Matthew 28:18–20

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18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18–20

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Framework preview

First, notice what you do not know and what you may be assuming

Your upbringing, church tradition, previous teaching, circumstances and expectations can shape what you expect to find.

We don’t create meaning. We interpret what’s already in the text.

What did the author communicate?
Why did the author communicate it here?
What would the original audience have understood?
What evidence in the text supports this interpretation?

Dive Deeper into Word Study

The aim of word studies is “to try to understand as precisely as possible what the author was trying to convey by his use of THIS word in this context.”
Gordon Fee

Keep in mind that we don’t DETERMINE the meaning of the words used, we DISCOVER what the Bible writer meant when he used a particular word, in this particular context.

To discover this we’ll:

carefully choose the words to study
use lexicons and concordances to determine what they could mean
based on the context, determine what they most likely do mean

Expect to spend time on this.

1. Carefully choose your words

Identify words that carry theological or historical significance, are repeated, are figures of speech, or are unclear, puzzling or difficult.

Hint: look for key nouns and verbs.

2. Determine what the word COULD mean

Discover its range of meaning in a lexicon, then use a concordance to read how it is used throughout Scripture.

Hint: start with the immediate context, then branch out to the book, author and eventually all of Scripture.

Select a word from the passage

Includes BSB original-language data, BDB, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Strong’s concordance, and Treasury of Scripture Knowledge cross-references.

Your turn.Carefully select one key word and determine what it could mean.

3. Determine what the word most likely does mean in this context

Context Determines Meaning

What is the most likely meaning for this word in this context, and why?

Study notes

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Word Study

Sources & Licences

BSB Publishing display tags · Berean Standard Bible.

STEP Bible · CC BY 4.0.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon Data · CC BY 4.0; BDB text · public domain.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon dataset · CC0/public domain.

MACULA Hebrew · CC BY 4.0. ACAI Key Terms © Mission Mutual · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Full source and methodology details ↗

Welcome to ‘Knowing God’s Word’ - a Guided Bible Study for Life.

This tool guides you through a memorable, repeatable Bible-study workflow based on the Inductive Bible Study Method.

The goal of studying Scripture is to know God deeply by understanding His Word correctly, so we can communicate it with our lips clearly and our lives consistently.

The five stages are:

Observation
Interpretation
Truths & Principles
Application
Communication

Each stage includes a brief introduction and bespoke prompts to help you dive deeply into the passage. The more you put the workflow into practice, the more natural it will become.

This Knowing God’s Word study tool was developed as part of the Christian Growth Plan, a practical framework for lifelong Christian growth. Find out more at christiangrowthplan.com.

May His Word renew you, transform you and equip you to love Him and live for others.

If you have questions, feel free to get in touch.

Yours, in Christ.
Jon

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