How to Study Scripture

[zil2]

It's only in the past few years that I have really learned how to study scripture.  And I realized today, while pondering other things, that I was never taught how to study scripture in Church.  Not once.  I was taught:

• We should study scripture
• Reading is not study
• You can read from the beginning or by topic, at random, or any other way you please
• You can read a verse, a page, a chapter, or whatever you choose
• You can use manuals, study helps, or not
• You can spend a lot of time or very little
• You should pray in connection with scripture study
• You should seek answers for your questions in scripture
• You should take notes (though this was long after I'd already learned that, and it was an article in a magazine, I think)

That's it (as far as I can remember).  IMO, those things are not how to study.

I've finally learned how to study, and I'll comment on that later.  What I want to know from you is how you study - if you're willing and able to share.

Thanks!

[zil2]

It occurs to me that an example is in order.  By "how", I mean similar to the way math is taught - when you learn long division, or subtraction, you learn things like carrying the 10 or how to handle the decimal point and add zeros, etc.  The technique is demonstrated with various examples, then you are given problems to solve so that you can practice the technique.

I have come to learn that one can learn simple steps like that for how to analyze scripture to make it useful in your life.  But no one in Church ever taught me those steps (nor in my family).  I'm guessing they assumed I'd figure it out myself, but I'm a dense literalist, and mostly didn't until fairly recently.  I'll go into detail later, but first I'm wondering what other techniques there are to studying scripture, and I'm hoping you guys can convert your techniques into words.

[Carborendum]

16 hours ago, zil2 said:

It's only in the past few years that I have really learned how to study scripture.  And I realized today, while pondering other things, that I was never taught how to study scripture in Church. 

...

That's it (as far as I can remember).  IMO, those things are not how to study.

...What I want to know from you is how you study - if you're willing and able to share.

I first start with reading a passage.  But one problem I have is ADD.  So, reading along simply isn't enough.  I have to read every single word.  One method that has become very useful on many fronts is looking up word meanings.  This takes several forms.

• Look it up in the dictionary.
• Look up the etymology.
• Look up the word in the original language (Hebrew/Aramaic in OT, Greek in NT).
• Consider grammar in both English and in original. 
• Look up various English translations of the Bible for other meanings.
• Sometimes, I look it up in Spanish and French to see what alternate translations we have.

Then I wonder about "weird things."  Sometimes I read something, and I notice something strange in the way a verse is written.  I wonder, "Why was that written that way?"  See "EXAMPLE" below.

• Is there a series/list of words that seems to break a pattern?
• Is there an odd word that doesn't seem to flow?
• Where are the commas?
• What are the pronouns and antecedents?

MEMORIZE:

I realize that many have a problem with memorization.  And I'm not being critical.  It is what it is.  It's perfectly fine to paraphrase a passage. 

But I find that memorization really helps me because I cross-reference in my mind a lot more than looking up the topical guide, footnotes, or concordance.  It all blends together in a human brain a lot more easily than looking up a bunch of individual verses and trying to make sense of it.

Then I try putting all the above mentioned methods together in my mind and see what the Spirit is trying to tell me.

Then the pondering comes from putting all this together and lining it up with:

• Known gospel principles.
• Known history.
• Traditions among those who originally wrote it.
• Personal experience
• What is happening in my life and in the world today

 

EXAMPLE:

Daniel 2:2.  List of words.  A pattern is broken.  Why is that?  I went on a search and found out that this was badly translated.  But at the same time, the correct translation would not have drawn my attention to the true intent of the verse.  When I realized what the real words were, I had to ask, why is this important?  Interesting realization.

D&C 84:22 "This".  What is the antecedent?  It isn't what our detractors seem to think it is.  The most common assumption requires incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement.  Once I figured that out, I realized the real meaning of the entire verse (and passage) not just a single word.

I'm not sure if this is something that others can do.  I've just been doing it all my life without realizing it.  But I find that when I do this intensive study, I can actually read a page without getting distracted.  The more in-depth study that others would consider boring is what keeps my ADD from kicking in.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Carborendum

[zil2]

Thanks, @Carborendum!  These help (and have reminded me of some things I do which I wasn't thinking of when I started this thread).

On 11/13/2023 at 8:17 AM, Carborendum said:

Daniel 2:2.  List of words.  A pattern is broken.  Why is that?  I went on a search and found out that this was badly translated.  But at the same time, the correct translation would not have drawn my attention to the true intent of the verse.  When I realized what the real words were, I had to ask, why is this important?  Interesting realization.

D&C 84:22 "This".  What is the antecedent?  It isn't what our detractors seem to think it is.  The most common assumption requires incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement.  Once I figured that out, I realized the real meaning of the entire verse (and passage) not just a single word.

To finish the examples and use these to teach others a technique, we need the full example (like we get when learning how to do long division and the teacher solves the problem on the board - back in the good old days when math was math).

I'm thinking from Daniel, the Chaldeans caught your attention and so you researched why a nationality was listed with the magicians and such.  Seems like we've talked about that here (though I can't find it), so I get it, though I'm not sure what your interesting realization is.

NOTE: My question is not for my own benefit per se, but for a planned 5th Sunday lesson or two on how to study scriptures, where we go into it exactly how a math teacher would demonstrate long division - present the rules / technique and give several examples.  This example may be beyond most as most won't have a clue where to turn for translation issues - as far as I can tell, it's not a bad translation so much as bad localization - it said Chaldeans, but did so because they were famous for being / having astrologers / considered wise.

For D&C, I imagine some people read it as "this Moses guy" rather than "Moses plainly taught X to the children of Israel".  I assume X is verses 19-22 - the Melchizedek Priesthood and its ordinances.  What do our detractors seem to think it is?

(I want to fully understand, with examples, so I can figure out how to incorporate it into a class.)

On 11/13/2023 at 8:17 AM, Carborendum said:

I'm not sure if this is something that others can do. 

I'm certain that there will be people for whom your method "clicks".  The goal of our 5th Sunday class(es) will be to help people to understand techniques sufficient to pick one and practice it (and if it's not working for them, try another).

(Could have sworn I posted this, but here it is in the editor and not posted...)

[zil2]

Meanwhile, for those not answering the original question, perhaps you could answer this one:

Do you have a technique for your study or do you just read and rely on whatever thoughts and impressions you may get while reading or....?

Thanks!

[Carborendum]

2 hours ago, zil2 said:

Thanks, @Carborendum!  These help (and have reminded me of some things I do which I wasn't thinking of when I started this thread).

Glad to help.

2 hours ago, zil2 said:

To finish the examples and use these to teach others a technique, we need the full example (like we get when learning how to do long division and the teacher solves the problem on the board - back in the good old days when math was math).

I'll try.

2 hours ago, zil2 said:

I'm thinking from Daniel, the Chaldeans caught your attention and so you researched why a nationality was listed with the magicians and such.  Seems like we've talked about that here (though I can't find it), so I get it, though I'm not sure what your interesting realization is.

As you indicated, the pattern was three "trades" or "crafts" and then a nationality.  Because it was weird (broke a pattern) I wondered what the deal was.

I opened up BibleHub and compared NIV to the KJV:  I found how often Chaldeans were replaced with Astrologers.  But never anything else.  The magicians were largely unchanged. But the other two kept changing.

NIV: Magicians, Enchanters, Sorcerers, and Astrologers.

KJV: Magicians, Astrologers, Sorcerers, and Chaldeans.

What's up with that?  Two were the same, but two were changed.  Similarly, other translations used various different words.  What stood out was that most of them were "crafts". But for some reason "Chaldeans" kept coming up in various translations.  Some 

I'll sum up.  The words may be decent translations, but the realization was not about the translations.  It was about the origins of the words used and some cultural background.

So I go to the Blue Letter Bible to see the original languages and the background, etymology, and alternate translations for the words.

• "Magicians" (KJV) (לַֽחַרְטֻמִּים) had Egyptian roots.
• "Astrologers" (וְלָֽאַשָּׁפִים) had Babylonian roots.
• "Sorcerer" (וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִים) was of Assyrian roots.
• "Chaldeans" (כַּשְׂדִּימָה) was obviously about Chaldeans.  But, to be a Chaldean was almost synonymous with being an astrologer (so widely practiced was the art of astrology among the Chaldeans).

Then I did some Google searches about this verse and about who each of these cultures were.  I read the results.  I began putting pieces together.

If you notice, we're not just talking about "crafts/trades".  The verse is making a statement that Old Neb had the greatest minds representing all the knowledge of the known world at the time.  And when they confessed that no man alive can answer this question, it was a certainty.  No man could.

How would you translate that properly?  I dunno.  Maybe translating it the way they did was actually the only way to catch someone's attention so that they'd go look it up and figure it out.  I don't know how many did.

The Contemporary English Version tried to address it by using a completely different method: Counselors, advisors, magicians, and wise men.  While this would have been considered a bad word-for-word translation, the "sense" of the passage was more accurate.

In Sunday School, I had the class read this verse slowly,  I asked them, "Does anyone notice anything strange?"  They were kind of blank faced.  Then I read it for them by going through the first three very quickly, then pausing before "the Chaldeans."  Then I heard a bunch of "Oh"s.  Then some murmuring about "what is that about?"

So, I explained it.  Then all kinds of discussion ensued.  That was exciting.

2 hours ago, zil2 said:

For D&C, I imagine some people read it as "this Moses guy" rather than "Moses plainly taught X to the children of Israel".  I assume X is verses 19-22 - the Melchizedek Priesthood and its ordinances.  What do our detractors seem to think it is?

This has been famously used in anti-Mormon works as well as sincere LDS questioning: How could Joseph Smith have experienced The First Vision when he obviously had not been ordained to the priesthood?

I focused on the word "This".  And to tell the truth, that wasn't really a problem.  It was enough to get my attention.  As you pointed out, it was indeed the words of Verse 23 that answered this.

"See the face of God" took on new meaning when combined with V23.  Check out the footnote "a" for "Moses".  If we understand that there are precursors and that there are predecessors, we understand that the Temple Ceremony has not been necessarily constant throughout the millennia.  Reading Ex 19 is all too reminiscent of certain aspects of the temple.

So, to "see the face of God" in the temple... what does that conjure up in your mind?  A type and shadow of things to come.

Then a cross-reference in my brain: Alma said that the Liahona was a type and shadow of Christ.  If we look, we will live.  Look at what?  Live? How?

Do we look upon the face of God?  Do we live?  How?  The priesthood and the ordinances thereof.

2 hours ago, zil2 said:

I'm certain that there will be people for whom your method "clicks". 

I can hope so.

[zil2]

Thanks, again, @Carborendum!  Appreciate the answers and will now ponder how I might explain it as a technique one can implement.

I'm beginning to think that very few people consciously use techniques to analyze scripture.  I certainly didn't, not for a long, long time, but I'm finding it much better to have a technique and to do the analysis rather than relying only on manuals, GC talks, and my feeble ability to feel the Spirit.

I've also felt impressed that scripture study is only becoming more important - that we'll all need a sound understanding of the scriptures more and more.

[mordorbund]

Study pattern:

• Purpose
  Each study session has a purpose. Often it is an extension of the previous study's purpose. Begin with prayer and state the purpose. "Investigate the different creation accounts, see how they differ, and discover what the similarities and differences teach" "Learn my responsibilities and privileges as a deacon" "Select a person from my reading that I most relate to" "Find something of interest in this week's reading assignment" "Memorize 3 verses I learned about yesterday" "Cross reference my patriarchal blessing with the scriptures"
• Prework
  These don't necessarily happen in the study session (unless you make that your purpose of study that day) but these are "helps" or resources you rely on in your more general studies. This might include such things as surveying the Gospel Library App to see what's available for your subject (if studying the D&C it's helpful to have some Church history resources), learning historic timelines and facts (such as where the saints were gathered and when (for D&C), or the rise and fall of ancient empires (for OT), geography (OT, NT, BM), revelation names (D&C)), or even memorizing scripture/official declarations for when phrases come up later. Oh yeah, I did an exercise during my first NT seminary class where we searched through the NT footnotes for references to the JST and marked them with a highlighter. I went back and did that for the OT as well. You should definitely do that.
• Study
  This is where you do what you typically think of as "studying" -- sit on your keister and read until it sinks in. But don't just do that, apply some principles.
  • Be curious - you may come across curiosities as you're reading, feel free to explore them a little bit. If they're taking too long or are distracting then make a note for a future study topic and return to the current topic (assuming the Spirit isn't driving you to the curiosity). "I wonder what it means by 'the cause of Zion'? Huh, it's come up a few times... and the Church hasn't even been organized yet....". Mosiah 19:4 "wait, was there a ceremony that I missed?"
  • Use other resources -- student manuals and other entries (in the Gospel Library app) can provide Catch 22 context -- if you already know about it you probably don't need to look at it again, but if you don't already know then you don't know you need to look it up. This is also where you refer to previous notes, timelines, maps, from prework.
  • Ponder -- Just because you "finished studying" doesn't mean you've finished studying. Throughout the day as you have time to reflect, ponder what you studied. This helps solidify in your memory what you studied, provides opportunities for feedback loops, and provides opportunities for personal revelation.
  • Feedback loops -- sometimes you may come across connections from your other studies or observations (listened to some sort of counselor list out principles for building meaningful relationships and realized those are the same things God asks of us -- almost like prophets know a thing or two). These then return back to your study for additional insights
  • Make notes for yourself -- sometimes it's helpful to diagram to get a better understanding of what's going on. This can turn into a bit of a prework tangent by creating maps, timelines, family trees and such, but mostly it's an exercise of physically organizing your thoughts.
  • Make notes for future you -- that's a great insight you got from your study session. It'd be a real shame if you ever forgot it. Four years from now when your read the same passage again you won't remember that you thought anything of it. You don't necessarily need anything major but it should be enough to jog your memory (it may just be a new footnote referencing one of the study helps discussed earlier, then you can check the reference if you want to learn more)
• Share
  As with ponder and purpose, share helps solidify your memory. You probably remember scriptures you quoted in talks or lessons better than other scriptures because you made sure you understood them well enough that you could present them and (if teaching) could answer questions about them. Have a "good news" buddy you can share with (a "good news" buddy is someone you can share good news with and feel even better about yourself because of how well they rejoice with you). You don't have to share every time but you should be preparing to present every time you study.

Case study:

Purpose: Pray to "Find personal meaning from Psalm 24"

Prework: 1) Psalms is the Old Testament Hymnal. It was meant to be sung probably by a choir. 2) When I read through Song of Solomon I recognized 3 character parts in it (man, woman, group). I took the time to label these and it made my reading easier (I was very pleased when I saw the NIV also did the same, labeling the group "chorus"). 

Study: Start reading the Psalm. "... Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath..." curious -- is that a call and response? <continue reading> "... Who is the King of glory? the Lord strong and mighty..." curious What is this? catechism? call and response? prework Let's break this down like Song of Solomon and see if I can make sense of it.

Focusing on the questions, assign Caller, Responder, chorus(?) - something like

Quote

Ch: The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

C : Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

R: He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (should Ch pronounce blessing? No, let's keep it here since it's about "he" but change on the next since it's "generation") He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Ch: This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Ch: (Ch again? Selah suggests a break, but format-wise it starts both with Ch so I guess it's good) Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

C : Who is this King of glory?

R: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Ch: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

C : Who is this King of glory?

R: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Work on some variations: Ch doesn't have to be a chorus, maybe that's like the King's messenger. Then C is asking the important questions. Then R can be Ch informing them how to prepare for the King. Only 2 parts required.

C in the second part could be the gates themselves singing.

notes Some thoughts on the Second Coming

share Pretend like I have a friend who enjoys poetry and defend my partitioning

ponder Later in the day imagine the following vignette:

Quote

Father and young Son (maybe 4 or 5?) in the yard. Son has a mound of dirt and a little moat around it where he's built a small city. Father finishes watering plants and joins him.

Father: (picking up dirt and building up the mound) The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (fills the moat) For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Son: Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

Father: (washing Son's hands) He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (returns home with Son)

Father: (in prayer, filled with gratitude) This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.

notes: Some better thoughts

Edited November 16, 2023 by mordorbund

[zil2]

Thank you, @mordorbund!  So much thought and work went into that post - it's perfect.  I'll study it.  I've already suggested we should take two fifth Sundays, realizing there are many ways to study scripture and we can't just present one for everyone as we're in different stages of life and spiritual growth.  Your method could be an entire 5th Sunday.  Fortunately, you've written it out so well that I can use it as a hand-out as well.  I'm truly grateful.

[Carborendum]

7 hours ago, mordorbund said:

• Share
  As with ponder and purpose, share helps solidify your memory. You probably remember scriptures you quoted in talks or lessons better than other scriptures because you made sure you understood them well enough that you could present them and (if teaching) could answer questions about them. Have a "good news" buddy you can share with (a "good news" buddy is someone you can share good news with and feel even better about yourself because of how well they rejoice with you). You don't have to share every time but you should be preparing to present every time you study.

My "good news buddies" are my family.  But lately, I've come to realize that they're actually a lot smarter (or at least more well-read) than I am.  When I want to share something I just discovered or something that just occurred to me about a passage, they already knew from some other source.

Me: "Honey!  Look what I just figured out about this!"  
Wife: "Yes, I just heard that on a podcast a couple weeks ago."
Me: "Doh-oh!"  (grumbling about having to put forth effort to figure something out that someone else had already figured out).

 

Me: (to my daughter) "I am thinking that (this passage) must have implied that (x happened)."
Daughter: "Yeah, that's the way they portrayed it in The Chosen just this past episode."
Me: (Wondering if these discoveries are really obvious to everyone else.  And I'm just missing things due to my reading disability.)

Edited November 16, 2023 by Carborendum

[zil2]

3 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

My "good news buddies" are my family.  But lately, I've come to realize that they're actually a lot smarter (or at least more well-read) than I am.  When I want to share something I just discovered or something that just occurred to me about a passage, they already knew from some other source.

Me: "Honey!  Look what I just figured out about this!"  
Wife: "Yes, I just heard that on a podcast."
Me: "Doh-oh!"  (grumbling about having to put forth effort to figure something out that someone else had already figured out).

 

Me: (to my daughter) "I am thinking that (this passage) must have implied that (x happened)."
Daughter: "Yeah, that's the way they portrayed it in The Chosen just this past episode."
Me: (Wondering if these discoveries are really obvious to everyone else.  And I'm just missing things due to my reading disability.)

IMO, you are better off for having figured it out for yourself than for having it told to you.  IMO, learning to receive directly from the Holy Ghost, rather than have someone else tell it to you, is the whole point of the Come, Follow Me program.

[Carborendum]

7 hours ago, mordorbund said:

Study: Start reading the Psalm. "... Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath..." curious -- is that a call and response? <continue reading> "... Who is the King of glory? the Lord strong and mighty..." curious What is this? catechism? call and response? prework Let's break this down like Song of Solomon and see if I can make sense of it.

Focusing on the questions, assign Caller, Responder, chorus(?) - something like

Work on some variations: Ch doesn't have to be a chorus, maybe that's like the King's messenger. Then C is asking the important questions. Then R can be Ch informing them how to prepare for the King. Only 2 parts required...

OK.  Now I'm jealous.  You seem to do things just like I do it.  But your mind is much more organized than mine is.  There is a greater level of clarify in your processes, your thoughts, and your conclusions.

Do you know how many times I wished I could just organize all the data in my head and communicate then in a manner that others could understand?  I'd be unstoppable.

But you seem to already have that.  Do you realize that you're unstoppable?