BIBLE STUDY

There is no better commentary on the Bible than itself and no-one is better suited for interpreting God's Word than God Himself. It is here that cross references can be so valuable.

WHAT IS A CROSS REFERENCE?

Cross references are verse "references" supplied by the translators that direct the reader to other locations in the Bible where the same (or similar) phrase, word or event can be found.

FORMATS FOR CROSS REFERENCES:

Centre or side margin references
Footnote references
Separate books (e.g. The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge)
Computer reference systems

USES OF CROSS REFERENCES:

Linking teachings and prophecies between the Old and New Testaments

Example 1: Link: Luke 1:31-33

31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

With: 2 Samuel 7:14-17

"'I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, who I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.' According to these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David."

Example 2: Link John 1:19-21

19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?'
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ.'
21 And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' And he answered, 'No.'

With: Deuteronomy 18:15,18

"'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear . . . and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command him.'"

Example 3: Link Luke 4:16-21

16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

With: Isaiah 61:1,2

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God."

Filling in details on persons, places and subjects

Example 1: Hebrews 6:20

where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Who is Melchizedek?

"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High." Genesis 14:18

Example 2: Matthew 12:42

42 "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

Who was the queen of the South?

"Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions."1 Kings 10:1

Example 3: Acts 1:1

"The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,"

What was the former account?

"It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus." Luke 1:3

Filling in the details of parallel accounts

Example 1: History of Kings of Israel & Judah

1 Kings 15:34

34 "He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin."

With:

"After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priest of the high places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth." 1 Kings 13:33

1 Kings 15:23

23 "The rest of all the acts of Asa, and his might, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet".

With:

"And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was very severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians." 2 Chronicles 16:12

1 Kings 22:44

44 "Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel."
"Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab [king of Israel]." 2 Chronicles 18:1

Example 2: Gospel Accounts

Luke 9:7-9

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.
9 And Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"And he sought to see Him.

With:

"But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, 'Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter.'" Matthew 14:6-8

Matthew 27:44

44 "Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing."
"Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Luke 23:39-41

Clarification of meanings and teachings

Example 1: Matthew 9:10-13

10 And so it was, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12 But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 "But go and learn what this means 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

With

"For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6

Example 2: John 4:5

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

With:

"And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money." Genesis 33:19
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