Read Galatians 1 several times in your preferred Bible. As you read, use a Highlighting Tool to mark important words, key ideas, and noteworthy people, places, or events. Highlighting can help you note key aspects of the passage and reinforce your familiarity. If you do not want to Highlight in your study Bible, you can print the section you are studying and then highlight on the printed version of the passage you are studying.

Read Galatians 1

What questions or insights do you have about this passage? Take note of anything in the text that is confusing, surprising, challenging, or hard to understand. Record your questions in your notes and keep them in mind as you explore your passage further.

Reading your passage in multiple versions, such as a Hebrew or Greek edition or a variety of English translations, can improve your understanding of the passage. Using translations that take different approaches may draw your attention to problems in interpretation. As you read, be sure to notice things that sound strange, or that seem confusing. You will want to remember these things for later study.

Desired Outcomes

• You may see possible additional nuances in meaning by consulting other translations.
• You may notice specific words or phrases that translations tend to handle differently.

Explanation

All Bible translations vary somewhat in how they relate to the biblical language editions, especially regarding how literal they are versus how much they try to use natural, idiomatic language. Differences appear even among versions that claim to be more literal translations, so comparing different versions helps to highlight the translation differences among different Bibles. However, you’re more likely to see differences comparing a more literal translation (KJV, LEB) with a more idiomatic one (e.g., NIV, NLT).

Compare Bible Versions Now

Consider what you have read. Are there things that you don’t understand? List them in your notes and make sure to keep them in mind as you examine the passage more deeply.

What else do you notice in this passage?

Looking at the different versions of the Bible you have, determine the outer boundaries of the passage you are studying. Sometimes, different Bibles establish the boundaries of a passage differently. These passages are often called “pericopes” (a word that simply means a selection of text from a larger work).

Desired Outcomes

• You will identify the larger section of which your passage is a part.
• You will see whether there are different views on the boundaries of the section.

Further Reading

• Pericope Delimitation (Deppe, All Roads Lead to the Text)

Are the boundaries of the pericope that contains the passage generally agreed upon? If not, what appears to be the cause of the differences?

Review your passage and note references to people (such as explicit references, descriptions, or pronouns). Identify whether the people noted are major players involved in the action of the passage or whether they are noted for background information or symbolic reference. This information can be used to look up article entries in Bible Dictionaries and Bible Encyclopedias related to the individuals and people groups identified in your passage.

Desired Outcomes

• You will determine the key actors in your passage.
• You will gain background knowledge about the groups and individuals mentioned in the passage.

Who are the main players in your passage? What makes them important to the passage?

Review your passage for references to places. Use the Biblical Places to identify the places mentioned in your passage. You may have already noted the overall geographic setting if you identified relevant events for your passage. This step relates to places that are explicitly mentioned in your passage. Consider whether the places mentioned are central to the events of your passage or whether they are simply mentioned in passing for background information or for their symbolic importance.

Desired Outcomes

• You will determine the key locations in your passage and their geographic relationships.
• You will gain background knowledge about the places mentioned in the passage.

Record your observations about the background of the place, and note other events and passages that involve this place. How does that knowledge affect your understanding of this passage?

Identify the types of things and specific objects mentioned in your passage.

Desired Outcomes

• You will determine the key objects in your passage.
• You will gain background knowledge about the objects mentioned in the passage.

Explanation

For objects that are specific (rather than generic), or those that are less familiar, you can think about the following:

• artwork or photographs that depict the object
• other events in which these objects or types of objects play a role
• other passages where the objects are mentioned and the different ways they are mentioned
• links to dictionaries and other reference sources that provide additional background information

Don’t assume that objects we encounter today are the same as their biblical counterparts. For example, sandals and roads are familiar to us, but ours are very different from the objects described in the Bible, even though we use the same words to refer to them. Their cultural significance in biblical times could also be very different from modern usage.

Record your observations about the objects, and note other events and passages that involve these same things. How does that knowledge affect your understanding of this passage?

Each passage has certain key words or ideas that are central to the meaning of the passage. Identifying and examining these key terms and concepts is essential to understanding the passage properly. Taking different positions on the meaning of a passage’s key terms is often how significantly different interpretations arise. 

Identify words that appear to be contextually important and explain what is significant about those words.

The Interpretation stage of Bible study involves sorting through what a text meant to its original audience. You will use Bible reference tools like study guides, Bible dictionaries, study Bibles, or commentaries to learn what you can about what the text could have meant in its original context.

Desired Outcomes

• You will understand the meaning of particular terms, words, and phrases in the passage.
• You will understand the historical and literary context of the passage.
• You will come to a greater understanding of the author’s intention in writing the passage.
• You will be able to summarize the main point of the passage.

Explanation

The second step in the inductive Bible study method presupposes that there is meaning in the biblical text. Texts may have many applications, but they have only one meaning that rests in the author’s intention. This meaning would normally have been understood by the text’s first hearers or readers.

Interpretation is where you try to understand the meaning of the text in its original setting. Taking into account the context and, as appropriate, the whole biblical teaching on the topic under study, you will arrive at a meaning that is anchored in the text and consistent with all of Scripture. In the final stages of this step, you may turn to other people’s insight into the text and its meaning (commentaries and other tools) to validate or challenge your interpretation.

The questions you will consider during the Interpretation stage are:

• What is the historical and cultural background to this passage?
• What do the significant words in this passage mean?
• Why did the author write this passage, and why did the Holy Spirit inspire it?
• What is the significance of this passage?

Further Reading

• Interpretation (What Does It Mean?) (Ogden, Discipleship Essentials)
• Interpretation: Investigating the Text (Fuhr and Köstenberger, Inductive Bible Study)
• Interpretation: What Does It Mean? (Deane, Learn to Study the Bible)

The key historical context for the passage that you’re studying is the location of the book in which the passage appears. Who’s the author? When was it written? Who are the recipients? What was the purpose of the writing? These core questions orient us to the broader historical context before we talk about the particulars of what’s happening in a given passage.

Desired Outcome

You will become familiar with discussions around the author, date, recipients, and purpose of the book your passage is found in.

Record the basic facts that you’ve learned about the book’s context: author, date, audience, and purpose.

There are a number of distinct styles of literature found in the Bible. These different styles or types are commonly referred to as genres, but we also sometimes label them as literary types. You are probably familiar with common genres still used today like poems, letters, or novels. Identifying and understanding the literary style or genre of a passage is important for interpreting it correctly. Your expectations about a text’s meaning are heavily influenced by what genre you think you are reading. You would not expect the same things when reading a repair manual as when reading a novel. Or you would not read a poem the same way as you would read a news story. If a particular literary genre occurs in your passage, it should be identified and carefully evaluated.

Desired Outcome

You will identify specific types and styles of literature used in the passage and consider how these affect your understanding.

Explanation

Using certain resources we will need to determine the relevant literary types associated with the passage. Like genre, literary types indicate what sort of text you are reading. Some genre distinctions apply to an entire literary work (like fiction versus non-fiction), but many texts contain a mix of different literary types. This is especially true in biblical texts, where one book may include historical narrative, prophetic poetry, ethical teachings, and laws.

The literary type can apply to larger sections, like pericopes and entire books, or to individual verses.

Further Reading

• The Identification of Genre (Deppe, All Roads Lead to the Text) provides several examples of how genre affects interpretation.
• Literary Genre in the Bible (Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation)

What are the literary types identified in this passage? Do the indicated types fit your expectations of what sort of text you are reading? Why or why not?

Does the passage have any shifts in type or genre? What significance might those shifts have for the meaning of the passage?

Explore cultural practices and traditions associated with a passage. Cultural background information is essential for understanding the passage’s possible meaning for the biblical audience.

Desired Outcomes

• You will be aware of cultural aspects and practices that may affect your understanding of the passage.
• You will guard against inappropriately making modern cultural assumptions as you seek to understand the text.

Explanation

We are looking for cultural practices in the context of the Bible and other relevant ancient literature. For example, “baptism” is a cultural practice discussed in the Bible and other literature. If a passage contains cultural material, understanding the background of the cultural practice can help us better understand the passage’s importance.

Further Reading

• For many years, Victor Matthews’s book on the manners and customs of biblical times has been a standard reference for this sort of background information; the fourth edition is called The Cultural World of the Bible: An Illustrated Guide to Manners and Customs.

Are there any instances of cultural concepts or practices in the passage? Does knowledge of any of these affect understanding of the passage?

Now, we need to explore what was going on in history during the relevant times for your chosen passage.

Desired Outcomes

• You will be aware of key aspects of the historical background of the passage.
• You may better understand the passage by considering it against the larger historical setting

Explanation

We are looking for events from world history alongside events of biblical relevance so that you can get a broad view of the historical context and see how world events connect to key people, places, and passages from the Bible.

Further Reading

• Explore the Historical Context of the Event: Chronology of Events (Logos Pro Team, LT271 Study the Bible with Logos: Jonah 1)

What are the main events in world history that are relevant to your passage?

Do those events connect to the Bible and provide any helpful knowledge to inform your understanding of the passage?

Now, we need to work on identifying cross-references related to your passage. Taking careful consideration of the relationship between your passage and a related passage can help you reach a better understanding of both passages.

Desired Outcomes

• You will identify cross-references relevant to consider in the study of your passage.
• You will understand why particular cross-references are relevant for your purposes and why others are not.

Explanation

In identifying and evaluating cross-references, you will get more relevant results by focusing your attention on a smaller section of Scripture. For example, an entire biblical book or full chapter will include many cross-references to evaluate, while a paragraph or single verse will likely have a smaller number of cross-references that are directly relevant to the content of that short section of Scripture. 

Further Reading

• Scripture Interprets Scripture (Kaiser and Silva, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics)

Review each key cross-reference and consider its relevance to your passage. Why is the cross-reference relevant for your passage?

Which cross-references are most important for your passage?

What additional insight do the related passages provide for your understanding of your passage?

Review the list of important words identified earlier for your passage and consider whether you want to research any in more depth. 

Desired Outcomes

• You will review words that play an important role in the passage.
• You will research words that should be examined further to better understand the passage.

Explanation
You will need to use Bible Dictionaries and resources designed for Word Studies to see the keywords from Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek that are frequently discussed by commentators regarding your passage.

Select one or two words from the list to study in more depth. What word or words did you choose?

How did examining the words influence your understanding of the passage?

Now, we need to examine commentary discussions of important words. Commentaries often discuss key terms or important words in the context of the passage they occur in. These discussions are valuable because they are contextually appropriate and focused on the current passage.

Desired Outcome

You will review discussions of important words in key commentaries to refine your understanding of the word’s importance in your passage.

Explanation

Refer back to the list of important words for your passage that you made earlier. You may need to pick out your important words from the list and expand the list to see the commentaries that mention that key term.

For words you have identified as important, evaluate commentary entries to learn more about the word’s use in context.

Locate commentaries that discuss your passage and review the discussion to better understand which aspects of your passage are most challenging or unclear. A commentary discussion may alert you that something you thought was clear in the text is actually a complicated and debated issue.

Desired Outcomes

• You will locate commentaries that discuss your passage and read a selection of them.
• You will consider what each commentary communicates and identify areas of agreement or disagreement among the commentaries.
• You will determine how your study should account for what you learned from the commentary discussions.

Explanation

Bible commentaries provide detailed discussions on many of the passages they cover, but they often spend the most time on aspects of the book that are unclear or challenging to understand. When you read the Bible in translation, recognize that the translator had to make a decision about meaning in order to provide you with a text that made sense in your language.

Commentators will draw your attention to areas where the original language text of the passage is difficult or ambiguous. They then typically survey various interpretations that have been offered to solve the difficulty or clarify the ambiguity.

Usually, they also present their own view or point out which of the suggested interpretations they consider the best solution. You can use commentaries in your study by doing the following:

• Evaluate several commentaries for your passage by reading a few of their comments on your passage.
• Select at least two of the commentaries and read their entire treatment of your passage.
• Consider the areas of agreement or disagreement between the different commentaries.
• Review your interpretation of the passage in light of the discussions in the commentaries.

Further Reading

• Commentaries Section of the Passage Guide (LT 102 Studying a Passage with Logos Bible Software)

Record insights gained from reading the commentaries. Note especially the parts of your passage that inspired the most discussion in the commentaries.

Have the consulted commentaries modified your understanding of the passage? In what way?

Review what you have studied and summarize it. Writing a brief summary of your passage and what you’ve learned about it will strengthen your understanding of the passage and help you remember the main points from your study.

Desired Outcome

Summarizing what you have learned will help seal your understanding of your passage.

Explanation

Arriving at your own informed understanding of a passage is important before you move on to consult resources like commentaries that give you the interpretations that other people have reached about the same text.

In 25 words or less, summarize the main points you have learned about this passage.

The Application stage of Bible study asks, “So what?” Any doctrine we learn from a passage should be formative for us. The focus of application is who we are to be and what we are to do. In some cases, that’s individual; in some cases, that’s corporate. But it’s the shaping of character, and not just the mind, that should be the result of Bible study.

Desired Outcomes

• You will have a better understanding of what this passage means for your life.
• You will have a better understanding of what this passage means for your relationships or any groups of which you are a part.

Explanation

The Application stage is where you determine what the text means for you today. Begin with the main point of the passage you clarified during the Interpretation stage and ask questions of it to guide your reflection.

Is the teaching of the text, as found in Interpretation, directly applicable to your life and thinking?

If you have trouble answering this question, ask how the principles behind the direct teaching could apply to you in light of the rest of Scripture. Note that the applicability even of God’s direct commands or apostolic instructions may be limited to the people directly addressed. This may be obvious (such as in prescriptions for animal sacrifices in the Old Testament), or it may be a debated issue (such as head coverings for women in church).

Inductive Bible study is a personal and spiritual exercise. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and one person’s application of the same text may vary from the next person’s.

The questions you will consider during the Application stage are:

• What does this passage show you about God?
• What principles can be drawn out of this passage?
• Is there a command in this passage you ought to obey?
• Is there a truth in this passage you ought to believe?
• Is there an example in this passage you ought to follow?
• Does this passage require a change in your behavior?
• What does this passage mean for your community of faith?

Further Reading

• Application (What does it mean to me?) (Ogden, Discipleship Essentials)
• Application: Acting on the Text (Fuhr and Köstenberger, Inductive Bible Study)
• Application: What Does It Ask Me To Do? (Deane, Learn to Study the Bible)

An essential part of application is determining what timeless principles are taught in a passage. While the meaning of a passage will be applied differently at different times and places, the underlying truths of Scripture will be applicable in some way at all times and places. Before we can apply a passage, we must understand its theological principles.

Desired Outcomes

• You will consider the deeper meaning of your passage.
• You will identify the theological principles taught by your passage.

Explanation

Application requires identifying the core principles taught in Scripture. This aspect of interpretation is one of the most challenging because we often have trouble separating the timeless theological principles in the text from the cultural and historical particulars that accompany those principles in the text. 

Further Reading

• Avoiding Mistakes in Application (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation)
• Identify the Cross-Cultural Principles (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation)

What theological principles are communicated in your passage?

Which theological principles from your passage are most important?

How might they be applied today?

Now that you have reviewed your understanding of the passage, you are in a better position to determine the passage’s primary application.

Desired Outcomes

• You will evaluate how the passage has inspired or challenged you.
• You will consider how to apply the passage in day-to-day living.

Explanation

Application means discovering what actions God intended believers to take as a result of their encounter with the biblical text. While you can know the Bible and know what it means without applying it, knowledge of the Scripture should lead us to action and inspire change in our lives.

Further Reading

• How to Apply Meaning (Duvall and Hays, Grasping God’s Word (2nd ed.))
• How to Apply (or Live Out) Meaning (Duvall and Hays, Grasping God’s Word (3rd ed.))

How has this passage challenged or moved you?

What issues, personal or corporate, are involved with this passage?

What spiritual struggles are addressed in this passage, either directly or indirectly?

What response do you think the passage should inspire in others if you shared it and your insights with them?

What is the primary application of your passage?

What have you learned that you should share with others? Your insight could be valuable to others; sharing about it may encourage and enlighten your friends. Use social media sites, email, or conversations to share your insights and start discussions with others. Don’t forget to include what steps you might plan to take in response to what you’ve learned. The ultimate goal of our learning and study of the Scriptures should be a changed life, not merely acquiring more information.

Desired Outcomes

• Sharing your insights with others can help to deepen and reinforce your own understanding.
• Others may benefit from your notes and insights, and they may, in turn, be able to engage further with you about your study.

Explanation
One reason to study is to learn more and how you can integrate the truth of the Scriptures into your Christian walk. How can you share what you’ve learned with your small group or with other friends? Find a group you’d like to share with (your church, your small group, etc.) and compose a post sharing what you’ve learned.