⇒INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY HELPS⇐

Possible Inductive Bible Study Questions to ask about POETRY

1. Since this is poetry, do you see:
   1. poetical images
      1. Examples: God shepherds his people or God rides upon the wings of the dawn
      2. What or who are the poetic images describing?  How do the images give an insight into that person or event or thing?
      3. How do you guess the Psalmist wanted his readers to react EMOTIONALLY
   2. exaggerations
      1. Example: the ship was tossed to the heavens and down to the depths of the angry sea
      2. What are these exaggerations supposed to tell us about the subject of your paragraph?
   3. Are there patterns (repeating words or phrases)?  In using these poetical patterns, what was the Psalmist or Prophet trying to do in the hearts of lives of his original readers?
      1. When you read many passages in Old Testament poetry, you begin to notice that poetry often has 2 lines (or 3) where a statement is made, and then the next line”
         1. Says the same thing as the first line…
         2. Says the opposite of the first line….
         3. Adds new information to the first line…
         4. Do you see anything in the poetry of your paragraph that does this?  If you do, what is it?
   4. If the poetry is in a prophecy, what is the main point of the paragraph?  If you used regular prose (normal writing, such as in a newspaper article), how would you say the same thought?
2. Proverbs: All of the Proverbs in the book of Proverbs are written in poetry. Here are some sample questions.
   1. Are the Proverb in my paragraph related to each other?  Do they have the same Subject?  Or are they a completely different subject?
   2. Can you state in simple language what the point or points of the Proverbs is or are?
   3. Does the poetry add any information or emotion to the main point you saw?
   4. Are there any interesting words that make this proverb more helpful?