Reading isn’t an automatic process – the further your text is away from you, the harder it will be to understand what the author wanted to do with! So expect reading to be work!

Understanding texts

Understanding a text is not automatic! We have to search for it.

Un-understanding can result from: Unwillingness, lack of judgment, unawareness, lack of power.

Many times you will start with some sort of pre-Understanding, a “working hypothesis”, different interpretations (some of them might be dead-ends). Don’t be satisfied too quickly! Understanding involves the weighing of alternatives and decision-making.

Prerequisites
• I use my intellect and my energy
• I open my heart (are you ready to read something new, something uncomfortable?)
• I listen to other Christians
• I rely on the Holy Spirit (the Bible isn’t a sealed up mystery, but we still need help to understand and accept)

Basic steps

There are things that can help you understand (almost like reading-glasses) – here are 7 basic steps for reading and understanding Bible texts. Remember to do everything with prayer – this is God’s book and he wants to talk to you!

1. Read and read again! Try to read enough. And try to read it often enough! [More]
2. What is the meaning of the individual words? What did the author mean by them? [More]
3. Ask A LOT MORE questions – and look for answers in your text! [More]
4. What is the context? Is there a structure? What does it say before and after your text? At what stage of God’s history with this world was it written? What was the situation of the author and the readers? [More]
5. What is the main point? Can you summarize the main point in one sentence? [More]
6. What do other Christians say? Ask them, look into commentaries. [More]
7. How can I apply this to my life? If you skip this, there’s really no point in doing steps 1-6! You can’t pretend to have understood a text without this! [More]

These steps apply to all different sorts of text, so do them and you’ll be on a good track!

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Texts

All communication happens by and through texts. “Text” is a word derived from Latin textum –i; textus –us: “fabric, netting”. In the text linguistic signs are interwoven with each other (internal context), the text itself is interwoven with other texts and its situation (external context).
We always communicate by texts. Most important about them is their context.

What does a text mean?
The meaning of words (+ their grammar, their use) = the meaning of a sentence
The meaning of a sentence + knowledge about the world + situation = meaning of a text

We always look for textual meaning when we encounter signs (words, sentences, ...).

Suppose for example someones says to you: “Nero lies in-front of the door.” – Even if you know that Nero is a big huge dog, you still don’t know enough: Is this a warning? An answer to a question? A simple information? A threat?

This also shows you that you haven’t really understood a text without reacting to it (= without application, that is). Imagine e.g. a man running into your study room shouting “FIRE!”. Linguists will tell you about the language, the grammar, the structure, the function of this mini-text. Architects may start thinking about the building material of the house you’re in. But acutally, if you don’t run for the emergency exit, you cannot claim to have understood properly!

What does the author want to say? How does he try to reach his goal? There is much more to a text than simply “giving information”.

Take Mark 4:35-38 as an example for the many different functions a text may have:
• Mk 4:38 “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.” This refers, gives information.
• Mk. 4:41 actually says: “They were frightened with great fright” – this is a rhetorical figure (called “figura etymologica”). This is a poetical function, it intensives the impression the text has on us. The same applies for
• Mk. 4:39: Why doesn’t he say: “Be still, quiet!” (gr. siṓpa, pephímōso)?? Because universally, the longer part of a list is normally at the end, it just sounds better. This is also a poetical function, so don’t read any important things into the exact order of these words!
• Mk. 4:38: “don’t you care if we drown?” This is more than a question – it also shows us the attitude and emotions of the speaker!
• Mk. 4:39: “Quiet, be still!” This is an imperative – not information but directed at the listener of that command.
• Mk 4,:38: “Teacher!” – This is a way to test whether communication is working, whether the connection works, whether this person is listening. (cp. Mk 4:3: “Listen!” Mt.13:51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied.)
• And, from another text: Mk 7:11: “...Corban (that is, a gift devoted to God),...” This functions as a way to make sure that the author and reader use the same language, the same definitions

There is much more going on in a text than just giving information!

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Step 1: Read and read again!

Start with the smallest unit and then read wider and wider.

What is the smallest unit of a text?
Look for 1 incident in a story, 1 speech, 1 topic or change of topic, a sentence that is repeated like a chorus, introductory formulas like “Thus speaks the LORD” or finishing formulas like “Therefore...”

Bible editors give you many helpful hints by marking paragraphs. But don’t let yourself be carried away by the layout of your Bible too much – try for yourself to find out how much is in the smallest unit!

Parts of the smallest unit should never be interpreted without regard to this context! (This is also a matter of politeness: You don’t interrupt somebody who is trying to tell you something.)

Example: A Christian thinks about taking a new job in a clinic run on anthroposophical foundations. In a little book that gives you one Bible verse per day he reads on February 26 “Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil.” (Proverbs 15,16)
On March 2 it says: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” (Is 42,1) Are any of these Bible verses applicable?

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Step 2: What is the meaning of the individual words?

Words mean what the author wants them to mean! Meaning results from practical usage (not from etymolgy/history of words, not from the dictionary, law, later usage...)

Words in the Bible have a Biblical meaning
• don’t go to your modern dictionary!
• authors used everyday language (not some kind of saintly angelic language)

For example the word “Shalom” doesn’t always mean some sort of supernatural state of complete harmony. In Gen 29:6 it could be translated as “How are you? / What’s up?”, in Gen 43:23 “keep calm!”

Or consider on of the greek words for love, “agápē” – This word is sometimes interpreted as a sort of divine love that only God and the saints are capable of (Joh. 3,16) but it is also used in 2 Tim 4,10!
Or take the word for the Holy Spirit, “paráklētos” (Joh 16,7) – this means standby, helper, advocate – it doesn’t mean “the one who is called hither” which is what you get if you analyze the greek bits of this word.

How does the author use language?
Like everybody the human author of your text has his own style, way of speaking, individual preferences (what linguists call individual norm). And he makes use of rhetorical figures like everyone else! Those figures are part of normal, everyday language and we should therefore expect them in the Bible.

Attention! Different authors use language in a different way!
• eg. “faith” in Paul (Rom 3:28 = whole hearted conviction and trust which shows itself in actions based on this trust as opposed to relying on your good deeds) and James (2:19 = merely having a peace of information but without acting accordingly)
• “The word of God” in John (he is the only author in the Bible who uses this expression in order to refer to Jesus) and Peter (in 1,23 = God’s revealed truth framed in words).

Here are some examples of rhetorical use of language in the Bible. As well as phonetic figures (figures of sound like alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, ...) there are word and sentence figures:
• Repetition (gemination: Rev. 4:8; anapher: Mt. 23:13-36; parallelism (look to “How to read Old Testament Poetry” for that; antithesis Mt. 5:21-48)
• Augmentation: pleonasm (2 Cor 5:1), paronomasia (Gen 1:2); hendiadys (Gen 19:24)
• Figures of omission (ellipsis: Gal 3:5; Lk 13:9; anakoluthon: Lk 5:14; aposiopese: 2 Sam 14:11b, John 6:11f)
• Figures of commution: metaphor, metonomy (synecdoche: whole – part: Mt 6:11, Mt 8:8, Mt 23:33; cause – effect: ; space/container – contents: 1 Chr 17:12; autonomasie: personal name and circumscription)
• tropes (non-literal speaking): hyperbole (Mt 5:29; Mk 4:31), irony (2 Sam 6:20; Mt 23, Job 12:2), euphemism (Judg 3:24), paradox (Lk 9:24), understatement (Gen 18:27), personification (Prv 1:20f)

Especially those tropes (figures of non-literal speaking) can cause some sort of trouble if you don’t expect them! So be ready for them, or you’ll end up hacking you hand off

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Step 3: Ask A LOT MORE questions

Asking questions helps you observe more. There is an important connection between observation and interpretation and application:

xx	application	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxx	interpretation	xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	observation	xx
GOOD		NOT GOOD

Sample questions
Here are some questions that might help you. As you ask them, write the answers down – this will also help you to observe and clarify your thoughts:
• eg. use the old medieval sentence: Who says what and why to whom, when and where, how and with what intention?

• Use The Swedish Method. For any text, it asks the following questions:
↑ (What does it say about God?)
↓ (What does it say about human beings?) (You might need more than 1 arrow here)
? (What have I not understood?)
! (What is exciting, what is exceptionally good?)
 (Where is there new light for me?)
→ (How does my life change, how will I be different after this Bible text?)

• Use MBS - Manuscript Bible Study
First, make a “manuscript”, that is, print your text without headings, paragraphs, chapter and verse divisions,... Then work on your text with coloured pens, going through these three stages:

1. Observation: WHAT DO YOU SEE?
- read the passage, look for the “main characters” and main themes
- read the passage again and look for ideas which are emphasized (repition, contrast, force)
- use coloured markers to find words, sentences, concepts, connections, topics
- journalist’s questions: who? what? when? where? how?
- connections: repitions, similarities, contrasts, cause and effect, from the general to the specific, from the specific to the general
- try to get inside the “story”.
- become one of the first readers (eg become a believer in one of the first churches): What do you feel, what information do you get? What feelings does the author convey?
- mark all logical connectors (therefore, thus, then, because, in order, but, and, ....)!
- mark units in the text (change of place, time, topic, thought, action, character)! You can work on them later again
- are there quotes or allusions (to the old testament for example)? Look them up! Read the whole passage in the Old Testament, not only the individual verse or sentence. Why does the author refer to this particular text?
- Note everything unexpected or unusual in this text
- write down your questions while you read. Is there something in this passage that remains unclear? Is there something that makes you curious, confused or worried? Write that down! Look for answers (first, in that passage!)

2. Interpretation: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
- formulate questions which are based on your observations
- what are the red threads in the text? Recurrent themes?
- look at the grammatical connections you found and formulate questions for them – “Why does the author repeat this word?”, “What does this contrast serve for?” and so on. What topics or themes do those connections point to? What meaning does the author emphasize with each of his main topics?
- Try to reduce your questions to the most important ones – questions which are raised directly by the text, which cover large parts of the text and help to bring out the main thought.
- Formulate answers to the most important questions
- Look to the text itself first – read it again with your question in mind. Often the text will answer its own questions
- Look to the context: what does it say directly before and after your passage?
- Look to a dictionary or atlas and try to define words, sentences, concepts you don’t understand. Try to identify their cultural context.
- If your passage is from the New Testament look to the passages from the Old Testament your text refers to once more.
- Ask the “Big Question”: What did the author want to say to the original readers? What are the main points of this passage? Why is this passage here? Try to summarize the central truth in on sentence. Collect evidence for your answer!

3. Application: WHAT DO YOU DO?
- Connect the passage with your life: how does this story speak into your story?
- Does God speak into a part of your life? Is there a connection to your life? Do you experience the same as the persons in your text? Is there a promis you can trust, a command you can obey, an example you could follow or avoid? Does the passage give you insight into God’s character or into your life with God? What will you do as a concrete reaction to God’s words to you?

• Ask even more questions
- Why did the writer write this book, why this passage?
- Who were the first readers?
- How is this passage connected to what is written before or after it?
-
- What does it say about God?
- What does it say about humans?
- Which words are repeated? What does it say about them?
- Which compounds of words, which constructions are repeated?
- Which connections are there?
- What else do I see?
-
- What do I not understand?
- What is exciting, exceptionally good?
- What is new for me?
-
- Which principles do I see in this text?
- How does my life change, now that I know all this?
-
- What structure does this text have? Which parts? How are they connected?
- What headings could I give to each part?
- What heading could I give to the whole text?

Most important with this step is: You need to exercise!

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Step 4 What is the context?

Not to make things too complicated, we can divide this into 4 more questions:

1. This text has some sort of internal structure
What’s the context within this part of the text?
What are the topics, are there obvious changes of theme, place, people,..., what is the structure, what sort of text is this: story, poetry, letter, ...?
Try to divide your text into smaller bits – can you find headings or titles for each of them? This is called “a structure”. If you have tried to formulate a structure: Does it work? Can others “see” it? Is it accurate?

2. This text is part of a larger text (unless it is the whole of a small Bible book)
What’s the context in this book of the Bible? What is the theme/topic of this book? Why is this part of the text you are studying here? Why did the author write these verses?

3. This text is part of God’s history of salvation and revelation

 

 

What is the context of God’s history of salvation?
salvation history of the Old Testament

There is a progressive history of revelation. Therefore we should not understand eg the fall of the northern kingdom and the Assyrian captivity as an event of Assyrian history. Read 2 Kings 17:7-23 to see that. Therefore, always read texts in the light of revelation which has been given before them.

 

 

eschatology perspective of the New Testament

The „Big Points“ of God’s history of salvation can’t simply be apportioned/allocated to our situation!

4. This text was written in a special situation
What is the context in the life (of the author and) of the first readers?
Which culture where they part of? What other texts are there from this time? What history do they have? What is the situation of them and their background?

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Step 5: What is the main point?

Try to think of one sentence which summarizes your text. This can be very difficult – but it will help you to think hard about what this text actually says.

There is a danger with this, and it is: Only looking at the main point. Eg. in the story of “David and Goliath” the main point isn’t that we get informed about the what giants looked like. But if there haven’t been any giants, which looked like that, the main point will also break down.

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Step 6: What do other Christians say?

The Holy Spirit was not only given to you, and you’re not the first person who tries to understand this text. So become like a dwarf who can see farther because he stands on the shoulders of a giant!

This involves looking into commentaries or asking others.

Be careful! Don’t go to commentaries too quickly! Otherwise you might not be open to what God is trying to say to you here and now.

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Step 7: How can I apply this to my life?

Remember the most important question: what did the author want to say
The next important question is: How does that concern me?
You could try to find principles in your text
eg 1 Peter 4,9: Clearly, hospitality is much more than inviting people for a meal. The principle behind that could be: “Be ready to give and share of what is yours with other.” So this text has something to tell you, even if you don’t own a house or can’t cook! The danger is: Only thinking in principles, without inviting anyone over for lunch anymore.
Try to find a principle for this Biblical instruction: Rom 16,16 + 1 Cor 16,20 + 2 Cor 13,12 + 1 Thes 5,26 + 1 Peter 5,14

An application should always be a concrete practical action. This can be an act of worship and adoration, an act of repentance and trust in the Lord, an act of obedience that results in practical love towards yourself, your neighbor and your God.

Example: The Foot washing (John 13) – there are at least 4 possibilities:
1. doing just that (so you can tick it off)
2. interpreting as a picture – it’s all about your heart (But Jesus didn’t only talk, he expressed what was said in a very practical way)
3. transferring into our life – what action could I take which would express the same (cleaning a public toilet after a wild weekend?)
4. doing a foot washing but emphasising that it’s not finished with that.

But be careful: Not all passages from the Bible will automatically result in a practical action that is suggested by this text (eg Gen 23).