Knowable Word - Bible study help

Cosas para observar: Gramática

March 31, 2026 By Peter Krol

This is a Spanish translation of a post from our archive. For the original post in English, please click the “Publicación original” link at the top of the post. For further explanation of why we’re posting articles in Spanish for a season, see this announcement.

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Publicación original de Peter Krol, traducida por Sarah Oiler

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El filósofo Wittgenstein escribió: “Como todo lo metafísico, la armonía entre el pensamiento y la realidad se encuentra en la gramática del idioma.” Mi profesor de inglés de la secundaria diría que iba por buen camino.

Sin la gramática, sería difícil comunicarse. Por ejemplo, no tendrías los verbos. Solamente sujetos. Todo el tiempo. Sin acción. Quizás objetos. Frases breves. Mucha confusión. Histeria colectiva. Necesidad de claridad. Poco hablando. Ay, no podía hacerlo.

Después de observar las palabras de un texto bíblico, puedes seguir observando cómo el autor las ordena en frases. Eso significa que observamos la gramática.

La palabra “gramática” puede dar miedo. Puede hacernos pensar en los años que solían llamarse “los buenos tiempos” de la preadolescencia, evocando recuerdos de las espinillas, los bravucones y la presión parental. Sin embargo, estoy aquí para decirte que la gramática puede ser divertida. La gramática puede ser emocionante. De hecho, la gramática puede ser la puerta a la observación provechosa de la Biblia.

Usemos Lucas 2:1-21, NVI como nuestro texto otra vez. Observemos solamente el sujeto y el verbo de cada frase (o sea, miremos un poco de gramática básica). Mira lo que puedes ver:

Augusto César decretó
se levantara un censo
Este primer censo se efectuó
iban todos a inscribirse
José…subió
Fue a Belén
se le cumplió el tiempo
dio a luz…lo envolvió…y lo acostó
había unos pastores
un ángel del Señor se les apareció
la gloria del Señor los envolvió
se llenaron de temor
el ángel dijo
- No tengan miedo
- Miren
- ha nacido
- que es Cristo
- esto les servirá de señal: Encontrarán
apareció…una multitud de ángeles del cielo
los pastores se dijeron
- Vamos a Belén…a ver
fueron de prisa y encontraron
contaron
se asombraron
María…guardaba todas estas cosas
los pastores regresaron
todo sucedió tal como
lo llamaron

¿Para qué fue este ejercicio? Simplemente al sacar los detalles y observar la estructura básica de la frase (el sujeto y el verbo), terminamos con un resumen bastante bueno del relato de Lucas 2. Antes de continuar con la interpretación (comprender lo que significa el texto), necesitamos observar lo que dice el texto. Una forma de identificar lo que dice el autor es observar la gramática. Esta habilidad es importante cuando aprendemos cómo estudiar la Biblia.

Observar la gramática no es solamente para el género narrativo, como el relato de Lucas. La gramática también ayuda en otros géneros.

Por ejemplo, mira Filipenses 2:5-11 (NVI). Al reducirlo a la gramática básica, tenemos:

La actitud de ustedes debe ser como la de Cristo Jesús
- Quien no consideró el ser igual a Dios como algo a qué aferrarse
  - Por el contrario, se rebajó
  - Se humilló a sí mismo
- Por eso Dios lo exaltó

¿Qué quiere Pablo que hagamos aquí? Sé como Jesús. Cuando renunciamos a lo que merecemos (nos rebajamos) y asumimos lo que no merecemos (nos humillamos), no sabemos lo que Dios podría hacer en nuestra comunidad.

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Detailing the Consequences of Immorality

March 27, 2026 By Peter Krol

This week we continue our study of the illusion of sexual freedom.

And now, O sons, listen to me,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
Lest you give your honor to others
And your years to the merciless,
Lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
And at the end of your life you groan,
When your flesh and body are consumed,
And you say, “How I hated discipline,
And my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
Or incline my ear to my instructors.
I am at the brink of utter ruin
In the assembled congregation” (Prov 5:7-14).

Notice that the command to listen is repeated once again (Prov 5:7). Don’t let its familiarity cause you to hurry past it. Let it remind you of your need for help from outside yourself. Ask any recovering addict: You will not win this battle on your own.

Rochelle Hartman (2011), Creative Commons

Avoid immorality at all costs (Prov 5:8). Otherwise it will cause you to:

Lose your best years (Prov 5:9). The springtime of life could be spent on serving the Lord and growing his kingdom. Don’t give that up.
Squander your strength and the fruit of your labor (Prov 5:10). You’ll spend all your energy coping with your sin. Wouldn’t you rather have something else to look back on as your life’s work?
Regret all the waste and its wreckage (Prov 5:11). The night before I graduated from college, a hall mate asked if I had any regrets. I looked back over those four years, and with full honesty said, “No.” I hadn’t done everything perfectly, but the Lord had given me rest in him and in his work in my life. That night, I committed to living the rest of my life with the end in mind. I don’t regret that choice one bit.
Stagger from all of the guilt (Prov 5:12). You’ll finally identify the foolishness in your heart and the damaging behavior it led to. The weight of it will sink in.
Cower beneath all the shame (Prov 5:13). You’ll realize the problem wasn’t that you didn’t have enough information, but that you didn’t have enough conviction.
Despair at the public disgrace (Prov 5:14). You could be “that guy who ran off with the girl” back at your home church. I regret many indiscretions of my teen years. One particular incident came to light just before my high school graduation and crushed the respect a younger sister in Christ had for me. Her parting words – “How could you?!” – remain etched in my memory.

I want to make two things very clear. First, we must not minimize the consequences of our sin. Consider: Is it worth it? Decide now, not when temptation happens. We also must not buffer others from the consequences of their sin. God saves sinners – I am foremost! – by breaking all their hope to pieces, leaving none but Jesus (Mat 21:42-44, Rom 7:7-12). Don’t hinder any work of God by boxing out the truth.

Second, if this passage has discouraged you, please remember Proverbs 4: There is always hope that we can grow. Solomon depicts the end of immorality on purpose. He does it so we might change course before the end arrives. If you’re reading Solomon, it’s not too late for you. Just do nothing, and you’ll ruin all. Fear the Lord, and anything can change.

Share your struggles with pastors or wise leaders. Ask them to help you figure out what you desire (since what we do is always a result of what we desire). Many people turn to sexual immorality out of a desire for control (when life feels out of control), escape (when things are difficult), or acceptance (when they feel rejected by those they care about most). Identify what God desires for you instead (that you know him and find long life, peace, pleasantness, etc.), and ask him to help you change. Then turn from your sinful desires and grasp new, godly desires. Once wisdom changes who you are, it will flow into everything you do.

This post was first published in 2013 and is part of a series walking through Proverbs 1-9.

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Last Chance to Enter Drawing

March 25, 2026 By Peter Krol

We are nearing the end of our 2026 Bible Reading Challenge. Up for grabs is a premium book binding (generously provided by the good people at Pro Libris Rebinding), and some additional prize packages.

For the complete set of rules, see this post. If you meet the eligibility guidelines, please be sure to complete the form below to enter the drawing. I will leave the form open until approximately 10am (Eastern Daylight Time) on April 1. Later that day, I will conduct the drawing and email the winners.

Many thanks to all who participated with us this year, and may the Lord use it to fortify a lifelong love for Christ and his word.

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Cosas para observar: Palabras

March 24, 2026 By Peter Krol

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Publicación original de Peter Krol, traducida por Sarah Oiler

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Doug Wilson escribió, “Palabras son los ladrillos con los que tú construyes. Compra los ladrillos antes de empezar a construir el muro” (Wordsmithy, Moscow, ID: Canon, 2011, p. 104, [traducción mía]). Él aconsejaba a los aspirantes a escritores que estudiaran la etimología y los idiomas antiguos. Tomaré prestada su idea para animar a los que estudian la Biblia a que comiencen al comienzo.

Los libros de la Biblia se compusieron de relatos. Estos relatos estuvieron formados por episodios. Los episodios surgieron de colecciones de párrafos. Los párrafos destripados producen frases. Las frases se diseccionan en palabras. Las palabras son nuestros ladrillos. Observémoslos para empezar.

Usaré Lucas 2:1-21, NVI como muestra de texto. Es un texto común para muchos cristianos, así que trabajaremos duro para observar bien.

Primero, fíjate en el tema de las palabras clave en los primeros versículos:

censo
Augusto
César
todo el Imperio romano
Cirenio
gobernaba
Siria
ciudad de David – 2 veces
descendiente del rey David
hijo primogénito
Señor – 4 veces
gloria
Salvador
Cristo
una multitud de ángeles del cielo

¿Qué se destaca? Hay un tema fuerte sobre el poder, la gloria y la autoridad gobernante. También hay un poco de tensión entre la autoridad imperial (se representa en César y sus subordinados) y la autoridad de Dios (se representa en su hijo).

Continuemos viendo otra clase de palabras:

José
Nazaret
Belén
María, que estaba comprometida para casarse con él
se encontraba embarazada
se le cumplió el tiempo
lo envolvió en pañales — 2 veces
lo acostó en un pesebre – 3 veces
no había lugar para ellos en la posada

Este grupo se presta a otro tema: la humildad impredecible.

Mencionaré una última colección de observaciones sobre la elección de las palabras en Lucas 2:11:

Hoy ha nacido en la Ciudad de David un Salvador
que es Cristo
el Señor

El narrador, por el ángel, comunica un montón de información simplemente por su elección de palabras.

¿Qué es un “Salvador”? Alguien que salva. Un héroe. Un rescatador. No es el tipo que sale corriendo de un edificio en llamas para salvar su propia vida– es el tipo que corre al edificio en llamas para salvar las vidas de otras personas.
¿Qué es un “Cristo”? Necesitamos un poco de ayuda contextual para esta pregunta, pero “Cristo” es la traducción griega de la palabra hebrea “Mesías,” que significa “El Ungido.” ¿Qué es un “ungido”? ¡Ya no tenemos estos! Piensa en alguien investido y juramentado. El narrador quiere que sepamos que Jesús tiene un trabajo, y ha sido autorizado por Dios para ejecutar ese trabajo.
¿Qué es “el Señor”? Es lo que los judíos de antaño llamarían Dios a sí mismo. Hojea tu Antiguo Testamento y ve cuántas veces la palabra SEÑOR aparece en mayúsculas. Eso representa ocasiones en las que el nombre personal de Dios (algo como Yahweh, pero no podemos saber con seguridad cómo se pronunciaba) se usó en el texto hebreo. Sin embargo, la traducción que la tradición nos ha legado simplemente es “SEÑOR.” El narrador quiere que, a través de la proclamación del ángel, sepamos que Jesús en realidad es Dios.

Estoy empezando a interpretar, así que esperaré hasta que hablemos de ese paso del proceso OIA. Por el momento, la conclusión es esta: la primera parte de cómo estudiar la Biblia es observar (no simplemente ver, eso sí, pero verdaderamente observar) las palabras en la página.

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Don’t Try to Hit a Home Run

March 23, 2026 By Ryan Higginbottom

When a minor league baseball player gets called up to the major league team, the pressure’s on. The cameras are rolling, the stadiums are big, and the lights are bright. Stir in the higher level of competition, and it can be a hard adjustment. Even the best players can take several weeks to settle in.

When they receive a promotion, can’t-miss prospects often fare better than lifetime minor leaguers—and not just for the obvious reason. Hot shots know they have the freedom to make mistakes, that management will be patient. Minor league lifers need to impress; this may be their only chance to turn the right heads and catch a break. The pressure rises and performance suffers.

Young Bible study leaders can feel the same sort of tension.

Why Try So Hard?

Good Bible study leaders are convinced of the power of God’s word and are excited to communicate that truth to others. They don’t take Bible study meetings lightly.

When they get a chance to lead, they want to make it count. Some feel they’ve been waiting their whole lives for this opportunity.

While some study leaders are motivated by godly ambition and a desire to serve, other darker, more insidious motives may be lurking in the heart.

A Bible study leader may want to impress. They long to catch the attention of a mover or shaker in their church. The spotlight calls, and they seek additional opportunities to teach and lead. When a leader wants to be impressive, then often try to be profound. They draw grand conclusions and dispense inter-textual connections like a broken gum ball machine.

Alternately, a leader may seek instant change in their group members. They have been convicted and moved by studying a passage, and they urge the same change on others. They don’t realize that—by God’s design—not every lesson lands on every person with the same weight. They end up trying to do the Holy Spirit’s work for him.

Be Content Hitting Singles and Doubles

When we convince ourselves nothing less than a home run will do, we often end up striking out. If you’re tempted to swing for the fences, here are some better goals.

A Bible study leader’s primary job is faithfulness to the Lord and his Word. Our task is to help our friends engage with the Scriptures, not to push our own agenda or inflate our reputation. Let’s give ourselves to careful Bible study practices, leaving enough preparation time to write questions that lead our friends to grapple with the author’s main point.

Love your people. We do not lead Bible studies in the abstract. We gather real people around the Bible seeking understanding. Pray for the friends who come to your study. Love them. Listen to them and learn from them.

Cultivate your skills. It’s not a sin to want to understand the Bible and communicate it better. (It is a sin to seek this for your own exaltation.) Seek out loving, wise feedback. Try to meet before the Bible study to discuss your interpretation, application, and questions. Meet afterward to review and reflect.

The Accidental Home Run

When a baseball player develops strength, a good swing, and a keen eye for pitch location, they start to make contact. The best players hit line drive after line drive. They get on base, drive in runs, and help their team with singles and doubles.

And those line drives? Sometimes, when the ball finds the barrel of the bat, those line drives end up in the outfield bleachers. The hitter who tries to hit home runs rarely does; but the consistent, faithful hitter will put some balls over the fence.

If you’re leading a Bible study, don’t try to hit a home run. Aim for a faithful, honest discussion of God’s word. Put the bat on the ball and leave the results in God’s hands.

This was originally posted in 2019.

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The Death of Immorality

March 20, 2026 By Peter Krol

Sexual freedom is an illusion, because immorality is not as pretty as it seems.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
Her steps follow the path to Sheol;
She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways wander, and she does not know it (Prov 5:4-6).

Last week, we saw that the “adulteress” is an image of all sexual immorality. Immorality has a sweet candy coating, but inside it’s a bitter pill (Prov 5:4). “Wormwood” is a plant with a bitter taste, and that’s what immorality is once you move past first impressions. I know a guy who works for a chemical company that works on both drugs and candy. He told me that the outer shell on an M&M is the same thing as the shell on an Advil. Next time you have the chance, I dare you to bite into the Advil.

Immorality leads only to death (Prov 5:5). The last thing it has in mind is our good (Prov 5:6a). In fact, it’s not even aware of the harm it causes (Prov 5:6b). Immorality is full of passion, but it’s clueless and self-defeating, like a pimply freshman inviting the homecoming queen over for video gaming.

How does this apply? Sexual immorality promises life, but the wise know it really gives death. We ought to be ready, especially for the battle of words. We have to expose immorality’s sweet-talk. We must remind ourselves of the truth. We need to discuss it often with others, to warn them. We unhinge its power when we strip it of its secrecy.

Consider just one major issue in our day: online pornography. Note how broad are the battle lines and how widespread is the death:

The porn industry makes around $97 billion per year.
87% of men report watching porn at least weekly.
It’s not a “guy issue,” though. It mostly just goes unreported among women.
Half of all teenagers have seen online porn by age 15.
Though only 4% of all website are pornographic, those sites draw 13% of all web searches and 20% of all mobile searches.
About 40 million Americans visit porn sites regularly.
About 68% of the general population report using porn. Among Christians, about 54% report porn use.
All this despite the accessibility of published research demonstrating the correlation of porn use with poor mental health, declining sexual fulfillment, increased divorce, and domestic violence.

Death surrounds us, and it’s covered in pretty makeup and stage lighting. We must discuss it frankly yet graciously, for no one who indulges in it will go unharmed.

This post was first published in 2013 and is part of a series walking through Proverbs 1-9.

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Developing a Culture of Discipleship

March 18, 2026 By Peter Krol

While learning how to study the Bible is one crucial part of Christian discipleship, it is not the only part. So I’m happy to zoom out from my usual narrow focus on learning how to study the Bible to highlight this article about how to cultivate a culture of discipleship in the local church.

The concept of “discipling” is often shrouded in mystique, and Jeffrey Wiesner does a wonderful job making it more accessible. He covers the following topics:

What is discipleship?
What is a discipleship culture?
What commitments inform a discipleship culture?
What practices shape a discipleship culture?
What metrics evaluate a discipleship culture?

This longer article is well worth your time to help you and your church obey Jesus’ great commission to go and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).

Check it out!

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El peor enemigo de la observación es la familiaridad

March 17, 2026 By Peter Krol

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Publicación original de Peter Krol, traducida por Sarah Oiler

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El primer paso de nuestro método de estudiar la Biblia es la Observación. Sin embargo, antes de que hayamos empezado la carrera, la familiaridad ya está allí para hacernos la zancadilla. Cuando pensamos que sabemos algo, dejamos de prestar atención a ello.

Por ejemplo, ¿cuántos escalones hay en tu casa? ¿De qué color son los ojos de tu padre? ¿Cuál es el número de tu placa del carro? Nombra tres personas zurdas que conoces.

Como dice Sherlock Holmes al Dr. Watson en “Un escándalo en Bohemia,” “Ves, pero no observas.”

Déjame dar un ejemplo. Recientemente, enseñé sobre Génesis 31, el relato en el que Jacob se escapó de Labán sin decirle. Mi pensamiento inicial fue, “Sé qué pasa. ¿Por qué esta historia es tan larga y cómo voy a enseñarla?”

Así que, me sumergí más a fondo en el texto. Miré fijamente al texto y seguí leyéndolo una y otra vez. Cosas empezaron a destacar.

Por ejemplo, observé que cada dos versículos en Génesis 31:4-16 tiene una referencia a Dios. Hasta ahora, Jacob no ha mencionado a Dios muchísimo.

Luego observé que el narrador llama a Labán “arameo” (Génesis 31:20, 24). Es raro, porque el narrador solía llamarle “el hermano de la madre de Jacob” (por ejemplo, ve Génesis 29:10 que lo describe así 3 veces). Así que el narrador ya no considera que Labán sea una parte de la familia…

Entonces observé que Labán llama a Dios para ser testigo de su pacto (Génesis 31:53), pero ¿ves qué dios es? “El Dios de Abraham y el Dios de Najor, el Dios de sus padres, juzgue entre nosotros” (NVI). El Dios verdadero llamó a Abraham a salir de la casa (y de los dioses) de su padre (Génesis 12:1). Jacob sabe esto, pero Labán no lo pilla. Jacob jura por el Dios verdadero, el que temía su padre Isaac (Génesis 31:53).

Podría continuar. Mi propósito no es que haya una sola observación que sea la solución milagrosa para desentrañar un pasaje bíblico. Mejor, estoy sugiriendo que la forma de proceder es siempre continuar observando. Es necesario que estemos dispuestos a mirar fijamente un texto hasta que dejemos de simplemente ver y empecemos a observar.

Daré un ejemplo más–un ejemplo grande. Uno de los pasajes más famosos en toda la Biblia es 1 Corintios 13:1-13. Es el gran capítulo de amor. Estamos tan familiarizados con este pasaje que generalmente nos vamos del tema.

Léalo otra vez, un versículo a la vez, y pregúntate:“¿qué está diciendo aquí?” Observa con cuidado, y pienso que te darás cuenta de que no es ni romántico ni alentador. Realmente, es una reprimenda punzante que apunta a los que no saben cómo amar a su vecino.

No solamente veamos. Observemos.

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Appearances are Deceiving, Especially When Hormones are Involved

March 13, 2026 By Peter Krol

The cultural ideal of “sexual freedom” is an illusion. Don’t be fooled.

My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
Incline your ear to my understanding,
That you may keep discretion,
And your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
And her speech is smoother than oil (Prov 5:1-3)

Solomon begins Proverbs 5 with another reminder to listen to his wisdom (Prov 5:1). If we don’t passively receive and actively seek instruction in the sexual realm, we endanger our lives. Once we receive it through our ears, we ought to “keep discretion” (presumably in our hearts, as Prov 4:21 advises). Then it changes who we are, affecting what we do, especially with our “lips” (Prov 5:2). Our lips must guard knowledge because honey drips from the forbidden woman’s lips. Her speech is smooth enough to make oil seem irritating, so we ought to be ready (Prov 5:3).

Before continuing, let’s clarify who the “forbidden woman” is. Remember that Proverbs is a work of poetic wisdom literature. As poetry, it makes liberal use of imagery to evoke an emotional reaction, but, as wisdom literature, it assumes we’ll think hard about what we’re reading. Earlier in Proverbs, Solomon exaggerated the portraits of his characters: the bumbling gang of thieves (Prov 1:10-19), Lady Wisdom the mocking street preacher (Prov 1:20-33), the adulteress whose house sinks through the ground into the grave (Prov 2:16-19), and the sleep-deprived, ferocious evildoers (Prov 4:14-17).

Solomon paints such an exaggerated picture of his subject to strengthen his point. He takes a character type and vividly describes the worst-case scenario for that type, thus including all variations of explicitness and severity. For example, in describing the violent gang, Solomon critiques all who want to get more stuff at the expense of others (Prov 1:19). Through Wisdom’s speech, Solomon warns not only those who have already harmed themselves but also everyone who loves being simple (Prov 1:22). When he warns against joining ravenous evildoers, he warns us to avoid their highway, not just their particular rest stop. We shouldn’t risk even entering it (Prov 4:14).

Who then is the “forbidden woman” in Proverbs 5? She includes loose women who tire of their husbands, but she ultimately represents every enticement to sexual immorality that you and I, whether male or female, experience. Solomon is clear about this fact when he broadens his final applications to include not just adulterers, and not just sexually immoral people, but all “the wicked” who show “great folly” (Prov 5:22-23). Whatever your gender, age, or marital status, this chapter of Proverbs applies to you. In fact, this chapter can help if your temptation involves the opposite sex, the same sex, solo sex, or images on a computer monitor. The “forbidden woman” still drips her honey at you, and you had better watch out. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, I’ll use the word “immorality” in future posts to refer to the opponent Solomon has in mind.

This post was first published in 2013 and is part of a series walking through Proverbs 1-9.

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Reading Challenge Reminder

March 11, 2026 By Peter Krol

Don’t forget we’ve got a Bible reading challenge underway. There’s still time to finish reading the entire Bible within 90 days, and you could enter to win a premium book binding (generously provided by the good people at Pro Libris Rebinding), or an additional prize package.

Reading must be completed within 90 days, and by March 31. See this post for the complete rules. Once you’ve completed your reading, you may enter the drawing with this form.

Entries that do not meet the guidelines (for example, reading period longer than 90 days, reading period is outside the allowable dates, or form is submitted before you finished reading) will not be counted in the drawing.

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