D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Study #

Prepare

Prepare your heart and mind before you begin the study.

Passage Information

Passage
Book
Date
Study Title

Depend Upon God

Begin with prayer, humility, and a willingness to obey whatever God teaches.

Heart Preparation

  • I am willing to submit my assumptions to Scripture.
  • I am asking God for wisdom and understanding.
  • I am prepared to obey what God reveals.

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

Psalm 119:18

Prayer

Initial Questions

What questions, concerns, assumptions, or expectations do you bring to this passage?

Before You Begin

  • Read the passage several times.
  • Mark its natural beginning and ending.
  • Note anything that immediately stands out.
  • Delay commentary use until after your own observation.
7 Read slowly. Observe honestly. Interpret faithfully. Respond joyfully.
Prepare

Prepare

Locate the passage before examining its details.

Identify the Context

Discover where the passage fits within its paragraph, book, Testament, and the whole Bible.

Context Notes

Context Before Conclusion 8
D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Discover

Discover

Follow the author’s thought before isolating individual details.

Grasp the Flow

Trace the argument, movement, or progression of the passage in your own words.

Passage Flow

Questions to Ask

  • •Where does the thought begin?
  • •What changes or develops?
  • •What is emphasized?
  • •Where does the thought conclude?
9 Follow the author’s argument before studying the details.
Discover

Discover

Record what is present in the text before drawing conclusions.

Gather Observations

Record facts, patterns, relationships, and details without yet explaining them.

Observation Before Interpretation 10
D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Discover

Discover

Give observation the largest share of your study time.

Observations Continued

11 Do not hurry past what God has placed in the text.
Discover

Discover

Continue recording before you begin to explain.

Observations Continued

See Clearly Before Explaining 12
D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Discern

Discern

Move from what the text says to what the author intended.

Examine the Meaning

Determine the author’s intended meaning using grammar, syntax, literary context, and historical context.

Interpretive Notes

13 Seek the author’s intended meaning in its original setting.
Discern

Discern

Use study tools only where they clarify the passage.

Word Studies

Word / Phrase
Original Term
Reference
Sense in Context

Grammar / Syntax

Tools Serve the Text 14
D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Discern

Discern

Test your conclusions against the rest of Scripture and sound theology.

Reconcile with Scripture

Cross References

Biblical Theology

Systematic Theology

15 Let Scripture interpret Scripture.
Respond

Respond

Bring truth into belief, worship, obedience, and proclamation.

Big Idea

State the central truth of the passage in one clear sentence.

What Should I Believe?

How Should I Worship?

What Should I Obey?

What Should I Proclaim?

Truth Understood Should Become Truth Lived 16
D.I.G.G.E.R. Field Journal
Study Synthesis

Exegete’s Summary

Distill the study into a clear, faithful, and teachable synthesis.

Passage
Date

Central Idea

Outline

Christ in This Passage

17 Summarize only after you have studied carefully.
Study Synthesis

Exegete’s Summary

Preserve the theological and practical fruit of your study.

Doctrine

Response

Prayer