Observation before Interpretation: "What does it SAY?"


In our Sunday School class on hermeneutics, things are about to get fun.  We’ll be learning about particular genres of Scripture and how to interpret them.

However, we need to be clear about something.  When studying the Bible, interpretation is not the first step.  Interpretation asks the question, “What does it mean?”  There is another question that must be asked first: “What does it say?”  This is the question of observation.  Trying to answer the interpretation question before answering the observation question will inevitably lead to serious errors.  We can’t know what it means before we know what it says.

So as we proceed in our hermeneutics class, we’re presupposing that we have observed the text well.  Some of us may not know how to observe a text.  Hopefully, this introductory article will be helpful. 

In the observation stage, we’re simply looking for the cold hard facts of the passage.  If we have repeatedly read the book under study and gained a broad familiarity with its message and contours, much of our observation has been done.  We will know the big idea behind the writing of the book.  Now we want to take a closer look, verse by verse, to see how each verse relates to the whole.

The first step of observation is asking questions of the text.  Work your way through the passage asking who, what, when, where, why, and how.  Focus just on the obvious.  The obscure will become clear later on.  As you go through the text, write down the answers to these questions.  You can do this on another piece of paper, or you might find it helpful to print the chapter off of the internet and take your notes in the margin directly beside the verses.  Bible Gateway is a great site where you can find most translations.

Who? Who is writing?  Who is the recipient?  If it is a narrative portion of Scripture, who is present?  Who has dialogue?  To whom are they speaking?  Who is mentioned?  

What? What is happening? What is said in dialogue?  What are the main events? What are the major ideas?  What key words or phrases are used? (This one is huge.  You may find as you take a closer look at a major section that it has key words unique to that section compared to the rest of the book.  These words will almost always be significant.  Write them down for later steps in your observation.) What kind of sentences are used – commands, questions, exclamations, statements, exhortations, rebukes, prayers, Scripture quotations, etc?

When? When are the events taking place?  When will they take place?  Verb tenses can be helpful as we seek to answer these questions.  Are there time reference words indicating past, present, or future?  Words like first, then, after, until? What is the sequence of events?  

Where?  Where did this take place?  Where is the author?  Where is the recipient?  Where will it take place?  

Why?  Why is so much or so little being said about this issue?  Why did this character do what he/she did? (Don’t speculate; only note what is explicit in the text.)  Why should we do this?  Why should we not do this?  Why is that detail mentioned?  Are there any clues about why things are being said or done?  

How?  Is there an explanation about how things are done?  How is this truth illustrated?  

The only question we do not want to try to answer yet is “what does this mean?”  It’s fine to have that question in your mind about a certain detail or statement in the text, but it is too early to answer that question.  If you develop interpretation questions as you do your observation, write them down on another piece of paper, noting the verse or verses to which the questions pertain.  You can return to those later.  

The second step of observation is marking key words and phrases.  This may be another good reason to print the text off of the internet, although some people don’t have a problem marking the words directly in their bible.  Key words are words the author uses repeatedly or words that are so important that removing them would leave the text without meaning.  I always consider references (including pronouns) to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to be key words.  It is helpful to mark each key word in a distinctive way.  You may want to use unique symbols and colors.  

It may be helpful to read through the text marking only one key word at a time.  So if you have eight key words, you will read the section eight times. Again, repetitive reading pays dividends.  One huge benefit of doing this, is that without knowing it, you will begin to memorize large chunks of Scripture.  

Be sure that you don’t go into autopilot, mindlessly marking words and phrases.  Prayerfully engage the text as you read it.  

The third step of observation is to identify whether and where the text naturally breaks into sections.  Is there a change in the flow of thought in an epistle?  Is there a change in the setting in a narrative?  Is there a change in the person speaking in a psalm or prophecy—a switch from first-person to second or third person language?  Make note of these sections.    

The fourth step is to mark words of conclusion, comparison, and contrast.  Words of conclusion are words like then, therefore, meanwhile, for this reason, for, as a result.  It is important to mark these words and try to follow the pattern of thought that connects the paragraphs or sentences on either side of the word of conclusion.  Frequently, these words will connect the sections you identified in the previous step and will show how the two sections relate to one another.  For example, Ephesians 4:1: therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…  This word marks the beginning of the second main section of the book and relates it to the first.  In the first half of Ephesians, Paul explains “the calling to which you have been called,” and now signals that what follows will be about how to live in accordance with that calling.  

Words of comparison refer to things that are similar or alike.  Frequently, the words like or as show a comparison.  Make note of the things that are compared.  For example, Ephesians 4:32: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  This verse holds up the ultimate standard against which we should compare our compassion for other people.  

Words of contrast are words like but, however, on the contrary, on the other hand, or nevertheless.  When you see these words, determine if two things are being contrasted.  If they are, write down the contrast. One great example in Ephesians is in 5:8: For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.  A huge point being made in the entire second half of Ephesians is that our lives after Christ should look nothing like our lives before Christ.  This word of contrast highlights that for us.

Our goal in observation is to divide the passage into sections, to be able to concisely summarize what each section says, and to be able to explain how the sections relate to one another.

This is a lot of hard work, but once again, we can’t know what it means until we know what it says.  Once we have observed, only then are we ready to interpret!

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