Bible Study Techniques: Verse Mapping

January 12, 2023

Bible Study Techniques: Verse Mapping

Hello my lovelies! I hope you are doing well. I wanted to talk about one of my very favorite Bible Study Techniques: Verse Mapping.

Verse Mapping takes you deeper into the meaning of scripture. You break down the verse into visually arranged components. You will be able to have a fuller understanding of what you are reading.

I will go ahead and work through a verse and show you how this technique can be a great addition to your studies.

1. Pick a Scripture, pray over the scripture, read it aloud and then write it out:

Since I am currently studying Sarai in the Bible, I am choosing Hebrews 11:11.

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

2. Make a note of who is the author and who is the audience:

Author: Anonymous

Audience: It is commonly thought that the audience of Hebrews is the Body of Christ. This has been contested throughout history as it is only an educated guess.

3. Find important words as well as words you may not know the meaning of, underline them and look them up.

SCRIPTURE: By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

Faith: Faith simply means believing that something is true, and then committing our lives to it.. For our purposes, faith would mean believing in God and his promises.

Ability: I'm not sure I like the use of "ability" here - since that gives a questionability and with God's Promises - things are certain! Ability can be translated to potential or capability.

Conceive: The beginning of a new life in a mother's womb. Beautiful.

Proper: Appropriate or suitable.

Then you can re-read the scripture with the definitions:

By believing in God, Sarah received the capability to have a new life in her womb, even beyond the appropriate time of life .....

4. Circle anything (I will highlight) that stands out to you when you are reading the scripture today.

SCRIPTURE: By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

Make any notes on why you circled (highlighted) these things.

Since she considered Him faithful: Sarah's faith is what she is known for. Her faith, hope and trust in God is why she is one of the great Matriarchs.

5. Read and write out different translations, utilize commentaries and connect different words used. You can also map anything if there is a location, look into the historical context of words and also look up word origins.

Good News Translation

It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah herself could not have children. He trusted God to keep his promise.

New American Bible

By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age—and Sarah herself was sterile—for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.

King James Bible

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

6. How is the scripture relevant to your life today? To what God is teaching you? To His character?

Faith is always relevant! Sarah's life was not easy nor was she perfect, but her FAITH is what we should aspire to today. God is teaching me to have faith, to believe in His promises to me and to trust in His timing.

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This is just one way to do Verse Mapping. There are a lot of really wonderful examples across the internet, and I will share some of below as well as some free printable Verse Mapping sheets.