Skip to content

Course 4 · Lesson 7.1

Choosing a passage and framing a question

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 4 outline

Module 1: How the Canon Formed

  1. What a canon is, and what canonical means
  2. The Old Testament canon: Law, Prophets and Writings
  3. The New Testament canon: from gospels and letters to a list
  4. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant canons compared

Module 2: The Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint

  1. The Hebrew Bible and the work of the Masoretes
  2. Origin and character of the Septuagint
  3. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the state of the Old Testament text
  4. How New Testament writers quote the Old Testament

Module 3: Transmission of the New Testament Text

  1. Copying by hand: papyri, codices and scribes
  2. Manuscript traditions: Alexandrian, Western and Byzantine texts
  3. Kinds of variants and how they arise
  4. The principles of textual criticism
  5. Reading a critical apparatus and a translation footnote

Module 4: Reading Responsibly: Exegesis and Method

  1. Exegesis and eisegesis with worked examples
  2. Source, form and redaction criticism: what each asks
  3. Strengths and limits of the historical method
  4. Literary and canonical reading

Module 5: Meaning Beyond the Surface: Typology, Allegory and Genre

  1. Typology in the New Testament and the fathers
  2. Allegory and its critics: Alexandria and Antioch
  3. Reading by genre: narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, gospel and letter
  4. Setting, authorship and audience as questions to ask of any passage

Module 6: Christian Approaches to Interpretation

  1. The fourfold sense of Scripture in the medieval church
  2. Reformation principles: Scripture, clarity and the grammatical and historical sense
  3. Orthodox and Catholic approaches: Scripture within Tradition
  4. Historical scholarship and theological interpretation in conversation

Module 7: Writing an Exegesis

  1. Choosing a passage and framing a question
  2. Observation and context: what the text says and where it stands
  3. Using commentaries and reference works without being led by them
  4. Writing up, checking conclusions and revising

All courses

Program / Course 4: Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics / Lesson 7.1

What you will learn

  • Choose a passage of suitable size and with natural boundaries.
  • Write a clear, answerable question that guides the study.
  • Distinguish a good question from a vague or loaded one.
  • State your own starting assumptions before the study begins.

The big idea

A good exegesis begins with a good choice and a good question. The passage should be a complete unit of thought, large enough to have a shape and small enough to study in depth. The question should be specific, answerable from the evidence and honest about what the writer already thinks. A vague question produces a vague paper, and a loaded question produces a predetermined answer. Time spent here saves time at every later stage.

Key terms

Pericope
From a Greek word meaning a cutting around. A passage that forms a natural unit, such as a single parable, miracle story or psalm.
Thesis
The main claim a study sets out to support. Written last, after the evidence has been weighed.
Research question
A question that directs the study and can be answered by evidence from the text and its setting.
Presupposition
A belief or assumption that a reader holds before study begins and that may shape what he or she expects.
Scope
The size and limits of a study: what it will cover and what it will leave aside.
Leading question
A question phrased so that it suggests its own answer.
Cross reference
A pointer from one passage to another that is related in wording, theme or event.

Background

Scholars and students often fail at exegesis not in the writing, but at the start. They pick a passage that is too short, such as a single verse that cannot be understood apart from its neighbors. Or they pick one that is too long, so that the study skims. Or they bring a question that the passage was never written to answer. The first stage of your work in this course is to avoid these mistakes.

The passage and the question are connected. A passage suggests questions, and a question suggests passages. Many students find that they begin with a text they love, then find a question that interests them, and then adjust the boundaries of the passage until it fits. That is a good way to work, as long as you test the question against the text.

The final assignment for this course asks for a passage of five to twenty verses. This lesson helps you choose and frame it, so that the later lessons on observation, tools and writing have a clear target.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Choose a passage with natural boundaries

Look for a unit that begins and ends where the author intended. In a narrative, this is often a single scene, marked by a change of place, time or characters. In a psalm, it is the whole psalm or a clearly marked section. In a letter, it is a paragraph or argument. In a gospel, it is a story, a saying or a short discourse. Check the way your translation divides the text, and then compare two or three translations, because the divisions are the translators’ choices and can differ.

Choose from a genre you can handle. A narrative from Genesis or the Gospels, a psalm, a short prophetic oracle or a passage of Paul’s argument all work well. Avoid, at first, passages that depend on a large technical debate, such as the details of the book of Revelation, unless your question is about the debate. Aim for five to twenty verses, which is large enough to show a structure and small enough to read closely.

Step 2: Name your reason and your assumptions

Write a sentence saying why you chose the passage. You may be drawn to it by a question of your own, by its use in worship, by a puzzle or by a disagreement you have heard. Honest reasons are useful. Then write down what you already think the passage means. This is not the conclusion of your study. It is a record of your starting point, so that later you can see what the study changed.

Also note any traditions that bear on the passage. Is it read in a particular season of the church year? Does a creed or hymn use it? Is it central to a dispute among Christians? You need not resolve these, only be aware of them.

Step 3: Frame a question

A good question has three features. It is specific: it names something in the passage. It is answerable: the evidence from the text, its setting and its use can bear on the answer. And it is open: you do not already know the answer. Compare these. What does Philippians 2 mean? is vague. What does Paul mean in Philippians 2:6-8 when he says that Christ emptied himself, and how did early readers understand the phrase? is specific and answerable. Does Luke 15:11-32 teach that God forgives everyone? is a leading question that sets up a yes. What does the elder son’s response show about the audience Jesus is addressing in Luke 15:1-3? opens the passage.

Questions can be of different kinds. Some ask about meaning: what does a word or phrase mean? Some ask about structure: how does the argument move? Some ask about relationships: how does this passage use another one? Some ask about reception: how have different traditions read it? You can include more than one, but let one be primary.

Step 4: Test and adjust

Read the passage three times, in two translations if possible. Then ask whether the question arises from the text. If you find that the passage never mentions what your question assumes, adjust the question or the passage. Also check that you have access to the resources you will need: a few reliable translations, a study Bible with notes, and at least three commentaries or reference works in a library or online. If you cannot find any, choose a different passage.

Finally, write the question at the top of your notebook page, with the passage and your starting assumption. You will return to this page at the end of the study to see what changed.

  1. Does the passage form a natural unit with a beginning and an end?
  2. Why did I choose this passage, and what do I already think it means?
  3. Is my question specific, answerable and open?
  4. What kind of writing is this passage?
  5. What might I be assuming that the passage does not say?
  6. Do I have the resources to answer the question?

Examples

From vague to focused

A student begins with the wish to study the Good Samaritan. She reads Luke 10:25-37 and notices that the story is told in answer to a lawyer’s question. Her question becomes: how does the lawyer’s question, who is my neighbor, shape the point of the parable, and how does Jesus change the question at the end? The question is specific and arises from the text.

A passage cut at the wrong place

A reader chooses Romans 8:28 alone because it is a favorite verse. She finds that the verse cannot be understood without the verses before and after, which speak of groaning, hope and the Spirit’s help, and without the verses after, which speak of those whom God called and glorified. She extends the passage to Romans 8:18-30 and sees that the verse is about hope in suffering.

A question that fits a genre

Someone asks of Psalm 51 whether David actually wrote it after his sin with Bathsheba. The psalm’s title says so, but the title may have been added later. A better primary question might be how the psalm moves from confession to hope, and how the title shapes the way readers have used it in prayer. The authorship question can be a secondary part.

Different perspectives

Protestant

Many Protestant guides to Bible study, such as the text by Fee and Stuart, advise beginning with observation of the passage in context before consulting any outside help. This fits the principle that Scripture is its own best interpreter, and it is meant to protect the reader’s own encounter with the text.

Catholic

Catholic guidance, such as the three principles of Dei Verbum, suggests that a study begin with the literal sense but be aware from the start of the unity of the whole of Scripture and the tradition. Practices such as lectio divina join close reading and prayer.

Orthodox

Orthodox students often begin with the passage as it is read in the liturgy and with the commentary of the fathers, then add modern study. The passage chosen may therefore be one the church reads on a given feast or Sunday.

Academic practice

In university settings, students are usually asked to state a research question and a working thesis, and to define the limits of the study. The discipline of stating them early is common across fields and is no less useful in biblical study.

Why it matters

Framing the question is the part of the work that most determines whether the rest is worth doing. A student who has chosen well and asked clearly will find the later steps easier. A student who has not will find them confusing. The habit also applies beyond the course, to preparing a sermon, a lesson or a conversation about a text.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: A short verse is easier to study than a longer passage.

Correction: A single verse lacks the context needed to understand it. A longer passage gives a structure and an argument to study.

Misunderstanding: I should start with no opinions about the passage.

Correction: No one can. Write your opinions down, so that you can check them against the text.

Misunderstanding: A good question is one with an obvious answer.

Correction: A good question is answerable but open. If you already know the answer, you will tend to look only for support.

Misunderstanding: The passage should be picked for its comfort or interest only.

Correction: Personal interest is a good motive, but the passage should also be a unit that can be studied with the resources you have.

Knowledge check

What are the features of a good research question?

It is specific, naming something in the passage; answerable, so that evidence from the text, its setting and its use can bear on the answer; and open, so that the writer does not already know the answer. It should also arise from the text and not from an assumption brought to it.

Why should you record your starting assumptions?

Everyone begins with beliefs about a passage. Writing them down lets you compare them with your conclusions later, see what the study changed, and mark what came from the text and what you brought.

What is a pericope, and why is it a good unit to choose?

A pericope is a passage that forms a natural unit, such as a single story, psalm or argument. It is a good unit because the author shaped it as a whole, so reading it as a whole respects its structure and guards against cutting it at the wrong place.

Give an example of a leading question and a better version.

Does Luke 15 teach that God forgives everyone? sets up a yes. A better version asks what the elder son’s response shows about the audience Jesus addresses in Luke 15:1-3. The better question opens the passage and can be answered from the text.

Think it through

  1. What passage have you wanted to understand better, and what question do you have about it?
  2. What do you already believe about that passage, and where did the belief come from?
  3. How might your question change if you asked it of a different genre?
  4. What would count as evidence that your starting assumption was wrong?

Independent assignment

Choose and frame your passage

In your notebook, write the reference for the passage you will study for the course assignment, five to twenty verses. Write one sentence on why you chose it, one sentence stating your question, and a short paragraph of 100 to 150 words stating what you already think the passage means and where you got that idea. List the resources you plan to use. Check that your passage forms a natural unit by reading it in two translations. Keep this page, as you will return to it.

Further study