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Answers About The
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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
Part 3
INTRODUCTION: The waters
at a beach can either be inviting, or terrifying, depending on the
person. To the person who has never learned to swim they terrify
because they are not prepared to swim. There is death out in the
deep. But to the trained swimmer, it invites them to venture forth
to the cool, clear water. It all depends on the
preparation.
This is much like Bible
study. Those who have never studied from God's word often feel
inadequate to the task, not know where to start. But those who spend
some time in preparation feel much more confident in their
study.
BODY
I. WE NEED TO HAVE SOME
UNDERSTANDING OF THE VARIOUS FIGURES OF SPEECH.
A. A working knowledge
of metaphors and similes helps.
1. A simile is a
word or phrase by which anything is likened in one of it's
aspects to another. A simile uses the words like, as, or
so.
a. Psalms 52:8 -
"But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God:
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever."
b. Matthew 23:27 -
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones,
and of all uncleanness."
2. A metaphor is an
implied comparison. It does not used like or as. The metaphor is
usually more pointed than the simile.
a. Matthew
26:26-28 "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and
said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the
cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye
all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins."
b. Luke 13:31-32
"The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto
him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox,
Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to
morrow, and the third day I shall be
perfected."
B. A need to
understand Parables.
1. Parable - "to
throw; hence a placing beside or together, a comparing, a
comparison."
2. Some
parables.
a. The Parable of
the Sower - Matthew 13:3-23
b. The Parable of
the Ewe Lamb - 2 Samuel 12:1-6.
c. The Parable of
the Vineyard - Luke 20:9-19
3. The purpose of
speaking parables.
a. To reveal
truth, making the people to understand the unknown by
comparing to something that they know.
b. To conceal
truth, from the minds of those who had no right to
it.
1. Matthew
13:10-13 "And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why
speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not
given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him
shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I
to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and
hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand."
c. To preserve the
truth for future generations.
d. To cause men to
agree with truth before they realize it was referring to
them.
1. 2 Samuel
12:5-7 "And David's anger was greatly kindled against the
man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that
hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall
restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and
because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art
the man."
4. A couple of
things to remember in interpreting parables.
a. Seek out the
main purpose of the speaking of the parable. What is the
context.
b. While there is
always some symbolism in parables, care should be exercised
not to read too much into the parts of the parable.
c. Seek out the
main lesson in the parable. Avoid "flights of fancy" in
interpreting them.
D. An understanding of
the difference between Figurative and Literal language is
valuable.
1. A look at the
context will usually tells us the difference.
2. A word of
sentence is figurative when the literal meaning involves an
impossibility.
a. Psalms 18:2 -
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my
God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the
horn of my salvation, and my high tower." (Obviously God is
not a literal rock, etc. but is strong to defend like these
things.)
3. When the
Scriptures are made to demand an action which is wrong, or
forbid good, it must be taken figuratively.
a. Matthew 18:8-9
talks about the mutilation of the body. Is it literal? No. It
is intended to teach the importance of putting Heaven
first.
4. When the
Scriptures clearly identify a passage as figurative we should
accept it.
a. John 2:18-22
says that Jesus could raise up the temple in three days if it
was destroyed. John explains that Jesus was speaking of the
temple of his body, not the physical temple.
5. Let the writer
explain the figure.
a. In Ezekiel 37
we read of the valley of dry bones. Many wild theories have
been spun concerning this passage. But Ezekiel explains it as
referring to the house of Israel coming back from Babylonian
captivity. (verse 11)
E. Several other
important figures of speech.
1. Hyperbole - A
deliberate exaggeration of a meaning intended to emphasize a
truth.
a. Used a great
deal in the Old Testament. An eastern custom.
b. Genesis 13:16 -
"And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if
a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed
also be numbered."
c. Also Judges
7:12; 1 Kings 4:29.
2. Proverb - A short
pithy (concise) saying which teaches a valuable lesson. Thought
of as a wise saying. These teach general truth.
3. Personification -
The endowing of inanimate objects or animals with human
characteristics.
a. Isaiah 13:7-8
"Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart
shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows
shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that
travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces
shall be as flames." (at the downfall of the king of
Babylon)
4. Anthropomorphism
- Assigning human characteristics to describe God and His
actions.
a. Such phrases as
the eyes of God, His arms, His ears, etc. are used to help the
reader understand the work of God, not to suggest that He has
arms, ears, etc. like men.
III. A PROPER USE OF
DIFFERENT STUDY AIDS IS IMPORTANT.
A. There are some
study aids which are worth their weight in gold.
1. A good
concordance. This is a book which show every word that appears
in the Bible and where they appear. The good ones also have
useful greek study aids which are geared to the average study
which has no knowledge. The three most common, in order of their
value are: Strongs, Youngs, and
Crudens.
2. Bible
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias are important. Most of the ones
available are conservative and very useful in learning about
places, people and things found in the Bible. There are several
good ones on the market.
3. Bible Atlases are
important when studying the Bible. Most will show various maps
of Israel at different time periods, Paul's missionary journeys,
the Roman Empire, and other useful maps. Baker Bible
Atlas is probably the best.
B. Some other useful
Bible study tools.
1. Commentaries -
These are writings which take books of the Bible apart by verse
or section and expound on the meaning. There are multitudes of
them available. Some are very conservative. Some are extremely
liberal. They range from under $100.00 for the whole Bible to
nearly a $1,000.00 for a set. These are very helpful if one
keeps in mind that they are the opinions of men and must
therefore be understood in light of clear passages. Some of the
better ones: E. M. Zerr, James Burton Coffman (both Gospel
preachers), Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke (both conservative but
not members of the churches of Christ).
2. Lectureship books
- These are written by brethren and have a wealth of valuable
information about the Bible. Some are whole volumes of
individual books of the Bible.
IV. A GOOD, CONSERVATIVE
TRANSLATION IS ESSENTIAL TO PROPER STUDY.
A. We should pick a
translation that seeks to be as close to the original language
without any particular bias as possible.
1. We should
remember that the Bible is "God breathed" and thus must be as
faithfully translated according to the original wording as
possible.
a. 2 Timothy
3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
2. It is impossible
to pick men to translate that have no preconceived opinions
about doctrine. However, it is possible for scholars to lay them
aside and translate simply according to the text.
B. Some guidelines in
picking a primary translation for regular study.
1. Pick one that is
a translation, not a paraphrase. For example, many got on the
Living Bible "bandwagon" for a while. But it is a
paraphrase, not a word for word translation. It was the product
of one man, Kenneth Taylor, who brought in many of his personal
doctrinal biases into the text. It has some good renderings and
may have value as a secondary source, like a commentary, but
should never be used as final authority.
2. Pick one that is
a product of a number of known, scholarly, translators, not a
few. The more translators working, the less the chance of
letting personal bias enter.
3. Pick one that has
stood the test of time. One does not have to be centuries old,
but it should have been around long enough to receive a wide
review and examination.
4. Pick one that has
a reverent tone. Modern translations are not wrong in
themselves, but many are "modern" to the point of vulgarity and
coarseness.
5. Look for one that
is not pushing any particular agenda or doctrine.
a. The New RSV
takes out the personal pronouns when referring to God. This
reveals a personal bias toward the feminist movement and
clearly mistranslates the word. The Bible uses male pronouns
when describing God.
C. Some personal
recommendations.
1. I stress
personal. These are not meant to be inspired, but based on
personal experience. They are not meant to be binding on anyone
but are meant as advice.
2. Concerning
personal preferences about versions, there are several that are
good and ones that I could recommend without any reservations.
The King James Version is tried and true, solid, and has
stood the test of time. The American Standard Version of
1901 is probably the most accurate of the various translations,
but is difficult to get and not in wide circulation. The New
King JamesVersion keeps the beauty of language of the Old
King James and put much of the archaic language of it in a more
modern form. If starting over I would probably begin with this
one. (After much study and consideration, I have chose to use
the NKJV. )
3. Concerning some
of the others. They will vary. They range from the New
American Standard, which is valuable in the Old Testament,
to the Good News for Modern Man, which is chock full of
doctrinal error. The other range in between. The New
International Version could be acceptable if not for the
fact that there are several clear passages, such as Psalm 51:5
which clearly states that David was born a sinner in the NIV.
The Revised Standard Version mistranslates virgin as
"young woman" thus contradicting Matthew 1:23.
4. It is good,
however, to have access to a broad spectrum of versions for
comparison purposes in study. An excellent tool is a book which
has several version parallel.
5. One another
important suggestion. Many will buy the best when it comes to
cars, homes, appliances, etc., and scrimp on a Bible. But a good
study Bible which has various study notes, concordance, Bible
dictionary, Bible atlas, and marginal notes. These are not
inspired, but a conservative study Bible can help immensely. Two
good ones are the Thompson Chain Reference Bible and the
Dickson Bible. There are other good ones. In my opinion,
the NKJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible is the finest
Bible of the market. A little extra money spent here will bring
handsome rewards.
CONCLUSION: This brief
series on How to study the Bible has not been intended to be
exhaustive. It is intended to encourage further study and a renewed
desire to learn what God has given to us in His word. Let's open up
our Bibles more and learn our responsibilities to our
God.
Copyright 1999
by Grady Scott may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes at no
cost to others.
MORE ANSWERS:
a. The Bible:
What is The
Bible?
Part
1, Part
2, Part
3,
How to Study the
Bible?
Part
1,
Part
2,
Part
3,
b.
Who is Jesus?
Part
1,
Part
2,
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