FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

1
FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

• More Pointers on Observation

2
The "Materials" in Observation

• We identified five kinds of materials
• Biography (persons).
• Geography (places, but could also include more
  specific locations such as house, synagogue,
  etc.).
• Chronology (time).
• History (events).
• Ideology (ideas).
• 52

3
The 1st stage of Analytical Reading or Rules for
finding what a book is about

• Classify the book according to kind and subject
  matter.
• State what the whole book is about with the
  utmost brevity.
• Enumerate its major parts in their order and
  relation, and outline these parts as you have
  outlined the whole.
• Define the problem or problems the author is
  trying to solve.
• Adler, Mortimer J. and Charles VanDoren. 1972.
  How to read a book The classic guide to
  intelligent reading. New York, NY A Touchstone
  Book.

4
"Materials" Observation in Mark 9

• Biographical Repetition
• In 94, 5 Elijah is mentioned as appearing to
  Peter, James, and John, and Elijah is mentioned
  again in 911-13 when these men question Jesus
  regarding Elijah and Jesus replies. (In this
  observation of repetition we are focusing on
  mention of the person of Elijah.)
• Historical Progression
• In the above passage Peter, James, and John
  first "see" Elijah and then later they ask
  Jesus a question about him. (Note that the focus
  is now on what happened (event), even though the
  same persons are involved. We observe a
  progression from seeing to questioning. Perhaps
  we could also see something of a cause-effect
  relation here, though that may be more
  interpretive in view of the statement Jesus makes
  in verse 9 and the disciples reaction to that in
  verse 10.)
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5
"Materials" Observation in Mark 9

• Geographical Progression
• Between 92,9,14 the narrative relates Jesus'
  association with Peter, James, and John to first
  being on the mountain, then, to coming down the
  mountain, and finally to their approaching the
  disciples and a great crowd. Clearly our focus is
  on the locations of Jesus with the three men, and
  there is a progression in that respect. Thus we
  have a geographical progression.
• Chronological Connective (indicating simultaneous
  action)
• We observe a grammatical relation in 99. "As"
  at the beginning of the sentence indicates that
  it was while Jesus and the three men were
  descending the mountain that Jesus exhorted them
  to be silent about what they has just seen.
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6
"Materials" Observation in Mark 9

• Ideological Contrast
• In 912 Jesus affirms that Elijah comes for
  restoration purposes (in response to a question
  vs.11), but then abruptly speaks of the suffering
  of the Son of Man. There is a sudden change of
  topic, even though the logical connective "and
  how" does not make this contrast explicit. This
  is observation of a grammatical relation between
  two clauses, with the focus on the subject matter
  concerned.
• Ideological Interchange (with Progression)
• Between 912-13 Jesus speaks of Elijah coming
  (vs.12a), then refers to the suffering of the Son
  of Man (vs.12b), and then returns to the Elijah
  topic, but with the explanation that Elijah has
  already come (vs. 13). This is an observation of
  a literary relation, since we are not really
  relating verse 13 to verse 12a grammatically.
• 53-54

7
"Materials" Observation in Mark 9

• Historical Contrast
• In 92-8 there is no dialogue between Jesus and
  the three men with him, as Jesus is transfigured
  before them (although Jesus speaks with Elijah
  and Moses). But in 99-14 there is dialogue
  Jesus' command (vs. 9) the question from the
  three (vs.11) Jesus' response (vss. 12-13). The
  focus is upon what happened (event). Note also
  that here we are relating two paragraphs as
  wholes to each other. We shall discuss this
  further in Chapter Four.
• Historical Progression (a subject with its three
  verbs)
• We observe in 915 three predicates following
  the subject ("crowd") "were greatly amazed,"
  "ran up to him," and "greeted him." In this
  series of predicates there is a progression in
  the way the crowd responds to Jesus.
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8
Observation of Implicit Structural Relationships

• Many times the line of demarcation between what
  is observation and what is interpretation is
  fairly thin.
• This is the case when structural relations are
  more implicit than explicit.
• The arrangement of the text makes quite clear
  that a particular relation is intended, but there
  is no connecting word which makes the relation
  explicit.
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9
Observation of Implicit Structural Relationships

• Ex The reference to John's preaching mission in
  14 is followed immediately by a description of
  the mass exodus to him from Judea and Jerusalem
  (15).
• Mark surely intends his readers to see a
  cause-effect relation between verses 4 and 5. But
  there is no connecting word or phrase such as
  "therefore" or "for this reason.
• When in doubt, it is probably safer to regard the
  relation that we think we see as interpretation
  on our part.
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10
Analyzing the Structure of a Paragraph

• The main criterion for identifying a paragraph is
  a unifying theme which is dominant enough to
  separate a group of verses or lines off from
  other verses or lines.
• The dominant theme might center around an event,
  such as Jesus' baptism in Mark 19-11. Or a
  dominant idea might form the paragraph, such as
  the parable in Mark 426-29 wherein the Kingdom
  of God is compared to a growing seed.
• Similarly, sub-themes within a paragraph unit
  help to determine the boundaries of a give
  paragraph.
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11
Analyzing the Structure of a Paragraph

• Mark 135-39 as a sample of paragraph analysis.
• Jesus withdraws and prays, verse 35.
• Simon and others with him pursue Jesus, find him,
  and state that everyone is searching for Jesus,
  verses 36-37.
• Jesus responds with a pronouncement of his
  mission, verse 38.
• Jesus engages in his mission, verse 39.
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12
Analyzing the Structure of a Paragraph

• The "broad structure of the paragraph
• I. The purpose of Simon and others to locate
  Jesus (vss. 35-37).
• The purpose of Jesus to go elsewhere for his
  mission (vss.38-39).
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13
Analyzing the Structure of a Paragraph

• In the broad structure, we observe quite a
  contrast in purposes. (The people want to find
  Jesus Jesus wants to leave the people and go
  elsewhere to fulfill his mission.)
• There is a cause-effect relation between "a" and
  "b" in that the absence of Jesus precipitated the
  search for Jesus. This is evident from what Mark
  says about Jesus' withdrawal.
• There is a contrast between "b" and "c.
• There is a progression between "c" and "d.
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14
Recognizing a "Spiritual Truth" in Your Study

• If you have difficulty in recognizing a spiritual
  truth, it probably reflects a need to work
  further at integrating the intellectual and
  devotional aspects of Bible study.
• Most of our prior study has been to ascertain
  what the text meant to those to whom it was
  given. This is the work of exegesis, and it is
  not only appropriate but necessary.
• However, if our contemplation of the text does
  not go beyond this, our study is little more than
  academic.
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15
Assignment for Week 3

• Type up your assessment of Assignment 2 and turn
  in on class3.
• Assignment 3
• Review ch. 2- literary relations
• Read ch. 3.
• Read Mark 114-45 and observe the following
• Try to observe relations between clauses and
  between sentences.
• Try to observe relations between paragraphs and
  any significant relations between Mark 114-45
  and 11-13

16
Assignment for Week 3

• State no less than 10 and no more than 12 of your
  most significant observations.
• Make your observation cover the entire portion of
  Mark 114-45 as you think is best.
• Remember to always number your observations and
  to included verse references with your
  observations as appropriate.
• For each paragraph, give a brief title of a few
  words that are drawn from that paragraph. The
  title should remind YOU of the contents of the
  paragraph.
• Read Traina pp 55-79 online (under week 2) at
  www.garrettministries.org or on reserve in
  library.