Question by Ryuichi N: How do you know when should you best use a Bible commentary, concordance, atlas, handbook or dictionary?
It’s our Christian Living periodical exams tomorrow, and still there’s this VERY confusing part of the coverage. Usually, our teacher would give a question that goes like this:
1. Tribes of Israel
2. Economic Status of Abraham
3. A man leaves his house and clings to his wife
4. Faith travel of Abraham
5. Faith expressions of Abraham
Then, you’ll have to identify which of the 5 biblical tools to use. Only one correct answer.
According to our teacher, the answer to no. 5 is concordance, the no. 4 is atlas. Pretty confusing, huh?
I can understand the Bible dictionary, atlas, and handbook well enough, but I can’t figure out when to use either a concordance or a commentary. Especially with stuff like the given.
Help is really appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Best answer:
Answer by JimPettis
It *is* confusing, but I think all that you have to do is evaluate *precisely* what you are looking for and compare that to *precisely* what type of information is in the reference. For example, in this instance, “faith expressions of Abraham” signifies that you are looking for Abraham’s *words*, not something *about* Abraham (which you would find in a commentary). I’m not certain what a handbook is. I would expect you to find Tribes of Israel in a dictionary, and info about husband and wife in a commentary (although Abe’s $ *might* also be mentioned by a commentary).
Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/
Add your own answer in the comments!
How do you know when should you best use a Bible commentary, concordance, atlas, handbook or dictionary?
Question by Ryuichi N: How do you know when should you best use a Bible commentary, concordance, atlas, handbook or dictionary?
It’s our Christian Living periodical exams tomorrow, and still there’s this VERY confusing part of the coverage. Usually, our teacher would give a question that goes like this:
1. Tribes of Israel
2. Economic Status of Abraham
3. A man leaves his house and clings to his wife
4. Faith travel of Abraham
5. Faith expressions of Abraham
Then, you’ll have to identify which of the 5 biblical tools to use. Only one correct answer.
According to our teacher, the answer to no. 5 is concordance, the no. 4 is atlas. Pretty confusing, huh?
I can understand the Bible dictionary, atlas, and handbook well enough, but I can’t figure out when to use either a concordance or a commentary. Especially with stuff like the given.
Help is really appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Best answer:
Answer by JimPettis
It *is* confusing, but I think all that you have to do is evaluate *precisely* what you are looking for and compare that to *precisely* what type of information is in the reference. For example, in this instance, “faith expressions of Abraham” signifies that you are looking for Abraham’s *words*, not something *about* Abraham (which you would find in a commentary). I’m not certain what a handbook is. I would expect you to find Tribes of Israel in a dictionary, and info about husband and wife in a commentary (although Abe’s $ *might* also be mentioned by a commentary).
Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/
Add your own answer in the comments!