If you have already completed the Bible Chapter Outline Study for your chosen book of the Bible, you are ready to start a Deep Dive Bible Chapter Study! Take some time to work through the steps as you will be searching deeper into the Bible for answers. In other words you will be building on the framework of the Chapter Outline.

This process will work whether you want to study one particular chapter or every chapter of a complete book of the Bible.

(If you haven’t already done a Bible Chapter Outline, go to this page to read more about it)

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The ‘How-to’ of a Deep Dive Bible Chapter Study

PRAY – Ask God by His Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the truths in His Word, to guide you in your study of His Word and to show you what He would have you learn as you work through this process.

READ – If you haven’t already done so, you will need to read through the Chapter at least 3 times. The more you read it, the more you will see, and understand it.

ASK THE 5 W’s QUESTIONS – These basic questions enable you to look at the chapter objectively and literally. So ask them and note your answers on a sheet of paper or on the Deep Dive Bible Chapter Study WORKSHEET you will find in the HONEY RESOURCE LIBRARY

  • WHO? Who wrote this? Who was it written to?
  • WHAT? What was the occasion? What did they write?
  • WHERE? Where did they write it?
  • WHEN? When did they write it?
  • WHY? Why did they write it?

CHECK OUT WORDS & PHRASES – Look up the definitions of words you are not familiar with. Underline them in the Chapter and note the definition in the margin of your Bible or on the WORKSHEET.

CROSS-REFERENCE – Now this step can get very involved if you check out every reference listed by the chapter in your Bible. So be selective, unless you really want to go really deep. DO keep a note of the references you look up, as you read them, so that you can find them again. As sometimes you will find yourself looking at references on the verses that were references, and you will be off down a ‘rabbit-trail’. (This can be interesting but not necessarily useful for the Chapter you are studying!)

If your Bible doesn’t have Cross-references you can use the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Otherwise try using an online resource such as the Blue Letter Bible website.

A word of explanation about Cross references as they usually fall into one of three categories:-
  1. Parallel – in other words almost a copy of the verse it is linked to
  2. Illustrative – a similar verse that throws light onto the verse you are studying
  3. Contrasting – a verse which gives an alternative view

COMPARE TRANSLATIONS – If you have access to other versions of the Bible, either on your bookshelf or an online App. read through the Chapter in another Bible version. And see if it gives you a different insight into the book. (

MARK YOUR TEXT – whether you are writing in a Study Bible or using a WORKSHEET mark the paragraph/thought divisions as you see them, if you haven’t already done so for the CHAPTER OUTLINE STUDY. Label each segment with the theme. Note the Chapter theme at the head of the Chapter, and underline the Key verse or phrase that best expresses it.

SUMMARIZE – the chapter in your own words, as briefly as possible on your worksheet.

HOW TO APPLY? – The penultimate step of this study is to ask HOW? How should I react to what I have learned about:-

  • God?
  • Mankind?
  • What I should or should not be doing?

CLOSE WITH PRAYER – Thank God, your Heavenly Father, for all He has shown you in His Word, and for all you have learnt. Ask for the strength to apply those things which need to be done, and the grace to let go of those things which you need to release. Praise God for all the wonderful things you have learned about Him.

Take your Deep Dive Bible Chapter Study to the next level – try these ideas:-

  • Explore The Location – Look up the location in a Bible Atlas and learn about the Geography of the place where the book was written as well as places mentioned.
  • Check out the History of the Location – See what you can find out about the place where this chapter was written.
  • Research the writer and what else they wrote.

TRY THESE IDEAS TO HELP YOU BUILD OTHER STUDIES:-

  • CHARACTER STUDIES – Study the main Characters within the Chapter
  • TOPIC STUDIES – Study the theme of the chapter within the context of the whole book. Or try tracing the theme throughout the whole Bible.
  • WHOLE BOOK STUDY – Apply the Deep Dive Bible Chapter Study process to the whole Book – you can read more about that on the page Detailed Bible Book Study
  • VERSE ANALYSIS – do a verse analysis of each verse of the chapter or of a significant portion using the VERSE CHARTING method. For a more devotional study try VERSE MAPPING

You can find blank worksheets for this Bible Study method in the Honey Resource Library. Request your FREE Password via the button shown below

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