Biblical Study Methods - Exegesis 1

The first step of Bible study is to get at what the original author and audience would have understood the passage to mean. As exegetical scholar, Gordon Fee says, "A text can't mean today what it never meant to its original audience."

Atheist, and intellectually undeveloped Christians make the same mistakes of anachronistic fallacy, taking passages out of context, misrepresenting figurative language as literal and vice-versa. I want to introduce Exegetical bible study methods at a high (introductory) level. One should fill in the following info based on whichever book you are studying.

1. Context

· Author

· Date

· Audience

· Purpose and Themes

· Historical Background, Worldview, Culture

2. Inductive Study

· Chart Entire Book (Extent depends on Genre e.g. we don’t chart Book of Psalms or perhaps entirety of Isaiah)

· Outline each chapter

· Clues for dividing :

1. A repeated term, phrase, clause or sentence may act as a heading to introduce each part or conclude each individual section.

2. Often there may be grammatical clues such as transitional conjuctions for example, “then, therefore, wherefore, but, nevertheless, meanwhile,”

3. A rhetorical question could signal a switch to a new theme and section. It may be that there also will be a series of such questions which carries forward the argument or plan of a‘whole section.

4. A change in the time, location or setting is a frequent device, especially in narrative contexts, to indicate a new theme and section.

5. A deliberate shift of attention from one group to another constitutes one of the most important devices.

6. A change in the tense, mood or aspect of the verb perhaps even with a change in the subject or object may be another clue that a new section is beginning.

7. Repetition of the same key word, proposition or concept might also indicate the boundaries of a section.

8. In a few cases, the theme of each section will be announced as a heading to that section. In those unusual cases, the interpreter need only make sure that all of the contents of the section are judged in light of the stated purpose of the author.



In a followup post I will describe sentence diagramming and a deeper discussion into Greek and Hebrew grammars, compendiums like BDAG, interlinear Bibles, concordances etc.

Finally, I will point you to the overview diagram, exclusive of Biblical or Systematic theology.