Your Bible study method affects your ability to get to know Jesus. At We Who Thirst, we use a way of studying called grammatical-historical Bible study method. We use different tools to look at the context and words the author used in order to understand what they meant.
This is Part 2 of 3 in our Hermeneutics series:
- Beginning Principles for Studying the Bible (Part 1)
- Bible Study Method (Part 2)
- Our hermeneutical Process (Part 3 – coming soon)
The grammatical part of grammatical-historical Bible study method seeks to understand the words of the text individually and together in sentences, paragraphs, & books of the Bible. Your focus is understanding clearly the message of the words themselves and what they are saying.
Grammatical exegesis (Bible study) utilizes Biblical languages on both the corporate level (Bible translations from the Hebrew, Aramaic, & Greek) and in rarer cases the individual level (people who’ve learned the languages).
The historical part seeks to understand the words of the text in their original context. You will look at how the ancient writers used language and words to craft their message. You can take into account their culture, methodology, world-view, and historical context.
Historical theology also helps you see how the Jewish people, early church fathers, and saints throughout history interpreted and applied various passages.
The grammatical-historical Bible study method follows this pattern:
Theology of Scripture > Context > Observation > Interpretation > Response.
Each step plays a significant role in uncovering the meaning of the text and helping us respond to God. Let’s walk through each part of the pattern.
Bible Study Method: Theology of Scripture
When you study the Bible for yourselves, you must first acknowledge your theology of Scripture, which contains your presuppositions and your approach to the text. Whether or not you believe in inspiration and inerrancy will greatly impact the end result of your interpretation of a given passage.
Inspiration
Inspiration is the process by which God carried along the spirits of the original authors so that they communicated His message authentically according to their personality, language, vocabulary, speech patterns, etc.
This inspired communication from God is without error (inerrant) and true, because God’s promises will not fail (infallible). Scripture does not become inspired when we experience it (neo-orthodoxy), nor does scripture seek to communicate God’s message in a post-enlightenment, scientific/natural-law, post-industrial age world-view.
Resources Regarding Inspiration:
The Lost World of Scripture by John Walton (Amazon)
How You Interpret
When you interpret scripture, you must consider the author’s intention and what the original audience would have understood.
Scripture should be interpreted literally, in so far as the author intended a literal understanding (as WE would understand literalness in our modern world-view).
Different genres and types of speech are to be interpreted at various levels of literalness. We must take that into account when studying scripture. We cannot just assume every bit is to be interpreted as though the Bible was written TO US in our world-view.
Scripture also must be interpreted by itself. This is a collection of books composed over thousands of years in 3 separate languages by numerous authors. All of scripture from beginning to end is in harmony with itself. Yet, the story of the Gospel unfolds bit-by-bit as God revealed Himself, His love, and His plan for redemption to all people.
Scripture
Most evangelicals limit scripture to the canonical 66 books of the Bible, excluding the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.
God gave Scripture as the record and means of His saving work for all who would believe. It is God’s authoritative revelation of Himself which guides the life and practice of His people.
As such, scripture is best studied using consistent hermeneutic that is consistent as it moves from a theology of scripture, to context, to observation of the text itself, to interpretation, and finally to response.
Bible Study Method: Context
As you delve into the depths of Scripture, you will find it important to take into account three things: Personal Context, Textual Context, and Historical Context. They all play a crucial role in understanding the Word of God. Let us explore each one individually.
Personal Context
Personal Context is essential to illuminate your unique framework and emotional perspective. These elements shape your perception and interpretation of a particular passage of scripture. Acknowledging your personal context and how you relate to the Word of God must be the starting point of your Bible study.
Your unique framework is influenced by your world-view (post-enlightenment, post-industrial age, most likely western), gender, church background, education, life experiences, etc. All of these things form the lenses through which you view and interpret a given passage of scripture.
To understand HOW you are reading (or reading into) the Bible, you must first understand where you come from, and what lenses you are bringing to your Bible study.
Your emotional perspective can change according to you mood, life circumstances, and emotional awareness. We do not interpret scripture by our emotions, but how we feel does play a big part in our response to God.
Textual Context
Textual Context is critical, as it provides an understanding of the wider context of a particular passage, including the surrounding chapters and books of the Bible. This understanding ensures that we avoid taking verses out of context, leading to inaccurate interpretations.
Historical Context
When I was originally taught Bible study method, my professors focused on observation, interpretation, and application. Most of them left historical context out of the picture.
Yet, as I watched professors disagree over their understanding of various passages, I realized they didn’t agree on the historical context and how that should impact their interpretation.
Historical Context provides context to the author’s intent and message of the passage and helps you understand the cultural, social, and historical context of that time. It provides a better understanding of the author’s mindset, audience, and questions raised in their era.
Therefore, as you study the Word of God, bring your personal context with you, pay attention to the textual context, and dive deeper into the historical context to understand the authorial intent of each passage.
Bible StudyMethod: Observation
The observation stage can take the longest amount of time. This is where you dive deep into the words, grammar, figures of speech, etc. of the passage.
Personal Observations about the grammar, structure, language, etc.
Your personal observations are essential knowing the text and therefore the Divine Author of that text. As you spend time considering the details, your mind and heart absorb the richness of God’s word.
Depending on your time, passion, and level of expertise, observation can include things like:
- Finding repeated terms
- Seeing how conjunctions are used
- Related words
- Comparisons
- Commands
- Word pictures
- Asking your own questions
- Word studies
- Understanding actions in light of the author’s culture
- Structure of the text
- Poetic analysis
These processes on their own don’t provide much more than data. However, as you study, relying on the Holy Spirit, He will help you to see His beauty and truth in each passage. Your time exploring God’s word is never wasted.
Analysis of the themes and theology
As you spend time observing the text, you’ll start to notice themes, theological emphases, ethical frameworks, examples/models, and situations that all work together to show us who our God is and how He wants us to know Him.
Ask questions like:
- Where do you see God in this passage
- How does He reveal His holiness and character?
- How is He working out His purpose and plan?
- What does this passage model for us?
- Where do we see God’s ethical framework at play?
Research what scholars say about a passage
A common temptation while studying the Bible is to immediately read the notes in your study Bible or flip open a commentary. I encourage you to wait. Pause.
Put in the effort to wrestle deeply with a text, to meditate upon it, to ask it every question you can think of BEFORE you ever get someone else’s opinion. Good scholarship is invaluable to our Bible study – but it is not a shortcut to doing the work ourselves first.
Therefore, after you have looked at the text from every angle you can imagine and have written down all your questions. Research using:
- Commentaries
- Scholarly books
- Scholarly articles
- Lectures, etc.
These tools will deepen your understanding, help you see different perspectives, and encourage you to think about God in fresh ways.
Bible Study Method: Interpretation
Now you make sense of meaning and work towards discerning the authorial intent.
Our greatest use of historical context (see above) will occur during the interpretation phase of Bible study.
Interpretation functions as a bridge between the then of the Bible and its historical context, and the now of the modern reader. You must discern what elements of the text are peculiar to the ancient world and which elements translate over to your time and culture.
Interpretive process:
- What did the passage mean and communicate to the original hearer in the ancient world?
- What was there a need for this passage to be written?
- What is the problem/need in the text?
- What is God’s answer to that problem?
- What eternal principles still are true for us today?
- Who does God reveal Himself to be through this passage?
- What truths from this passage transcend time, place, culture, gender, and age?
- Where do we see Jesus, the effects of Jesus, or a foretaste of Jesus in this passage?
- What Gospel truths does this passage communicate?
- What do those eternal principles mean for the modern context, our lives, and our communities specifically?
- What similar problems/needs do we face today, to what the original hearer faced?
- Does God’s answer for their problem/need still apply today? Why or why not?
- What do I learn about what it means to follow God from this passage?
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Bible Study Method: Response
When you have walked through the various steps, you respond to the text. However, if you jump to application without walking through the previous steps, you run the risk of incorrect (or dangerous) outcomes. These impact your belief about God, people, and the world and your behavior toward them.
The Holy Spirit guides your response as you follow Him. There is no one right way to respond to God from your time in scripture.
You can ask yourself diagnostic questions, but these questions are not the response itself:
- (This attribute of God) ____________, impacts ___________ area of my life, so I will _______________.
- _________________ (The theme of this passage) impacts _____________ area of my life, so I will _________________.
- How does this passage impact the way I view myself and my circumstances?
- How can I ask God to change my affections as a result?
- Because of this passage/eternal principle, what do I need to:
- Believe?
- Obey?
- Repent?
- Rejoice?
Remember dear one, your goal in studying the Bible is not to walk away with a list of things to do or not do. Your goal is to know God and yourself better, so that as you are united with Christ, you can walk as part of the visible representation of His body.
You cannot force change into our lives. You open yourselves up to dissection by the Spirit using the scalpel of the Word of God. And as He knits your soul together, He heals your wounds and strengthens our dying limbs and preserves your faith.
Yes, you respond to God. But He does the work of life change. You can practice things like the fruit of the Spirit. But without God’s hand on your life, the fruits of the Spirit are just duties to be done, not fruit from your union with Jesus.
Bible Study Methods Journal
The Bible Study Journal offers step-by-step guidance through a passage to deepen appreciation and understanding of Scripture. It’s approachable for individuals and groups, encouraging thorough comprehension of key themes through prompts and questions.
