Bible study is no more than careful reading, taking notes, and reflecting on the information.
God’s intent is to speak to us through His Word and in a manner that would capture our hearts.
Observation is simply a careful survey of the content.
TIP: While the Bible is Holy, its pages are not; so mark it up with notes!
What does the word / term mean
How does the author use the word or term here and other places he has
authored? What is his intended meaning? Can we assume that we know the author’s definition of
the word or term?
Example: In John 17:26, John 3:16, and John 14:21 the same word "love"
is used towards three groups of people. Does "love" have the same meaning in each of
these passages?
1) John 17:26: "And I have made Your name known to them, and will make it
known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
2) John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
3) John 14:21: "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who
loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose
Myself to him."
What was being conveyed by those words to the initial readers (audience)?
Example: In the case of love, everyone can understand the parental distinctions
of that love as the parent considers the love for their child, for a familiar child, and for an
unfamiliar child. In the above example, the word for "love" was "agapao"
which was used identically in each of the verses. In John 17:26 (Jesus is praying), "agape
love" is towards His beloved Son; in John 3:16 (Jesus speaks to Nicodemus), "agape
love" is towards the human race; and in John 14:21 (Jesus speaks to His disciples),
"agape love" is towards Believers. To the Greek speaking audience, it revealed, that
unlike them, God made no such distinctions with deep esteeming love; all are His children whether
it be His only Son, humanity, or Believers.
Are there any similar words or opposite words to help you understand the
author better?
Example: Notice how both similar and opposite words are used to convey the
meaning of love.
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong
suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails…(1 Cor 13:4-8)."
What is its original Hebrew or Greek?
Example: Two distinct Greek words, "phileo" and "agapao,"
are translated as the same English word "love." To learn about their distinctions,
use a concordance.
It is clear that one cannot assume that the author uses words with the same meaning as the
reader. This is just the first step in the process of observation; there are other factors that
affect the meaning of words and how they in turn affect our understanding of ideas and concepts.
TIPS:
1. Many words and terms of biblical times cannot be understood today. Bible dictionaries are
thus essential references for your Bible study.
2. To find the Hebrew or Greek word from which your Bible translation is based on, learn
how to use a concordance. For more information on Bible dictionaries and concordances, see the
section "Tools: A Summary of References."
Copyright ©2001 Helpmewithbiblestudy.org. All rights to this material are reserved. We encourage you
to print the material for personal and non-profit use or link to this site. You may not distribute articles
to other web locations for retrieval or mirror at any other site.