In working with people of all ages, we have found that Bible marking is a great aid to Bible understanding. Some people object to it on the basis that it disfigures one’s Bible or leads to so many markings that nothing stands out any more. In practice, however, we have found the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. One pays more attention when reading the Word and can quickly pick out the highlights of a chapter after they have been color-coded in the Bible.
Following are some suggestions that have proven workable with the younger child and are still valuable for students of any age. These ideas have been successfully implemented with children 7 to 10 years old. The basic pencils we use are Berol Prismacolor thick lead art pencils and Venus col-erase pencils. A set of 12 Prismacolors is adequate along with red and blue Venus pencils.
- Color in all geographical and place locations with an orange pencil. (The colors suggested are arbitrary but are the ones that we use.) Tell the children to color in the name carefully and not to press too hard. At first, their work may be sloppy but that’s no problem; their work will become neater eventually and their knowledge will be growing constantly. The value of this exercise alone through the chapters on the patriarchs, the gospels and the Acts is obvious and is great fun.
- Color in time elements with a red pencil. “Two days,” “three months,” “20 years,” “the day following,” “on the third day” are all examples of this. When there are two records of an incident, this technique can help us piece the narrative together and formulate a meaningful chronology of the events.
- Color in repeated words or phrases in a chapter or section. Different colors will be needed for each different set of repeated words or phrases. For example, in Genesis 1, the word “waters” appears eight times, “divide” is repeated five times, “after his kind” 10 times. In Genesis 17, “covenant” is repeated 13 times, “circumcision” 11 times. The repetition of words or phrases is obviously a clue to the emphasis of a section. In ancient times, the text was written with all capital letters without the use of bold face or italic type. Thus repetition was one of the few available means of emphasizing a point.
- As an adaptation of the above, color in similar words or phrases. In I Sam. 18, David is said to have “behaved himself wisely” (v.14), “behaved himself very wisely” (v.15), “behaved himself more wisely (v.30). In Romans 3:20 through 5:21, the words “justified,” “righteousness,” “justifieth,” “justification,” “just” occur 29 times. In Romans 3:22 through 5:2, “faith,” “believe,” “belief,” “believeth” are used 28 times. In 3:24 through 5:21, the phrases “grace,” “redemption,” “remission of sins,” “iniquities are forgiven,” “gift,” “free gift,” etc. occur 24 times. The subject of the section, righteousness by grace through faith is therefore readily determined. It is true that the younger child will have to be told which words or phrases are synonyms to one another. But the initial steps of learning are a matter of being taught by someone who already knows the point.
- Color in flag words such as “wherefore,” “therefore,” “because,” “for this cause,” etc. These connect two thoughts and are often of key importance in interpreting a passage.
- Underline with the red Venus col-erase pencil all passages in the Old Testament quoted in the New Testament and all New Testament quotations of the Old Testament. Circle the code letter to the central margin reference (if there is one) and the corresponding letter in the center margin or write the appropriate reference in the margin.
- Put quote marks around words in the first person. Use blue for the words of God, red for those of Jesus and black for everyone else. By this means, one can immediately distinguish between narrative and conversation in the text.
- Note all references to the first five books of the Old Testament found in the balance of the Old Testament. If the reference is in the center margin, use the technique noted above or write the reference in the margin. For example, Jeremiah is full of references and illusions to Lev. 26 and Deut. 28.
Practical considerations
These are ideas we are using and have found fun, useful and workable. However, we do not use them all at once on a given chapter. The first time through a chapter we may just do one or two of the items. Of course, once they are done, they are in the Bible the next time the chapter is read so we can then work on a couple of the other ideas. This keeps the activity light enough so it is not a burden on the child.
Mother practical problem we have run into is that sometimes a phrase will fit two categories — for example, a repeated phrase that also contains a repeated word so that two different colors are needed for the one word. Our solution has been to color in the phrase with one color and underline the word with a different color.
Add your own innovations
The suggestions above are presented to stimulate your own thinking. The objective is to teach the child the principles and precepts of the Almighty and to help the child remember the great works of our God. Whatever works for our own child, to that end is what we want to do; however, the above suggestions have worked over a period of years with a variety of children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
By making Bible study enjoyable and interesting, we can help to train up our children in the way they should go so that when they are older, they will not depart therefrom.
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