Grasping God's Word Workbook: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible

By J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays

The widely used Grasping God’s Word, now in a revised third edition, teaches the foundational principles and tools of biblical interpretation. J. Scott Duvall, who specializes in New Testament studies, and Old Testament scholar J. Daniel Hays survey numerous biblical passages, demonstrating solid interpretive strategies for understanding the Bible. This workbook is designed to use alongside the Grasping God’s Word textbook, following its structure with activities that offer additional practice for all the elements of faithful scholarship as they are presented. College-level students and other serious learners will have the opportunity to try out their interpretive skills by applying them to specific genres and contexts. Both Grasping God’s Word and Grasping God’s Word Workbook treat Scripture as the solid rock of Christian faith, one that students will grip more easily when they know how to read it, how to interpret it, and how to apply it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Nov 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9780310521457

J. Scott Duvall

J. Scott Duvall (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament at Ouachita Baptist University. He is the coauthor of Grasping God’s Word, Journey into God’s Word, Preaching God’s Word, and God’s Relational Presence, and author of The Heart of Revelation and Revelation in the Teach the Text Commentary series. He teaches and preaches frequently in local churches.

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THIRD EDITION

WORKBOOK

Grasping God’s Word

THIRD EDITION

WORKBOOK

Grasping God’s Word

A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible

J. Scott Duvall

J. Daniel Hays

ZONDERVAN

Grasping God’s Word Workbook

Copyright © 2001, 2005, 2012 by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

eISBN 978-0-310-52145-7

ISBN 978-0-310-49259-7

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Rob Monacelli

Cover photography: Getty Images

Contents

How to Use This Textbook

Introduction

Assignment Worksheets

Part 1: How to Read the Book—Basic Tools

1. Bible Translations

2. The Interpretive Journey

3. How to Read the Book—Sentences

4. How to Read the Book—Paragraphs

5. How to Read the Book—Discourses

Part 2: Contexts—Now and Then

6. The Historical-Cultural Context

7. What Do We Bring to the Text?

8. The Literary Context

9. Word Studies

Part 3: Meaning and Application

10. Who Controls the Meaning?

11. Levels of Meaning

12. The Role of the Holy Spirit

13. Application

Part 4: The Interpretive Journey—New Testament

14. New Testament—Letters

15. New Testament—Gospels

16. New Testament—Acts

17. New Testament—Revelation

Part 5: The Interpretive Journey—Old Testament

18. Old Testament—Narrative

19. Old Testament—Law

20. Old Testament—Poetry

21. Old Testament—Prophets

22. Old Testament—Wisdom

The Exegetical Paper

The Exegetical Paper on a Passage from Ephesians

How to Use This Textbook

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Introduction

Welcome to the workbook for Grasping God’s Word. This workbook is designed to be used in close conjunction with the main textbook. It is comprised of two main sections. Section 1 contains tear-out assignment sheets that pertain to each chapter of the textbook. The students will complete these assignments and hand them in as they finish each chapter, according to the instructor’s schedule. For most chapters, the workbook contains numerous assignments, usually more than is feasible for the student to complete as homework. These extra assignments can be used for in-class examples or for in-class group work. Section 2 relates to writing an exegetical paper. This section contains guidelines for writing the paper, a list of suggested texts in Ephesians, and tear-out sheets for each of the texts from Ephesians.

Note that there are several assignments included in section 1 that relate to the exegetical paper, allowing the students to work on various aspects of their respective passages throughout the semester. For example, in chapter 4 the students’ regular assignments consist of making observations on various biblical passages. Those classes that include the exegetical paper as part of the class requirements should have the students complete

Reviews for Grasping God's Word Workbook

[shdawson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good beginner book.

[rhematos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful introduction to the art of biblical hermeneutics. I would have no problem in recommending this book to the high school student or even a seminarian. Duvall and Hays walks the reader from basic principles of exegesis to exegeting passages from each type of genre in Scripture. Duvall and Hays provides samples of what the teach at the end of chapter. I can not praise Duvall and Hays enough for this masterpiece they have accomplished.

[billmeister16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good starting point for high school and college level hermeneutics. Clear and Concise, very practical.