Questions to Ask in Bible Study
Questions to ask in Bible study, for a small-group leader, a member who wants a better discussion, or someone working through a passage alone. They follow the order a study usually runs in: opening the conversation, observing what the text says, working out what it meant, asking what it shows about God and about us, applying it, and closing in prayer. Each question has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Opening
What kind of week are you bringing to this passage?
Why ask it
Ask for one sentence each before the Bible is opened. It is not small talk: the person who buried a parent on Tuesday will hear a psalm differently from the person who got engaged, and the group reads better once it knows who is in the room.
What do you already know, or assume, about this part of the Bible?
Why ask it
Best before a famous passage, where everyone arrives with a sermon they half remember. Once an assumption has been said out loud, the group can test it against the page. "Nothing at all" is a fine answer, and a newcomer needs to hear someone give it.
What stood out to you the first time through this passage?
Why ask it
Nobody can get this one wrong, which is why it works as the first question after the reading. Take three or four replies without commenting on any of them, and jot down the verses people name. Those are usually where the discussion wants to go.
What in this passage confused you or raised a question?
Why ask it
Asked early, it gets the awkward verse named before anyone smooths it over. No replies at all usually means the room is being polite, so offer a puzzle of your own. Collect the questions now and resist answering them yet.
If you had to give this passage a title, what would it be?
Why ask it
A title forces a summary of five words or so, and comparing titles shows what each person thinks the center is. Cover the printed heading above the section first. In most Bibles the publisher added it, and it does half the thinking for you.
Does anyone have a different translation, and would you read it aloud?
Why ask it
A second hearing in other words catches what the first reading slid past. Where two versions clearly part company, mark the verse and return to it when you reach interpretation. Skip the argument about which translation is best.
Before we read, where has the subject of this passage come up in your own life lately?
Why ask it
Name the subject in a word, worry or money or waiting, and make it concrete: before the lost sheep, ask what each person last turned the house over to find. Someone who has never opened a Bible can answer this, which is the reason to ask it ahead of the reading. Hold people to a sentence or two, or the warm-up becomes the evening.
How did it go with what you took away last time?
Why ask it
For the first minutes, and only in a group that set itself something the time before. Answer first yourself, including the week you did nothing about it, and the tone is set: an honest report is often "I meant to and didn't". If it starts to feel like a scorecard, drop it for a few weeks.
Observation
Who is in this passage, and who is speaking to whom?
Why ask it
Make a plain list. In a story it includes the crowd and the servant with no name, and in a psalm it means asking whether the singer is talking to God, to the congregation or to himself. A group that skips this step tends to claim words that were said to someone else.
Who wrote this, and who was it written to?
Why ask it
The first lines of a letter usually name both, and a prophet's opening verse often gives the kings he lived under. Where the book does not name its writer, as with Hebrews, say so and leave the debate for another day. What the group needs is a rough picture of the people on the receiving end.
How would you retell this passage in your own words?
Why ask it
One person retells and the others correct from the page. Notice what gets dropped and what gets added: a detail that comes from a film or a children's Bible and not from the text is a friendly reason to look again.
Which words or ideas are repeated?
Why ask it
Repetition is the nearest thing an ancient writer had to bold type. Let people call the words out and count them, and hold the question of why until later. Studying alone, circle them in pencil and see what pattern the page shows.
Where do you see words like because, therefore, but or so that?
Why ask it
These small words carry the argument in the letters. When someone spots a therefore, go back a paragraph and find what it rests on. Stories and psalms have fewer of them, so leave this one out there.
What comes just before and just after this passage?
Why ask it
Reading the neighbors is the cheapest protection against a verse lifted out of its place. If nobody has looked, read the surrounding paragraphs aloud now; it takes two minutes. You are listening for someone to connect the passage to a question somebody had just asked or an event that had just happened.
What kind of writing is this: a story, a poem, a letter, a law, a vision?
Why ask it
The answer sets the rules for everything after it. A proverb is usually read as a general observation and not a guarantee, and a picture in a poem is not a measurement. If the group cannot agree on the kind, spend five minutes there before going on.
Where and when does this take place?
Why ask it
Place names and time markers are what readers skim. "At night", "on the Sabbath" and "through Samaria" are often carrying part of the meaning. Hand one person a study Bible or the maps at the back and let them report.
What emotions do you hear in this passage, stated or between the lines?
Why ask it
Scripture gets read aloud in a flat voice, and this question puts the tone back. Have people point to the verse: is the writer angry, afraid, delighted, worn out? A guess is welcome as long as it is labeled a guess.
Is there a command, a promise or a warning here?
Why ask it
Three columns on a sheet of paper, filled in before anyone asks whether they apply today. Plenty of passages leave one or all of them empty, and that is a finding too. Do not go hunting for a command in a story that does not give one.
What surprises you here, or what did you expect to find that is missing?
Why ask it
A father who runs, a question nobody answers, a story that stops before the ending: surprise often marks the place where the writer pushes against what the first hearers took for granted. Good answers begin "I would have thought". None at all means the passage has become too familiar, so read it once more slowly.
Interpretation
What would the first people to hear this have understood by it?
Why ask it
Meaning starts with them and reaches us second. A good answer reasons from their situation, a small church under pressure or a nation far from home. A leap straight to modern life is the sign to slow down, and when nobody knows the setting, a study Bible's introduction to the book is the place to look.
Why do you think the writer included this, and put it at this point?
Why ask it
Biblical writers selected and arranged, so placement is a clue. Two stories set back to back often explain each other. If the only answer is "because it happened", ask what would be lost if the paragraph were gone.
What is the main point, in one sentence?
Why ask it
Have everyone write a sentence before anyone speaks, then read them out. Sentences that could sum up any chapter, such as "God loves us", are too wide: ask what this passage says that others do not. If the sentences disagree badly, the group is not done observing.
Where do you see that in the text?
Why ask it
The most useful follow-up a leader has, as long as it is said with curiosity. It sends every eye back to the page and turns an opinion into something the group can examine. Ask it of answers you agree with too, so that no one hears it as a correction.
Does anyone read it differently?
Why ask it
Timing matters: ask after the first confident answer and before it hardens into the room's view. A careful "well, I wondered whether" from a quiet corner shows the question was needed. Two readings can stay on the table, each tied to its verse, without a ruling tonight.
Is there a word here we say so often that we have stopped asking what it means?
Why ask it
Grace, glory, righteous, repent, blessed, flesh. Ask someone to explain the word to a ten-year-old without using it, and the stall that follows is useful. Look at how this passage uses the word before reaching for a dictionary.
How does the rest of this book help explain this part?
Why ask it
Let the writer explain himself before you bring in verses from elsewhere. In a group going through one book week by week, listen for "this is the third time he has mentioned it". A chain of favorite verses from six other books is the warning sign: the passage in front of you is being left unread.
Does this remind you of another part of the Bible, and does the link hold up?
Why ask it
New Testament writers quote the Old constantly, and the footnotes or margin references show where. Turn to the quoted passage and read it in its own setting. The second half of the question is the guard against links that hang on one shared word.
What is the hardest verse here, and what are the possible ways to take it?
Why ask it
Lay out the options before anyone chooses. A leader who says "I don't know, I will read up and bring it back next week" loses nothing, provided the answer does come back. Churches have settled readings of some disputed verses, so ask your pastor how yours takes it.
What is this passage not saying?
Why ask it
Meant as a brake on overreach: a promise made to exiles claimed as a personal pledge, or an account of what somebody did read as an instruction to copy it. The best answers trim a claim made earlier in the evening, and do it gently.
Where does this fit in the larger story of the Bible?
Why ask it
Before or after the exile, before or after the cross: a law given in the wilderness and a letter to a church in Corinth stand at different points, and that affects how each reaches a reader today. A rough timeline on one sheet is enough. Traditions weigh the two Testaments differently, so expect some variety in the answers.
God and us
What does this passage show us about God?
Why ask it
This one fits every page of the Bible. Push for verbs taken from the text: what does God do, say or feel here? Be gently suspicious of an answer the person walked in with and these verses never mention, and ask which line it comes from.
What does this passage show about people, and about us?
Why ask it
Look at what the people in the passage want, fear and do when they are cornered. The answers to watch are about "those people", the Pharisees or the slow disciples, held at arm's length. Follow with: which of them are we most like?
What does this passage show about Jesus, in what he says, does or notices?
Why ask it
In the Gospels, watch whom he stops for and whom he is sharp with. The letters speak about him directly. With an Old Testament passage, let it have its own say first, then ask how the theme, a king, a sacrifice, a promise, is picked up later.
What in this passage is good news?
Why ask it
If the group can find only demands, look again at who acts first. Some passages are laments or warnings, and cheer should not be forced onto them. There the good news may simply be that a prayer this raw was kept in the Bible.
Who do you identify with in this story, and who would you rather not be?
Why ask it
Nearly everyone picks the hero. The second half is where the honesty is: the older brother, the crowd, the one who crossed the road. For stories only, and worth doing alone on paper where nobody is watching your choice.
What does this passage correct in the way you usually picture God?
Why ask it
"Correct" assumes each of us arrives with a picture, and we do. The answers worth waiting for are specific: "I think of him as mostly disappointed, and here he runs". When someone says the passage makes God seem harsher than they would like, let it stand and ask which verse gives that impression.
Is there anything here you find hard to accept, and what makes it hard?
Why ask it
This is objection and not confusion, and it belongs after the work of understanding. The response to worry about is the group's: a rush of five answers at one person. Thank them, let one voice reply, leave it open, and check in privately during the week.
What would look different in this group if we really believed this?
Why ask it
A bridge toward application that keeps the answer shared and not private. First replies are vague, so ask what would change on an ordinary Tuesday. A leader should be ready to hear something about the group itself.
Application
Does this apply to us in the same way it applied to the first readers?
Why ask it
The step most groups skip. Foot washing, head coverings and the holy kiss are the classic test cases, and churches land in different places on them. Look for the principle under the practice, and ask how your own church understands the passage before settling it as a group.
What truth here do you need to believe more than you do now?
Why ask it
Not all application is a task. An answer such as "that I am actually forgiven" deserves a pause and no follow-up question. Activity-minded groups skip straight to the to-do list, so ask this one before the next.
Is there an example here to follow, or one to avoid?
Why ask it
Stories show plenty that they do not recommend, so check whether the passage itself praises or regrets what the person did. Abraham passing his wife off as his sister is in the Bible and is nobody's model. Where the text gives no verdict, say so and do not supply one.
What is one thing you will do this week because of this passage?
Why ask it
Hold out for a day and a person: "call my brother on Thursday" and not "be more loving". Some passages give no clear action, and "I need to think about this" is an honest reply. Offer your own first, and keep it small and real.
Is there something here to stop doing, or to admit?
Why ask it
Never go around the circle on this. Leave a minute of silence, or have people write on paper they take home. In a group with years of trust someone may speak: thank them, skip the advice, and treat what was said as staying in the room.
Who comes to mind as you read this?
Why ask it
Someone to forgive, thank, visit or tell. Names can stay unsaid. When the reply is about who else ought to hear this, as in "my husband needs this chapter", steer kindly back to the person in the chair.
What would obeying this cost you?
Why ask it
If the answer is nothing, the application is probably too general. Real answers name time, money, being right, or a reputation at work. Saying the price aloud also tells the group what to pray about.
What could we do about this together?
Why ask it
Much of the Bible is addressed to communities and not to individuals. A meal for a neighbor, a visit, a shared gift: choose something small enough to finish this month and attach a name and a date. Without those it evaporates by the parking lot.
What help do you need, from God or from us, to follow through?
Why ask it
A guard against application by willpower alone. Replies range from "text me on Friday" to a plain request for prayer. Write them down, because this list is the start of the closing prayer.
Closing
What is the one thing you are taking away from this passage?
Why ask it
Go around quickly, one sentence each, and let people pass. The answers are your review as a leader. If most of them quote something you said and not something in the passage, you talked too much.
What question are you leaving with?
Why ask it
An unanswered question is not a failed study. Keep a running list and bring one back next time with some reading done. The person who leaves with the same question every week would probably welcome a coffee and an hour.
If a friend asked what you studied this week, what would you say?
Why ask it
Two sentences, in words a person outside church would use. It shows whether the evening produced anything portable. Some groups end every study by naming one person to tell, and it makes talking about faith feel more ordinary.
How could we turn this passage into a prayer?
Why ask it
Pray the text back: thanks for what it showed about God, honesty about where it stung, a request for the thing it asks of us. One-sentence prayers keep it open to people who have never prayed aloud. It also ties the prayer time to the study, where it often drifts off into a separate list.
How can this group pray for you this week?
Why ask it
Requests about a distant relative's health can fill the whole time, so invite one about the person asking. Agree what stays in the room. When something heavy is shared, pray for it then and there, not at the end of the list, and send a message midweek.
Is there a verse here to memorize or carry through the week?
Why ask it
Choose one together, the shorter the better, and put it on a card or a lock screen. Open the next meeting by asking who still has it. Alone, write it at the top of each day's page.
What should we read before next time, and what should we look for?
Why ask it
A reading with one question attached gives people something to do with it. Keep it short enough for the parent of a toddler to manage. Worth asking even when a printed curriculum sets the passage.
What should we change about how we run this study?
Why ask it
Every month or two, not weekly. Complaints arrive sideways: "I wish we heard from more people" means one voice is dominating, and "we never get to prayer" means the discussion runs long. Change one thing before the next meeting and say that you did.
Leading a discussion without lecturing
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the group meets
Do the study yourself first
Work through the passage with the Observation and Interpretation questions before you plan anything. A leader who has been surprised by the text asks better questions than one who has only read about it. Open the study notes and commentaries afterward, to check your work and fill in background you could not have known.
Pick eight to ten questions, not the whole page
An hour of real discussion holds about that many. Take one or two from Opening, three or four across Observation and Interpretation, one from God and us, two from Application and one from Closing. Mark the two you would cut if time runs short, and decide in advance which single question the evening has to reach.
Keep the passage short
Ten to twenty verses is plenty for most groups, and one paragraph of a dense letter can fill an evening. Print the text on a sheet with wide margins if you can. People mark paper more freely than a Bible, and everyone is looking at the same wording.
If you are studying alone
Write the answers down. A question answered in your head gets a vaguer answer than the same one answered in ink. Go through the groups in the same order, skip the questions that need a room, and finish by telling one person what you found.
Asking, then getting out of the way
Wait longer than is comfortable
After a question, count slowly to ten in your head. Silence means people are reading and thinking, and a leader who fills it teaches the group to wait for the answer. If nothing comes, reword the question once or point to a verse. Do not answer it yourself.
Send answers back to the page and to the room
Two follow-ups do most of the work: "Where do you see that?" and "What do the rest of you think?" The first keeps the discussion tied to the text, and the second stops it becoming a row of separate exchanges between each member and you. Thank people for answers without grading them.
Give background in a minute, then ask again
Sometimes the group needs a fact it cannot dig out of the passage: who the Samaritans were, what a denarius bought, where Philippi is. Give it briefly as information, not as the conclusion, and follow it at once with a question. If you hear yourself past the two-minute mark, you have started a talk.
Say what you think last, if at all
Once the leader has spoken, most groups treat the matter as closed. Hold your reading until others have offered theirs, present it as one more reading tied to a verse, and be willing to be asked where you see that.
Talkers, quiet members and tangents
The person who answers everything
Say, "Let's hear from someone who has not spoken yet," and look at the other side of the circle. If it continues, have a word in private and ask for their help drawing others out. Many frequent talkers are trying to rescue the leader from silence and are glad to be given a different job.
The person who never speaks
Do not call on them cold. Break into pairs for one question, since people who will not address eight will talk to one, then ask the pairs to report. Questions answered on paper first help too, and so does an invitation to read the passage aloud, asked beforehand and easy to decline.
The tangent
Name it kindly and park it: "That deserves more time than we have. Can we come back to it after we close?" Then do come back, even for five minutes over coffee. A tangent that keeps returning may be the group's real question and worth an evening of its own.
The answer that seems wrong
Ask where they see it in the text, then ask whether others read it the same way. Usually the passage and the group do the correcting, and nobody is embarrassed. Where it touches a teaching your church holds firmly, say so plainly and offer to look at it together with a pastor or elder.
The question you cannot answer
Say that you do not know. Write it down, ask whether anyone would like to look into it with you, and bring back what you find. A group learns more from watching a leader go and look than from a confident guess.
What tends to go wrong
Jumping straight to application
"What does this mean to you?" asked in the first five minutes produces opinions with a verse attached. Observation and interpretation feel slow, and they are what make the application belong to this passage and not to whatever people were already thinking.
Too many questions
A sheet of twenty questions turns the evening into a worksheet, and the leader starts cutting people off to get through it. Leave the list when one question has the room talking and looking at the text. Reaching the end of the page was never the goal.
Questions with one right answer
"Who wrote Romans?" gets a single word and then silence. Questions the leader is plainly fishing with are worse, because the group starts guessing what you want. Ask what you would be interested to hear answered.
Prayer squeezed into the last two minutes
Set a time to stop discussing, fifteen minutes before the end, and keep to it even when the conversation is good. A group that always runs out of time for prayer is telling its members which part matters.
Chasing cross-references
Every verse can lead to six others, and a group can spend an hour touring the Bible without reading the paragraph in front of it. Allow one or two links, checked in their own setting, and return to the passage.