that all the variations in the manuscripts are limited to less than 1% of all the text. And of that small percentage, again, only a small portion is of doctrinal importance. So the reliability of the text of the NT, as handed down, is very close to 100%. True enough!

At the end of this overview of different methods you can use for studying the Bible, we want to mention again the resources in the digital Study Bible:

1. An integral text of four text editions of the Greek NT. It concerns the Textus Receptus (TR), Nestle-Aland 25th edition (NA25), Nestle-Aland 28th edition (NA28), Majority Text of Hodges-Farstad (HF).

2. A text-critical device with a clear outline. The notes regarding the manuscripts are not only systematic, but also transparent and understandable. This column offers interesting information for every Bible reader. For the first time ever, 11 translations, including all the most recent modern translations, have been systematically examined for their choice of root text. The latter is also important for Bible translators in Third World countries, who are rarely classics scholars and usually lean heavily against certain translations familiar to them. They can easily see with this information whether they are text differences or translation differences.

3. A transliteration of the Greek text. It provides an opportunity for someone who knows little or no Greek to communicate Greek words to others. In addition, a connoisseur can now use a responsible, international code for Greek lettering in publications.

4. An interlinear translation. You can see how the Greek sentence is constructed and thus are not completely at the mercy of the many conversions (transformations) in modern translations.

5. One can take advantage of a very extensive (theological) dictionary with word studies of all Greek words found in the NT.

6. One can make use of a Greek-Dutch concordance, i.e., a concordance on a Greek keyword with a phrase in Dutch. This concordance also contains integrated an analytical lexicon, in which all occurring word forms of the Greek word with the corresponding translation are given

7. A window of translation variants. Versions of 11 translations (5 Dutch, 3 English, 2 German and 1 French), where they differ, are included (SV and NBG51 are included in full). Below are the most recent modern translations, such as: Big News Bible (GNB) 1998 (previously 1982 edition), Willibrord Translation (WV) 1995 (previously 1977 edition) and New International Version (NFIP) 1978.

8. Finally, you will find a verse-by-verse commentary in the Study Bible. It concerns a explanation on the Greek text, based on the following principle of faith: the Bible is the Word of God, describing the reality in which we live from God's point of view, but for our benefit.

In summary, the digital Study Bible contains an entire library of at least seven manuals and/or series: four Greek text editions, an interlinear translation, a Greek-Dutch concordance, a Greek analytical lexicon, eleven modern Bible translations, a commentary series and a theological dictionary.

Author
Drs. G. van den Brink.

Concise bibliography
J. van Bruggen, Reading the Bible. An introduction, Kampen 21986.
G.D. Fee, Exegesis of the New Testament. A practical manual, Zoetermeer 2001.

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Editorial Board
Dr. M.J. Paul
drs. G. van den Brink
Rev. J.C. Bette

Authors

Interlinear translation and text critical apparatus
Dr. A.E.M.A. van Veen-Vrolijk

Compilation of Bible translations
H. van de Giessen

Explanation, introductions and articles
G. de Bree MA
drs. G. van den Brink
lic. S.R. Folkertsma
lic. F.M.N. Folkertsma-Huizer
lic. J.M. van Nes
Dr. M.J. Paul
Dr. M. Rotman
drs. C.C. Stavleu
Dr. A.E.M.A. van Veen-Vrolijk

Correctors
drs. W. Dorsman
A. van Rijn
drs. N.C. van Velzen

Editorial Board
drs. G. van den Brink
Rev. J.C. Bette
Dr. A.W. Zwiep

Authors

Interlinear translation and text critical apparatus
Dr. H. Courtz
drs. J.W. van der Jagt
Dr. M. Rotman

Compilation of Bible translations
H. van de Giessen

Explanation, introductions and articles
drs. C.M. Breman †
drs. G. van den Brink
Dr. H. Courtz
J. van Dalen
Dr. A. Dirkzwager
drs. H.C. van Eibergen
Rev. L. Fabriek
Dr. Chr. Fahner †
drs. H.G. Fonteyn
Rev. C.A.E. Groot
Dr. J. Hoek
drs. H.J. Inkelaar
C.M. Kok
Dr. P.J. Lalleman
Rev. J.M. Mulder
drs. M.C. Mulder
drs. C. van Nes
J. Nutma
Dr. M.J. Paul
A.T. Peet-Vreman
Dr. M. Rotman
drs. G.A. van Veelen
drs. B.J. Verkruyssen
H. Visser
drs. E. de Vries
Rev. R.E. van der Wal
Dr. A.W. Zwiep

Word Studies
drs. G. van den Brink
Dr. H. Courtz
J. Dekker
Rev. L. Fabriek
drs. A. van der Giessen-Bok
drs. H. van der Horn
drs. J.W. van der Jagt
A. de Jong-Jongbloed
Dr. P.J. Lalleman
Dr. M. Rotman
drs. G.A. van Veelen
A.T. Peet-Vreman
Dr. L. Platell-Wildschut
drs. M.A. van Willigen
Dr. A.W. Zwiep

Synopsis
drs. G. van den Brink
H. van de Giessen
drs. N.H. Vermeeren