The key, plus 14 tricky moments
The moments that make people stop, each with an answer: when she prays, when Jesus speaks in red letters, when a group includes her.
The Margin Key · Bible marking guide & printable kit
Mark your Bible with one question. Who is doing or saying this?
You read the passage. Now what? The Margin Key gives your pen one job: mark who is acting, in their color. Five highlighters, one dark pen and a few sticky flags, with three passages already marked line by line so you can see it work before you start.
- One rule decides every mark: pink for her, purple for God, green for the people around her.
- Learn it in five short sessions, one mark at a time, so there’s nothing to memorize.
- Hannah, Esther and the woman at the well, marked in full in the King James Version.
- A bookmark, flag labels, a Sort & Respond page and a question log. No printer? Copy them by hand.
Download the guide
25-page PDF · printable kit included · no email needed
Want company?Walk your first week with me, one short email a dayThe key
Five colors · two shapes · four flags at mostOne question decides every mark.
As you read, ask who is doing or saying this, then mark it in their color. If you can’t tell, box it and ask. White space on the page isn’t a failure.
Pink · her
What the woman you’re studying says or does, and how the text describes her.
and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore1 Samuel 1:10
Purple · God
What God says or does, including what Jesus says and does.
the LORD remembered her1 Samuel 1:19
Green · the people around her
What anyone else says or does: family, priests, prophets, crowds.
Eli marked her mouth1 Samuel 1:12
Blue box · a question
Box the words with the thin edge of your blue highlighter, then copy the question into your log.
her countenance was no more sad1 Samuel 1:18
Circle · a repeated word
Circle it every time with your dark pen, then tally it once in the margin.
thine handmaidhandmaid ×51 Samuel 1:11–18
Orange · reading now
Orange never touches the text. It’s for your bookmark and the flag that holds your place.
Reading now
Flags: four at most
- Orange ×1 reading now
- Blue ×1–2 a question to come back to
- Pink ×1 she’s here too
Test first. Every Bible’s paper is different, so the guide starts with a quick test on a page you won’t miss, before any color touches a passage you love.
See it in action
King James VersionSame key, three different pages.
The guide marks three passages line by line: two women you may know well and one the Bible never names. The key never changes. The pages come out completely different, because the stories are.
1 Samuel 1:18–19
18…So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
19…and the LORD remembered her.
Hannah
1 Samuel 1:9–20
One purple line. She prays for verses, and it stays pink, because she’s the one speaking.
Esther
Esther 4:10–17
No purple at all. God isn’t named in these verses, and an empty color is something to write down.
The woman at the well
John 4:7–19, 28–30
Purple fills much of the page, because Jesus does much of the talking. Four of her pink lines are questions.
Each bar is one passage, one word at a time, colored the way the guide marks it. Scripture quotations from the King James Version.
What’s inside
25 pages · phone or printEverything you need to mark one passage well.
Old words, other translations, Bible apps
A word list for the King James passages, and how to use the key in any translation or in a Bible app.
Your first week
Five short sessions on one passage. Each day adds one part of the key, so by day five you’re using all of it.
Three passages, marked line by line
Hannah, Esther and the woman at the well, each with a Sort & Respond page and the questions I logged along the way.
Where to look when the text doesn’t say
Five steps from your own Bible outward, a free place to start, and where each answer goes on your page. Plus how I use Logos, if you’d like one place for all of it.
31 women the Bible doesn’t name
A starting list in Bible order, with the other places each woman appears, so you know where your pink flag goes.
For friends and leaders
A 30-minute plan for two people or twelve, a four-week series, and a leader’s head start with each passage marked.
Printables
A bookmark, flag labels, a Sort & Respond page and a question log. No printer? Copy them by hand.
An AI helper, only if you want one
Completely optional. If your Bible, supplies or hands need something different, a ready-made prompt helps you adjust the setup. Skip it and you miss nothing.
Before you download
Is this guide for you?
This is for you if
- You read a passage and aren’t sure what to do next.
- You tried color-coding before and it got complicated fast.
- You want to study the women Scripture never named, carefully.
- You lead, or want to lead, a small group and need a key everyone can follow.
Skip it if
- You want a color for every topic. This uses five, and each one has one job.
- You want someone to tell you what a passage means. This helps you see what it says, and keeps your guesses in your notebook.
Any affordable Bible works, hardcover or softcover. While you’re learning, I’d suggest a study copy rather than your favorite Bible.
“Read slowly. Mark what you see. Write down what you wonder. Then come back, because the passage will still have more to show you.”
Brielle York
25-page PDF · no email needed
Want company?Walk your first week with me, one short email a dayYour next step
Ready for your first passage?
Free 15-page guide
The 15-Minute Study Method
Five steps to study any passage on your own in about fifteen minutes, worked through with Lot’s wife. It’s the method this key was made for, and a good first study for your newly marked Bible.
You’ll get the guide right away, then only the occasional note from me. Unsubscribe in one click.
When you’re ready to go deeper
The Unnamed Women, Volume 1
Twelve close-reading studies, one for each woman, in Bible order, from Noah’s wife to the Shulammite. The key verses are printed on the page, with room to mark and write.
See Volume 1