Basic Bible Study
(1) Read your passage.
Read your passage several times in your preferred Bible version. As you read, mark any words or ideas that draw your attention. You could highlight things you want to look up later or key phrases or sentences that seem important for the theme or main idea of the passage.
Desired Outcomes
- You will become more familiar with the passage and its ideas.
- You will begin developing your own questions and observations about the passage.
Explanation
You should use your preferred Bible version to build consistency and aid in remembering the passage later. Mark anything that grabs your attention or that seems confusing at first glance. Look up unfamiliar words and reread complicated sentences to make sure you follow the author’s flow of thought.
What questions or insights do you have about this passage? Take note of anything in the text that is confusing, surprising, challenging, or hard to understand. Record your questions here and keep them in mind as you explore your passage further.
(2) Read the passage in other translations.
Reading your passage in more than one translation can improve your understanding of the passage. Differences in translations may indicate places where the interpretation of the text is debated, or the differences may reflect different approaches to translation (like sticking close to the wording of the original versus adapting the wording to make it sound natural in the language of translation).
Desire Outcomes
- You may see possible additional nuances in meaning by consulting other translations.
- You may notice specific words or phrases that translations tend to handle differently.
Compare Bible versions
Make note of one or two differences in the texts of the translations you’ve read of your passage. How do the differences affect your understanding of the passage? Are they simply saying the same thing in different words or do they reflect different understandings of the passage?
Write your observations
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(3) Identify people in your passage .
Most passages include references and other intelligent living beings. Here we want to identify the people mentioned in the passage and explore roles they play. You can understand your passage better if you make note of all the people involved including individuals and group and their roles in events.
Desired Outcomes
- You will determine the key actors in your passage.
- You will gain background knowledge about the groups and individuals mentioned in the passage.
- Who are the main players in your passage?
- What makes them important to the passage?
(4) Identify important cross-references.
Examine relationships between your passage and other passages in the Bible. Letting Scripture interpret Scripture has been a guiding principle of biblical interpretation for centuries. The idea is that the meaning of an unclear passage might be clarified by other passages where the meaning is more direct.
Review each key cross-reference and consider its relevance to your passage. Why is the cross-reference relevant for your passage?
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Which cross-references are most important for your passage? What additional insight do the related passages provide for your understanding of your passage? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(5) Summarize your passage.
Review what you have studied and summarize it. Writing a brief summary of your passage and what you’ve learned about it will strengthen your understanding of the passage and help you remember the main points from your study.
Desired Outcome
Summarizing what you have learned will help seal your understanding of your passage.
Explanation
Arriving at your own informed understanding of a passage is important before you move on to consult resources like commentaries….
In a brief paragraph, summarize the passage and the main points (lessons) you have learned about it from your study.
(6) Review commentary discussions.
Look at Bible commentaries to see how others have interpreted your passage. Review the commentary’s discussion to find out which parts of your passage are most challenging or unclear. A commentary discussion may alert you that something you thought was clear in the text is actually a complicated and debated issue.
Desired Outcomes
- You will examine commentaries and consider their contributions to better understanding your passage.
- You will determine how your study should account for what you learned from commentary discussion.
Explanation
Commentaries come in many different forms and not all have “commentary” in the title. For example, a study Bible is a type of commentary because it offers notes that points out things in the passage that are difficult to understand and provides brief explanations of possible interpretations. Commentaries generally finds ways to bring in important exegetical, theological, or historical information whenever it is relevant to understanding the passage. Bible commentaries often spend the most time on aspects of the book that are unclear or challenging to understand.
Record insights gained from reading the commentaries. Note especially the parts of your passage that inspired the most discussion in the commentaries.
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Have the consulted commentaries modified your understanding of the passage? In what way?
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(7) Determine your passage’s theological principles.
An important part of Bible study is determining what timeless principles are taught in a passage so that you can apply those principles in your own life. The meaning of a passage will be applied differently at different times and in different places, but the underlying truths of Scripture will be applicable in some way at all times and places.
Before we can apply a passage, we must understand its theological principles.
Desired Outcomes
- You will consider the deeper meaning of your passage.
- You will identify the theological principles taught by your passage.
Explanation
Application requires identifying the core principles taught in Scripture. This aspect of interpretation is one of the most challenging because we often have trouble separating the timeless theological principles in the text from the cultural and historical particulars that accompany those principles in the text. A list of primary theological themes found in the passage provides a starting point for determining a passage’s theological principles.
What theological principles are communicated in your passage? Which theological principles from your passage are most important? How might they be applied today? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(8) Apply the passage’s principles to yourself.
Consider how to apply the theological principles you identified in this passage to your own life.
Desired Outcomes
- You will evaluate how the passage has inspired or challenged you.
- You will consider how to apply the passage in day-to-day living.
Explanation
Application means discovering the actions God intended believers to take as a result of their encounter with the biblical text. While you can know the Bible and know what it means without applying it, knowledge of the Scripture should lead us to action and inspire change in our lives.
Application Questions
- How has this passage challenged or moved you?
- What issues, personal or corporate, are involved with this passage?
- What spiritual struggles are addressed in this passage, either directly or indirectly?
- What response do you think the passage should inspire in others if you shared your insights with them?
(9) Share your insights from your Bible study.
What have you learned that you should share with others? Your insight could be valuable to others; sharing about it may encourage and enlighten your friends.
