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Creative Bible Study
Literary Form:
Literary form refers to how a passage is written. Some passages are in narrative or story form. This means they read like a story. Other paragraphs are in poetic form (poems) like the passages in the book of Psalms. Some paragraphs are parables which are short stories illustrating a spiritual truth. Some paragraphs are in dramatic form. For example, the Song of Solomon contains dramatic as well as poetic form. Discourse form is much like a sermon. It is a series of paragraphs giving instruction on a certain subject.
Key Words:
Identifying key words will help you understand the meaning of a paragraph. Key words are those important to the meaning of a paragraph. Often they are words which are repeated. Especially note key words which you do not understand. These words can be studied in a word study. (You will learn how to do this later in this course). For example, read the following verse:
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
Do you know what the word "lasciviousness" means? It is an important word in this paragraph because it describes false teachers. One of their characteristics is that they have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. This word is an example of a key word to study.
Grammatical Construction:
The word "grammar" refers to parts of speech or words that fit together to make up sentences and paragraphs. Watch for words which are called verbs. These are words that show action telling what someone did in the past, is doing in the present, or will do in the future. They also are used in commands:
GO ye into all the world and PREACH the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
The words "go" and "preach" are action words. They are verbs. They are commands for us to obey. A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing. The words in capitals below are nouns: