Marking Up Your Bible

In my men's Bible study, we talked about ways of studying the Bible, including marking up your Bible with notes along the way. The idea is to have one copy of the Bible that is set aside for this particular purpose so that you can make notes in and around the text as you make observations. When you come back to that same text later, you have your own notes to help you remember what you've noticed before. Plus, just the act of writing notes helps you to think your way through a passage.

It's best to have just one Bible for this, so that you don't have notes strung around in many different places. Choose a Bible that has good space in the margins for personal notes. I recommend a translation that is more literal, such as the NASB, ESV, or NKJV. Other kinds of translations, such as the NET or NIV, are good to have for other purposes, but since individual words will make a difference (as you will see), your "mark up Bible" should be one of the more literal translations.

You can certainly choose your own method of mark up, but stay consistent! Think a long time before starting to mark up to make sure you have a system you want to use. You don't want to mark up one way, and then later change your mind and mark up another way, and then end up with a Bible with different kinds of mark up. You might even make some photocopies of some pages to "practice" on to see which mark ups you want to use.

Let me share my method, not because it's any better than other methods, but just as an example. My method is pretty simple:

• Circle: I circle words or phrases that are repeated in a passage. For example, in Isaiah 45, the idea there being "no other" God is repeated (vv. 5, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24), even though different words are used. So I circled each occurrence. Now, every time I go back to Isaiah 45, I see some circles and quickly realize that the exclusive nature of God is an important theme in this chapter.
• Underline: I underline commands, especially ones that apply to us. Later, when I see an underline, I know there's a command for me to obey in that passage. I don't usually underline commands given to people in the narrative if the command doesn't apply to us (like telling Moses to go to Egypt - it's a command, but not to us, so I don't underline it).
• Exclamation point: In the margin, I put an exclamation point next to thoughts that are particularly important. Maybe it's the key point of the passage. Maybe it just strikes me as I'm reading as being particularly important. The exclamation point is like saying, "Look here!"
• Check mark: I put a check mark in the margin next to promises, especially promises that apply to us. Maybe they are promises that have already been fulfilled, maybe not, but the check mark alerts me that there's a promise from God to us here.
• Highlight: I don't highlight much, but if there's a phrase that is a core truth to the Christian life, I'll highlight it. I also highlight cross-references in the margins that I've looked up and have found to be particularly helpful.
• Square underline: I will underline some words or phrases with tips on each end to make the words look like they are sitting in a shallow box if the word or phrase is defined by the passage. For example, John 17:3 says "This is life, that..." The phrase that follows defines what "life" is. So I put a square underline under that word to alert me later that this verse defines what "life" is.
• Margin notes: Sometimes, you've just got to write a thought in the margin - no other mark up will do. These include inspired thoughts, cross references not already list, helpful interpretations, etc.

Be careful not to mark up too much! If you mark up everything, it's as good as marking up nothing, and then your Bible is harder to read. Be smart. As an extreme example, most sentences in Mark start with "And..." Don't bother circling every "and" - yes, it's repeated, and yes, it means something, but you don't want all that ink spilled on your pages.

Also remember that whatever you mark up and write will be there for the rest of the life of that Bible. I've written down things and then years later read it again, wondering, "What was I thinking?!? That's the stupidest thing I ever saw!" Try to mark up the things you think will also be relevant tomorrow and next month and next year.

For those who have a problem writing in their Bibles, I have one piece of advice for you: Don't do it. If you don't want to, then don't. It helps to have a Bible dedicated just for this purpose which you can treat like a pre-filled notebook of Biblical texts for notetaking, but if you'd rather not, don't do it and don't worry about it. This is not the test of a true Christian.

Find your own method. Some of you probably have mark up habits that I would like to use myself.