FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

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FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

• More on Interpretation and Application

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Answers to Interpretive Questions

• Remember Many of the answers to your questions
  will come from knowledge of the literary context
  and of the author's purpose and do not require
  special research.
• Your answer should not appear to be arbitrary.
  You should always be able to explain how you
  arrived at your conclusion.
• Consider Mark first as a source for your answer,
  beginning with the immediate context.

3
Application

• In interpreting historical narrative the message
  of a passage will not always be evident
  immediately.
• It may be seen as indirectly reflective of a
  biblical principle.
• In this case the interpretive process becomes
  even more crucial in ascertaining the
  significance of the text. (Ex - Mark 914-29)
• Beware of trying to milk a unit artificially in
  order to derive an "application." It may be that
  the unit is a part of a larger unit which will
  more readily yield treasures of application.

4
Application

• There should be a theoretical and a practical
  side to your stated application.
• The theoretical aspect will consist of at least a
  brief statement of a biblical principle which you
  have identified expressed in terms of general
  application.
• The practical aspect builds upon the theoretical
  and is what ought to be done by yourself and
  others.
• Be very specific! Use an illustration!

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Special Resources for Answering Interpretive
Questions

• Use of a concordance
• The final arbiter for the meaning of any term is
  its own immediate context.
• At the same time, observing other texts of
  Scripture where the same term is used enables us
  to have a better understanding of the potential
  meaning of the term in the particular text with
  which we are working.
• Illustration from Mark 27 97.

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Special Resources for Answering Interpretive
Questions

• Use of Bible Dictionaries or Bible Encyclopedias
• There are several one volume or multi-volume
  Bible Dictionaries or Bible Encyclopedias
  available.
• A Bible student should have at least one such
  volume readily at hand.
• The value of a relatively more recent work is
  that it may be expected to have more update
  research information, for example in the area of
  archeological discovery.

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Special Resources for Answering Interpretive
Questions

• Use of Standard Bible Commentaries
• Good commentaries are very important in answering
  our interpretive questions, and in raising new
  questions!
• As in the case of Bible dictionaries/encyclopedias
  , there are single volume commentaries
  available.
• Old commentaries usually are available free of
  charge online or with software packages, such as
  the single volume commentary by Matthew Henry.
  However, these are usually outdated and of
  limited usefulness.

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Special Resources for Answering Interpretive
Questions

• Other resources
• Bible Atlas
• Monographs on specific topics
• Journal articles