Ideas for key words, cross-references, etc.

I think the title says it all! For National qualifiers, or anybody studying the book of Ephesians, what ideas do you have concerning the key words we should study, cross-references, etc.? What do you think will be covered extensively in the test this year?

I personally think that an important cross-reference this year will be the book of Colossians. Ephesians and Colossians have numerous specific parallels between themselves, sometimes almost word-for-word. They were written at just about the same time. Also, for those of you who remember Bible Bee 2010, when we studied Colossians; now that I think about it, there were several questions about Ephesians on that test. I don't remember anything specific, but I think there were quite a few. (Not as many as 2011 and the book of Jude though!!)

And didn't Ephesians cross reference parts of 1 Peter, when we studied that in '11?

I'm not sure I remember that, but I'll take your word for it. I'm sure there were some cross-references for 1 Peter in Ephesians. :)

Lol, okay. It wasn't nearly as much as Colossians and Ephesians, but the whole part in Ephesians about wives obeying husbands, children obeying parents and servants obeying masters. (I might have this confused though)

Btw, this is a great topic!! I'll add on here…once I get that far into Ephesians. :)

Also, there are many references to old testament passages that paul quotes in Ephesians. I think that those will be very important to know.

@Emily: Okay, I think I know what you're talking about. That makes sense, but I would say that they are not as related to each other as Ephesians and Colossians are. I've been looking through Colossians and I've already found more than 10 specific parallels between them!

@Daniel: Definitely true. Quoted passages are always some of the most important cross-references. I remember that there were quite a few in 1 Peter especially.

@National Seniors: Has anyone noticed the three memory passages that span multiple chapters: Romans 4:13-8, Galatians 3:15-7, and 1 Timothy 3:16-5? How do you think we are supposed to say the references for those? It seems a little strange to say them as they are written. I would have thought it would be something more like "Romans chapter 4 verse 13 through chapter 5 verse 8".

You have memory passages that go through several chapters???? Whoa!

Only two chapters each. The longest of them is 22 verses.

yes! I have noticed that!!
I have also noticed that we are memorizing several complete chapters in the bible….

You all r amazing idk how u memorize that much. :)

@Matthew, yes, I've noticed that. I think personally that the way the reference are written on the cards was a computer logarithm problem; on the list of verses they are written as 1 Timothy 3:16-4:5 etc. That's how I've been saying them.

I think this year is the greatest discrepancy between the longest and shortest passage…4 cards for the longest, and like six words for the shortest?

@Sarah - the Juniors have a 5-card passage!! I definitely thought it was interesting that they included such variety of length in the assigned passages. I don't believe there has ever been passages as short as 2 Corinthians 5:7 or John 14:15 before. Before now, I think the shortest passage that has ever been in BB was 1 Peter 2:3. It would be interesting if they did something like 1 Thessalonians 5:16 or Luke 17:32 in the future. For some reason I can't imagine them doing John 11:35 or Job 3:2 though. :P

@Danielle - Most of us are used to memorizing this amount of verses; you could say our "memory muscle" is stronger. It doesn't mean that we're any smarter than you. You could definitely do the same if you worked up to it, and if you had the motivation. :)

@Emily: Okay, I think I know what you're talking about. That makes sense, but I would say that they are not as related to each other as Ephesians and Colossians are.

Yep, I think Colossians will probably be the biggest thing for Cross Referencing… It's way close to Ephesians. (which made is really confusing trying to memorize the Ephesians passages in 2010…:)

I did see that…. Yeah, if you say "1 Timothy 3:16-5" it sounds like you're going to recite it backward. :P On the print out list of references it says "1 Timothy 3:16-4:5", and that's probably how I'll say it, unless BBHQ says something different.

@Matthew – Yes, it's interesting that they have those kind of passages (going through two chapters). I was going to say it like this "Romans 4, 13 to 5, 8" But, I don't know if that is correct.

@Emily: I'm thinking the same thing about Colossians. This time I'll be prepared for it, unlike in 2011. :) It will be a bit easier since I've studied it before.

@Bethany & Emily: That's probably the way it was supposed to be. I hope Headquarters will mention it in their next email; if they don't, I will probably contact them to make sure.

Yeah…I did notice that :)

Matthew, I have a question for you. When you study key words, what do you do exactly with that? I mean, do you look up the definition of the word and then find the Greek/Hebrew word associated with it? Will you learn any other Greek words, besides your key words?

And, how do you find cross-references? Do you search for phrases that are in Ephesians, in other parts of the Bible? That's normally how I do it, but I would be interested in hearing how you do it… :) Or, anyone else, for that matter… :)

It's still amazing. :)

For key words, I look them up in the Strong's Concordance and then in Zodhiates' Greek Dictionary. The Zodhiates dictionary especially helps me with cross-references as well, since as far as I know it references every occurrence of every Greek word in the New Testament, not to mention several cross-references to the Old Testament as well.

Wow! That Zodhiates dictionary sounds really helpful! Do you think it might be on-line at all? I might look into that….

Wow that book is expensive! I looked on-line to see if I could download it to our e-sword that we have on our computer, but it costs 40 dollars….I don't think we're going to get it :( I guess I'll keep looking up cross-references "the old-fashioned way"!

Have any of you checked this resource out? (tell me if the link works)
http://bibleocean.com/app/
It is very helpful to just have everything right there in front of you…

I haven't but I have accordance on my computer which is similar.

Matthew – how you making your Colossians vs. Ephesians chart? How far are you through it? I'm working on one, but I'm only through verse 4 (in Eph.) because that's all the farther I've studied in the book.

Bethany, I don't mean to respond for Matthew, but are you in the Google Document group headed up by Ryan Sinni? Because if I am understanding your question correctly, there is an available document in that group that has already accomplished what you are doing…

Basically, I'm using Microsoft Excel to write out the related phrases and their references. I have not actually checked out Ryan Sinni's Google Document group, but I plan to. I'll have to see what is there.

how do i find his group?

Anna – I have actually heard about it, but I haven't looked at it. I actually don't learn things well if I don't make up the charts/lists/things, etc. myself. :) I always learn so much better if I take the time to sit down and write it out :)

I am finding key words for chapter 1 today, and I need some suggestions. So far I have: predestinated, inheritance, redemption, glory, praise, fulness, and wisdom. Ideas, anyone?

power ….there are many different greek words for that one used in ch 1

@Stefani - I'll forward you Ryan's email.

My key words are going to be whatever words are used the most in each chapter – that's normally how I pick mine. But, I'm planning on learning all Greek words for the whole books, so on key words I just need to know how many times they are used and a little definition on what the word means.

These are my key words for Ephesians 1: chosen, praise, mystery , inheritance, hope, riches, power, and glory. I might do more… I love doing key words and cross references. :D

Wait…you're going to memorize the whole book in Greek?

Wait...you're going to memorize the whole book in Greek?

If thats true that AMAZING :D!!!!!!!

I know! =D

COURTNEY!!!! You haven't been on in ages! How are you??

That's incredible!!!

Every single word, except "the, of, and," etc. :) So, yeah….I'm really tired of missing lots of Greek words on the test!

Wow…!!! =D That's great!!!

I would definitely encourage all of you to get involved in Ryan Sinni's Google Document group - we already have things such as Greek word lists, Historical Context of Ephesians lists, Cross-References lists, Colossians/Ephesians parallels (very lengthy), titles for the book/chapters, Overviews of Ephesians, and more! I am very glad I joined, and I hope you all will too:)

I would definitely encourage *all* of you to get involved in Ryan Sinni's Google Document group - we already have things such as Greek word lists, Historical Context of Ephesians lists, Cross-References lists, Colossians/Ephesians parallels (very lengthy), titles for the book/chapters, Overviews of Ephesians, and more! I am very glad I joined, and I hope you all will too:)

I second that!!

How do we join?

I want to join!!!!

I am doing good… :-D How are you?

Yes, I know. I don't have much extra time these days, but I wanted to get back on Memverse during Nationals season in order to help me with these 600 verses, and also to get everyone else's input on key words, etc.

Courtney – how far are you in your study of Ephesians? How many verses do you have memorized? :)

I can't believe you can do that! I am sure you will know Ephesians very well, if you are planning to do that. :-) I am not doing quite that, but I am going to study a bunch of key words. I will also find a lot of my cross-references by searching for the key words on the memory verses documents - Senior, Junior, and Primary. I think the BB people will have chosen the verses specifically because they are cross-references for Ephesians. Colossians, also, will be a main cross-reference.

How about key verses, everyone? So far I have 1:3, 2:8 (and 9), 3:9, 4:13, 5:8, and 6:10.

More key words: power, grace, blessed/blessings, chosen, pleasure, will, trusted/faith, and head.

@Kaitlyn - You would need to send an email to Ryan Sinni, who is heading up the group. I'm guessing that neither you nor I feel comfortable putting our email addresses up, so how about this - can you go to my website (clarityharp.weebly.com) and give me your email address through the contact form? Then I can share more info with you:) Sorry that has to be so complicated….

@BibleBeeBunny - Hi! Hope you are having fun studying!!! I sent the info about the Bible Bee Group to Everett - you can ask him about it:)

I did 6 days of Aerial View, and I have done 7 days in Chapter 1 so far. I am doing 10 per chapter. I am well over 100 verses by now, but I am not really counting. I am also not going as fast as I could, because I have to do school for 3 weeks in September. Then I can really buckle down on studying. My family is being really sweet though, taking over my chores, and letting me study as much as possible.

How are you doing so far?