Accordance Bible Software Blog Comments

Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:43:50 -0500

Try again:

http://www.accordancebible.com/Two-Davids

Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:42:43 -0500

Two Davids, and two great posts, one here, and one last year: http://www.accordancebible.com/Two-Davids

David Lang

David Lang — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:55:29 -0500

Shawn, as long as you're interacting with the commentaries without accepting one interpreter's view uncritically, I'm certainly not adamant about a specific sequence. Beginning and ending with the text as you describe strikes me as an effective way to give primacy to the text.

In the end, I think the ideal Bible study method is the one which works best with the way each of us thinks and processes information. I talk a little about the influence of personality in this post from last year.

Dr. J

Dr. J — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:35:28 -0500

"That's why it's best to consult commentaries toward the end of your study of a passage, after you've begun to develop your own interpretation of the text."

I completely agree—and this is a really important point. Commentaries can be a crutch, a lazy interpreter's easy way out. However, when used as you decribe, they challenge, refine and extend one's own interpretation. That's their highest and best use.

Shawn Goodwin

Shawn Goodwin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:38:53 -0500

I think you are right to stress the need to interact with the Biblical text on its own terms. But I am not sure that doing that first with out the help of commentaries is the best way of doing it. The reason this may not be the best way is because everyone approaches the text from some preconcieved understanding, whether this comes from a previously heard sermon, devotional book, translation, or additional helps. When I am interpreting a text, I do prefer to start with the contors of the passage and the main idea. I then pretty quickly approach the secondary literature and take good notes. After I have a wide selection of literature, I then compile my notes and set down to write from the Biblical text. I do this because I want the Biblical text to be the last thing I have read before I begin writing. For me this is the best way to let the text speak for itself and stand on the shoulders of better interpretors than I. I first heard of approaching the biblical text like this from Douglas Moo.