Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

Biblical Studies Using Study Tools in Bible Study

Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to: • Identify and understand the role of scholarly tools in our attempt to understand the meaning of the text. • Recite the purpose of using tools in biblical interpretation, including their ability to help us bridge the various gaps between the biblical world and our own contemporary world, to take advantage of the explosion of remarkable tools that have emerged in our day, and their value in helping us be more faithful to the Word of God by enabling us to reconstruct their meaning in its original context. • Recognize and explain what are considered the basic and elemental tools to all biblical interpretation including a good translation of the Bible, Greek and Hebrew lexicons keyed to the Strong’s numbering system, a solid Bible dictionary, a concordance, and credible exegetical commentaries which focus on the biblical meanings of the passage. • Recognize and explain those tools which can provide additional insight into the meaning of biblical texts, including several different translations of the Bible, a Bible atlas and handbook, a topical Bible, a dictionary of theology, and finally theological commentaries which focus on the larger theological context of the passage. • Explain the three languages in which the Bible was written (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), and identify the particular challenges associated with making good translations, including the difficulties of word usage, cultural distinctions, contextual considerations, and differences among the translators themselves. • Explain the meaning of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, and commentaries, and show how to use the particular tools in the context of biblical interpretation, as well as offer a suggestion for each that could enhance our exegesis of Scripture.

Lesson Objectives

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