Featured studies · 126 live, 12 in preparation
Symbols and words
126 featured studies ask what one word or picture carries wherever Scripture uses it, listed by the part of the canon each one stands in.
What these studies ask
A picture or a word traced across the canon, from its first mention to the place it comes to rest.
The parts of the canon
- Torah57 live, 7 in preparation
- History5 live
- Wisdom and Poetry10 live, 1 in preparation
- Prophets14 live, 1 in preparation
- Gospels8 live, 1 in preparation
- Acts and the Letters28 live
- Revelation3 live, 2 in preparation
- The Apocrypha1 live
The symbols and words on the index of every featured study, 126 studies
Torah
57 live, 7 in preparation
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation to New Creation | A symbol study of Genesis 1 to 3 and Revelation 19 to 22: the mirror pairs, the stages of God's dwelling and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 19 linked studies |
| Darkness | A symbol study of fifteen places in canon order, the words choshek, araphel and skotos, and two disputed darknesses. | Genesis | 13 linked studies |
| Fire | The bush that burns and is not consumed, the pillar, the altar, the tongues at Pentecost, and the lake at the end: what fire does in Scripture is refine, judge and reveal. | Genesis | 34 linked studies |
| Light | A symbol study of twelve verses in canon order, the Hebrew and Greek words, and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 13 linked studies |
| Noah's Ark as a Type | God ordered the ark in Genesis 6, and Jesus, the letter to the Hebrews and Peter each return to it. | Genesis | 21 linked studies |
| Sackcloth | A symbol study of the coarse cloth of grief and repentance, with the Hebrew and Greek words and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 14 linked studies |
| The Altar | A symbol study of fifteen altar verses from Noah to Revelation, with the bronze altar drawn to its measures. | Genesis | 23 linked studies |
| The Dove | The dove from Noah's window to the temple courts, with the words for the bird and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 10 linked studies |
| The Face | A symbol study of sixteen places in canon order, the words panim and prosopon, and the readings of face to face. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Garden | A symbol study of the garden from Eden to the garden tomb, with the Hebrew and Greek words and three readings of the locked garden of the Song. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Garment and the Robe | A symbol study of sixteen garments in canon order, the high priest's dress of Exodus 28, and the Greek verb for putting on Christ. | Genesis | 10 linked studies |
| The Harvest | The reaper's calendar, the words for the work, and how teachers read the sickle of Revelation 14. | Genesis | 11 linked studies |
| The Heart | A symbol study of twelve verses, the diagnosis of Jeremiah 17:9, the promise of Ezekiel 36:26 and the Hebrew and Greek words. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Heavens | A symbol study of fourteen places in canon order, the words shamayim and raqia, and the readings of the expanse. | Genesis | 11 linked studies |
| The Judge | A symbol study of the title from Genesis 18 to Revelation 20, with the Hebrew and Greek words and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 14 linked studies |
| The Lion | A symbol study of the lion, with the Hebrew and Greek words, the voices of the church and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 11 linked studies |
| The Mountain | A symbol study of Genesis 22, Exodus 19, Isaiah 2, Daniel 2 and Hebrews 12, with two readings of Isaiah's mountain set side by side. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Numbers of Scripture | Every number 1–40 from the catalog, each marked as visible structural pattern or associative tradition, the honesty rail stated plainly. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Priest | A symbol study of Exodus 28, Numbers 16, Malachi 2, Hebrews 5 and 7 and 1 Peter 2, with the garments of the high priest drawn and numbered. | Genesis | 32 linked studies |
| The Rainbow | Genesis 9, the visions of Ezekiel and John, the Hebrew words of the sign, and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 10 linked studies |
| The Rod and the Staff | A symbol study of the shepherd's stick from Genesis 30 to Revelation 19, with the Hebrew and Greek words and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Sceptre | The sceptre of Judah, the gold sceptre of Esther, the royal psalms and Revelation, with the Hebrew words and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Sea | A symbol study of sixteen places in canon order, the words yam, tehom and thalassa, and the readings of Leviathan and of the sea that is no more. | Genesis | 13 linked studies |
| The Seed | One word running from Genesis 3:15 to Galatians 3:16, through the sowing parables, and why Paul rests an argument on its being singular. | Genesis | 29 linked studies |
| The Serpent | A symbol study of the serpent from the garden to the bronze serpent and the dragon of Revelation, with the Hebrew and Greek words and one reading in dispute. | Genesis | 13 linked studies |
| The Sevens of Scripture | A symbol study of the number seven from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22: the sevens the text states in words, the sevens readers count, and the meanings teachers have given the number. | Genesis | 21 linked studies |
| The Sheep and the Flock | A symbol study of the flock from Abel and Rachel in Genesis to Revelation 7, with the Hebrew and Greek words and two readings of John 10:16. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| The Stars | A symbol study of the stars in Scripture, from the promise to Abram to the star out of Jacob and the glory that differs from star to star. | Genesis | 14 linked studies |
| The Sun | The fourth day's lamp, the worship the Law forbade, and the readings of Malachi 4:2. | Genesis | 11 linked studies |
| The Tree | The tree runs from two in a garden to one in a city street, with the cross between them. | Genesis | 17 linked studies |
| The Tree of Life | This symbol study gives the Hebrew and Greek words, the voices of the church and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| Thirty-Seven and Seventy-Three | A number found in the Bible's first verse, two psalms that carry its digits, and two readings of what the number shows. | Genesis | 7 linked studies |
| Water | The flood, the rock at Horeb, the well at noon, the pool at Siloam, and the river from the throne: what washing, thirst and drowning mean across the canon. | Genesis | 16 linked studies |
| White | A symbol study of the colour, with the Hebrew and Greek words and two readings in dispute. | Genesis | 13 linked studies |
| Wind and Breath | A symbol study of ruach and pneuma from Genesis 1 to Pentecost, with the Hebrew and Greek words and the readings in dispute. | Genesis | 12 linked studies |
| Blue, Purple and Scarlet | Three dyed yarns make the tent of meeting and the high priest's dress, and purple returns on the mock robe of Jesus. | Exodus | 10 linked studies |
| Bread | Bread runs from the curse of Genesis 3 to the one loaf of 1 Corinthians 10, and Jesus calls Himself the bread of life. | Exodus | 27 linked studies |
| Incense and the Censers | The incense of the tabernacle and the prayers it stands for, from Exodus 30 to Revelation 8. | Exodus | 18 linked studies |
| Locusts in Scripture | The eighth plague of Exodus 10 and the locust after it in the law, the Psalms, Joel, Amos and Revelation 9. | Exodus | 10 linked studies |
| Manna | Exodus 16 records the bread God sent Israel in the wilderness, and Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Nehemiah, the Psalms, John, 1 Corinthians, Hebrews and Revelation return to it. | Exodus | 33 linked studies |
| Precious Stones | Aaron wore engraved gems on his shoulders and over his heart, and John saw gems laid as the foundations of a city's wall. | Exodus | 12 linked studies |
| The Ark of the Covenant | A gold-covered chest held the tablets of the covenant in the tabernacle's inner room. Its record runs from Sinai to Solomon's temple, and its end goes unrecorded. | Exodus | 29 linked studies |
| The Bronze Laver | Exodus 30 and 38 describe the bronze basin where Israel's priests washed, and John 13, Titus 3 and Ephesians 5 are the washing texts most often read beside it. | Exodus | 16 linked studies |
| The Firstborn | Scripture gives the title of the eldest son to a nation, to a younger brother, to a youngest son and to Christ. | Exodus | 19 linked studies |
| The Lampstand | Exodus 25 gives the pattern of a stand for seven lamps, hammered from one talent of pure gold for the Holy Place of the tabernacle. | Exodus | 17 linked studies |
| The Mercy Seat | The cover of the ark stood in the inner room of the tabernacle, and the New Testament reads it as a type of Christ. | Exodus | 26 linked studies |
| The Name | From Genesis 2 to Revelation 19, the Bible treats a name as its owner's presence and standing. | Exodus | 24 linked studies |
| The Pillar of Cloud and Fire | The pillar led the camp out of Egypt, and the commentators divide over whether the angel of God in it was the Son. | Exodus | 12 linked studies |
| The Rock in the Wilderness | Paul names the rock of Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4. | Exodus | 19 linked studies |
| The Showbread | A furnishing of the tabernacle's outer room, named for the face of God. | Exodus | 16 linked studies |
| The Trumpet & the Shofar | From Sinai to the last trumpet, Scripture gives the trumpet four jobs: to gather, to summon, to warn and to announce. | Exodus | 12 linked studies |
| The Veil | A woven hanging divided the two rooms of the tabernacle, and only the high priest passed it, once a year. The New Testament records how it tore and says what it stood for. | Exodus | 24 linked studies |
| The Widow, the Orphan & the Stranger | Scripture names these three together from Exodus 22 to James 1, and God takes the place of the relative each one lacks. | Exodus | 24 linked studies |
| The Wilderness | From the manna to the temptation of Jesus, the passages set in the wilderness state why God led people there. | Exodus | 19 linked studies |
| The Covenant of Salt | Leviticus 2:13, Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5 are the three verses of the Hebrew Bible where salt and covenant stand together. | Leviticus | 16 linked studies |
| The Red Heifer | Numbers 19 sets out a red heifer burned outside the camp and water mixed with its ashes, and Hebrews 9 argues from that rite to the blood of Christ. | Numbers | 25 linked studies |
| The Tassels and the Blue Cord | The tassels Israel wore on the corners of the cloak, from the Law of Numbers 15 to the cloak of Jesus in Matthew 9. | Numbers | 12 linked studies |
| The Arm of the LORD | Planned in the queue for Exodus. | Exodus | In preparation |
| The Breastplate & Its Stones | Planned in the queue for Exodus. | Exodus | In preparation |
| The Cloud | Planned in the queue for Exodus. | Exodus | In preparation |
| The garments of the high priest | Planned in the queue for Exodus. | Exodus | In preparation |
| The tablets of stone | Planned in the queue for Exodus. | Exodus | In preparation |
| The Fig Tree | Planned in the queue for Deuteronomy. | Deuteronomy | In preparation |
| The Root | Planned in the queue for Deuteronomy. | Deuteronomy | In preparation |
History
5 live
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Words Chazaq, Amats and Parrhesia | Six words of the original languages stand behind the strength, boldness and confidence of the English text. | Joshua | 5 linked studies |
| The King | Israel is the only nation whose law describes its monarchy before the monarchy exists , and describes it in restrictions. | 1 Samuel | 12 linked studies |
| The Words Shama and Hypakoe | The Hebrew shama means to hear and to obey, and the Greek hypakoe is built on the verb to hear. | 1 Samuel | 5 linked studies |
| The House | A house in Scripture is two things at once, and the Hebrew makes it almost impossible to keep them apart: bayit is a building and a family, and it shares a root with the words for son, daughter and 'he built'. | 2 Samuel | 8 linked studies |
| Zion & Jerusalem | Zion enters the Bible as a piece of military real estate: one fortified hill inside one town, taken by David in a single sentence. | 2 Samuel | 22 linked studies |
Wisdom and Poetry
10 live, 1 in preparation
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mazzaroth | Twelve constellation groupings; one biblical word (Job 38:32). Bullinger and Seiss read them as a gospel-arc; modern critics trace their figures to Albumazar, not Adam. The objections below are presented at full strength, and the founder's own slot on the page is his to fill. | Job | 2 linked studies |
| Acrostics: From Aleph to Taw | An acrostic is a poem whose lines or stanzas begin with the Hebrew alphabet in order, aleph to taw; this page teaches the form, then walks all fourteen acrostics in the Hebrew Bible, including the one letter that went missing. | Psalms | 12 linked studies |
| Parallelism: the Bible's Rhyme of Thoughts | Hebrew poetry sets its lines in pairs, and Jesus taught in the same form. | Psalms | 10 linked studies |
| The Right Hand | In Scripture the right hand is the strong side and the favoured side, and it is used two ways: God's own right hand acting in power, and a place beside Him that somebody is given. | Psalms | 7 linked studies |
| The Shepherd | The shepherd is the Bible's picture of someone responsible for lives that cannot look after themselves. | Psalms | 19 linked studies |
| The Stone | The stone is the Bible's picture of something fixed that a person has to do something about. | Psalms | 19 linked studies |
| The Words Todah, Yadah and Eucharisteo | Todah and yadah in Hebrew and eucharisteo in Greek are three of Scripture's words for thanks to God. | Psalms | 6 linked studies |
| The Words Tom and Tamim | Tom and tamim describe Noah, Abram, Job and David, and tamim also every unblemished animal brought to the altar. | Psalms | 9 linked studies |
| The Words Tov and Agathosyne | Tov in Hebrew and agathos with its noun agathosyne in Greek are the words Scripture uses for good and goodness, from the days of creation to the fruit of the Spirit. | Psalms | 7 linked studies |
| Numbered Sayings: Three Things, Then Four | The graded numerical saying names a number and then raises it by one (three, then four; six, then seven) to say a case is complete and overflowing; the numbers are rhetorical weight, not a literal inventory. | Proverbs | 11 linked studies |
| The cup of the LORD's wrath | Planned in the queue for Psalms. | Psalms | In preparation |
Prophets
14 live, 1 in preparation
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Key | The key is a small symbol with a single meaning: the authority to open and shut. | Isaiah | 8 linked studies |
| The Throne | The throne is Scripture's picture of settled authority, not the display of power but the place decisions are made. | Isaiah | 15 linked studies |
| The Vine & the Vineyard | In Scripture the vine is Israel under God's cultivation, and it is an image about one thing only: fruit. | Isaiah | 22 linked studies |
| The Words Emunah and Pistos | Emunah in Hebrew and pistos in Greek name faithfulness, said first of God and then of His servants. | Lamentations | 4 linked studies |
| Taw — The Mark of God | The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet — drawn in the Sinaitic script as a cross — appears at the decisive moments of judgment and rescue: the doorposts of Goshen, the foreheads in Jerusalem, the sealing of the 144,000, and the cross at Golgotha. | Ezekiel | 1 linked study |
| The Watchman | A watchman in Scripture is the man on the wall at night. | Ezekiel | 9 linked studies |
| Apocalyptic Literature | The Bible's genre of the unveiling — from Daniel's beasts to Revelation's throne, where history is shown its appointed end. | Daniel | 5 linked studies |
| Gold, Silver, Bronze & Iron | Scripture uses four metals: gold, silver, bronze and iron: and it uses them in a fixed order. | Daniel | 8 linked studies |
| The Four Beasts and the Little Horn | Daniel 7 read with Daniel 2 beside it: the four kingdoms in their two main readings, and the little horn in three. | Daniel | 12 linked studies |
| The Furnace & the Refiner's Fire | A furnace is fire with walls around it and a job to do. | Daniel | 10 linked studies |
| The Horn | The horn is Scripture's picture of strength, specifically the kind of strength that pushes, the way a bull or a ram uses its head. | Daniel | 10 linked studies |
| The Harlot | This is the most uncomfortable image in the Bible, and it is regularly misread as an insult about sexual morals. | Hosea | 6 linked studies |
| The Covenant Lawsuit: When God Sues His People | Micah 6 is the clearest covenant lawsuit in the Old Testament. | Micah | 14 linked studies |
| The Words Mishpat and Tsedaqah | Mishpat and tsedaqah are the Hebrew nouns that English Bibles render justice and righteousness, and Scripture often joins them in one verse. | Micah | 9 linked studies |
| The key of the house of David | Planned in the queue for Isaiah. | Isaiah | In preparation |
Gospels
8 live, 1 in preparation
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fulfillment Formula (Matthew's Ten Quotations) | Ten times Matthew stops the story to say 'that it might be fulfilled', the sources, the sites, and the three modes of fulfilment. | Matthew | 10 linked studies |
| The Words Anav and Praus | Anav in Hebrew and praus in Greek are the words Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5 use for the meek, and the Septuagint joined them by rendering anav with praus. | Matthew | 7 linked studies |
| The Words Nasa, Salach and Aphiemi | Nasa and salach in Hebrew and aphiemi in Greek are the verbs the Bible most often renders forgive, and the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament each add rarer words beside them. | Matthew | 13 linked studies |
| The Yoke | The yoke is Scripture's picture of being under something: slavery, foreign rule, a king's taxes, the law's demands, or a Master's teaching. | Matthew | 14 linked studies |
| The Words Rachamim, Chesed and Eleos | Rachamim and chesed in Hebrew and eleos in Greek are the words Scripture uses most for mercy, from the Psalms and the prophets to the songs of Luke's Gospel. | Luke | 11 linked studies |
| The 153 Fish | An eyewitness counted an exhausted night's end in a catch no net had ever held before: a hundred and fifty-three prized fish, and the net did not tear. | John | 6 linked studies |
| The Door & the Gate | The door is Scripture's picture of controlled access: a way in that is real, single, and not always open. | John | 13 linked studies |
| The Words Shalom and Eirene | Shalom and eirene run through Scripture from greetings and blessings to the peace made through the cross. | John | 13 linked studies |
| The cross | Planned in the queue for Matthew. | Matthew | In preparation |
Acts and the Letters
28 live
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Flesh | 'Flesh' in the New Testament does two jobs, and running them together produces a serious error in one direction and a lazy excuse in the other. | Romans | 10 linked studies |
| The Words Tiqvah and Elpis | Tiqvah in Hebrew and elpis in Greek are the Bible's chief nouns for hope, and four verbs stand beside them in the Old Testament and the New. | Romans | 8 linked studies |
| The Words Agape, Philia, Chesed and Ahavah | Ahavah and chesed in Hebrew and agape and philia in Greek are four of Scripture's words for love, with 38, 247, 114 and 1 uses as the site's lexicon counts them. | 1 Corinthians | 9 linked studies |
| The Words Nadab and Haplotes | Nadab in Hebrew is the heart that moves a person to give of his own will, and haplotes in Greek is the single heart that gives without holding back. | 2 Corinthians | 8 linked studies |
| The Words Enkrateia and the City Without Walls | Three families of Greek words and one Hebrew noun stand behind the English words self-control, sensible, sober and temperate in Proverbs and the New Testament. | Galatians | 10 linked studies |
| The Sword | The sword is Scripture's picture of division and judgment, something that separates, decisively and without appeal. | Ephesians | 7 linked studies |
| The Whole Armour | Ephesians 6:10-18 is one sentence about equipment, and almost everything in it is borrowed. | Ephesians | 12 linked studies |
| The Words Chesed and Chrestotes | Chesed in Hebrew and chrestotes in Greek are Scripture's chief words for kindness. | Ephesians | 14 linked studies |
| The Hebrew and Greek Words for Humility | Three Hebrew words and a Greek family of five carry humility in Scripture, from Proverbs to the letters of Paul and Peter. | Philippians | 9 linked studies |
| The Words Autarkes and Autarkeia | Paul's words for contentment were words of the Greek moral schools, and in his letters they rest on God. | Philippians | 6 linked studies |
| The Words Simchah and Chara | Simchah in Hebrew and chara in Greek are Scripture's chief nouns for joy, and each heads a family of words for rejoicing. | Philippians | 9 linked studies |
| The Words Charuts and Spoude | The Hebrew charuts and the Greek spoude stand behind the diligent of Proverbs and the diligence of the letters in the Berean text. | Colossians | 7 linked studies |
| Bookends: How Scripture Frames Itself | An inclusio is a bookend: a word or line that opens a passage and closes it again, wrapping everything between the two matching ends into one unit. | 2 Timothy | 8 linked studies |
| Chiasmus: the Bible's Mirror Writing | A chiasm is a mirror-shaped passage that walks to a center and back out in reverse, putting the meaning at the middle; this page teaches the form with one verse, then walks seven of the canon's great rings. | 2 Timothy | 18 linked studies |
| How Greek Works | This page walks six features of New Testament Greek: why it is koine and not classical, how verb aspect works, what the article does at John 1:1, how word order carries emphasis, how compound words are built, and the alphabet's letters and numbers. | 2 Timothy | 11 linked studies |
| How Hebrew Works | This page walks the twenty-two Hebrew letters one at a time, with an honest grade on how well each sign's origin is actually known, then covers the missing vowels, three-letter word roots, single words with many English meanings, and the letters' double life as numbers. | 2 Timothy | 13 linked studies |
| Irony in Scripture: More Than the Speaker Knows | Scripture's irony lets a speaker say more, or the opposite, of what they know, while the reader sees the whole picture; the device exposes the self-deceived in their own words and reaches its summit at the cross, where mockery states the gospel. | 2 Timothy | 11 linked studies |
| The Craft of Scripture | Scripture's writers worked with deliberate literary craft at every scale, from the sound of a single word to the architecture of whole books, and most of it disappears in translation. | 2 Timothy | 14 linked studies |
| Theological Words | Eight words that carry the Bible's theology — agape, chesed, logos, hilastērion, berith, shalom, emunah, doxa — each a door into its full workbench page. | 2 Timothy | 4 linked studies |
| Type-Scenes: the Stories Scripture Tells Twice | A type-scene is a story template Scripture reuses on purpose, so that a reader who knows the shape notices exactly where a given telling departs from it; the departure is the narrator's commentary, delivered without a word of editorializing. | 2 Timothy | 12 linked studies |
| Wordplay: the Puns of the Prophets | Paronomasia is the sound-play the prophets and storytellers built into Scripture on purpose, so a hearer carries two ideas together by ear; this page teaches the term in one verse, then walks the canon's clearest examples in Hebrew and Greek. | 2 Timothy | 10 linked studies |
| The Race | When Paul writes to Corinth about running a race, he is not reaching for a general picture of effort. | Hebrews | 10 linked studies |
| The Shadow | Scripture uses 'shadow' for two things that sound like opposites. | Hebrews | 9 linked studies |
| The Word Hypomone | Hypomone (G5281) is the Greek noun the Berean text renders endurance or perseverance, and hypomeno (G5278) is the verb beside it. | Hebrews | 5 linked studies |
| The Words Emunah and Pistis | The Hebrew noun emunah and the Greek noun pistis head two families of words for trusting God and for being worthy of trust. | Hebrews | 12 linked studies |
| The Words Philoxenia and Ger | The Hebrew ger and the Greek philoxenia lead a small family of words for the sojourner, the guest and the host, from the Law to the letters of the apostles. | Hebrews | 5 linked studies |
| The Words Erek Appayim and Makrothymia | Erek appayim, slow to anger, stands in 13 Old Testament verses, and makrothymia with its verb stands 24 times in the New. | James | 7 linked studies |
| The Words Qadosh and Hagios | Qadosh and hagios are the Bible's words for holy, and tahor and katharos its words for pure. | 1 Peter | 11 linked studies |
Revelation
3 live, 2 in preparation
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Crown | The crown is Scripture's picture of honour conferred. | Revelation | 16 linked studies |
| The Scroll & the Book | A scroll in Scripture is what has been written down and therefore cannot be argued with. | Revelation | 7 linked studies |
| The Seal & the Signet | A seal in the ancient world is a signature, not a fastening. | Revelation | 10 linked studies |
| 1260 | Planned in the queue for Revelation. | Revelation | In preparation |
| The Heavenly Tabernacle and the Glory Cloud | Planned in the queue for Revelation. | Revelation | In preparation |
The Apocrypha
1 live
| The study | In one sentence | Book | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azazel and the Scapegoat | Leviticus 16 sends a goat for Azazel into the wilderness carrying Israel's sins, and 1 Enoch names an Azazel bound in a desert pit until judgment day. | Apocrypha | 8 linked studies |
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