# Scripture Memorisation



## Josh Williamson (Jul 23, 2011)

I hope I have posted this in the correct section. 

I have a question in regards to Scripture memorisation. I currently use the ESV for study, reading, preaching, and my wife also uses this translation. We have been thinking about actively memorising Scripture, and when our son is older get him involved also. The issue we have is this - What translation is the best to memorise from? Personally I've found the KJV the easiest (as has my wife), but we both don't use that as our main translation. We considered using the ESV, but we both found it a bit 'clunky' at times, also, we want to use a translation that is going to be around for sometime and I'm not sure if the ESV will be. 

What are your thoughts on translation for memorising? 

Also, what list of verses would you suggest someone commits to memory? 

Thanks in advance to all the replies. 

- Josh


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## Jack K (Jul 23, 2011)

I've found memorizing from the translation I use for everyday study to be helpful, because that way my memory gets an ongoing boost as I come back to familiar passages and actually use them. There's nothing like using what you've memorized to help you keep remembering it.

My guess is that the ESV will survive for a while, both because the translation philosophy behind it is to _not_ keep making major revisions (ala the NIV) and because it largely follows a translation (the RSV) that's already survived for many decades. The KJV is an even safer bet, of course, but I don't think the ESV is a bad one.

As for verses, consider memorizing entire chapters of Scripture rather than isolated verses. It's far easier in terms of the amount you learn for the work it takes, plus you get the benefit of learning the context. Perhaps start with something like the Sermon on the Mount.


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## Reformation Monk (Jul 23, 2011)

I use the KJV and it's not because I was brought up with it or because I believe that it is the inspired version. I didn't start reading the bible until my late 20's. I started with the NIV. But when I started to read more and more Reformed Works, I drifted over to the KJV simply because most of the extra biblical works I read are from preachers and teachers who themselves used the KJV. 

Anyway... so I find it easier to memorize from the KJV myself because of everything else I read and because I just personally love the way it's a little more poetic.


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## JohnGill (Jul 23, 2011)

Josh Williamson said:


> I hope I have posted this in the correct section.
> 
> I have a question in regards to Scripture memorisation. I currently use the ESV for study, reading, preaching, and my wife also uses this translation. We have been thinking about actively memorising Scripture, and when our son is older get him involved also. The issue we have is this - What translation is the best to memorise from? Personally I've found the KJV the easiest (as has my wife), but we both don't use that as our main translation. We considered using the ESV, but we both found it a bit 'clunky' at times, also, we want to use a translation that is going to be around for sometime and I'm not sure if the ESV will be.
> 
> ...



I use the KJV for memorization. It's the only one I would recommend for it. There are various articles written by language experts who explain the reasons why the AV is so conducive to memorization. I think Harvard has a book on the linguistic properties of the AV from the late 80s early 90s explaining why. They cover the meter of the AV, that it was designed to be read aloud, that it "sings" rather than plods along, that its idioms and various phrases are so ingrained in English that even today people expect to hear Psalm 23 and The Lord's Prayer in the KJV rendering, and many other features. 

Concerning memorization, if you are going for verses to memorize then I would recommend the following program:

1) Pick a Confession and Catechism with scripture verses in the text. (worst case would be just the scripture references. You'd have to type them up.) Or use the following PDF: DOCTRINES OF GRACE ? CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST The reason for using either of these two systems is that you will have great difficulty memorizing verses without categories. Confessions and Catechisms provide excellent categories.

2) If the verses are in a book, buy two copies. If you decide to type them up, then I would recommend making flash cards on ppt and make each flash card a category. Do not memorize individual verses, but instead memorize categories. For instance, let's say you decided to use the Heidelberg Catechism. Each group or category of verses would be broken down by Lord's Days. In the London Baptist Confession of Faith each group or category would be broken down by chapter and section.

3) Thirty verses a day should be a fairly easy goal. When it comes to memorization, do not focus on repeating them aloud, your goal is recall, not recitation. Read over the category card or section in your book about 10 times. Link the last word and first word of verses together. After you can recall the card verbatim, you should be able to visualize the card in your mind, set it aside for an hour. Your review schedule for the cards should be as follows: 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months. This is for permanent memorization.

Of course the other option is to memorize chapters. I personally find this easier. Proverbs or Romans are good starting places. Romans has 433 verses while Proverbs has 915 verses. In total, the Bible has 31,102. (This number is for the KJV, many modern versions have less verses.) You can easily memorize the entire Bible in 10 yrs at 30 verses a day. 3.5 yrs if your ambitious. I would also recommend a Catechism/Confession memorization with memorizing the Bible. If you choose this method, buy yourself a high end Bible like the Cambridge editions that is only used for memorization and reading. You will not mark notes in this Bible. This prevents your mind from being confused when you take mental snapshots of the page layout. And after many years of memorizing, even your Cambridge edition will wear out. Using the AV and having bought from Cambridge, you can buy the same edition and pick up where you left off. When you do this method, 

1. You want to read aloud the entire chapter first. At least 3 times.
2. Look at the four corners of the page to see what verses are there. For instance for the Book of Proverbs chapter 1 I have two pictures in my memory because I originally started with a different production of the AV. However, my Cambridge edition is easier as chapter 1 starts on the lower left page with verses 1-6 in the left column and verses 7-13 in the right. You will also want to pay attention to the paragraph markings. These make it easier to break the chapter into chunks. For chapter 1, verses 1-6 for chunk 1, 7-13 for chunk 2 (para. marking at verse 7), 14-19 for chunk 3, 20-23 for chunk 4 (para marking at verse 20), 24-30 for chunk 5 (verse 24), and 31-33 for chunk 6. This entire chapter can be memorized in about 30 minutes with no problems.
3. Review it 5 times immediately afterwords. Come back 1 hour later and write it out by hand, verse by verse. In three hours, just recall it aloud. Do the same for 6 hours. The next day write it out by hand again. Same for 1 week, and then every three months.


As to a Bible translation that will still be in use after the latest trendy modern version has been abandoned, the KJV has been around since 1611 and is still in use. The RSV, from which the ESV was derived, has fallen into disuse. The NIV that you normally find in the store will no longer be published, instead a newer NIV will be published. The NASB, HCSB, CEV, TEV, et al, have all fallen by the wayside. Even the New York Times recently put out an article commenting on the enduring nature of our Authorised Version: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/weekinreview/24mcgrath.html?_r=1

The American Spectator also has an article on its influence upon English and its enduring character: The American Spectator : The Greatest Book in the English Language They also point out that the Mayflower Geneva Bible of 1588 is a fake. Alas, another myth shot down. From the last part of the article:



> More important than politicians plagiarizing the KJV for their speeches is the popular usage of innumerable phrases from the 1611 text in everyday speech. The most original book published to celebrate the 400th anniversary is *David Crystal's Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language.* Also published by Oxford University Press, it traces hundreds of common expressions back to the KJV. They include:
> Fly in the ointment; my brother's keeper; fight the good fight; finding the scapegoat; how are the mighty fallen; bricks without straw; new wine in old bottles; baptism of fire; blind leading the blind; root and branch; turning the other cheek; scales falling from eyes; holier than thou; going the second mile; reaping the whirlwind; fall by the wayside; sour grapes; two edged sword; old wives' tales and writing on the wall.
> ​According to Crystal, the KJV has contributed more to the English language than any other source, creating double the number of familiar expressions that derive from Shakespeare.
> 
> The greatness of the KJV lies in a mysterious mixture of its historicity, familiarity, and spirituality. More than 2.6 billion copies of it have been published in the last four centuries, and sales continue strong as the Oxford University Press expects to sell around 250,000 this year. This is a most felicitous combination, to use yet another phrase coined by the 17th-century translators, of God and Mammon. The King James Bible deserves its label as "the most celebrated book in the English speaking world."


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## TexanRose (Jul 25, 2011)

Just stating the obvious here, but Chris clearly has an unusual mind, though perhaps he is not aware of this. Thirty verses a day would not be "a fairly easy goal" for most people.


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## Joseph Scibbe (Jul 25, 2011)

I read, study, and hear preaching from the ESV but I grew up in an almost fundamentalist church so a lot of my scripture memory is from the KJV.


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