I was kindly interviewed on Mr. Perseus Poku’s radio program today in California. The interview is about the origin and content of my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. The goal is to help equip more Bible believing, Bible reading Christians with a tool for deeper Bible study.
Below are my preparation notes for the interview. Should I learn of a link to a recorded podcast of the interview I plan to post that once it is available.
http://srministries.org/new-treasury-of-scripture-knowledge-guest-jerome-smith/
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.-2 Timothy 2:15
Dear Bro. Smith, thank you so much for agreeing to share your wisdom with our listeners. Our interview is scheduled for tomorrow (March 27th) at 2:15 pm (Pacific Time). We will discuss the origin and content of the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
The producer of our show will call you before the program. I also wanted to share the questions with you prior to the interview. Please let me know if you have any questions.
- Please tell us about the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is my first revision (of the now three published revisions), which corrects, and expands the original work, The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- What is the difference between the New Treasury and the original?
The difference between the New Treasury and the original Treasury is that I have:
(1) added many more cross references from 26 years of careful personal Bible study; I collected these references in the margins of several of my wide margin Bibles over those many years, and added still more references from 19th century works such as The Commentary Wholly Biblical and Young’s Concise Critical Comments;
(2) eliminated Roman numeral chapter designations. Because the modern print is far easier to read, users will also appreciate both the print edition of my New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the newly updated (2016) software edition called The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury available for the free e-Sword Bible study program as a premium module;
(3) I have added eight or nine indexes to make it easier to find what you are looking for;
(4) I have corrected numerous (perhaps thousands of) printing errors that I found in the original work;
(5) I have added an altogether new feature that identifies every figure of speech found in the Bible with notes to explain them.
3. Why should a lay person be interested in this Bible tool?
I designed the New Treasury for the ordinary lay person. The New Treasury can be used by anyone who reads the Bible and wants to understand it better. It can be used by young people, Sunday school teachers, and everyone else, such that anyone can use it with great profit for Bible study: it is very easy to use.
A lay person will get much more out of Bible reading when using The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or the new Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury software because it:
(1) provides help at every Bible verse by showing where the other verses are in the Bible that explain that one;
(2) connects Old Testament Bible prophecies (called Messianic Prophecies) about the coming Messiah with the New Testament fulfillment;
(3) it indexes at Isaiah 11:11 the prophecies that remain to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Coming (one of many “hidden features” in this Bible study tool; other hidden features include an extensive list of cause/effect relationship verses at Psalm 9:10 and extensive notes about divine guidance at 1 Kings 12:7, and a list of the Rules of Interpretation at 2 Peter 1:20);
(4) it answers more Bible questions than almost any other Bible study resource by letting the Bible explain itself.
- How should we use the New Treasury when engaged in Bible study?
When you are reading a Bible chapter and come across a very inspiring verse, look up the references for that verse in the New Treasury or the Ultimate Cross Reference Guide for even more inspiration!
If you have chosen a “life verse,” gain more insight by reading all the other verses in the Bible that reinforce the themes of that verse.
When you encounter a Bible verse that you do not understand, consult the references in the New Treasury or UCRT to gain insight from all the other verses in the Bible that shed light upon that verse.
When you want to dig deeper into any subject you find in the Bible, consult the references to learn far more.
When someone else makes a claim about what the Bible teaches, you can verify the claim by using the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge by comparing Scripture with Scripture. Thus, the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is useful for the study of apologetics. It is also useful to study hermeneutics or the Rules of Interpretation (see the Note at 2 Peter 1:20).
The Bible is a self-explanatory Book. The Bible is a self-correcting Book, in that if you are mistaken in your understanding, your understanding will not agree with what the Bible teaches elsewhere. A mistaken understanding of a verse or doctrine will always be found not to “fit” what the Bible elsewhere teaches.
- What is Scott’s Commentary of the Bible?
Scott’s Commentary is an early 19th century (1809) five volume Bible commentary widely used and respected two centuries ago. Its contents are still helpful. Its connection with the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is that the cross references found in the original Treasury are taken from the marginal references Thomas Scott placed in his commentary.
- Many of us are familiar with Strong’s concordance of the Bible. How does the New Treasury differ from the Strong’s concordance?
Strong’s Concordance is a complete index to all the words of the English Bible that identifies by a special numbering system the underlying Greek or Hebrew word translated by any given English word in the Bible.
The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge does far more than any concordance can do because:
(1) it gives the help you need right at the verse you are studying: it would be cumbersome and quite difficult to study John 3:16 using a concordance, but it is a straightforward procedure using The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.
(2) it connects verses according to the idea or theme, not just by the word;
(3) it identifies any figure of speech present in a verse, and links you to the rest of the occurrences of that figure and its explanation or definition.
(4) it identifies and lists (at Psalm 9:6) all the cause/effect relationship verses I have been able to find for practical application Bible study.
For example, there are many verses about prayer which do not contain the word “prayer.” If you are reading a verse about prayer, the New Treasury or the UCRT will link you to the other related verses about prayer that shed light upon that verse even if the words in the related verse are different.
If you wanted to find out what the Bible teaches about why some prayers are not answered, a concordance would not be of much direct help. But if you can find just one verse in the Bible about why God does not answer some prayers, the references in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge will guide you to the rest of the verses on that subject. Check out Psalm 66:18, for example.
- The New Treasury contains numerous cross reference passages. For the sake of our listeners, please tell us what you mean by cross reference.
A cross-reference is a “link” to another verse in the Bible on the same subject, theme, or instance of a New Testament quotation of an Old Testament verse, or which otherwise has a connection to the verse you are consulting which will help you understand the verse much more completely.
- Please tell us more about the layout of the Treasury?
The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is arranged just like your Bible into the same Bible books, chapters, and verses. Every chapter is headed by an extensive outline of the chapter content. Every verse follows below in sequence, with the key words of each verse in boldface print. Following the key word are the cross references to the other verses in the Bible that relate to or explain that word, clause, or theme. Looking up each reference given will let you see how many other parts of the Bible shed light upon or explain that portion of the verse.
I have placed special symbols to indicate which references are the clearest, which are the most obvious in their connection, such that even a new user will see the connection without difficulty.
- Please tell us more about the indices found in the back and how to use them?
There are eight indexes in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
(1) Subject Index
This index should be read, to learn what is in it. There is much more to be found in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or the Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury related to the Bible than you could possibly imagine.
(2) Topic Number Index
This is a most important index. It too should be read. It has extensive sections on Bible promises, prayer, Messianic Prophecies fulfilled by Christ, and much more.
(3) Prayer Index
I developed this index from a nineteenth century work by Philip Waters, The Prayers of the Bible, probably the most extensive work ever written on the subject giving only the material from the Bible itself.
(4) Proverb Index
I developed this index from Charles Bridges’ commentary on the book of Proverbs.
(5) Name Index
This is the most complete index to the names in the Bible ever devised for the King James Version because it also includes names given in the translators’ marginal notes.
(6) Figure of Speech Index
The Figure of Speech Index is the most complete index to the Figures of Speech in the Bible ever produced. It is based upon E. W. Bullinger’s Figures of Speech in the Bible, but is more complete because I have included significant new entries from other sources.
(7) Strong’s Number Index: Hebrew
(8) Strong’s Number Index: Greek
The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury includes a new index to the 4000 Notes given in the Comprehensive Bible, the source of most of the notes found in the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, an index apparently never before included in any printing of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. This is now given as the
(9) Notes Index