How to Study the Bible, Lesson 7
How
to Study the Bible, Lesson 7
Basic Tools for Bible Study
Exegesis
Frank Pack, professor emeritus of Bible at Pepperdine University, notes that in doing exegesis you must first, "bring good and meaningful questions to the text." Who is speaking? Who is being addressed? What are the circumstances of the communication?
Bible scholars use certain "exegetical controls" to guide their study. We now look at some of those controls.
Textual Control
Our New Testament has been handed down from generation to generation for 2000 years. Since the printing press is a relatively new invention, for most of those years the Bible had to be copied by hand. It is only natural that in doing so certain typographical errors crept into the text. The United Bible Society Greek text lists 1440 variations in the New Testament.
Thus, the first step in exegesis is to ensure that your are working with the best text possible. This science is called "textual criticism." For those who must work with the English Bible rather than original languages, this step would mean paying attention to the footnotes in the margin of your text and comparing translations. Most good commentaries will have materials explaining the significance of the variations and which reading makes the best claim to have been the original words of the author.
Some significant variations in the New Testament are:
*The conclusion of Mark chapter 16
* The story of the woman caught in adultery. John 7:53-8:11
* The witness in heaven. 1st John 5:7,8
* The confession of the Eunuch, Acts 8:37
The Deductive Method
An excellent method for in-depth Bible study is known as the Deductive Method. This means the study begins with individual words and then progresses to understanding the meaning of clauses, sentences, paragraphs and chapters. It begins with the smallest elements and works out to the larger sections to derive the meaning of the text.
Beginning with Words: Linguistic Controls
Our Bibles were originally written in Greek, Hebrew and some short sections in Aramaic. Thus, we must appeal to the original meaning of the words rather than the translated meaning. For example, "baptism" according to Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, means:
A Christian sacrament signifying spiritual rebirth and admitting the recipient to the Christian community through the ritual use of water.
Thus, the English word includes baptism by sprinkling, pouring or immersion. However, the Greek baptisma simply means "immersion." The Greeks had different words for sprinkling and pouring. When the Apostles used the word "baptism" they intended immersion and nothing else.
A good Bible student will begin his study with an examination of the key words of the text. Let's look at an example and highlight the key words:
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.---Matthew 5:5 (KJV)
If we understood better the meaning of the words" blessed" and "meek" then we would have a good grasp on the message of this beatitude. What tools can we use to unlock the meaning? The answer is for us to use a lexicon or a dictionary. There are many good ones such as Baur-Arndt-Gingrich or Abbot-Smith's Lexicon but they require some knowledge of Greek. However, if you cannot read a single Greek letter there are still some excellent word study books available. The most popular is Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament words, but others include Robertson's Word Pictures, Vincent's Word Studies, and William Barclay's Daily Study Bible.
The Greek word for "blessed" is markarios which means:
Blessed, happy...especially in congratulations---G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Lexicon on the NT
Thus, the beatitude could mean, "If you are meek, then congratulations are in order, "or "Happy is the meek person, "or "God will bless the meek man." by looking at the meaning of the original words the text blossoms with life.
Words Become Sentences: Grammatical and Syntactical Controls.
Serious Bible students will give careful attention to the arrangement of words within the text and their relationship to one another. Making a grammatical diagram is often helpful.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
singing and
making melody with your heart to the Lord
always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. ---Ephesians 5:19-21 (NAS)
A close examination of this text shows that the command "be filled with the Spirit" is fulfilled by "speaking" "singing" "making melody with the heart" and "being subject to one another." The grammar helps us to understand the meaning of the text. One caution: arguments based on grammar must be based on Greek grammar and not English since the English is a translation.
Read Some More: Contextual Controls
It has been said that "a text out of context is nothing but pretext." Certainly one of the most fundamental rules of Bible study is to understand the passage in the context. How does the sentence fit into the thought of the paragraph? How does the paragraph relate to the chapter? And how does the chapter fit into the scheme of the book?
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ---James 1:5 (NAS)
Some groups use James 1:5 to support a belief that God will magically give men the answers to any difficult question by simply praying for wisdom. However, this passage falls in a context regarding suffering and trials (James 1:2-15). James' exhortation to "consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials" is as startling as it is difficult. The reader quickly questions whether it is possible to find joy in trials. James replies that God will help you find meaning in suffering through prayer. It is not a universal promise that anytime anyone has a question God will magically supply an answer.
Setting the Stage: Historical Controls
Passages can be illuminated by a study of their historical and cultural settings. A good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia will be invaluable in this step.
Figurative or Literal? Literary and Form Controls.
The Bible is composed of many literary forms: narrative, poetry, allegory, prose, didactic and so forth. Naturally you do not interpret a poem the same way you do a teaching section. A good Bible student will pay attention to what kind of literature he is dealing with.
What have others said? Foreground Controls
A good student will finally turn to the commentaries as a last step (not the first step), and compare his conclusions with other other scholars. Should you disagree with the commentaries (an you often will), as long as you have followed the steps outline here you are on solid ground.
Context
A question arises, "How do you know which definition to choose for a word from all of the definitions in a dictionary? "The answer is context." The context must finally determine the meanings we should assign. In trying to understand why the author choose a specific word and what shade of meaning he intended for it to convey we must consider the following as to how the author uses this word in other places. It is equally important to consider how a New Testament word was used in the Greek speaking world of the first century in general.1
Word Pictures
The English language is not equipped to handle the total meaning of some of the Greek words in the New Testament with the result that much rich truth is left behind in the process of translating, truth which the average audience seldom ever hears. ---Wuest, The Practical use of the Greek New Testament.
One of the joys of word study is watching a word blossom. Often under close scrutiny words will flower with meaning and insights that were not readily apparent on first glance.
The English reader has been blessed with a number of fine word study books for the Greek New Testament.
William Barclay, New Testament Words
----The Daily Study Bible
Nigel Turner, Christian Words
Harold K. Moulton, The Challenge of the Concordance
A.T. Robertosn, New Testament Word Pictures
How to do a simple Word Study
1. Identify the root Greek word by using either a Greek New Testament or a concordance.
2. Look up the meaning of the word in a lexicon (A Greek dictionary).
3. See how the word is used in other passages by using a concordance.
4. Finally consult the various commentaries and word study books.
Much confusion regarding the little word, psalo ("sing") could have been avoided if people observed this simple rule. Appeals to the much earlier classical period have as much relevance as appeals to Shakespearian definitions do for English today.