Lesson 10: Interpretive Tools

Get the Grammar (Phrasing)

Grammar—the word alone strikes fear in the hearts of millions. Indeed, we can divide the world into two groups: those who love grammar and those who hate it.
Grammar: A Gift from God
The above statements may be a little excessive...but only a little. The reality is, like it or not, we are immersed in grammar every day. It is hardwired into the structure of every human language.
Have you ever stopped to consider the amazing gift that language is? Through words, God gave us a means to communicate with others. Indeed, language allows us to share the whole gamut of human experience. And even when we are at the limits of our vocabulary and must declare, “there are no words to express how I feel,” even then, those words alone may be all we need to communicate everything we intend.
Greater still, God gave us language so that he might communicate himself to us—in words that can be written down, passed on and translated with accuracy. Because God has spoken, we can meditate upon his word with clarity and understanding. Because God has spoken, we can know him in Christ. 
Phrasing: A Tool for Getting the Grammar Right
Whether you love grammar or hate it, phrasing is a tool built for you. Phrasing breaks a text down into smaller pieces and arranges those pieces to reflect the grammatical structure. Thus this tool allows you to discover and to display a biblical author’s intended structure. A phrase diagram is like the blueprint of a text. It shows how the parts connect with one another to form the whole idea the author intended. We learned in lesson 5 that each biblical genre has patterns and structures that serve to highlight the author’s intended message. Phrasing is an excellent tool to visually display those patterns.
Further, phrasing is an extremely flexible tool. It allows you to be as precise with the grammar as you want. You can divide and label the function of every genitive and prepositional phrase, or you can simply show the structure of the text without identifying the grammatical details. Let’s consider two examples together.
Example 1: A Simple Phrase
Here is the process we used to create the above phrase (DIALS):
Divide the phrases.
Read the text aloud.
Listen for the natural breaks between phrases.
Pay attention to punctuation.
Create a new division between each phrase.
Indent the lines.
Line up coordinate phrases (like the list in 16b–e).
Indent subordinate phrases (like the subordinate phrase in 17a).
Add arrows.
Identify the subordinate phrases (the indented phrases).
Find the main clause upon which a subordinate phrase depends (for example 17a depends on 16a–b).
Add an arrow to connect the subordinate phrase to its main phrase.
Label the relationships.
Consider how phrases relate to other phrases.
Label the relationship between phrases (for example: 17b explains 17a, specifically “complete”; 17b is the purpose of v.16).
Savor the passage.
Your Turn
If you are new to phrasing, you can use the module below to create a phrase of 2 Timothy 3:16–17 similar to the one above. You may want to make adjustments or use different labels as you see fit. (All the features used above are located in the Indent, Edit, and Arrows tabs of the module's editing toolbox.)
Optional
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.

Example 2: A Detailed Phrase
The Phrasing module also allows you to dig as deeply as you want into the grammatical structure and graphically display what you discover. Here is a more detailed analysis of 2 Timothy 3:16–17.
Resources for Further Study

Biblearc’s Phrasing CourseThis course equips students to faithfully use this tool when studying the Bible.

Types of PhrasespdfThis reference page provides examples from the Bible of the nine different types of phrases.

Phrasing RelationshipspdfThis reference page lists the kinds of relationships that can exist between phrases.

A Call for Further Study
We encourage you to spend time learning how to phrase. One of this tool’s great values is its flexibility. Like a well-used baseball glove, it has all the potential to become a favorite tool molded to your process and practice.


For me (Mike), phrasing has become the first tool that I use when I interpret a text. Working out the structure of the text prepares me to pick up the other study tools discussed in this lesson. Throughout my study, the phrase diagram clearly displays the text’s layout. From there, I often print out the first draft of my phrase, set aside the technology, take pen in hand, and mark it all up with observations, questions, cross-references, and other notes. Once all my other work is done, I will then go back and clean up my phrase, making corrections and adding labels.
In the example below, my phrase fits somewhere between the two examples above. I don’t have every grammatical phrase split off, but I have analyzed the author's argument by indenting subordinate phrases and thinking through the relationships between them.