Use either a literal translation or the original language text
to study the grammar on all of the following steps. The
American Standard Version (although in Elizabethan English)
is helpful here if one does not read the original languages.
Use interlinears if necessary.
Identify the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other
parts of speech.
Note the mode/mood, tense, voice, person, and number of the
verbs and the gender, case, and number of nouns and
adjectives. Look for agreement between nouns and
adjectives. Use Freiburg's Analytical Greek New Testament,
an analytical Greek lexicon or Han's Parsing Guide in the
New Testament to help with this. Use the Analytical
Hebrew/Chaldee Lexicon for the Old Testament.
Identify the main clauses and dependent clauses, noting any
patterns between them. Determine the relationships between
the clauses, especially between participle and infinitive
clauses and main clauses. Identify the subjects, verbs,
direct objects, indirect objects, and predicate nominatives.
Note who is doing what to whom using what.
Diagram the sentences, at least to a simple level of showing
subject, verb, and object. Use diagramming as a tool to
decide what nouns and verbs that adjectives, adverbs,
prepositional phrases, participle phrases, and relative
clauses are modifying.
Look for unusual word order, such as object before subject.
Look for words which seem to be missing, words which the
author expects his reader to infer, words which can be
inferred from the sentences that occur before.
Look at the scripture index of major grammers to see if your
passage is discussed. Look up every page listed to see if
there are important points which are discussed which shed
light on the meaning of your passage. In New Testament, use
Robertson, Blass-DeBrunner-Funk, and Moulton-Howard-Turner.
In the Old Testament, use Gesenius-Kautzch-Cowley.
Consult critical commentaries to see if any grammatical issues
are discussed. Consult Robertson's Word Pictures.
Write up the results of your study, focusing on new
information which you have found that affects the meaning of
the passage. Pay special attention to any points that are
ambiguous where two meanings are possible.
