Last week, I wrote an entry about the NA27/NET Diglot that I've recently purchased. Actually ... it's a birthday present (thanks Mom & Dad!), but anyway, I've been using it.

I hadn't paid much attention to the cross-references in my UBS3, and I hadn't had the opportunity to examine the NA27 cross-references until now. My Greek isn't good enough to sight-read, so it didn't do much good to look up the reference only to fumble through it and have to look it up in English to see if I was right. I'm getting better — my vocab has improved, but I still fumble tenses/moods as well as pronouns. The process is slow, but I'll keep pluggin' along.

Anyway, with the diglot, the cross references in NA27 are actually useful. And they're good. I'm getting better at picking up the German abbreviations (though for some reason I still think '1K' is the abbrev. for 1 Chronicles, though it is really for 1 Corinthians). I'm also picking up the symbols (bang, pipe, and mid-dot).

Here's an example: I was working through 1Ti 1.12, which says “I thank him who has given me strength ... ”. The first cross-reference is to Php 4.13, which is stellar. But this is also common; I'd guess many translations would have these references in reciprocal relationship (nice alliteration, huh?).

But the second half of 1Ti 1.12, “ ... appointing me to his service”, is where it really begins to shine. The reference? To Ac 9.15: “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”

That's a stellar cross-reference if I've ever seen one. I checked my old NKJV New Geneva Study Bible (published by Thomas Nelson). Surprisingly, neither cross-reference was listed. Not even the Php 4.13 reference. It just had some references in First Corinthians listed. I also checked my old NASB (Lockman Foundation), it had both references.

I hadn't even considered using the NA27 cross-reference apparatus before; and now (at least for the time being) I'm using it frequently when working through a verse. Very handy; a benefit I hadn't even considered.