How do we study?

I have fallen in love with studying my scriptures alongside the LDS Old Testament Student Manual. I think studying scriptures ALONGSIDE something else can be extremely helpful in us getting more out of our study than just reading through them by ourselves. For example if you are studying Hebrew or Greek alongside studying the Old or New Testament you could gain many and more insights than if you are reading it alone by itself.

Take this quote by Sidney B. Sperry into account.

“Rudyard Kipling was certainly right when he said: ‘Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.’

“As Latter-day Saints, we should keep Kipling’s saying in mind when we read the scriptures. We ofttimes read our Bible as though its peoples were English or American and interpret their sayings in terms of our own background and psychology. But the Bible is actually an Oriental book. It was written centuries ago by Oriental people and primarily for Oriental people. . . .

“It may be of interest to contrast the speech of modern and ancient Palestinians with our own. In thought and speech the Oriental is an artist; the Occidental, on the other hand, may be thought of as an architect. When speaking, the Oriental paints a scene whose total effect is true, but the details may be inaccurate; the Occidental tends to draw diagrams accurate in detail. When our Lord spoke of the mustard seed as ‘less than all the seeds that be in the earth,’ and the plant as ‘greater than all herbs’ ( Mark 4:31–32 ), he was speaking as an Oriental. Any good botanist knows that the mustard seed (sinapi) of which Jesus spoke, though small, is not the smallest of all seeds, nor is the plant greater than all herbs.” ( “Hebrew Manners and Customs,” Ensign, May 1972, pp. 29–30 .)

Another scholar wrote: “Nowhere is the genius of Hebrew poetry more apparent than in its imagery. It lays heaven and earth under tribute. It steals music from the morning stars, and light from the bridegroom who needs no virginal lamps. Its eternal summer fades not, and its snows are undefiled. It rules the raging of the sea, it drives on the clouds, and rides on the wings of the wind. It makes the royal gold richer, the myrrh more fragrant, and the frankincense sweeter. The offerings it takes from the shepherd suffer no death, and his flock is folded in evergreen pastures. The bread of its harvest will never waste, the oil from its press never fail, and its wine is for ever new. So long as men can breathe, its eternal lines will form the litany of the praying heart. The strings it touches are the strings of the harp of God.

“The rhythm of Hebrew poetry is not the measured beat of the earth-locked body. It is the majestic rhythm of the soaring spirit, felt only by him who has the music of heaven in his soul. It rises above the metrical to a loftier plane and to a new dimension—the dimension of the spirit, where they who worship God worship Him in spirit and in truth.

“Its proper object is the Highest, the God of heaven and earth; its source and fount, the depths of the God-hungry heart. Its great theme is the personal encounter with the living God.” (Douglas, New Bible Dictionary, s.v. “poetry,” p. 1008.)

Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't think you should study other texts IN PLACE OF the scriptures, just alongside them. Power comes in studying and striving to understand the words of God directly as He had prophets place them on the pages years and years ago. And if we just read summaries or student manuals or language study helps, we won't gain the power that comes directly from the word of God itself.

Something else that someone suggested to me was to read my patriarchal blessing with my scriptures. Study and compare the aspects you're taught in your blessing with similar ones in the scriptures. As your blessing talks of lineage, study yours and what blessings and responsibilities your tribe is associated with. If it talks of missionary work, study Alma's, Paul's, and Joseph Smith or Brigham Young's journeys, and what that means for you as a missionary. How about scripture study itself and following the spirit? What about husband and wife relationships? Are these found in the scriptures to study? You better believe it, look at 1 Nephi 5:1-6 with Lehi and Sariah. Or D&C 25 for a blessing Emma was given by Joseph and how she can be a strength and support to him. And countless others. Be open to the spirit and how it can guide and direct you to those passages that relate with your blessing. Talk about relating the scriptures unto yourself! In this exercise you are doing that quite literally.