How do you mark your bible?

[jonnymox]

Hey all! I thought it might be interesting and even helpful to discuss the different techniques and strategies we use in marking our bibles. Do you prefer highlighters or coloured pencils? Underlining or brackets? Colour coded schemes, etc. What have you found is most effective in making important bible passages stand out for the next time your flipping through, trying to find something.

I'm just starting the Navigators course at my church, and the first lesson includes a suggestion to come up with a scheme on marking your bible. Now our group was discussing this, and some of the older members agreed that just using highlighters isn't enough because you will highlight something, then go back and have no idea why you highlighted it.

I've decided I'd like to come up with a color code for different topics, and use coresponding coloured-pencil colour to mark these verses. For instance, passages about Sin, I will mark in Red. Passages about Jesus' deity, in Purple. Anyone else have something similar? What's on your list of topics?

Also, any strategies for use of underlining, "quotation marks", [brackets], etc.


Oh and btw, for the Americans, 'colour' is Canadian for 'color' :B: :lol

[TruthInLove]

Well, although I am a very organized person, I don't do the certain colors for certain topics, although that works well for many. I guess I think I would run out of colors or have to have 20 pencils in my Bible cover. LOL
I just underline the verse in a pencil hightlighter. I have a few different colors for variation and not to get bored, but no rhyme or reason to it.
I sometimes use a pen to underline a specific word for emphasis and also use pen in the margin to sometimes make notes and write other applicable verses next to it.

[Bethshaya]

I use Staedtler fine point pens. They come in a set and are extremely fine point, perfect for getting into tight spaces. Staples sells them for about $8 for a set of 10 colors.

I am a bracket person and my bible is loaded with notes...down the sides, in the margins..wherever I can squeeze them in. I dont bracket it without putting a note, even if its a word or two to call to mind a bible study or lecture I attended.

I dont have a color code at all, I can never remember it.

[peoplz266]

I don't ever mark in my bible, I don't wanna mess it up. :redface Instead I just write in a notebook or something.

[UNeverEverNo]

I use whatever I can grab when I hear something worth noting.

Having different Bibles for different uses has worked for me. My study Bible (that I carry back and forth to work) is pretty well worn and "marked".

The unsaved (and even saved) who don't read the Bible are usually amazed to see a Bible that looks like it has been studied.

And if something major comes down where I need to reference it, I want the Bible with the notations.

I would be interested to hear what others use that doesn't bleed through pages. :thumb

[70thWeek]

I don't like to write in any book, but then again, I am a librarian.

[4everHis]

I don't like to write in any book, but then again, I am a librarian.

I don't like to mark up my bible either.
I think it's a Holy and sacred book.

I like having a good Bible and one of the paperback type that you can mark up all you want and not feel bad about it.:thumb

[sunnydays]

I'll use a highlighter. If there is a verse the Pastor mentions that's not in our handout I'll write it down on my note pad.

[TruthInLove]

For no bleeding through try the pencil highlighters....they work great!

[Heavensent]

I use Accent Dry Pencils and have several different colors; blue, green, yellow. I use whichever one I feel like.

[BloodoftheLamb]

I highlight it....its great for finding verses when discussing God's Word with family or friends...

[jonnymox]

Glad to see all the replies, and from the looks of it, everyone's got their own style and thats great! Gotta do what works for you.

I use Accent Dry Pencils and have several different colors; blue, green, yellow. I use whichever one I feel like.

I agree! My girlfriend bought a couple of those and they worked great, until I lost them both hehehe... whoops! But I wish I knew about them before I used a regular highlighter and it bled right through to the other side.

Right now I'm marking a study Bible I just bought, which has lots of notes at the bottom, but unfortunately not much room to write in notes of my own. This is why I'm leaning towards a colour scheme, so that when I'm looking for a specific topic I wont have to read all the verses I highlighted but just skim through looking for a certain colour.

[Medic911]

I can't highlight in any books! It's a petpeeve of mine! :lol
(I guess just because I always hated getting used textbooks with old highlighting in them, and also because I find it very distracting. )

There's certainly nothing "wrong" with highlighting in a Bible, but I could never bring myself to do it because I hate highlighting.
:lol

On the other hand, I do have a little pocket N.T. which I carry at work, and I've simply put parentheses around a few key verses using a plain old number 2 pencil and/or a pen.

[Heavensent]

I agree! My girlfriend bought a couple of those and they worked great, until I lost them both hehehe... whoops! But I wish I knew about them before I used a regular highlighter and it bled right through to the other side.


Hey the quote about the Accent Dry Pencils was mine not TruthInLove's. What's up with that? :lol

[AnyDayNow]

I don't like to mark up my bible either.
I think it's a Holy and sacred book...

I mark all over mine because if I'm ever taken to court and accused of being a Christian, I can prove I have read it. :D: And oh, I'm not Holy yet, but God's working on that... :): When He makes me so, will I get a pass?

I use mechanical pencils, .07 lead, circle words of importance and explain in outer margins. Have two bibles for every translation I use. Hard covers I mark in. Leather bound "take to assembly meetings" ones I don't mark in generally.

[Pagal]

maybe you can do :
red = sin
yellow=nature of God
orange=how we should live
Green=prophesy


Others?

[OwnedByJesus]

maybe you can do :
red = sin
yellow=nature of God
orange=how we should live
Green=prophesy


Others?

Good idea.
I have one of those pens with 4 colors but only red and green seem to work. I don't see the green well so I've been using mostly red.

I only underline what I find very profound and bracket others. I write in the margens, other references and some notes that have helped me understand. I write on the top of the page things like 'salt and light' for the passage that says we are to be the salt and light of the earth. Sometimes a 'WOW' for a verse that I had found really wonderful.

I also use the first couple of pages, you know - the one that are supposed to be blank, for other notes.
I have one of bible holders with pockets allover it and they are full of notes and studies that I'm currently doing. (:gossip I also keep a small Kleenex in one of the pockets for those many times I'm moved to tears :): )

If I had learned anything it's to write neat, try not to be hasty incase you actually want to read what you wrote! Also, do not push hard; it tends to crease through a few pages. Get a pen, or pencil that writes easy without much pressure.

[Shieldbearer]

When I sit down to read the Bible, I always have four fine point highlighters (yellow, red, blue, green) and a mechanical pencil with a really fine point.

I use the pencil to underline verses, write notes, etc.

I use the following color scheme with the highlighters:

red - things we should do as followers of God
yellow - warnings
blue - promises
green - Messianic prophecies in the OT

Often I will have the same verse underlined, highlighted, and surrounded by my own notes :D: .

[Transformed]

I highlight everything in green that's about God and His character, what He does, etc. Red is everything about Christ. Blue is all about the Holy Spirit. I like to be able to sometimes just page through the Bible and have all those things stand out about the Triune God. Then there's the yellow highlighting for other passages that are important to me and my growth as a Christian. And I'm finding that I can actually call to mind certain verses easier because of the highlighting. Just stands out more.

[MrsG0529]

I underline, highlight, write in the margins, everything! My husband cannot stand to look at my Bible but to me, it's a treasure.

[blitzkreig]

Well I have pretty well gone totally electronic.

Using a combination of e-Sword as well as "Google Desktop indexing" ... so I have almost instant access to my Highlite Scriptures and my Study Notes from articles, Studies, Commentaries, PDF files, emails, several translations of the Bible and yes ... even posts in various Forums including Rapture Ready.

Anyone who has a fair amount of data should really try that free "Google Desktop Indexing" thing ... it is amazing.

Any books I am reading carry I just put on a USB Memory Dongle and carry back and forth to any computer I happen to be near.

[jonnymox]

Hey the quote about the Accent Dry Pencils was mine not TruthInLove's. What's up with that? :lol

Whoops!! :doh I stand corrected hehehehe.

[Timothy]

As far as studying at home, I've gone totally computer based. But obviously I still have my paper based Bible.

I'm surprised no one yet mentioned the practice that I use. While it involves more effort, something that I did for years is re-trace words. With a high-lighter, the emphasis is on the color, but if you re-trace the words, trust me, the words stand out on the page in a BIG way. What I mean by re-tracing is tracing or writing over the words so they become bold in the result. It is best to use a drafting type pen (i.e. Rapidiograph) becase it won't bleed through the thin paper.

For example, II Timoty 2:15 would look like this in my Bible:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The words visually stand out on the page with this re-tracing method...


P.S. For those that are really looking for unique note-taking Bibles, you can obtain:

A wide margin Bible with lots of "gutter" space to write notes:
http://www.pilkingtonandsons.com/widemargin.htm

Or an interleaved Bible, where every other page is blank:
http://www.pilkingtonandsons.com/interleavedbibles.htm

About 20 years ago, I had an interleaved Bible custom made for a boatload of money, as "off the shelf" interleaved Bibles didn't exist.

[LeahIA]

Ink pens and dry Bible markers that won't bleed through. Color isn't important. I've also used crayon - nice rainbow of colors.