I have compiled these notes over the past 20 years from various sources: pastor/teachers, books, commentaries, theological journals, what I have learned by attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) over the past 15 years, trusted theologians online, and my own study.
There are notes for nearly every verse in all 66 books of the Bible. Some NT books have extensive notes, such as the John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, James, 1&2 Peter, 1-2-3 John, Jude, and Revelation. Other NT books are lighter in notes, but still have sufficient content.
As for the OT, Genesis, Joshua-Ezra, Song of Solomon, Ezekiel, Daniel, and most of the minor prophets, including Zechariah, have extensive notes. The other OT books have lighter notes, but are sufficient to help most.
I have attempted to make these notes as easy to read as possible. They should be able to be understood by the average believer without a seminary degree. The primary Bible translation used is the NASB20. I use the NASB (New American Standard Bible) translation because it is consistently rated as the closest translation to the original Greek. No translation is perfect, and the NASB has some issues (many that I’ve come across are pointed out in the notes), but in my opinion it’s the best translation for studying the Bible. Infinitely better than any of the paraphrases such as NIV, NLT, AMP, etc.
Every verse in the BIble is presented with all four Bible translations. Using John 11:35 as an example, the order of translations, top to bottom, is always:
35 [NASB20] Jesus wept.
35 [NASB95] Jesus wept.
35 [ISV*] Jesus burst into tears.
35 [KJV] Jesus wept.
For many verses, a word or phrase will be bold (primarily in the NASB20 translation), meaning there is an explanation or meaning given below. If a word or phrase in a translation other than the NASB20 is referenced, for clarity sake, the word(s) will be bold in that translation, and the note below will indicate the translation from which the word(s) come from in brackets (i.e. [KJV]).
Every book contains an “Introduction & Background” PDF which outlines the Author, Date of Writing, Place of Writing, Recipients, Purpose, Message, Structure, Unique Characteristics, and an Outline. None of these are my work–they are copied from Dr. Andy Woods of Sugar Land Bible Church in Sugarland, TX (www.slbc.org). They are an excellent introduction to each book.
The Introduction & Background contains an overall outline of every book, each chapter contains the outline for that chapter at the beginning, with each point/sub-point included in the text of the chapter. This makes understanding the structure while you’re reading much easier.
*The ISV (International Standard Verison) is a moderately literal translation that seeks to avoid the paraphrasing tendencies of some modern versions. It’s goal is to be a compromise between formal equivalence and functional equivalence by attempting to stay as close to the source text as possible without losing communication. The target reading level in English is 7th-8th grade. I have found it to be a much better translation than the NIV, NLT, and other paraphrases, which are too much paraphrase (the translator’s words) and not enough translation (God’s words).
