Kevin: Your question recalls a similar incident that happened back in Bible times. A young boy named Josiah became king of Judah and his devout actions ushered in a great revival of dedication to God throughout the land. Part of Josiah's revival was renovation and rebuilding of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. During that rebuilding, a priest named Hilkiah uncovered a Bible manuscript that had somehow remained hidden for years and years. Scholars think that the newly discovered manuscript was the book of Deuteronomy, possibly written in the hand of Moses hundreds of years earlier. It was a miracle! Read about it in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34.

Kevin's introduction seems nothing short of miraculous. Do miracles happen today? This is not Kevin's question and the answer will wait for another time. However, miracles have always been about building a person's faith in God, which seems to be happening with Kevin. That is good! In Bible times God produced miracles as a validation of His power and authority. Miracles were not performed to accomplish a particular task. Instead, they helped people believe in God. But miracles by themselves are weak. They do not engender steadfast faith. Only the Word of God does that.

As best I can tell, Kevin found part of a Bible dictionary. Bible dictionaries list biblical topics in alphabetical order, from A to Z. 'David' and 'Crown' would be typical entries. Each topic is defined and developed by a few short sentences, like a normal dictionary. Bible dictionaries are reference books that help people study the Bible. If you are a Bible student, you should have a Bible dictionary.

Dictionaries are not the only type of Bible study aids. Seminary students and other professionals involved in religious endeavors usually have mountains of material that help them read, interpret, and understand the Bible. For normal folks like you and me, a few items are often helpful. All are available in book form, and many have corresponding electronic editions.

• Commentaries
• Concordances
• Dictionaries
• Books about the Bible
• Plain-language translations and paraphrases

Some typical study aids for people who are interested in the Bible: (a) commentary, (b) concordance, (c) Bible dictionary, (d) a book about the Bible, and (e) a plain-language version of the Bible.

Commentaries - Commentaries are books written about the Bible that expound on specific passages one at a time. You can find multi-volumed commentaries on the entire Bible and specific commentaries on specific books or passages. The commentary in the picture is known as the Hertz Chumash, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs edited by Dr. J. H. Hertz. On each of its pages you find the original Hebrew text, the Jewish translation of the text into English, and verse-by-verse explanations by noted Rabbis and sometimes Christian authors.

Concordances - Concordances list every word in the Bible and the corresponding verse the word appears in. They are extremely useful when looking for a verse from memory, when you only remember a few words in the verse. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is perhaps the most famous. It is a mammoth book and you have to be strong to carry it. Concordances are fast fading away with the advent of modern electronic search tools such as e-sword, perhaps the best-known Bible reference tool on the Internet.

Bible Dictionaries - Kevin's mystery book is probably an except from a Bible dictionary. Like any dictionary, these books are helpful to find meanings of Bible words. The one in our picture is Smith's Bible Dictionary, but there are many others, just as good, available.

Books about the Bible - This category of study aids literally overflows with resources. Bookstores, secular or otherwise, abound with selections on every topic imaginable. The example in the picture above is a comprehensive new work by Dr. Wayne Grudem. The title is Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.

Plain-language Editions - The original text of the Bible is not written in English, Spanish, French, German, or any other popular, modern-day language. The Old Testament is written primarily in Hebrew, and the New Testament is written in Greek. For English-speaking people, there are many different translations from these original languages into English, including the famous King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the Jewish Publication Society Version. As with any translation, there is a natural tension between adherence to the original text and the ultimate understandability of the translated text. Different English versions lean one way or the other. The NASB, for instance, is a modern translation that stays very close to the original language. In contrast, the Good News Bible shown in our picture more loosely adheres to the original language in favor of making its English rendition very friendly and understandable.