The essence to developing an exegetical lens is the art of learning how to take off our bias and allow the Scriptures to speak for itself. This is the art of inviting the Holy Spirit to teach us to come into alignment with what the scriptures say, not telling the scriptures to support what we already believe and know to be true. 

Check out our Complete Collection of Learning How to Study the Bible (Exegesis/Hermeneutics)

Pro tip: on a sticky note or index card, make a brief list of all of these key observations. Use it as a book mark for your Bible study as a mini resource to remind you of *what* to pay attention to when reading the Bible!

Observations

When beginning your Bible study journey, the first step is to simply: observe. Don’t come to conclusions about anything, just simply notice, observe, and take notes on as much as you see. Observe anything and everything, and when there’s nothing else, ask the Holy Spirit to show you more !!

What to look for in sentences

Look for words that repeat: 1 John 2:15–17:

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Which word repeats in the first sentence? Does this word (“world”) appear in the next sentence as well? How many times in this passage does “world” occur? Is it in every sentence? Does it always have the definite article “the,” as in “the world”? Did you also notice the repetition of “love”? How many times does “love” occur? Simply by observing the repetition of words, we have an early indication of what the passage may be about. It has something to do with the world — in particular, about loving the world.

Look at word repetition in a few other passages. Note, for example, the number of times the words listed are repeated in the following sections:

–John 15:1–10 (look for “remain”)

–Matthew 6:1–18 (look for “Father”)

-1 Corinthians 15:50–54 (look for “perishable” and “imperishable”)

Contrasts

Pay attention to when contrasts are made in scripture, something strictly different from something else. For Example: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Look at the contrast in Ephesians 5:8: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

John likewise uses the light/darkness contrast, developing it over several verses in 1 John 1:5–7:

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

What is the major contrast in this passage? “Light” and “darkness.” Can we be more specific about the nature of the contrast? Yes. Note that the contrast breaks down into two parts:

(1) the nature of God (light and no darkness)

(2) “our manner of walking (in light versus in darkness).

There are hundreds of contrasts in the Bible, Old and New Testament! Once you start looking for them, you will never not notice them! This strengthens your understanding when reading the Bible knowing that the Author is emphasizing and wanting to make EXTRA clear whatever point they are making.

Resources

–Excerpt From: J. Scott Duvall & J. Daniel Hays. “Grasping God’s Word.” 

Comparisons

In James 3:3–6, the tongue is compared to three different things. What are they?

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.”

Can you find the comparisons in these passage: Proverbs 25:26 & Isaiah 40:31

Lists 

Make special not of any lists, this is usually when an author is getting to the point and creating emphasis for the given subject. Anything with two or more things that is itemized. (Ask is there an order being emphasized?)

1. John 2:16
2. Galatians 5:22-23
3. Galatians 5:19-21

Cause & Effect 

Often, Biblical writers will first address a cause and then state the effect.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In this passage “sin” is the cause and “death” the effect”

YOUR TURN, pin point the cause + effect in these passages:

1. John 3:16
2. Colossians 3:1
3. Psalm 13:6

Figure of Speech

Figures of speech refers to images in which words are used in a sense other than the literal sense. This can be obvious is some passages and not as obvious in others.

Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” God’s Word is not a literal “lamp” to light up a dark trail for us. Rather, it is a figurative lamp that allows us to see our way through life (feet/path) clearly. Note that both “lamp” and “feet/path” are figures of speech.

1. The Old/New Testament is FILLED with figure of speech, after reading each of the following passages, stop and recognize and ponder each image: try to visualize each image—what do you see?
   1. Isaiah 40:31
   2. Matthew 23:27
   3. Psalm 18:2
   4. 1 Corinthians 3:6
   5. Isaiah 53:6

Conjunctions

“If we imagine the biblical text to be like a brick house, then conjunctions are the mortar that holds the bricks (phrases and sentences) together. One critical aspect of careful reading is to note all of the conjunctions (“and,” “for,” “but,” “therefore,” “since,” “because,” etc.). Our tendency is to skip over them — but don’t do it! Without the mortar the bricks fall into a jumbled mess. So always take note of the conjunctions and identify their purpose or function. That is, try to determine what the conjunction connects.

For example, if you encounter the conjunction “but,” you might suspect some sort of contrast. Look in the text for the things being contrasted by this conjunction. Recall

Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The conjunction “but” indicates a contrast between the wages of sin (death) and the gift of God (eternal life).

“Therefore” or “so” usually presents some type of conclusion based on earlier arguments or reasons. When you encounter a “therefore,” look back in the text and determine what the earlier reason was. Sometimes the reason is easy to find, lying out[…]”

A great rule of thumb, if you’re ever reading a passage of scripture and the chapter, paragraph, or verse starts with any of these conjunctions ALWAYS go back and read where the train of thought starts. This is especially how we can truly understand a passage. We must read, study, and interpret every verse in light of the entire chapter, then the entire book, then the entire Bible 🤣. I know it’s daunting, because IT IS a lot, BUT we have our entire lifetime God willing to dedicate us to knowing the Word of God.

Resources

Excerpt From: J. Scott Duvall & J. Daniel Hays. “Grasping God’s Word.”  (pg 123)

Pronouns, Singular, or Plural

Pronouns help give away who is speaking, who is being spoken about, and what feeling or emotions is being communicated. For example, the Lord and the Church is referred to in various different pronouns depending on what passage of scripture and if there is a literal or metaphorical language being used.

Examples to Consider:

Genesis 1:26-28, God refers to Himself as “Us,” “Our,” and “He” (This is one of the first mentions we see of implying the Trinity theology)

Ephesians 5:25-27 & Revelation 19:7-9, the church is referred to as “her” (This is one of the examples of why we refer to the church in female pronouns because the Church is the bride of Christ!)

Genesis

Verbs

“Verbs are important because they communicate the action of the sentence. As you observe the text, be sure to note the verbal action. Try to identify what kind of verb is used. Is the verb a past, present, or future tense verb (I went, I go, I will go)? Does it present a progressive idea; that is, does it have continued action (I was going, I am going, I will be going)? Is it an imperative verb (Go!)?”

Note all imperative verbs are often God’s commands to us

List of imperative verbs (in Ephesians 4:2–3)

Look for active or passive verbs, they are used often in Paul’s letters, look up some of these examples:

1. Colossians 3:1
2. Ephesians 1:11
3. Genesis 12:3

Resources

Excerpts From: Ch. 3 J. Scott Duvall & J. Daniel Hays. “Grasping God’s Word.”

What to look for in Paragraphs (quick notes, save for later!)

1. General and Specific themes 
2. Questions and answers 
   • Note if the text is built on a question-and-answer format.
3. Dialogue 
   • Note if the text includes dialogue. Identify who is speaking and to whom.
4. Means 
   • Note if a sentence indicates that something was done by means of someone/something (answers “how?”). Usually you can insert the phrase “by means of” into the sentence.
5. Purpose/result statements 
   • These are a more specific type of “means,” often telling why. Purpose and result are similar and sometimes indistinguishable. In a purpose statement, you usually can insert the phrase “in order that.” In a result clause, you usually can insert the phrase “so that.”
6. General to specific and specific to general
   • Find the general statements that are followed by specific examples or applications of the general. Also find specific statements that are summarized by a general one.
7. Conditional clauses 
   •  A clause can present the condition by which some action or consequence will result. Often such statements use an “if … then” framework (although in English the “then” is often left out).
8. Actions/roles of God 
   • Identify actions or roles that the text ascribes to God.
9. Actions/roles of people 
   • Identify actions or roles that the text ascribes to people or encourages people to do/be
10. Emotional terms
    • Does the passage use terms that have emotional energy, like kinship words (“father,” “son”) or words like “pleading”?
11. Tone of the passage 
    • What is the overall tone of the passage: happy, sad, encouraging, and so on?”
12. Sentence Flow 
    • Many examples in the Epistles/Letters!

As you can see, there are ENDLESS observations. You can always observe more! And this is the first step of fruitfully studying the Word of God and learning to create an exegetical lens. By being an observer of the text first, it allows more room for the Holy Spirit to highlight and speak through the text and better leverage to understand what the original author was trying to say.

Our goal is to not read the text looking for ourself in it, but reading the text in an observer mindset finding Christ and seeking what the original author was trying to communicate!

Save these observation reminders for later:

TRY IT! This is your homework

Find 30 observations in Acts 1:8. It may sound daunting but there are OVER 30+ observations that you can find in Acts 1:8 alone! After you do this, comment all your observations, let’s see if we can get to over 100 as a community! <3

In Christ,

Cosette

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