Getting the sense of what you read does not always come easily.  You might find that the wording of a passage causes it to seem hard to work out.  Perhaps there is a mention of something from another place in that book; but although you recognize it, it doesn’t come back to mind immediately.  Sometimes names of people or places come up that you’ve never heard of before, but they seem to have a bearing on the meaning of the Scripture.  Or maybe it’s just a single word that is causing the hang-up.  In any case, there are some generally accepted, yet not-so-difficult ways of making sense of the Scriptures and at the same time keeping intact what God intends to communicate.

            Once a basic understanding of a passage is achieved, the reader should have the ability to reiterate it or paraphrase it without losing any of its continuity with the context.  So to this end, we will look at five ways of dealing with smaller-scale passages, using the most basic comprehension enhancement techniques.  In order from the most objective to the most personal, they are amplification, background research, cross-referencing, consulting commentaries, and meditation.

2a. Amplification

            If the difficulty is with a single word, many times looking up a definition in a dictionary is enough.  However, a term or phrase may be an archaic term, a figure of speech, or something more culture-specific.  So occasionally there may be some difficulty or vagueness in the translation which requires a little more research.

            This may come as a surprise to some, but the Bible was not originally written in Elizabethan English, but rather in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine (or common) Greek.  So to fully amplify a passage also involves returning to its original language and seeing what further meaning may be inherent in it that the translators didn’t, or couldn’t, render adequately in English.  This will require some tools beyond just a standard dictionary and thesaurus; two of the best are Strong’s Concordance and Vine’s Expository Dictionary.  Either of these can be used to enlarge words or phrases into greater detail and expose ideas that are more in line with the original language’s intended meaning, both in the translation and the original.

            For our example, let’s look at a well-known verse with three of the key words amplified with four of our main sources:

            Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (--Romans 5:1)

            Justified = vindicated, exculpated (category #937 - Roget’s Thesaurus); proven or shown to be just, right, or in accord with reason, free from blame, absolved (Webster’s Dictionary); Greek dikaiŏō (1344) – to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent:- free, justify (-ier), be righteous; from dikē (1349) – right (as self-evident), i.e. justice (Strong’s Concordance); the act of pronouncing righteous, to deem to be right, declare to be righteous, the legal and formal acquittal from guilt (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).

            Faith = belief, credence, trust, confidence (484 - Roget); from Latin fidere – to trust – allegiance to some person or thing, loyalty; complete trust, confidence, or reliance (Webster); Greek pistis (4102) – persuasion, credence, moral conviction, constant reliance, by extension the truth itself:- assurance, belief, fidelity; from pěithō (3982) – to convince, pacify, conciliate, to assent, to rely upon (Strong); firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing (Vine).

            Peace = tranquility, amity, concord, harmony (714, 721 - Roget); from Latin pax – freedom from disagreement or quarrels, an undisturbed state of mind, serenity, calm, quiet (Webster); Greek ěirēnē (1515) – peace, from ěirō – (to join), by implication prosperity:- one, quietness, rest, +set at one again (Strong); harmonious relationships between men or nations, freedom from molestation, friendliness, order, the harmonized relationships between God and man and the sense of rest and contentment consequent thereon (Vine).

            Now, Romans 5:1 might read something like this:  Therefore, being made free from blame, vindicated, acquitted, and declared innocent and absolved by reliance, trust and confident allegiance to God, we have harmony, quiet rest and serenity with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

            The above represents an abridged version of a very large amount of information that I garnered from just four sources.  There is a lot of material out there, but the point is to use enough information to get the idea of what the word or term is saying.  Many rely entirely on Strong’s concordance for their information—which is sufficient in many cases and can shed much light; however, I would offer a word of caution.  The last section of an entry in the Strong’s Hebrew and Greek dictionaries is a list of the ways that the word or term is rendered in English.  Many times a reader will skip to this list and say, “the Greek word for X also means Y.”  This type of shallowness betrays their neglect of the full idea behind the word, and usually belies some agenda of a dubious theological stripe.  Certainly a proper use of Bible study tools is a prerequisite to a trustworthy understanding of Scripture; in other words, how can we “rightly divide the word of truth” if we cannot even rightly divide a Strong’s concordance?

2b. Background Research

            If a situation, event, custom or expression is not readily understandable from the immediate context, it may be necessary to search out the cultural or historical factors involved.  Many good study Bibles contain footnotes which address such issues as local practices or historical periods, but for a clearer and usually more in-depth look at these insights, it’s good to have (or have access to) more of the available scholarly tools.  Any of several good Bible dictionaries and handbooks can be helpful, as can any standard commentary--and I also recommend Manners and Customs of the Bible as a very good source.

            Let’s use as our first example God’s covenant with Abraham as related in Genesis 15.  An action which was taken to ratify the covenant was “passing between the pieces” of an unoffered sacrifice.  One study Bible footnote explains that “by passing alone between the pieces of the animals, God (whose presence was evident by the fire and smoke) swore fidelity to His promises and placed the obligation for their fulfillment on Himself alone,” and in another related footnote, calls this act “the ancient method of ratifying a covenant” (Ryrie Study Bible).  Smith’s Bible Dictionary clarifies this further in its entry for “covenant” by saying that, “The Hebrew berith means primarily “a cutting,” with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two, and passing between the parts in ratifying a covenant.”  James Gray in his Christian Workers’ Commentary says, “Men entered into covenant with one another in this way, that is, they would slay an animal, divide it into parts, walk up and down between them and thus solemnly seal the bond… it was the highest form of an oath.”  So by reversing our steps, we can get a clear picture of what God was doing for Abraham by having him prepare a sacrifice in the style of a covenant and then passing through without having Abraham go with Him.

            A second example would be in the book of Ruth, who, when she found herself widowed, decided to honor her late husband’s family and remain with Israel.  In order to do so, she invoked the custom of the “kinsman-redeemer,” which is well explained in an article about “The Clan” in the section on Family Relationships in Manners and Customs of the Bible.  The key here is to notice how Ruth’s actions were a response to her fidelity to her mother-in-law, and then to use resources that explain familial customs.

2c. Cross-referencing

            Looking up other related Biblical passages to the one being studied can provide a more general context of a point in question.  This is especially true when a New Testament writer is obviously quoting an Old Testament passage, but it can apply to most areas of Scripture as well.  Most study Bibles contain references as footnotes or as marginal or parenthetical notes, but it is usually more thorough to use Nave’s Topical Bible or a good concordance if necessary.

            Sometimes it’s as easy as looking back into the Old Testament to find a passage quoted in the New Testament, as in the 11^th chapter of Mark.  Jesus had just overturned the tables of the money-changers when He said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?  but ye have made it a den of thieves.”  The usual cross-references for this passage include Isaiah 56:7, with its idea of God’s house being a house of prayer for everyone, and Jeremiah 7:11, which explains the reference to thieves.  A closer look at the latter passage in its Old Testament context illuminates the wider range of sins which Jesus was implying.  Those in the crowd at the temple that day probably knew the Jeremiah passage that Jesus was quoting, and therefore they probably understood its wider meaning.

            Other times, following cross-references can get more complicated.  In a long verse, the reference may be linked to a different phrase in the sentence than the one you have a question about; and you find yourself going off on a tangent.  Sometimes the editors of a study Bible will use references to put a particular theological “spin” on a verse.  Often you may find yourself following a chain of references, going from verse to verse to verse; while this can be fun, it can perhaps make it hard for the reader to keep focused on the original question.  Or perhaps the verse you are referred to is even more vague to you than the one you started with.  In such cases as these, you will need to use either your concordance or a topical Bible for a more complete picture.

            A good example of the helpfulness of a topical Bible is when you need to match a word with its synonyms in order to make sense of it.  If you read in I Timothy 3:9 about “Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,” and begin to inquire about the word mystery, you will find several terms under the topic mysteries.  Terms such as secret or secret things, revealed or revelation, or imagery such as a veil being lifted or how the Spirit searches the deep things of God, can unravel much understanding.

2d. Commentary

            Please keep several things in mind when you consider consulting a commentary.  First, remember that commentaries are the teachings of men, and learned though these men may be, their reliability may vary greatly.  Even the best of them can contain widely differing points of view from yours or from each other’s; so it’s best to keep an open mind.  After all, a commentary is just that—a collection of comments.  Second, also in this general category would be study Bible footnotes and paraphrased Bibles, so occasionally all that is needed is to read the passage in another translation that might be a little more “user-friendly.”  Third, if you keep a notebook, you already have a partial commentary of sorts.  Going back to notes you took during teachings and sermons you previously heard on the same topic (or listening again to a tape) may be sufficient.  And fourth, talking to someone you trust for a “pick your brain” session might sometimes be the best commentary you could ask for.

2e. Meditation

            Dictionaries define meditation as a focusing of one’s thoughts, reflecting, musing, pondering, or engaging in contemplation.  But scriptural meditating is more than merely daydreaming or letting the mind wander; there is a certain discipline involved, otherwise it would be too easy to adopt a subjective, overly personal, and possibly erroneous view.  In the beginning, start by doing the other types of study before you meditate, so that the ideas gained in the research will be engaged in the thought process.  Then take only a small portion of scripture and meditate one phrase at a time.

            In his very helpful book Alone with God: A Manual of Biblical Meditation, author Campbell McAlpine gives some excellent tips to help us keep on track.  His definition of meditation is “pondering or reflecting on scripture to the end of receiving revealed truth.”  He first lists certain prerequisites, such as surrendering yourself, cultivating a desire to grow, forgetting the past, and adopting attitudes such as humble servanthood, delighting in the Lord, and separation from sin.  Then as you begin, he recommends praising God, resisting the devil and giving God control, sitting and resting in Him, and then listening for His voice.  (This is only a short synopsis of a book full of GOOD advice on the subject.)