How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (4th Edition)
Chapter 1—Teacher’s Version
Introduction: The Need to Interpret
(Underline the answers to these questions in the text, numbering each answer)
Introduction: Our purpose in studying this book is to learn skills necessary to
accurately discern the meaning of Scripture, so that we can apply it correctly.
• ESV Ezra 7:10 Ezra … set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it …
• Extra Qs: Look at the book’s table of contents (p. 7). With what do chapters 3-4
deal? Epistles. Chapters 5-7? History (Old Testament narrative, Acts, the Gospels).
How about chapter 9? Laws of Israel. 10 & 13? Prophetical writings. 11 & 12?
Wisdom literature.
• You can tell from the chapter titles that this book is about understanding the various
genres of literature in the Bible. There are clear differences between the various
types of literature. The aim is to help you read your Bible for all its worth!
• You won’t agree with everything said, and that’s ok. The idea is to alert you to the
types of things you need both be aware of and to beware of.
• The end game is correct application, moving from back then and there up to here
and now (p. 18).
• Extra Q: What’s the difference between something we merely read and something
we need to interpret? Things we merely read have a meaning that is obvious to all,
such as a traffic “stop” sign. The meaning of other writings is not so obvious and
must be pondered and interpreted.
• Extra Q: This chapter is entitled, “The Need to Interpret.” Why is there a need to
interpret? First, because the reader is already an interpreter, and too often assumes
he understands what he is reading (p. 22). Second, because of the nature of
scripture. It is a divine/human book that was delivered in languages we don’t speak,
and in historical contexts far different than ours (p. 25).
• Extra Q: The authors warn about unique interpretations. What is “unique”
interpretation; what constitutes a unique interpretation? It is one that no one has
ever seen before, p. 21.
1. Why are “unique” interpretations often wrong? p. 22 (3 reasons)
• “Vested” Example: Companies delay making employees fully vested in a retirement
plan to make it attractive for them to remain with the company. They have a
personal, vested interest.
2. What is the simple aim of good interpretation? p. 22
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How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (4th Edition)
THE READER AS AN INTERPRETER
3. What, in the “nature of the reader,” can make it hard to find the plain meaning of the
text? p. 22 (three reasons).
• Example: A Chinese reader might envision Jesus eating with chop sticks, whereas a
Westerner might envision Jesus using a fork—both would be wrong!
• ESV Acts 8:30b-31 Philip … heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do
you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone
guides me?"
4. What makes any translation of the Bible already a form of interpretation? p. 23
5. What evidence of the need to interpret is found in the example of the contemporary
church? pp. 23-24
6. Related to the Bible's “plain meaning,” what do the authors “hope to achieve”? p. 25
THE NATURE OF SCRIPTURE
7. What facts about the “nature of Scripture” constitute significant reasons for the need
to interpret? pp. 26-27 (two reasons, both related to the human side of the Bible).
THE FIRST TASK: EXEGESIS
8. What is “exegesis?” p. 27
• Note: It is from the Greek ex (out of, as in “exit”) and hēgeisthai (to lead or guide).
The opposite is eisegesis (to read into a text a meaning that it never had).
9. What is the problem with “selective” exegesis? p. 28
10. Why did the authors cite Theophylact's explanation of a camel going through the
eye of a needle (Mk 10:24)? p.29
LEARNING TO DO EXEGESIS
11. What is the “key” to good exegesis? p. 30
12. What are the two basic kinds of questions one should ask of every biblical
passage? p. 30
The Historical Context
13a. What factors make up the “historical context” of a Bible book? p. 30
13b. Why are these factors important for understanding? p. 30-31
14. Where can you find the answer to the more important questions about the
“occasion and purpose” of each Biblical book? p. 31
• Example: The reader himself needs to know to look for the occasion and purpose as
he reads. He must be like a detective trying to solve a mystery. It is different than
reading a local newspaper where both writer and reader speak the same language,
live in the same town, and are immersed in the same culture and local events.
The Literary Context
15. What does “literary context” mean? p. 31
16a. What is the most important contextual question you will ever ask? pp. 31-32. Read
aloud the paragraph starting at the bottom of page 31 and going to the top of page 32.
16b. Why is it important? p. 32
17. How have the KJV and the NASV been major causes of inadequate exegesis? p. 32
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The Questions of Content
18. With what do “content” questions have to do? p. 32
• Extra Q: Why do you suppose Fee & Stuart want us to save consulting a
commentary for “last”? pp. 32-33
The Tools
19. What tools are helpful for good exegesis? p. 33
THE SECOND TASK: HERMENEUTICS
•Review: What was the first task? It was exegesis.
20. What is “hermeneutics?” p. 33
• Teacher’s Note: Hermes was a Greek god who spoke for the other gods. His
Roman equivalent was Mercury. Thus, hermeneutics is the art of determining what
God is saying to us today via the Bible.
ESV Acts 14:11-12 … when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their
voices, saying … "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!"
Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
21. Why must proper hermeneutics begin with solid “exegesis?” pp. 33-34
22. Read aloud the italicized sentence at the bottom of page 34. Why can a text never
mean what it never meant? pp. 34-35
• Example: Some modern politicians are unhappy with the limits of the U.S.
Constitution. To get around it, they claim that it should be read as a “living”
document and interpreted according to modern word meanings rather than by its
original intent. This ploy allows them to make it mean something that it never meant.
Activist judges creatively find rights in the Constitution that were unknown for
hundreds of years previous. It is dishonest to do that that in politics, and infinitely
worse to do so with the Bible.
Concluding Verbal Review
• This chapter’s title is “The Need to Interpret.” Did the writers convince you of the need
to interpret?
• What is the simply aim of good interpretation? Q2, p. 22
• What types of things can hinder a proper understanding of the text? Q1, p. 22
• Define exegesis. Q8, p. 27
• What is the most important contextual question you will ever ask—a question that
must be asked over and over of every sentence and every paragraph? Q16a, p. 31-32
• Define hermeneutics. Q20, p. 33
ESV Matthew 28:19-20a … make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe
(NIV: “obey”) all that I have commanded you …
Stephen E. Atkerson
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Revised 08/23/2023
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