March 4, 2026 • 9 mins
This week Cindy Young from Primarily Scripture shares simple study tips for Genesis 24–33, noting the heavy reading load and encouraging viewers to set or adjust goals to stay current if needed. Building on using modern Bible translations for understanding, she emphasizes returning to the King James Version to become comfortable with scriptural language, comparing it to learning a foreign language. She demonstrates breaking verses into phrases and looking up unfamiliar words like “peradventure,” and suggests paraphrasing passages in your own words. Cindy also highlights how Hebrew name meanings in footnotes (such as Reuben and Simeon) add depth, and applies Jacob’s “wrestle” and the name Israel (“let God prevail”) as encouragement to persist through difficult passages for spiritual understanding, line upon line.
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Don't forget the parable of the snowball: listening to someone else talk about the gospel is like having snowballs thrown at you. Reading the scriptures is like making your own snowball. Taking the time to search, ponder, and pray about what you've read is like rolling the snowball around and around so that it grows and grows. So don't just listen to me - please go read for yourself so your knowledge and testimony can grow and grow!!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome back to Primarily Scripture.
I am Cindy Young, and I am soglad that you are here with me.
I specialize in helping you go fromjust reading your scriptures to
studying them with super simple tips,so easy that even a kid can do it.
We follow the Come Follow Meschedule, which means this year
we are reading the Old Testament.
For the entire month of March.
I'm going to help you learn ways tounderstand the scriptures better, which
(00:23):
is really the very first step, right?
If you don't know what you'rereading, then how are you
gonna get anything out of it?
So thanks for being hereand let's get to it.
All right.
Come follow me.
This week has a lot of chapters.
So many.
We are in Genesis chapters24, all the way to 33.
(00:44):
That's 10 chapters.
It's like 20 pages thatwe need to get through.
So, so many.
Now, if you remember in January, one ofmy tips for you was to make goals and to
figure out how much you wanted to read.
Are you wanting to read everysingle word in the Old Testament,
or are you just wanting to staycurrent with Come Follow Me?
This week is one of the weeks whenit would be really beneficial to just
(01:07):
stay current with, Come Follow Me,because reading all 20 pages might
be kind of a lot for a beginner.
So just a reminder to thinkabout your goals, and if you
need to reevaluate, go ahead.
You're always allowedto adjust your goals.
Last week I suggested that tounderstand the Old Testament better,
you could use different translations.
There are a lot out there, and thechurch has put out a list of approved
(01:29):
translations that you can use.
If you want more information aboutthat, go listen to last week.
For this week.
I want to expand on thatthought a little bit.
Using the new translations is a reallygreat way to help you learn to understand,
but if you're trying to understandthe King James version of the Bible,
then you need to be sure that youspend time in the King James version.
(01:50):
So after you have read it in one of thenew translations, I would suggest that you
go back to the King James version and readthose verses or chapters again, and it
will help your brain to connect the dots.
Now that you already understandthe story, what does it sound
like in the King James Bible?
Does that make sense?
In order to learn how to understandthe language of the scriptures,
(02:12):
you need to actually use thelanguage of the scriptures.
Think about it like different language.
If somebody is speaking Spanish, andI say, 'I don't understand that,' and
somebody else translates it for meand says, 'oh, they said this and this
and this...' Okay... I get the ideaof it, but am I understanding Spanish?
(02:33):
I'm not.
You can still learnsomething from it, sure!
But if you really, really want to beable to do your own interacting with that
person, you need to learn that language.
The same goes for the scriptures.
If you want to be able to interactwith them, then you need to
learn to be comfortable withthe language of the scriptures.
So don't leave your KingJames version on the shelf.
Be sure you keep going back to it.
(02:55):
Now part of my worksheets puts afew verses into modern day language
so that it's easier to understand,but the point of that isn't so that
we can ignore the standard verses.
We want to train our brains to understandthe language of the Old Testament.
So besides doing it on the worksheet, Iwould encourage you to go back and say it
in your own words, because if you can lookat the verses and say it in your own way,
(03:20):
then your brain will start making thatconnection and translating the scriptures
so that you understand it in your head.
Let's turn to Genesischapter 24, verse five.
And this is the story where Abraham isgetting old and he wants Isaac to have
a wife, but he really wants her to besomebody of their same religion, and so he
sends his servant off to go find a wife.
(03:40):
Verse five is the servantasking a question.
Let's read it together.
"And the servant said unto him,Peradventure, the woman will not be
willing to follow me unto this land?"That is a lot of words
that we don't usually say.
So in order to understand that better,I want you to break it down a little bit
at a time, just go one phrase at a time.
(04:01):
Let's do that together and besure we understand what this says.
The first phrase is, "and the servantsaid unto him..." We understand
that, that's good, but what aboutthis - "peradventure..." Pause!
Anytime you see a word thatis so unfamiliar to you,
look it up in the dictionary.
We all have smart devices in our homesthat you can ask and say, "define this
(04:23):
word," and it'll tell you what it means.
Peradventure is a word that means 'whatif.' So the servant asks, "what if the
woman will not be willing to follow meunto this land?" So breaking it down
one phrase at a time and defining thosereally hard words will help you to
learn the language of the scriptures.
(04:45):
Most of the words that you read in theOld Testament are English because it's
been translated into English, right?
But you are going to find some wordsstill that are in Hebrew, mostly names.
There are names of places in the OldTestament that were kept in Hebrew
because that's their name, right?
But one of the really helpful things aboutthe names that the Hebrews used, both
(05:07):
for people and for places, is that theygave names that meant something specific.
For instance, why don't we turn toGenesis chapter 29, verse 32, and it
says, "Leah conceived and bear a son..."' She conceived" means she was pregnant.
'Bear a son' means she had a baby boy.
(05:29):
"...and she called his nameReuben." Now this is a name and
it has a footnote attached to it.
So if you look at that footnote, either byreading it or clicking on it, Reuben means
" look, a son." That's what it means.
She had her first baby, and she namedhim, "look, a son." These Hebrew
names can help us to understand moreof what was going on in the story.
(05:53):
It adds a new layer ofunderstanding for us.
Leah's second son was named Simeon,which means "hearing." She felt like God
had heard her and so she named her sonsomething that meant she had been heard.
Isn't that fascinating that thesenames mean something so much more than
just a name that they were called?
Now, let's talk for aminute about chapter 32.
(06:14):
Starting in verse 24, Jacob is allby himself and a messenger from God
comes and they wrestle all night long.
We don't know fully what the wrestle was.
The scriptures say that there wasa man and they wrestled all night
long, and what Jacob wanted out ofthis wrestle was a blessing from him.
In verse 26, Jacob says, "I willnot let thee go except thou bless
(06:37):
me." And he ended up getting ablessing, including a new name.
And the new name that he got of coursewas super meaningful, and it was Israel,
which means "let God prevail" - thatJacob let God be the most important thing.
Now, there are a lot of differentlessons from this, and President
Nelson spoke quite a bit on lettingGod prevail and how each of us should
(06:58):
let God prevail in our own lives- letHim be the very most important thing.
But let's apply this to scripture study.
You are going to come acrosspassages of scripture that are
very difficult to understand,especially in the Old Testament.
It might even feel like a wrestle tofigure out what the scriptures mean.
But if your number one priority is tofeel the Spirit and to get that blessing
(07:22):
from the scriptures, then the Lord willabsolutely bless you with understanding.
It comes a little bit ata time line upon line.
But don't give up.
Keep going back.
So don't forget the tips thatwe've talked about today.
Keep going back into your KingJames version so that you can
get more used to that language.
Go a little at a time and say thestories in your own words, and make
(07:45):
sure you understand the big words.
There's some very big English wordsthat you might need to look up, and
if you want added understanding, thenyou can check the footnotes for the
meaning of some of these Hebrew names.
Not all of them, but a lot ofthem, and that can give even
more depth to your study.
There are a lot of differentways to learn these stories.
You can read about themin church magazines.
(08:06):
There are picture storybooks thatcan teach you the stories, and
that's a great place to start.
But I hope that your goal is to eventuallybe reading these scriptures directly
from the King James version of the Bible,because that is the official version.
And if you learn to understand thelanguage of the scriptures, your
life will be blessed in immeasurableways because they'll always be
(08:27):
there waiting for you, as a way foryou to get messages from the Lord.
So remember, of all the different waysyou can study this week, be sure that
your study is primarily scripture.
I'm Cindy Young.
Come back next week for evenmore tips to help you decode
and understand the scriptures.
See you next time everybody!Thanks for tuning into primarily
(08:52):
Scripture with Cindy Young.
Don't forget you can subscribe to thenewsletter and download free worksheets
on the website, primarily scripture.com.
And if you like the channel,be sure to subscribe, like,
share, and leave a review.
See you next time.
Welcome back to Primarily Scripture.
I am Cindy Young, and I am soglad that you are here with me.
I specialize in helping you go fromjust reading your scriptures to
studying them with super simple tips,so easy that even a kid can do it.
We follow the Come Follow Meschedule, which means this year
we are reading the Old Testament.
For the entire month of March.
I'm going to help you learn ways tounderstand the scriptures better, which
(00:23):
is really the very first step, right?
If you don't know what you'rereading, then how are you
gonna get anything out of it?
So thanks for being hereand let's get to it.
All right.
Come follow me.
This week has a lot of chapters.
So many.
We are in Genesis chapters24, all the way to 33.
(00:44):
That's 10 chapters.
It's like 20 pages thatwe need to get through.
So, so many.
Now, if you remember in January, one ofmy tips for you was to make goals and to
figure out how much you wanted to read.
Are you wanting to read everysingle word in the Old Testament,
or are you just wanting to staycurrent with Come Follow Me?
This week is one of the weeks whenit would be really beneficial to just
(01:07):
stay current with, Come Follow Me,because reading all 20 pages might
be kind of a lot for a beginner.
So just a reminder to thinkabout your goals, and if you
need to reevaluate, go ahead.
You're always allowedto adjust your goals.
Last week I suggested that tounderstand the Old Testament better,
you could use different translations.
There are a lot out there, and thechurch has put out a list of approved
(01:29):
translations that you can use.
If you want more information aboutthat, go listen to last week.
For this week.
I want to expand on thatthought a little bit.
Using the new translations is a reallygreat way to help you learn to understand,
but if you're trying to understandthe King James version of the Bible,
then you need to be sure that youspend time in the King James version.
(01:50):
So after you have read it in one of thenew translations, I would suggest that you
go back to the King James version and readthose verses or chapters again, and it
will help your brain to connect the dots.
Now that you already understandthe story, what does it sound
like in the King James Bible?
Does that make sense?
In order to learn how to understandthe language of the scriptures,
(02:12):
you need to actually use thelanguage of the scriptures.
Think about it like different language.
If somebody is speaking Spanish, andI say, 'I don't understand that,' and
somebody else translates it for meand says, 'oh, they said this and this
and this...' Okay... I get the ideaof it, but am I understanding Spanish?
(02:33):
I'm not.
You can still learnsomething from it, sure!
But if you really, really want to beable to do your own interacting with that
person, you need to learn that language.
The same goes for the scriptures.
If you want to be able to interactwith them, then you need to
learn to be comfortable withthe language of the scriptures.
So don't leave your KingJames version on the shelf.
Be sure you keep going back to it.
(02:55):
Now part of my worksheets puts afew verses into modern day language
so that it's easier to understand,but the point of that isn't so that
we can ignore the standard verses.
We want to train our brains to understandthe language of the Old Testament.
So besides doing it on the worksheet, Iwould encourage you to go back and say it
in your own words, because if you can lookat the verses and say it in your own way,
(03:20):
then your brain will start making thatconnection and translating the scriptures
so that you understand it in your head.
Let's turn to Genesischapter 24, verse five.
And this is the story where Abraham isgetting old and he wants Isaac to have
a wife, but he really wants her to besomebody of their same religion, and so he
sends his servant off to go find a wife.
(03:40):
Verse five is the servantasking a question.
Let's read it together.
"And the servant said unto him,Peradventure, the woman will not be
willing to follow me unto this land?"That is a lot of words
that we don't usually say.
So in order to understand that better,I want you to break it down a little bit
at a time, just go one phrase at a time.
(04:01):
Let's do that together and besure we understand what this says.
The first phrase is, "and the servantsaid unto him..." We understand
that, that's good, but what aboutthis - "peradventure..." Pause!
Anytime you see a word thatis so unfamiliar to you,
look it up in the dictionary.
We all have smart devices in our homesthat you can ask and say, "define this
(04:23):
word," and it'll tell you what it means.
Peradventure is a word that means 'whatif.' So the servant asks, "what if the
woman will not be willing to follow meunto this land?" So breaking it down
one phrase at a time and defining thosereally hard words will help you to
learn the language of the scriptures.
(04:45):
Most of the words that you read in theOld Testament are English because it's
been translated into English, right?
But you are going to find some wordsstill that are in Hebrew, mostly names.
There are names of places in the OldTestament that were kept in Hebrew
because that's their name, right?
But one of the really helpful things aboutthe names that the Hebrews used, both
(05:07):
for people and for places, is that theygave names that meant something specific.
For instance, why don't we turn toGenesis chapter 29, verse 32, and it
says, "Leah conceived and bear a son..."' She conceived" means she was pregnant.
'Bear a son' means she had a baby boy.
(05:29):
"...and she called his nameReuben." Now this is a name and
it has a footnote attached to it.
So if you look at that footnote, either byreading it or clicking on it, Reuben means
" look, a son." That's what it means.
She had her first baby, and she namedhim, "look, a son." These Hebrew
names can help us to understand moreof what was going on in the story.
(05:53):
It adds a new layer ofunderstanding for us.
Leah's second son was named Simeon,which means "hearing." She felt like God
had heard her and so she named her sonsomething that meant she had been heard.
Isn't that fascinating that thesenames mean something so much more than
just a name that they were called?
Now, let's talk for aminute about chapter 32.
(06:14):
Starting in verse 24, Jacob is allby himself and a messenger from God
comes and they wrestle all night long.
We don't know fully what the wrestle was.
The scriptures say that there wasa man and they wrestled all night
long, and what Jacob wanted out ofthis wrestle was a blessing from him.
In verse 26, Jacob says, "I willnot let thee go except thou bless
(06:37):
me." And he ended up getting ablessing, including a new name.
And the new name that he got of coursewas super meaningful, and it was Israel,
which means "let God prevail" - thatJacob let God be the most important thing.
Now, there are a lot of differentlessons from this, and President
Nelson spoke quite a bit on lettingGod prevail and how each of us should
(06:58):
let God prevail in our own lives- letHim be the very most important thing.
But let's apply this to scripture study.
You are going to come acrosspassages of scripture that are
very difficult to understand,especially in the Old Testament.
It might even feel like a wrestle tofigure out what the scriptures mean.
But if your number one priority is tofeel the Spirit and to get that blessing
(07:22):
from the scriptures, then the Lord willabsolutely bless you with understanding.
It comes a little bit ata time line upon line.
But don't give up.
Keep going back.
So don't forget the tips thatwe've talked about today.
Keep going back into your KingJames version so that you can
get more used to that language.
Go a little at a time and say thestories in your own words, and make
(07:45):
sure you understand the big words.
There's some very big English wordsthat you might need to look up, and
if you want added understanding, thenyou can check the footnotes for the
meaning of some of these Hebrew names.
Not all of them, but a lot ofthem, and that can give even
more depth to your study.
There are a lot of differentways to learn these stories.
You can read about themin church magazines.
(08:06):
There are picture storybooks thatcan teach you the stories, and
that's a great place to start.
But I hope that your goal is to eventuallybe reading these scriptures directly
from the King James version of the Bible,because that is the official version.
And if you learn to understand thelanguage of the scriptures, your
life will be blessed in immeasurableways because they'll always be
(08:27):
there waiting for you, as a way foryou to get messages from the Lord.
So remember, of all the different waysyou can study this week, be sure that
your study is primarily scripture.
I'm Cindy Young.
Come back next week for evenmore tips to help you decode
and understand the scriptures.
See you next time everybody!Thanks for tuning into primarily
(08:52):
Scripture with Cindy Young.
Don't forget you can subscribe to thenewsletter and download free worksheets
on the website, primarily scripture.com.
And if you like the channel,be sure to subscribe, like,
share, and leave a review.
See you next time.
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