Biblical exegesis has been defined as a critical explanation of the bible.  I believe this is a very sterile definition indeed.   The Holy Scriptures are inspired by God, God breathed if you will, and written by men as the Holy Spirit moved upon them.  They are God’s will toward men.  As such we should treat the examination of the scriptures as a sacred act.

Explaining doctrines taught in the bible requires the individual to have an intimate relationship with God.  Biblical exegesis requires that a person be filled with the Holy Ghost.  If the theologian who attempts to delve into God’s Word with the thought of laying bare the scriptures for other men, and he or she does not have the Holy Ghost within, then it is an exercise in futility and becomes more akin to eisegesis or something worse… a heresy.
Here are a few tips that will help to get one started in examining the doctrines of God for themselves:
Have the Holy Ghost… evidenced by  speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4)

Get a few good Lexicons… I recommend:

  • New Analytical Greek Lexicon

Hendrickson Publishers (Dec. 1990); ISBN: 0943575338

  • Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament:

Based on Semantic Domains (2 Volume Set)
 United Bible Societies (June 1988, 2nd ed.); ISBN: =0826703437

  • The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 2 volume set:

Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson

  • Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Hardcover)

Francis Brown (Author), S. Driver (Author), C. Briggs (Author)

Get a good bible study program.  I recommend the following:

Have a place that is quiet where you will be able to study God’s word.  Distractions such as television, the radio, family members, etc… can cause you to lose your train of thought.  Study using mind maps as well.  These are bubble charts, where your central topic starts out in the center, followed by drawing branches out to connect more detailed thoughts that are a branch of the central theme.  This will help you organize scripture relating to the central doctrine you are studying.  If you like to use a computer for this, Free Mind is a good resource.  Sentence diagramming may be useful as well.

Related posts:

  1. Hermeneutical Decaying Spiral