Introduction

One of the skills that has helped my Bible study is consulting outside sources.

Sources help us better make sense of the biblical text. They provide valuable information that makes us more aware of the situations behind the text. Sources help us notice texture on what we might otherwise assume is a basic canvas.

What Are “Sources?”

Broadly speaking, sources are books and articles written about the Bible.

These are written by scholars who have devoted their lives to understanding God’s Word to the best of their ability. Sources are designed to help us better understand something about the biblical text, and there are 3 broad categories when it comes to the types of sources that are out there.

Types of Sources

Historical / Cultural Context

The first category deals with the historical world of the Bible. These sources investigate and discuss the various cultures, peoples, religions, nations, that intersect the biblical narrative. The biblical narrative flows out of these historical settings, and it also speaks to these historical settings. The better we understand the historical world of the Bible, the better we will understand the biblical message.

For example, language plays a huge role in the way we think. A native English speaker thinks differently than an ancient Greek or Hebrew speaker. Our English translations are phenomenal, but they aren’t the original languages. The way we think about something in English might not be the same way an ancient Greek or Hebrew speaking person thought about it, and we don’t want to assume they thought the same way we do. Historical / Cultural context helps us bridge that gap.

Literary Context

The second category helps us better understand the literature of the Bible. Literary context refers to the writing style of the text. These resources explain how the biblical writers communicate through their writing styles.

For example, the Bible is organized by genres. Each genre reflects certain writing characteristics. The Gospels are a particular writing style; the Epistles are another; Old Testament narrative is another. Each one of these has their own peculiarities, and literary context helps us understand those so we can understand the text’s meaning.

Theology

The third category explains the theology of the text. Theological sources seek to explain the realities God is allowing us to know and understand through His Word along with their implications. Theology takes historical/cultural and literary contexts into consideration as they explain the text itself. Sources within this category are particularly focused on the words, message, and meaning of the biblical text.

For example, Bible commentaries would be theological sources. They provide background information about history and literary style, but they primarily focus on explaining the text.

How and When to Use Sources

The biggest “mistake” I see people make with sources is when they treat a source (particularly a commentary) as an answer key to the text. People will often read one verse of the Bible and then turn immediately to a commentary to understand what it means. If that’s you, then I want to offer an alternative approach that has proven to lead to deeper understanding and interaction with God through the text.

Instead of reading one verse and immediately turning to a commentary, read the entire passage you’re studying 5 times first. Allow yourself to notice things within the text:

• what seems to make sense?
• what doesn’t make sense?
• are any words repeated?
• can you summarize the meaning of the passage in your own words, or are you totally lost?
• in the broadest of terms, what is the passage about? –> Example: John 3:1–21 is a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus
• is there something you notice that tells you something about God? –> “His faithful love endures forever” (Psalm 136)
• are you staring blankly at the page with absolutely no clue what is going on, who is talking, what’s being talked about, etc?

All of these are valuable things to notice because they make you mindful of your experience with God within the text.

After you’ve allowed yourself to notice what you notice, then turn to your commentary or other sources. It’s been my experience that sitting in the text myself has been invaluable. Once I’ve done that, I bring my questions to the commentary or other outside source.

THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE between how I use sources now vs. how I used to use them is that now I form my own questions within the text from my own personal interaction with the text, and I bring those questions to the sources. My mindset has shifted from “what does the text mean” to “I think the text says/means this… let me see if my sources answer this question I have.”

Conclusion

Sources are incredibly valuable because they help us lean what we don’t know about the Bible. There are different types of sources for different information. The best tip I can give you right now is to turn to sources after you’ve engaged the text yourself and tried thinking and praying through it.

Happy Bibleing!