Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Credit Where Credit is Due

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My tenth commandment for commentary usage is:

You shall give credit to commentators where appropriate and not try to appear smarter than you are.

I suspect this may be easiest-to-swallow, least controversial of my ten commandments for commentary usage. Plagiarism is widely condemned in print, and it’s becoming increasingly unacceptable in spoken communication, such as preaching or small group leading, as well.

Photo by cottonbro

My greatest challenge is that, the longer I teach, the more difficult it is to remember where I got various ideas from. Especially when I read commentaries in order to dig back into the text—I chew on the best ideas of the commentators and reflect on them in light of the Scripture text itself, to the point where it becomes difficult to nail down exactly which idea came from the commentator, and which was a product of my own reflection.

So I’ve begun keeping better notes to track the sources of the most helpful ideas I come across.

But the point is simple: As long as you are not quoting a commentator as the final word, shutting down conversation (see commandment 9), make sure to give credit where credit is due. “I read this really helpful point in John Stott’s commentary, where he said… What do you all think about that? Does it fit with your observation of the text?”

The Demystifying Effect of Modern Bible Translations

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Nitoy Gonzales writes from a part of the world where the King James Version of the Bible tends to be the most accepted version among those who speak English. Yet he offers some great insights about the power of more modern translations to demystify the Bible for believers.

With its archaic words that feels like it’s so holy and a reverend history taught by Bible Baptist preachers, it creates a mysterious or mystified look at this old version. The mere fact you have it and it’s the version preached at your church feels like a blanket of security that you belong to the “good guys” rather than to read, understand and learn from it. It feels like it’s not meant to be understood but to make a statement that we stand for “truth”. I rather feel that it’s too out there, up above a pedestal. Added to that are preachers acting like gatekeepers so that no one will rock the boat. Sure we are told that you can actually use a modern version for your quiet time or devotional but the damage is already done. Instilled in our minds that the modern translations are unreliable.

At this blog, we don’t get into the details of translation. One of the things we assume but don’t spend much time arguing for is that the Bible should be translated into modern languages so modern people can know it. Many English translations faithfully capture the meaning of the original text.

With that said, Gonzales brings a helpful perspective for those who can mistake high-falutin’ old language with clarity and faithfulness.

Check it out!

Your Test: Can You Do What the Commentator Did?

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My ninth commandment for commentary usage is:

You shall not quote a commentator as the final word on an interpretive matter, but must demonstrate your conclusions from the scriptural text itself.

Perhaps you’ve seen it happen. Perhaps you’ve even done it yourself. I know I have. The discussion gets going, and people are bouncing ideas off one another. But suddenly the record scratches and the room goes silent, because someone dropped a name or invoked an expert. All rise! The final and authoritative word has been spoken from heights to which mere mortals could never attain.

Photo by Hert Niks

What I’m Not Saying

Before I get any further into the meaning or intention of this commandment, let me clarify what I am not saying.

First, I am not saying that you should never quote a commentator. By all means, please make use of the commentaries and resources available to you. And by all means, give credit where credit is due!

Second, I am not saying that you should never quote a commentator in a discussion or Bible study group. I am saying only that you ought not to do so on interpretive matters. And what I mean by “interpretive matters” is conclusions about the meaning or main point of the text. In this sense, commentaries are one of the 5 false authorities to watch out for in a small group discussion.

This commandment follows the previous one on purpose. If you heed that commandment, you will have taken care to draw a distinction between factual information in the commentary (cultural or historical background, direct observation of the text, etc.) and reasoned interpretations in the commentary (arguments made, with premises and conclusions, to draw principles or instructions from the text). That distinction can now serve you well. If your study group is in need of some factual information that might otherwise be inaccessible, go ahead and quote the commentator!

For example, in a Bible study discussing Genesis 21: “The commentary at the bottom of my study Bible says that the name ‘Isaac’ and the term ‘laughing’ are repetitions of the same Hebrew word. Could that repetition signal some sort of wordplay we ought to be aware of?”

Third, I am also not saying that we must never quote commentaries on interpretive matters. I am saying only that we must not do so as the final word on the matter. I would have no concern whatsoever with someone saying, “I read such and such in a commentary, but what do the rest of you think? Is such a conclusion supported by the text?”

What I’m After

The intention behind this commandment is found in the final clause, that we must be able to demonstrate our interpretive conclusions from the scriptural text itself. It might be helpful to quote a commentary to show that you’re not the only one in history who has identified a particular conclusion from a particular passage. As long as you can still articulate that conclusion from the passage itself.

If you read something in a commentary and trust the author’s conclusions despite what the text says, you have most likely violated commandment number 5. And if you submissively believe the commentator’s conclusions and simply can’t speak to the matter from the text, you have likely violated commandments 2 and 3. And if you proclaim a commentator’s conclusions as definitive truth on an interpretive matter, you probably have violated commandments 6 and 7.

The best use of a commentary is to help you understand the text. If, however, you come away understanding the commentary but not the text, the mission got off course somewhere.

In the first century, the Jewish scribes loved to hold debates, pitting one ancient commentator against another. At times, they even sought to rope Jesus into taking one side or the other (Mark 10:2). He wouldn’t play those games, and, as a result, the populace observed in him an authority they couldn’t find among their typical teachers (Matt 7:28-29). Of course, there was something unique about Jesus’ authority as the Son of God proclaiming the word of God.

However, Jesus delights to share his authority with his disciples (Luke 9:1-2). The authority of God’s word is present whenever God’s people seek the Lord in those very words (Acts 17:11) and proclaim them with intelligible simplicity (Acts 17:2-3). Can you do this from the Scriptures? Or do you tend to get stuck in merely explaining the various interpretive schools and camps you have read about?

Because I once read a commentary that suggested it might be a bad idea to do that.

Wise Commentary Use With Leah’s Weak Eyes

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My pal Mark Ward has a wonderful piece at the Logos Word by Word blog, where he models exceptionally wise usage of commentaries to help him answer a specific question: What does it mean that Leah’s eyes were weak (Gen 29:16-17)? Ward is not so arrogant as to ignore the commentaries altogether, and he is not so slavish as to read only one commentary and accept the conclusions without inspection. He examines many commentaries, explores the nature of a variety of conclusions, and he takes the debate with him right back into the text to make up his own mind.

With something as simple as Leah’s doe-eyes, here’s what I would do: I’d land. I’d land without telling everybody where I’d flown. I’d stick with the intuitive—to me—opposition the text sets up, in which “weak eyes” are contrasted with Rachel’s beauty. And I’d appeal back to my gut feeling as someone who loves and knows language; I’d explain the text as an idiom communicating, in a delicate way, that Leah wasn’t quite the looker Rachel was.

His conclusion is rather straightforward, but the road he traveled to get there is deeply instructive. I commend it to you as a path you ought to follow him on when you have similar questions. For further reflection on this sort of methodology when using commentaries, see my ten commandments for commentary usage and the explanatory posts that have followed.

Check it out!

Facts vs. Implications in Commentaries

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My eighth commandment for commentary usage is:

You shall distinguish, in the commentaries, between evidence-based observations of the text (such as Hebrew or Greek syntax or wordplay, historical context, or comparative ancient near eastern literature) and reasoned interpretations of the text. You shall remain aware that the first category is more likely to contain factual data that must be accounted for, and the second category is more likely to contain opinions to be weighed and considered alongside alternatives.

My purpose here is simply to discern between differing types of information, which ought to provoke different responses as we make use of commentaries. Thereby, a commentary is something like a pie a la mode, where the pie and the ice cream dwell in symbiotic union to make a dessert worthy of one’s salivary attention. A single act of consumption yields a combination of treasures and delights.

Photo by Laura Seaman on Unsplash

The Objectivity of Observation

When a commentary observes the text, the author is stating things that are objectively verifiable. Observation could perhaps be considered the science of Bible study.

For example:

  • The tenses of verbs.
  • Repetitions and word play.
  • Comparisons and contrasts.
  • Grammar and syntax.
  • Pronouns and antecedents.
  • The historical setting and background of the author and audience (when knowable).
  • Cultural context of the characters or events described in the text.

Such things are nearly always binary: True or false, correct or incorrect. If a verb occurs in the past tense (or “aorist,” if the commentator references the Greek New Testament), it is not a present or future tense. Whether a word is repeated ought not be up for debate but can be objectively perceived and verified. And commentaries can be especially helpful for pointing out such things as tenses, repetitions, and syntax that are less clear in English translation.

Commentaries are also especially helpful for pointing out historical and cultural artifacts that most people today might not be aware of when they read a text. Why are the Pharisees so bothered by Jesus healing people on the sabbath (and what is a “sabbath,” anyway?)? Why does Jesus climb onto a boat to preach? What is a mina? Why is it that, whenever people head south to Jerusalem, the text says they are going up to the city?

In addition, commentaries may draw attention to quotations or allusions to prior texts (such as New Testament texts referring to Old Testament texts, though it also happens within the Old Testament itself as well) that are easy to miss without being steeped in the breadth of Scripture yourself. So when a commentator is observing something, rejoice and be glad for the assistance provided to your visual impairment.

The Debatability of Interpretation

By contrasting observation’s “objectivity” with interpretation’s “debatability,” I am not suggesting that interpretation is merely subjective or relative. No, I’m only distinguishing between the truth of facts and the truth of facts’ implications. For example, you cannot credibly dispute the claim that my name is Peter. But you can credibly dispute whether I am a trustworthy person. The first thing is akin to Bible observation; the second is akin to Bible interpretation.

When commentaries move beyond what the text says and enter the realm of what the text means, they are moving from the facts to the facts’ implications. We ought to recognize the difference, because facts that are truly facts ought to be received as facts. And interpretations ought not to be received as facts. Interpretations could be wrong. Or they could be improved. Or they might be slightly off-center and require adjustment.

And remember that my fourth commandment was to never read only one commentary. By reading two or more, you will glimpse the manifold interpretive debates among scholars regarding the best way to interpret a text. Let each commentator make their best argument, and let those debates drive you back into the text to make up your own mind.

Conclusion

At this blog we want to help you learn to study the Bible. That means learning how to observe, interpret, and apply. As you learn this method, you will also learn to discern how others, such as commentators, use the method. This enables you to distinguish between the commentators’ observations, which—when accurate—ought to be received as facts, and the commentators’ interpretations, which are better when weighed and considered alongside alternatives.

In short, reading commentaries is another way to learn how to think. How to improve your own observation, interpretation, and application. Don’t miss out on that benefit by reading commentaries uncritically. It would be like skipping dessert when the pie is offered a la mode.

Blessed are Those Who Mourn

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Andrew Kerr’s reflections on Psalm 90 are well worth considering.

For the Generation who fell in sand, before Israel reached the Promised Land, there could be no escape – as Adam found out, there is no such thing as truly-secret sins with God. All is laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

For the Generation who fell by sword, the experience of Jews in Exile was the same – chastened by wrath both now unite, by the Spirit of Christ, to break with their guilt and come back home to God, their true and timeless Dwelling Place.

Kerr observes the basic structure of the poem and shows us how to apply a psalm both individually and corporately. Check it out!

Will People Perish Without a Visionary Leader?

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Where there is no vision, the people perish… (Prov 29:18, KJV)

Jared Wilson has some helpful thoughts on a commonly misappropriated verse.

Proverbs 29:18 may be one of the most misapplied verses in all the evangelical church today. Many a church leader has used it to spiritualize his strategies and blackmail followers into supporting his entrepreneurialism. Vision statements are cast. Mission statements are crafted to serve the vision. A list of values is composed to serve the mission. An array of programs is developed to serve the values. A stable of leaders is recruited to serve the programs. An army of volunteers is inspired to assist the leaders.

Would you be willing to take a closer look at what the verse really says? Check it out!

Announcing 1.5 New Books!

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https://www.cruciformpress.com/product/sowable-word/
https://www.cruciformpress.com/product/knowable-word-helping-ordinary-people-learn-to-study-the-bible-2d-ed/

I’ve blogged long enough that most of my ideas now lie buried deep within this site’s bowels. I’ve done my best to make the most important posts accessible in the main menu, but there’s only so much I can do without exhausting new visitors. And some of those ideas deserve to stay buried. After all, didn’t the Sage of Israel once say something about the making of many blogs (Eccl 12:12)? It’s in the Hebrew, I assure you.

Well, I’ve done my best to assemble all the really important stuff in one (or two) places for you. And the nice people at Cruciform Press offered to blow off the dust, spiff it up, and publish these babies. I must say it’s made my life much more interesting of late.

Knowable Word has been out for a number of years, but we just released a revised and expanded edition. That’s why it counts as only half of a new book. Sowable Word is brand new and is all about how to do all that terrific OIA stuff in an interactive small group setting.

If you’d like to learn more about either book, keep reading. At the bottom of this post, I’ll publish the introduction to Sowable Word. But first, let me explain what exactly has been revised and expanded in Knowable Word. You can also click either book image in the blog sidebar to go to some lovely marketing pages with everything you ever wanted to know about these books, including what some important people have had to say about them.

You can grab these books now from Cruciform Press or Amazon.

Revisions and Expansions in the Second Edition of Knowable Word

What Has Changed in the Second Edition?

In addition to improving the prose in various ways, this second edition expands substantially on the topics of structure, context, and literary form (which now includes not only what the first edition called “genre” but also a new concept called “text type”). In the years since the first edition was published, I have come to a deeper understanding of each of these concepts and what role each plays in the OIA method. Structure has become, in my opinion, one of the most important things to observe, as it, more than any other observation, surfaces the contours of not only the artistry but also the very argument the author seeks to make. Context really matters; without an eye for it, Bible readers are prone to go in so many different directions, which would likely have been unrecognizable to the Bible’s original authors. And text type provides a complement to genre, as a parallel way to view a text’s literary form; in fact, I’ve found that text type often provides students an even more useful set of tools than those provided by observing the genre.

I’ve also given more specific steps to help you follow an author’s train of thought, identify the weightiest segment of a passage, and thereby be more likely to discover the author’s main point. In my personal training of others, I find the greatest challenge for most is to gain a healthy suspicion of their familiarity with the text so they might learn how to truly observe it. But once that milestone has been reached, the next most difficult skill is determining the author’s main point. Our ability to perceive that main point requires us to know how to think and how to follow an argument. So I’ve expanded the instruction at that point to help you master these crucial skills.

What Almost Changed in the Second Edition?

The most frequent feedback I have received on the book is the request for an “answer key” to the Your Turn exercises found throughout the book. To date, I have staunchly refused providing one to any inquirer on the ground that the act of providing my own answer key would undermine the entire purpose of helping you gain the confidence you need to study the Bible for yourself and to believe you are approved to do so.

However, I have become persuaded that the climb—from spectator of my ongoing demonstration of the OIA method with Genesis 1 to practitioner of the self-guided study questions for Genesis 2—is a bit too steep for those who have never before tried this at home. So I have decided to now let people know how I would answer the questions I pose in those Your Turn exercises.

But I will do so only if you promise not to view those answers as the only “right” answers. And if you don’t look at those answers until you’ve first tried to answer the questions for yourself. I offer them not as an authoritative or impeccable way to study Genesis 2:4–25, but simply as a potential measuring rod by which you can evaluate whether you’re on the right track in practicing the skills laid out in this book.

That is why the answer key “almost” changed in the second edition. You won’t find it in this book. I couldn’t make it too easy for you to flip right from the exercises themselves to my guidance on the exercises, could I? If you would like to read my answers to the Your Turn exercises, you’ll have to first try them yourself. Then if you want to see if you’re on the right track, you can visit the Your Turn page at the blog and find the Guidance for Your Turn Exercises. It wasn’t ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator or anything like that, but perhaps it will provide some suitable help and courage.

Now, are you ready to begin? May every word of God prove true, as he proves to be a shield to those who take refuge in him (Proverbs 30:5).

Introduction to Sowable Word

When God’s Word falls on good soil, he promises the results will astound (Mark 4:8). That’s why there’s a surprising glory in leading a group of ordinary people to open their Bibles, read what’s on the page, and discuss how God might use those words to change the world.

Perhaps you fear “getting it wrong” without expert guidance from a workbook or study guide. Is it possible to lead fruitful and engaging groups that actually study the Bible?

You might be familiar with the OIA method of Bible study (Observe, Interpret, Apply), but is it safe for you to lead others in OIA Bible study? (If you are not familiar with this method, have no fear. Chapter 2 will bring you up to speed.)

I wrote this book to encourage you in this task. I will present the unique opportunities and objectives of Bible studies. I will suggest ways to lead Bible studies that speak to both believers and non-believers. I will explain how to start a group, how to prepare for meetings, and how to lead a discussion. I will warn you of potential pitfalls, and I will cast a vision for training others to lead after you. Whether you are a new Bible study leader or a pastor who’s been doing it for years, I trust these ideas can help you to hone your craft.

The first part of this book will build foundations for Bible studies that actually study the Bible. I’ll provide definitions and goals, such as what Bible studies are and why we have them. Then I’ll summarize the Direct-OIA Bible study method, which equips us to lead others in Bible study. Finally, I’ll address the basic skills required to get a group started.

I commend you for embracing this mission to lead others in study of God’s Word. Through that Word, you might introduce some to the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time. And through that same Word, you can shepherd others unto maturity of faith. Your ministry may have seasons of planting and seasons of watering, but God alone is able to save souls and cause growth (1 Corinthians 3:6). He does such work through the implanted Word (James 1:21).

Therefore, there is something indescribably wonderful that happens when people learn to engage with God directly through his Word. People who are used to merely being told what to do learn to hear God’s own voice. People afraid of messing up gain the confidence to take up and read. Consumers of content develop into distributors of truth. Committed disciples grow into influential disciple-makers.

And you now get to be a part of it. Let’s see how.

You can grab both books now from Cruciform Press or Amazon. (Note: Amazon link is an affiliate link. If you click it and buy one of the books I wrote, my ministry will receive a small commission. And while I’m stating the obvious, I’ll go ahead and remind you that if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie – Eccl 11:3.)

Historical Background for 1 Thessalonians

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Who wrote the letter we call First Thessalonians? Why are three authors mentioned in 1 Thess 1:1? Where were they? How did they know the people in Thessalonica? When was the letter written and under what circumstances?

These are the sorts of questions we ought to ask when we study 1 Thessalonians, and we ought to ask similar questions of any book we study.

John Piper shows us briefly and clearly how to go about answering such questions. Consider his recent Look at the Book video where he provides the background for the writing of this letter, showing us in the process how to develop such research skills for ourselves.

Check it out!

Not All Commentaries are Created Equal

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My seventh commandment for commentary usage is:

You shall not hold all commentaries equal, but shall give greatest weight to those that stimulate greatest interest in the biblical text and its argument.

It comes with a corollary:

You shall resist speculations made by commentators and shall demand the same text-driven arguments from them that you would demand of your friends or that they would demand of you.

The purpose of these commandments is to highlight the discipline required to make wise use of commentaries for Bible study. Let me explain the primary commandment itself, and then I will explain why it leads to the corollary commandment.

Clarifying the Uses of Commentaries

By definition of the word “average,” approximately half of all published commentaries will be below average for a given purpose. And the same commentary may provide above-average help for one purpose and below-average help for another. So in order to make wise use of commentaries, we must first be clear on what we want the commentaries to do. Then we can judge how competently the commentary does that job.

Some commentaries are written primarily for academics, with the main goals being to address the many historic disputes surrounding a book of the Bible. These commentaries may observe and interpret the text insofar as it enables them to evaluate the many options given over the course of history in response to particular questions. Some commentaries do this well, without losing sight of the forest. But sometimes the end product is more about the debates and options than it is about the argument of the text.

Image by jplenio from Pixabay

Other commentaries are written primarily for ordinary churchgoers, with a heavy focus on practical application. Such “devotional” commentaries will vary in quality: Some may lead the reader to interpret the text as though it were written directly to him or her, while others do a better job interpreting the text through the eyes of the original audience first.

Regardless of whether you benefit more from a technical or devotional commentary, the question I ask of any commentary is: Does it help me to understand the biblical author’s overall argument? If I can work through 10, 20, or 50 pages of comments without getting a clear grasp on where we’ve come from and where we’re going, I have found myself a commentary I am unlikely to finish.

So remember the third commandment, which is about your responsibility to study the Scripture and not merely adopt whatever interpretations you happen to read in a commentary. So if you read a commentary for the purpose of helping you to study the Bible, success ought to be measured by how well that commentary stimulates you to look back at the text and not necessarily by how clear or cogent its conclusions are. Are these things really so (Acts 17:11)?

Speculating on the Role of Speculation

Now we come to the corollary commandment quoted above. Commentators sometimes wander into the realm of speculation, since that’s why publishers pay them the big bucks. People buy a commentary because they want answers, so commentators may face pressure to provide answers even when the text on which they comment does not. Who wrote the book of Kings? Who was the audience of Mark? Who, precisely, were the spirits in prison to whom Jesus preached in 1 Peter 3:19? What is the identity of “the restrainer” holding back the man of lawlessness (2 Thess 2:6-7)? Why does Death ride a pale (or green) horse (Rev 6:8)? What was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7)?

I am not saying that such questions have no answers. And I am not saying that commentators ought not to seek to answer such questions. But sometimes such questions, and many more, can take up so much time and space that we utterly fail to follow the text’s argument. For example, go ahead and try to identify the man of lawlessness or the thing restraining him, if you can do so from the text. But by all means, do not allow this inquiry to distract you from the text’s chief argument that you ought not to be alarmed by such things.

If your close friend claimed to know the identity of the restrainer on purely imaginative and speculative grounds, you would likely not buy it. Why would such imagination or speculation be any more persuasive simply because the one hawking it has a PhD or teaches at a seminary? Be a demanding consumer of commentaries. Demand text-driven arguments rooted in careful observation and interpretation. If you don’t get them, it may be time to take your business elsewhere. And if you would like some recommendations, I maintain a list of commentaries that model OIA Bible study here.