Harold Shank

Review

Week 1—Two basic Bible study tools (for personal and use in evangelism)

• Read one book of the Bible repeatedly until you know it well (we are using Mark)
• Write in the margin A*?E

 

Week 2—Two principles of Bible study

• Pay attention to what the Bible says about itself
• Identify units and write a summary of the point of that unit

 

Week 3—Two levels of meaning in the Bible

• What it meant–Exegesis (not eisegesis)
• What it means—Hermeneutics

 

Week 4—Two understandings

• 1—Understand the Bible alike
• 2—Understand the Bible’s three levels (bottom, middle, top)

 

Week 5—Know two things

• Genre (kind of literature)
• Figures of speech (figurative or literal)

 

Report on Homework

• Read Mark (do *A?E)
• Find one passage (paragraph or unit)
  • Identify the genre (narrative in Mark) or a figure of speech
  • Show how knowing the genre or figure of speech helps you know what it meant and what it means
• Find a figure of speech
  • Narrative
  • Parable
  • Miracle story
  • Comment by Mark
  • A literal command
  • A figurative statement

Response to the class

• Share your response to this class:
  • What about this class is helpful?
  • What about this class is life changing?

 

Week 6—Two Guidelines About Words

• Use the horizontal dictionary to define Biblical Words
• Watch for repeated theological words and concepts which are often the key to what a text meant and means

 

1.  Use the horizontal dictionary to define Biblical Words

 

• Words convey thoughts
  • Thoughts that were once in the mind of God are conveyed to us through words
  • Words are parts of phrases which are parts of sentences which are parts of paragraphs which are parts of whole books
  • Understanding words is part of Bible study
  • “Our world come from our words “(Walter Brueggemann, Hopeful Imagination, p. 38).
  • According to E. H. Ijams: “The world of ideas was divided into two large categories. Some ideas led to human unhappiness and world crisis. Other ideas enabled moral decency and human worth. These latter ideas originated with God. The closer the human mind came to embracing the divine ideas, the more lofty the human life. This theological construct included several pieces. God planted the loftiest of ideas in nature and in Scripture, and, when humans encountered those ideas, God’s power worked through those ideas to change lives.” Source:  Harold Shank, “Real Religion–The Ministry of E. H. Ijams” Restoration Quarterly

 

• Many words
  1. Merriam-Webster.com estimates there are 1 million English words
  2. com says the average English speaker uses 20,000 words and knows 40,000 words
  3. Hebrew Bible has about 8,700 words
  4. Greek Bible has about 5,437 words
  5. Point: Biblical words can often be translated by multiple English words

 

Use the horizontal dictionary

• Using an English dictionary to define a Biblical word gives a current definition of the translated word in the English Bible, but may not be close to the Biblical meaning
• Use horizontal dictionary to define these words
  • The horizontal dictionary means looking at the ways the word is used in the Bible
  • Compare the use of a word in several passages

Examples

• Law
  • Merriam Webster: a binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority
    • Oklahoma has laws
    • NCAA has laws
    • We have lawyers to help us understand law
  • Hebrew for law is torah.
    • Means: direction, instruction, law
      • Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction [torah].
      • Proverbs 1:8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction And do not forsake your mother’s teaching [torah]
    • Torah is used 220 times
    • Hebrew nouns often come from Hebrew verbs
    • Abstract Hebrew thoughts often come from concrete things
    • Root of Torah is yarah which means to point out, throw, teach
      • Genesis 46:28 Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out [yarah] the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
      • Proverbs 26:18 Like a madman who throws [yarah] firebrands, arrows and death
      • Exodus 4:12 Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach [yarah] you what you are to say.
      • Concrete: Throw a rock, shoot an arrow
      • Abstract: Throw a thought, that is to teach
    • To imagine that torah means something like the Oklahoma law which says come to a full stop at a stop sign or there will be a penalty may miss the main point which is to throw our way instructions and guidance about life.

 

• Prophesy
  • Popular meaning: to predict the future
  • Merriam Webster
    • to speak as if divinely inspired
    • to give instruction in religious matters as in preach
    • to make a prediction
  • Then the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon you, and you shall prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 1 Sam. 10:6
    • Prophesy is naba (verb), to speak, rave
      • 1 Kings 18:29 When midday was past, they raved [naba] until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention
      • 1 Samuel 10:5 After that you shall come to Gibeathelohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines; and there, as you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying
    • a singer, spokesman, speaker, prophet
  • Fee and Stuart, 150
    • <2% of the words of OT prophets are Messianic
    • <5% of OT prophets predict events to come
    • Future events announced by the prophets were in their future, but our past (Jonah, Nahum)
  • Better definition: Public relations for God; social commentators
    • To think of prophets as only those who tell the future misses their role as calling people’s attention to what God wants.

 

• Love
  • Popular meaning
    • I just love …
    • I love hot dogs
    • I love the local team
    • I love those shoes
    • I love my child
    • I love my spouse
  • Greek has four words for love
  • Hebrew has three words for love
    • Deut. 7:    ⁷ The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸ but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments
      • “Set his love” is chashaq, which is a “delight or desire” for another (Gen. 34:8; Deut. 21:11). Set His love on you is literally “hung on you”
        • See it translated as
          • “longs for” (Gen. 34:8),
          • “have a desire for” (Deut. 21:11)
          • Solomon “was pleased [chashaq] to build” (1 Kings 9:19)
        • Chashaq (Deut. 7:7) becomes “set His affection” (Deut. 10:15) and “have a desire for” (21:11)
        • God is attracted without regard for attractiveness
      • “Loved.” “The Lord loved you” is from aheb (used in 4:37; 6:5; 10:12)
        • means “affection” often used of familial love.
        • father’s love for son (Gen. 22:2)
        • husband’s love for wife (Gen. 24:67)
        • Israel’s love for God (Exod. 20:6)
        • loving a neighbor (Lev. 19:18)
        • Such love was rooted in the Lord’s promise to the forefathers, mentioned in Deut. 6:18, 23; 7:12, 13.
      • “Lovingkindness” is chesed,
        • describes the intentional willing of good from the LORD to Israel without regard to what the LORD might gain from the relationship. The LORD has an inexhaustible amount of this intent toward Israel, here described as extending to the thousandth generation, an attempt to convey the remarkable quality, quantity and availability of this mercy toward those who love Him.
        • Exodus 20:6 God is “showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
        • Psalm 136:2 Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Chesed appears 26 times in this psalm
      • God loves us even when we are unattractive, like a person loves a spouse, with an willful loyalty which cannot be exhausted.

 

• Poor

• 4 Words Used for Poor in Amos
• Sadiq in Amos 2:6; 5:12 translated as righteous: means innocent, some people cause their own poverty, others are poor because of circumstances.
• Ebyon in Amos 2:6; 4:1; 5:12; 8:4, 6 translated as needy: means the poor lack something and have fewer choices (power, water, clothes, parents) in a society where some had winter and summer houses and others had no houses
• Dal in Amos 2:7; 4:1; 5:11; 8:6 means helpless, have not, denied, without protection, without security, and people who are vulnerable. In Amos they are trampled on by the wealthy, and oppressed by the powerful
• Anan in Amos 2:7, 8:4 means the humble, meek, lowly, afflicted. These poor are brokenhearted, distressed and suffering because poverty often hurts physically, emotionally and spiritually 
• Biblically speaking in Amos, the poor did not cause their own situation, which left them with less than enough, and they were helpless to overcome it, and it left them broken

Look up the words in other passages in the Bible to help determine their meaning in each context.  Strong’s Concordance and many digital Bible programs assign a number to each Biblical word and you can search for that number and see how the different versions translate the word.

 

2. Watch for repeated theological words and concepts which are often the key to what a text meant and means

 

• Look for repeated words about belief and repeated concepts of mission in Mark 16:9-20
  • ⁹ Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.  ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.  ¹¹ But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe  ¹² After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.  ¹³ And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.  ¹⁴ Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.  ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.  ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  ¹⁹ So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  ²⁰ And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.
  • Emphasis on belief
    • Mary Magdalene told those who had been with him, and they did not believe (11)
    • Jesus appeared to two in the country, and the others they told did not believe (13)
    • Jesus appeared to the eleven who had not believed (14)
    • Those who believe and are baptized will be saved (16)
    • Certain signs accompany those who believe (17)
    • Appearances of Jesus confirm faith:
      • Appears to Mary Magdalene (9)
      • Appears to two in country (12)
      • Appears to the eleven (14)
      • Appears going to heaven and sitting with God (19)
    • Some form of believe appears 16 times in RSV of Mark
  • Emphasis on mission
    • Mary Magdalene tells what she saw (10)
    • Two in country told what they saw (13)
    • Go into all world and preach (15)
    • Believers will speak in new tongues (17)
    • They went out and preached everywhere (20)
  • What it meant:
    • Mark calls people to belief
      • Belief in the last chapter (bottom level)
      • Mark calls people to submit in faith to Jesus’ authority (middle level)
        • Look for repeated lofty titles for Jesus and responses of authority and amazement
        • Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
        • John the Baptist points to belief in Jesus (1:7, 8)
        • Voice from heaven calls him Son of God (1:11)
        • Unclean spirit calls him Holy One of God (1:24; 3:11)
        • Gerasene man with unclean spirit calls him son of the Most High God (5:7)
        • Peter says You are the Christ (8:29)
        • Authority: ten times in Mark
        • Amazed: nine times in Mark
        • Mark 1-8—believe in Jesus who is the Messiah, son of God, who does amazing things. Key theological words
      • Belief from Abraham to Christians (upper level)
    • Mark calls people to discipleship and service
      • Mark 16: focus on belief and mission (bottom level)
      • Mark 9-16—believe in Jesus who comes to serve, who values children, and who dies on a cross. Believe in the mission of Jesus who suffers and dies (middle          level)
        • Serve: eleven times in Mark
        • Die/cross: Jesus talks about them regularly (3 times in Mark 8-10)
        • Mark 8:34 – 9:1 ³⁴ And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  ³⁶ For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?  ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his life?  ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  ^RSV Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
      • One of the major themes of the Bible is the call to join God in His mission and to be his servants (upper level)
    • What it means
      • Mark can be useful with non-Christians because it is a call to believe
        • We see disciples coming to faith
        • We see how hard it is to come to faith
      • Mark helps Christians understand
        • Who Jesus is
        • How he calls us to believe
        • What he calls us to do (serve, discipleship, mission)

 

• Look for God in Genesis 1:1-2:4a
  • The name God appears in 26 of 31 verses of Genesis 1 for a total of 32 times
  • God is subject of these 8 verbs which appear 34 times: created (3), said (10), saw (7), separated, called (5), made (5), set, blessed (2), gave (2).
  • God gives 11commands which appear 20 times: let there be (5), let it separate, let be gathered, put forth, bring forth, be fruitful (2), multiply (3), fill (2), let us make, have dominion (2), subdue
  • No other person speaks or acts in Gen. 1
  • Shares His power
    • The sun and moon rule over day and night
    • The humans have dominion and subdue
  • God creates (Gen 1:1-27) and then sustains (12, 28-31) the earth
  • What it meant:
    • Genesis 1 (bottom level)
      • God exists, speaks, evaluates, sees, separates, shares His power
      • Words connected to God which have significant theological meaning including create, good, image, likeness, and blessed give us insight into God.
    • Genesis (middle level)
      • God in Gen 1:1-2:4a, lofty, transcendent, powerful God
      • Lord God in Gen 2:4b-3:24, personal, present, protective God
    • OT (top level)
      • Texts on creation
        • creation psalms (such as Psalms 8, 29, 33, 96, 104, and others)
        • the treatment of creation in sections of Isaiah 40-48
        • references to creation the NT ( 19:4; Mk. 13:19; Rom. 8:39; 1 Cor. 11:9; Eph. 2:10; 3:9; 4:24; Col. 1:16; 3:10; 1 Tim. 2:13; 4:3, 4; Heb. 12:27; Rev. 4:11; 5:13; 10:6)
      • The Creator creates
        • by speaking (Gen. 1:9; Psa. 148:5; Heb.11:3)
        • by separating (Gen. 1:6-7, Psa. 33:6)
        • by using agents (Gen 1:11, 26)
        • by shaping what already exists (Gen. 2:7; Psa. 8:3; 2 Pet. 3:5)
        • by creating what is out of nothing (Gen. 1:13-16; Isa. 45:6-7; Rom. 4:17).
      • The Creator also
        • names what He makes and allows the humans to name the rest (Gen. 1:5-10; 2:20)
        • evaluates what He has created (Gen. 1:4-31; 2:18)
        • brings order to what exists (Gen. 1:2, 9)
        • creates by spirit and wisdom (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Prov 8:22-31)
        • deals with chaotic forces (Psa. 74:12-17; 77:12-21; 89:10-15)
        • in his creation deals with nature, families, and nations (Genesis 4-11; 9:1-7).
      • What it means:
        • God is separate from the creation
        • God is the creator not the created
        • God sets the boundaries between God and humanity
        • Employs humans to treat the creation the way He did
        • Creation did not result from some struggle which the strong won and the weak lost, it was not a long series of accidental happenings, but it was planned and executed by God