“…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture…” (1 Timothy 4:13)
When we consider what it is that we “devote” ourselves to, what comes to mind? A close friend? A spouse? Children? Certainly many Christians would say, “God.” But how is it that we do this?
Regarding the verse from 1 Timothy above, Jesus sent us the Apostle Paul who wrote those words to his disciple Timothy, who pastored the church in Ephesus. Timothy is an example for all believers today. With that in mind we can see that Christians are meant to “devote” themselves to experiencing Scripture together. The phrase translated “public reading” comes from one Greek word, ἀνάγνωσις (anagnōsis). It is used two other times in the New Testament and while it is sometimes only translated as “reading,” even there the meaning is public reading in the context of the synagogue. (2 Corinthians 3:14, Acts 13:15)
The corporate reading of Scripture has deep roots, from ancient Israel to the early church. Donald Guthrie points out that because few could read or own Scripture in the early church, public reading was essential to make Scripture accessible. It assured a shared understanding of its message (Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary). But even though literacy has greatly increased, the public reading and shared study of Scripture continues to be crucial to believers all over the world.
In the Old Testament, God explicitly commanded the Israelites to gather for the reading of His Word. Deuteronomy 31:12 instructs, “Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones… that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord.” Such gatherings were not simply opportunities for learning but for spiritual formation. When the Israelites united to hear Scripture, they strengthened their identity as God’s people, understanding He spoke to them as a community. A similar scene unfolds in 2 Kings 23:2, where King Josiah gathered “all the people… and he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant.” This gathering, where young and old listened to the reading of God’s commands, marked a recommitment to God’s law and an encouragement to live faithfully, which is an example for us today. A similar scene occurs later with Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall: “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” (Nehemiah 8:8) Today we still need others around us to “give the sense” as we gather together so that we may understand the reading.
This Old Testament foundation carries into the New Testament. Paul’s letters show that he anticipated his epistles would be read aloud to entire congregations, a practice he endeavors to enforce in 1 Thessalonians 5:27: “I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.” In Colossians 4:16, he further instructs, “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans.” While private Scripture reading certainly has its place today in the life of believers as we pray in secret and study God’s Word personally, these verses reflect Paul’s understanding that the teachings he provided were meant for whole communities as they physically gathered together, not simply for individuals in isolation. As scholar Robert Yarbrough explains, Paul saw the communal reading of Scripture as a continuation of the synagogue tradition, where people gathered to hear and understand God’s Word together and would respond in worship (Yarbrough, The Letters to Timothy and Titus).
Jesus Himself modeled this for us. The famous sermon on the mount was likely delivered not just once but on multiple occasions. Observe how even this one verse encourages us to gather together today around the words of Jesus: “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them…” (Matthew 5:1-2) There is something curious about that phrase “opened his mouth” that we can miss. This is telling us that this was verbal; it was speech. There is something special about gathering and hearing with our ears versus reading alone with our eyes. In Luke 4:16–27, Jesus read publicly from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue and expounded on it, which shows His continued endorsement of this practice. By these examples Jesus promoted gathering to hear, interpret, and live out Scripture in community.
The communal reading of Scripture brings believers into unity under God’s Word, reinforcing truth against misunderstanding or distortion. Knute Larson emphasizes that this practice serves as a “defense against falsehood” while at the same time encouraging a response of true worship by focusing on the essentials of Christ and His grace (Larson, Holman New Testament Commentary).
The Bible consistently reflects a model of communal engagement with God’s Word and relational aspect of Scripture. Reading Scripture together invites believers to see themselves as part of a holy community, shaped by God’s own voice, heard through the voices of others. They are words not simply to be seen but heard. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) The word “hearing” here comes from the Greek word akoē which sounds a bit like “echo” which is not a coincidence. The related Greek word for “sound” is “ηχος” which also sounds a bit like “echoes.” So while it is true that this hearing refers to a spiritual kind of hearing let’s not miss that the Romans would have recognized that “hearing the word of Christ“ was not something that would happen privately at home. Up until sometime after the invention of the printing press in 1436 AD, the scrolls were in the synagogues and the letters were in the churches. So while certainly spiritual hearing can and should happen as we gratefully read our Bibles in our homes, let’s not also neglect to do as Jesus did and gather together around God’s Word as it has been happening primarily that way by God’s people for most of recorded history.
Adorn the Gospel 