Looking for Details

In his full course on Bible study, Dr. David Smith walks through the process of observing a passage, using Mark 1 as an example. In this micro-course, we want to give you a taste of the basic types of things he says to look for in a passage. If you are old school, you might print off a copy of a passage in the Bible and “mark it up” with observations, circling certain words, underlining others, making comments in the margins, etc. Of course you can do all these things electronically now too.

Observations Download

Basic Content

First, Dr. Smith suggests you get well acquainted with the content of the passage by reading through it several times observing the “Who?” “What?” “Where?” “When?” “Why?” and “How?” of the passage. If these things aren’t obvious, these are great questions to raise about the passage (more on the next Page). Asking these sorts of questions gets you acquainted with the content of what you are reading.

Key Words and Phrases

One of the most important elements in understanding a text is knowing what the words and phrases mean in it. How are the words being used? We will explore how to determine the meaning of words and phrases in the next lesson. For now, we want to identify which words and phrases seem key to understanding a passage. You might circle the key words.

For example, many debates in the interpretation of Paul’s letters hinge on the meaning of certain words and phrases. What does the phrase “the righteousness of God” mean in Romans 1:17? What does the expression, “the faith of Jesus Christ” mean in Galatians 2:16? In observation, we raise these “questions of definition” so that we can try to answer them when we get to the interpretation stage of the process.

Important Connection Words

In the previous lesson, we talked about the different ways that two thoughts can relate to each other. Remember contrasts, comparisons, and all the other logical relationships we learned? They apply to the relationships between sentences and even the relationships between words in a sentence. 

One of the best ways to spot these relationships is by looking for key connecting words. Here are some examples of words to look for:

• Comparisons – “like” “as”
• Contrasts – “but” “however” “although” “nevertheless”
• Cause-Effect – “therefore”
• Substantiation – “for” “because”
• Purpose – “in order that”
• Conditions – “if”

Historical/Cultural Context

In the next lesson we will see that context, more than anything else, determines meaning. In this observation phase, look for context clues. Are there statements that point to historical background or information on the situation? Are there hints of culture you need to dig into more deeply?

If you wanted to dig into the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 more deeply, you wouldn’t just read the verse in isolation. You would read the verses that come before and after it!

What are some of the key historical and cultural items you would want to investigate? If you go back to the beginning of the chapter, there’s this guy named Jeremiah. There are other names in the verses that follow: Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiakim, Elasah, Zedekiah, and more. Who are these people? Good questions to ask!

Places are mentioned too: Jerusalem, Babylon. Mention is made of exile (Jer. 29:4). Wait a minute. There’s a message here from God to some people, “to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” These are all important context clues. It’s a great example of how the Bible is for us but not written to us. Jeremiah 29:11, that incredibly encouraging word, is true for us too, but those words were originally for a certain group of Israelites in exile in ancient Babylon. That’s what the Bible actually says.

Observation is about listening to the text. In this phase, we don’t expect to have all the answers yet. In fact, we will do better if we suspend our conclusions until we dive deeper. In this phase, we are raising questions. What are these places? Who are these people? When was this written? What is Babylon? What is Jerusalem? Who are Jeremiah and Jehoiachin?

These are important questions to raise in the observation phase.

Grammatical Constructions

Most of us don’t get very excited about grammar, but the evidence from grammar is a key factor in answering questions about what the biblical text actually meant. Many of the statements in the Bible that say “you” are plural rather than singular. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that you are the temple of the Lord. It is easy for us to assume it’s talking about me and perhaps my body.

But, grammatically speaking, it’s a plural. Paul is saying that the church as a whole is the temple of the Lord. They as a whole are the body of Christ, and the Spirit dwells in them collectively, not just individually. A simple grammatical question, “Is this ‘you’ singular or plural,” can open up a whole new world of understanding. 

Again, at this phase we are more raising questions than answering them. That comes next in interpretation. Put grammatical features on your list of things to look for when you are observing a biblical text. You might be surprised at how exciting the results can be!

Atmosphere and Tone

A final feature of the text Dr. Smith says to observe is atmosphere. The Bible is not just a book of logic. There is irony, sarcasm, and even humor in these pages. Reasoning was only one of the modes of persuasion in ancient times. They also built up confidence in the person speaking, and they used emotion at times too.

The short book of Philemon has some tone to it. At one point, Paul tells Philemon he could command him to receive his servant back but that he knows he would do the right thing without him going that far (Philemon 8-9). There’s an undertone there. At one point, Isaiah calls Israel “Sodom” and “Gomorrah” (Isa. 1:10). There’s a tone there.

Be sure to observe possible indicators of atmosphere and tone and ask questions about them.