Basic Questions for an Inductive Bible Study

largely complied How to Read the Bible For All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

What literary form does the text have?
What words, images or symbols appear?
What characters appear, and what are their relationships?
What action takes place?
What is the process of thought?
Into what smaller units can the passage be divided?
How does the form contribute to the expressing the content?
What is the characteristic style of the passage?
What is the mood of the passage?
What is the theme or main point of the passage?
What laws of composition are used?
What crucial words or phrases need explanation?
Are conjunctions used in a significant way?
Are outside sources quoted in the passage?
What led up to the passage?
What follows the passage?
For whom was the passage written and why?
How does the passage fit into the history of redemption?
Questions to ask narratives:

How does the passage fit into Israel’s history?
How does the passage contribute to an understanding of redemptive history?
Is there evidence of syncretism?
Is a moral teaching stated implicitly? Explicitly?
Does this passage:
a) simply record a historical event?
b) establish a historical precedent by mandating a normative model to be followed?
c) establish a repeatable pattern, but not necessarily a normative model?
What does the passage teach about God’s character?
Questions to ask the law:

To whom does this law apply?
What does the law illustrate about God’s character?
What social conventions are described?
What is the purpose of the law? (Ritual, purity, health, government or cult administration, avoidance of syncretism, etc.?)
How does the law contribute to our understanding of God’s covenant?
Is there a specific reward for keeping the law, or curse for not keeping it?
Does the law function as a paradigm?
Questions to ask poetry:

What characterizes the passage as poetry?
What kind of parallelism is used? (Synonymous, antithetical, or synthetic?)
What does the poetry tell us about the author and his character?
What does the poetry illustrate about God’s character?
Questions to ask the psalms:

What kind of psalm is it? (Lament, thanksgiving, psalm, hymn of praise, salvation history, celebration and affirmation, wisdom, song of trust, imprecatory?)
What is the psalm’s place in Israel’s history?
How did the psalm function liturgically?
Questions to ask wisdom literature:

Is the passage in the form of poetry? If so, what questions about biblical poetry are applicable?
Does the passage describe the wisdom of God, or the “wisdom” of the world?
What advice is given, and what is its function?
Is the author’s intention to be taken literally or to affirm a general truth?
What is the point behind the author’s specific instruction?
Questions to ask prophetic literature:

What is the prophet’s background?
Who is the prophet addressing?
For what is the nation being commended or rebuked?
What aspect of the covenant is the prophet enforcing?
What does the prophet promise as the consequence of the nation’s behavior?
In what way is the nation commanded to change its behavior?
If it is a predictive prophecy, has it been fulfilled? If so, how?
How does this passage fit into the prophet’s overall message?
What does the passage tell us about God’s dealings with Israel?
Questions to ask the gospels:

What special emphasis does the evangelist have?
How does the passage contribute to the evangelist’s theological outlook?
What does the passage tell us about the evangelist’s community?
What are parallels in the other gospels?
Is the evangelist quoting an earlier source?
If so, how have they used the source?
What is the significance of the passage’s placement in the gospel?
If it is a teaching of Jesus, who is his audience?
What forms (hyperbole, parable, etc.) are used, and how were they understood by original listeners?
Questions to ask the parables:

What are the points of reference?
What were the expectations of the listeners?
What is the point of the parable?
What would have been the reaction of the listeners?
What is the significance of the parable in the Gospel?
Why was this parable preserved by the early church?
What does this parable tell us about the kingdom of God?
Questions to ask Acts:

How does the passage fit into the development of the early Church?
How does the passage contribute to our understanding of the geographical expansion of the church?
What role does the Holy Spirit play in the passage?
Why was this particular passage included? How does it function theologically?
Does the passage
a) simply record a historical event?
b) establish a historical precedent by mandating a normative model to be strictly followed?
c) Establish a repeatable pattern, but not necessarily a normative model?
Questions to ask the epistles:

By whom was the letter written?
To whom was the letter written?
What is the author’s prior relationship with the recipients?
What is the author’s attitude toward the recipients?
What is the cultural/historical context of the author and the recipients?
What does the letter tell us about the recipients?
What concerns does the letter respond to?
What is the progress of thought in the author’s arguments?
What are the logical divisions of the letter?
Questions to ask Revelation:

What is the genre of the passage? (Jewish apocalyptic, epistle, or prophesy?)
If the passage if prophecy, has the prophecy been fulfilled historically?
What imagery is used? Does the author explain its meaning?
Is the passage intended as an allegory? If so, does the author reveal the interpretation?
What was the political and historical context of the author and the recipients?
How does the passage fit into the author’s vision of the eschaton?
How does the passage fit into the pattern of redemptive history?