TY  - BOOK
AU  - Smith,Kevin Gary
TI  - A Practical Guide for Studying God's Word
SN  - 9780620426169
PY  - 2009///
CY  - Johannesburg, South Africa
PB  - South African Theological Seminary Press
KW  - Bible
KW  - Criticism, interpretation, etc
N2  - The book has three logical divisions: preparation for interpretation (chapters 1-3), expository Bible study (chapters 4-9), and other types of study (chapters 10-11). The first three chapters deal with preparation for interpretation. They examine three preliminary steps to prepare for Bible study.
  1. The interpreter’s task
  2. The interpreter’s character 
  3. The interpreter’s tools

To be a good student of the Scriptures, you need to meet at least three preliminary qualifications. First, you must know what your task is. What is the goal of Bible study? What are you trying to accomplish when you study a text? How do you measure success? You cannot hit a target if you don’t know what it looks like or where it is. Second, you must be spiritually prepared. Bible study has spiritual objectives. Without the leading of the Spirit and a right attitude towards the Scriptures, you cannot interpret well. Third, you must have the right tools. You need to know how to use key tools like translations, commentaries, and dictionaries.

The body of the book, chapters 4-9, focuses on the process of interpreting a passage of Scripture. We call this expository Bible study. ‘Expository’ means setting forth the meaning or purpose of a writing (Merriam-Webster 2003, ‘exposition’). Expository Bible study starts with a passage of Scripture and seeks to set forth its purpose and meaning. Its point of departure (a text) and objective (to set forth its meaning and purpose) distinguish expository study from devotional and topical study. As I see it, this process involves six major steps. A chapter is devoted to each step:
  4. The literary step
  5. The historical step
  6. The verbal step
  7. The christological step
  8. The theological step
  9. The personal step

The first three steps lead you to a provisional interpretation of the passage. Step 1 is to examine how your passage fits into its book and section. Next, you explore the historical-cultural setting of the passage, trying to understand the circumstances in which it was written. Finally, you analyse the words and phrases in detail.

By the end of the third step, you will have a good idea of what the passage means. In the next two, you test your interpretation against the teachings of Christ (step 4) and all Scripture (step 5). Using the principle that Scripture interprets Scripture, you complete and clarify your understanding of your text

The ultimate purpose of Bible study is not understanding, but responding. However, proper response depends on correct understanding. The final step is to summarise your interpretation and make appropriate applications. This makes it personal. It moves you from theory to practice, from information to transformation.

Expository is the ‘default’ kind of Bible study. The principles of expository study apply to all forms of Bible study. Having mastered the principles of expository study, you can use them in other types of study. The last two chapters are devoted to two other types of Bible study:
  10. Devotional Bible study
  11. Topical Bible study

Devotional Bible study is reading the Bible as part of your daily communion with God. The goal of this kind of reading is not to master the Scriptures, but to meet and respond to the Lord. Your focus should be on responding to what you do understand, not on probing the meaning of what you don’t. It is not an excuse for abusing the author-intended meaning of a passage. The normal rules of interpretation apply, but the goal is different.

Topical Bible study attempts to understand what the Bible (or part of it) teaches about a particular subject. You find all the relevant passages, analyse each one in context (using the principles of the expository method), then summarise what they teach about the topic
ER  -