Question-mark specs: Exegesis for beginners

 
Alison Mitchell | Jun 3, 2014

OK, putting on your question-mark specs doesn’t cover the whole concept of biblical exegesis (“drawing the meaning from” a text) - that can take years - but it’s a good place to start.

We all ask questions as a normal part of talking to someone or discovering information, so it’s an easy way to start digging into a Bible passage. There aren’t any “wrong” questions to ask, but here are a few that might help - and they can be very simple indeed.

  • If it’s a story: What happens? Who is involved? Where are they?
  • If it’s a teaching passage: Who is doing the teaching? What is the main subject?
  • Are there any words I don’t understand? Or places I need to find on a map? Or people I don’t know?
  • Are there any repeated words? (Try printing the passage out, eg: from Bible Gateway; then you can underline words or phrases that are repeated, circle people or places, jot down meanings of words, etc)
  • Where does it come in Bible history? (A Bible timeline* can help with this.)
  • Who wrote the Bible book, and do they give us any clue to why they wrote it? (You can sometimes find this near the beginning of the book, eg: Luke 1 v 1-4; or the end, eg: John 20 v 30-31.)
  • Are there any surprises? Eg: did you know there were other boats on the lake when Jesus calmed the storm? (Mark 4 v 36)? Or that the feeding of the five thousand happened at Passover time? (John 6 v 4)
  • Why do you think the writer added a particular detail, or structured his book in a particular way? Eg: Why does John want us to know it was Passover season when Jesus fed that crowd? Why did Mark end his account of the calming of the storm with a question: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”?
  • What comes just before the passage, and just after it? (This can often help work out what the passage is about.)

None of these are difficult questions. Some can be answered just looking at the text; others may need some research in a Bible dictionary or atlas, or simply via Google (though not everything on the web comes from people interested in faithfully understanding and applying the Bible, so it’s worth being cautious with information found there).

The answers won’t lead to a full understanding of the passage, but they’re a good place to start. And if we can’t find the answer to some of them, we know what to ask our pastor, homegroup leader or prayer partner next time we see them!

So that’s the question-mark specs - always the pair to start with. Next time: adding the cross-shaped specs.

*I created the XTB mini Bible timeline for children - but often give copies to adults as well to help them get an overview of Bible history. It’s a useful tool to keep tucked in your Bible.

Alison Mitchell

Alison Mitchell is a senior editor at The Good Book Company, where she has worked on a range of products including Bible-reading notes for children and families, and the Christianity Explored range of resources. She is the best-selling author of The Christmas Promise and the award-winning Jesus and the Lions' Den.