The Importance of Studying the Genre of a Book of the Bible

In my first year leading a Bible study, I taught an inductive Bible study on the book of James based on Jen Wilkin’s “How to Study the Bible.” It was fantastic for both the ladies in the group and for myself. After this study came to a close, many of those women came back to me saying “let’s do it again, but on another book.” So we did just that; we dove into the book of Colossians using the same exact method, with the same exact expectation. 

It was about half way into this Colossians study that both myself and the women in the group began to struggle. We wondered, “why is this so hard? What is it that’s not working?” I scratched my head as the leader, pondering what I could have been doing better to make this easier. Then, in a brief conversation with Jen Wilkin, she pointed out that it was harder because I was using the same exact literary understanding to study both James and Colossians.

Both James and Colossians are letters, however, James is a satirical letter mixed in with wisdom literature, whereas Colossians is a correctional letter written to a specific group of people. These are completely different in nature and purpose, so they need to be studied accordingly. 

With this knowledge, I felt an incredible wave of relief. I thought to myself, “Of course this is harder: I am having us learn about Colossians through the wrong lens.” It was as if we were reading Colossians upside down and backwards. 

Understanding the literary elements of a writing can make or break your understanding of the original meaning. 

There are five major questions to consider before studying a book of the Bible: 

1. Who wrote it? 

2. Who is the audience?

3. When was it written?

4. What is the genre?

5. What are the major themes?

When I began to study the book of Hebrews, I not only answered the five major questions, but I camped out on the genre. 

Now, the genre of Hebrews is a letter too, just like James and Colossians. So why can’t they all be studied the same way? Well, because they are different kinds of letters! Each letter uses different set literary devices to communicate its purpose. 

Comparison Chart:

Literary Devices in James, Colossians, and Hebrews

(Using tools like ESV Study Bible and the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

Category	James	Colossians	Hebrews
Type of Letter	Wisdom-style letter	Corrective Letter	Sermon written as a letter
Tone	Direct and practical	Theological and corrective	Teaching and encouraging
Key Literary Tools	Short strong statements, commands, vivid word pictures, rhetorical questions	Careful theological argument, Christ hymn 1:15 to 20, contract language, belief leads to behavior	Old Testament quotations, comparison and contrast, warning passages, doctrine followed by application
Best Way to Study It	Slow down and reflect on each section individually	Trace the argument step by step	Watch for comparisons and ask how each doctrinal section leads to practical endurance

I found that Hebrews was written as a sermonic letter, but instead of a sermon like ours today that develops logically and from point to point, each doctrine has practical implications. For example, if the doctrine was about God’s new covenant with His people, then the practical implication is that there is no need to make daily sacrifices of animals anymore because Jesus was the final sacrifice. 

By digging into Hebrews’ literary elements, I was then able to have a keen awareness and eye for what those practical implications were in each doctrinal conversation. 

We must find out what piece of literature we are reading AND understand its literary devices. 

How to define the literary type: 

Resource: Bible Gateway

Resource: Lifeway

Resource: Free Download of Biblical Genres (see attachment) 

Tools to define literary devices:

Resource: ESV Study Bible

Resource: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Free)