An interactive visual guide that illustrates the events of the Bible in the context of extrabiblical history, with an emphasis on the major societies of the world at the time. Click on the link above to download the PDF version, which has hyperlinks to the Wikipedia entries for the historical events described in the guide.

I read through the book of Job about once a year and find it very difficult to interpret. It occurred to me one day that it would be helpful to color the text according to each speaker, so that I could remember who is speaking (since Job is mainly a series of speeches written as poetry), with the hope that this would facilitate understanding and interpreting this complex and amazing book. The reader should fully appreciate that my own commentary is itself an oversimplified interpretation—the very thing that I critique of Job and his friends.

Psalm 25 is one of several acrostic poems in the Bible (others include Psalms 9, 10, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145; Proverbs 31; and Lamentations). An acrostic poem is one in which the first line of each stanza begins with a letter of the Hebrew alephbet (alphabet). The acrostic form is lost upon the reader when translated. Futhermore, the initial Hebrew word of each stanza is not necessarily the initial word when translated. The author (David, as indicated in the opening stanza) of Psalm 25, as in Psalm 34, omits vav (presumably because there are only ten words in the Hebrew scriptures that begin with the letter vav), and adds an extra pe at the end. This appears to be in order to form the Hebrew word אָלַף 'alph from the first (aleph), middle (lamed) and last (pe) letters of the acrostic. אָלַף 'alph translated into English means learn. Additionally, ק (kop) is replaced with ך (resh), resulting in two consecutive stanzas beginning with resh in verses 18 and 19. In order to more fully appreciate the original structure of the psalm, the original Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) is shown line by line alongside the English translation (World English Bible). On the Hebrew side of the graphic, each initial letter of the acrostic is highlighted in blue, and a transliteration of the Hebrew is show above the inital word in red italics. On the English side of the graphic, the translated word that corresponds to the initial word in each stanza is highlighted in red (matching the transliterated word). The Strong's Number is shown above the highlighted word in gray. The Hebrew letters forming אָלַף 'alph are shown in green. The Personal Name of the Creator God in the original Hebrew is יְהֹוָה Yahweh, most often translated in modern English versions as LORD (all capitals), is highlighted in this graphic in purple. David also uses the Hebrew word for the Creator God אֱלֹהִים elohiym, most often translated in modern English versions as God, which is shown here in orange. Finally, the PDF version of the graphic contains hyperlinks to Hebrew root parser and Strong's Numbers from Scholar's Gateway and Blue Letter Bible, respectively, allowing the viewer to further study the meaning of each word of the acrostic. References: Brug, John F. Near Eastern Acrostics And Biblical Acrostics Biblical Acrostics And Their Relationship To Other Ancient Near Eastern Acrostics. NEH Seminar: The Bible And Near Eastern Literature, Yale 1987, 1997 edition. Strong, James. The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2001.

Psalm 34 is one of several acrostic poems in the Bible (others include Psalms 9, 10, 25, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145; Proverbs 31; and Lamentations). An acrostic poem is one in which the first line of each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alephbet (alphabet). The acrostic form is lost upon the reader when translated. Futhermore, the initial Hebrew word of each stanza is not necessarily the initial word when translated. The author (David, as indicated in the opening stanza) of Psalm 34, as in Psalm 25, omits vav (presumably because there are only ten words in the Hebrew scriptures that begin with the letter vav), and adds an extra pe at the end. This appears to be in order to form the Hebrew word אָלַף 'alph from the first (aleph), middle (lamed) and last (pe) letters of the acrostic. אָלַף 'alph translated into English means learn. In order to more fully appreciate the original structure of the psalm, the original Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) is shown line by line alongside the English translation (World English Bible). On the Hebrew side of the graphic, each initial letter of the acrostic is highlighted in blue, and a transliteration of the Hebrew is show above the inital word in red italics. On the English side of the graphic, the translated word that corresponds to the initial word in each stanza is highlighted in red (matching the transliterated word). The Strong's Number is shown above the highlighted word in gray. The Personal Name of the Creator God in the original Hebrew is יְהֹוָה Yahweh, most often translated in modern English versions as LORD (all capitals), and is highlighted in this graphic in purple. David cries out to Yahweh in nearly three-quarters of the stanzas in this psalm. The other Hebrew word for the Creator God אֱלֹהִים elohiym is not used by David in Psalm 34. Finally, the PDF version of the graphic contains hyperlinks to Hebrew root parser and Strong's Numbers from Scholar's Gateway and Blue Letter Bible, respectively, allowing the viewer to further study the meaning of each word of the acrostic. References: Brug, John F. Near Eastern Acrostics And Biblical Acrostics Biblical Acrostics And Their Relationship To Other Ancient Near Eastern Acrostics. NEH Seminar: The Bible And Near Eastern Literature, Yale 1987, 1997 edition. Strong, James. The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2001.

Psalms 111 and 112 are acrostic poems (others acrostics in the Bible include Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145; Proverbs 31; and Lamentations). An acrostic poem is one in which the first line of each stanza begins with a letter of the Hebrew alephbet (alphabet). The acrostic form is lost upon the reader when translated. Futhermore, the initial Hebrew word of each stanza is not necessarily the initial word when translated. Both psalms open with praise for the Creator God, hallelu Yah (lit. praise Yahweh). Both are complete alphabetic acrostics, having a successive letter of the Hebrew alephbet begin each phrase, organized in eight couplets (verses 1-8 in both psalms), and two triplets (verses 9-10 in both psalms), for a total of 22 lines, one for each letter of the Hebrew alephbet. Brug observes that Psalm 111 extols the praises of Yahweh and the wisdom of following God, whereas Psalm 112 responds by describing the blessings received by those who follow Him. In order to more fully appreciate the original structure of the psalm, the original Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) is shown line by line alongside the English translation (World English Bible). On the Hebrew side of the graphic, each initial letter of the acrostic is highlighted in blue, and a transliteration of the Hebrew is show above the inital word in red italics. On the English side of the graphic, the translated word that corresponds to the initial word in each stanza is highlighted in red (matching the transliterated word). The Strong's Number is shown above the highlighted word in gray. The Personal Name of the Creator God in the original Hebrew is יְהֹוָה Yahweh, most often translated in modern English versions as LORD (all capitals), is highlighted in this graphic in purple. The other Hebrew word for the Creator God, אֱלֹהִים elohiym (most often translated in modern English versions as God), is not used in these psalms. Finally, the PDF version of the graphic contains hyperlinks to Hebrew root parser and Strong's Numbers from Scholar's Gateway and Blue Letter Bible, respectively, allowing the viewer to further study the meaning of each word of the acrostic. References Brug, John F. Near Eastern Acrostics And Biblical Acrostics Biblical Acrostics And Their Relationship To Other Ancient Near Eastern Acrostics. NEH Seminar: The Bible And Near Eastern Literature, Yale 1987, 1997 edition. Strong, James. The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2001.

Psalm 119 is one of the most amazing passages in the Bible. We can miss a lot of the beauty and structure of Psalm 119 if we do not look at it in the original language it was written, Hebrew. This psalm is divided into 22 sections: one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section is composed of 8 verses and each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter. It is likely that this was for both aesthetics and as a memorization aid. This kind of poem is known as an acrostic. Each verse contains a special word pertaining to Yahweh's law, ordinances, word, commandments, statutes, precepts and decrees. In most cases, each verse contains a single instance of the special word; except in 6 cases where the verse contains two special words; and in 1 case (verse 122), where no special word occurs. The usual verse structure is AB, except in 3 verses with an A structure and 1 verse that adds a cry for help at the end of an AB structure. The Name of the Creator God is used in interesting ways in Psalm 119. In all cases except one, the Personal Name of the Creator God (Yahweh) is used, appearing 24 times. Multiples of twelve are frequently used in the Bible. In the remaining case, the Hebrew word Elohiym is used, which means Creator God.

Frequency of Creator God names and special words used in Psalm 119:

Psalm 119 is telling us that to know the Creator God you must know His law, ordinances, word, commandments, statutes, precepts, decrees, testimonies, ways, and faithfulness.