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NASB | 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Timothy 2:15 Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. |
Bible Question: I am struggling with how to make observations of bible text. How to really get in and dig it up. Any hints as to how to read more into the words? I am in a class, and I read it and read it and read it, and I don't know what the observations would be. |
Bible Answer: (part 2) Another thing is to look for the design: the relationships of how different Biblical units begin, proceed, and end as they do. The Bible is an inspired design, and examining the literary structure pays lavish dividends. 1. Learn the basic structural relationships. a. Cause-effect relationships - Ex. John 3:16, God's love is the cause; sending the Son is the effect or the result of that love. b. Climax - a series of elements developing a theme, building to a high point of that theme. In the book of Hosea, Chapters 1-3 begin by comparing God's love to Hosea's parable marriage. But the subject of God's love reappears in Chapters 6 and 11, moving towards the climax, which is the unexpected invitation of Love in the closing chapter (Hosea 14). Ha! This book of judgment is designed to end in a climax of divine love. Think of how differently this book would have been if it ended at 13:16.. Can you find the climax in the book of Jonah and identify the themes that build to that climax? c. Comparison. One example is the comparison already noted- between Gomer, the harlot, to Israel, and loving Hosea to God in Hosea 1-3. Another is Psalm 103:13. Another is the church as the bride of Christ. d. Contrast. Two opposing sets of attitudes are carefully put side by side by the author. What contrasts do you see in John 3:16? In Romans 6:23? Jonah 4 is structured by a basic contrast throughout. What are they, and what do they involve? If you pursue that, you will be amazed. e. Cruciality (the pivot). A passage that takes a major turn, reversing a previous course, is said to be structured by cruciality. For instance, 2 Samuel is so designed, with the turning point set clearly in 11:27b. POW! To that point the writer presents the rise of David's house, from that point on the writer presents the decline of David's house, and at that point the crux of the reversal- David's sin with Bathsheba and specifically God's attitude toward it: "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord" (2 Sam. 11:27b, RSV). f. General-specific relationships. When the author moves from a specific statement to a more general saying on the same subject, he 'generalizes.' Doing the reverse, moving from a general to a more specific statement, he 'particularizes.' Matthew 5:17-48 is structured by 'particularization.' Jesus' general statements about fulfilling the law (5:17) and about righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20) are followed by six more specific examples of how this fulfillment and true righteousness are to be understood (5:21-26, 27-30, 31-32, 33-37, 38-42, and 43-48). Psalm 103 and 148 begin with a general exhortation to "praise" or "bless" the Lord, detailed by the presentation of specific features of praise in the psalm, and then conclude with another general exhortation similar to that with which it began (generalization). What particulars follow and expound the general statement in Matthew 6:1? g. Introduction - Passages which prepare the way for the presentation that follows. Ex. Job 1-2, emphasizing the wealth, piety, and righteousness of Job, setting up the dramatic cycle of speeches that follow. h. Question-answer (problem-solution). Romans 6 presents two questions, 6:1 and 16a, with their answers 6:2-14 and 16b-23. Look at Mark 7 and Matthew 24 in this way and see what you find. i. Recurrence - the reappearance of words, phrases, ideas, themes, structures, etc., whether the same or slightly different. See how the writer of Amos used recurrence to tie the prophet's indictments against Israel's neighbors together effectively as an introduction, while zeroing in on Israel in Amos 1:3-2:8. 2. Find the design. The writer put the material together in the way he felt was most effective. Look for the sorts of relationships listed above. 3. Probe relationships. Don't stop at just recognizing which literary design was used. Study the passage, gather relevant information, and reflect prayerfully on it. When you have seen something in the Bible, press on to probe it for meaning, using questions to be answered by further study. (And for what questions to ask, see part 3.) - Makarios |