We are frequently told to read and study the bible, but frequently we do not get any additional instructions or ideas on how to study it. Most of us had had to study a topic or a book at some point in time, but rarely are we required to study a book that was written by dozens of people, over thousands of years, and in multiple languages and cultures. If we add the different writing styles and types add in changes to languages that have occurred over the years you can see where this becomes much more complicated. Scholars will often make a statement like the Bible was written for us, but not to us. While I believe there are a lot of passages that still speak directly to us, their point is that there are things to really understand what the writer is trying to convey, we need to think like an ancient person. What did it mean to them? Once we understand what it meant to them, we can determine what it means for us. This may seem like a lot, but do not worry, most of the principles and standards that God desires from us are clear in the Bible, but there are a few that require more in – depth study. I hope to give you a bit of an idea of how to start and some things to keep in mind as you study when you come across things that may not make sense, at least initially. Hermeneutics is the study of principles of interpreting the Bible or to put it in a generally it is the “art of understanding”, and proper interpretation and understanding is needed for us to properly implement it in our lives. While it is not possible to go really in depth in a post such as this, I hope to provide some insights and guidelines to remember when reading and studying the Bible.
The first thing to remember is that the Bible is inspired by God “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16. Peter affirms this at least as far as prophecy in 2 Peter 1:20-21. John write that “when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” John 16:13 we need to involve the Holy Spirit in our study. Not only are there multiple passages that affirm the benefits of the Spirit when studying, but some hint that it is required for us to understand Scripture.
The first thing I want to cover is some of the writing styles of the Bible. The first one that I want to cover is Narrative. In short narrative is a story, it could be an historical account, or it could be a story that teaches a principle or truth. The Second is the Law and it refers to the legal commands of God in the Old Testament primarily found in the first 5 books of the Bible. The Third is poetry and songs, these generally focus on using images and pictures to convey messages. These are frequently having a significant emotional impact on the reader, but also are used by the writers to express emotions. Prophecy is a revelation from God that often times talks about future events. Prophecies frequently were a warning to Gods people, and the prophets were frequently sought after to provide insights into Gods will. Next is wisdom literature, this style in the Bible provides practical down to earth insights into theology and how to live a godly life in a complex and complicated world. The Gospels are unique in the Bible. While technically they are a form of biography, the style that was used during this period of time has some notable differences. The Gospels are the eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus as well as His teaching. Letters & Epistles are formal letters written to an individual or a group. The writers also use a number of common literary devices that include irony, Imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, allusion and occasionally hyperbole. While it may seem that there is a lot to consider when reading and studying the Scripture, I recommend starting with just common reading if it seems like they are using a parable (a short story to teach a principle or truth) they probably are, but if something does not make sense then you can start to dig a bit deeper.
Digging Deeper
There are a number of principles that are taught across various church denominations. Probably the simplest way to start is to remember the context, what is generally being talked about. Often times we can figure out what is being said when we consider the bigger point that surrounds it. Context does have some various levels, the immediate what is leading up into the passage and around the passage, then there can be a larger context, for example a fair number of passages in Romans need to be considered within the context of the entire book. Then there is a Biblical context, meaning within the whole Bible. The idea of context has been described a few ways, one is like a garment or a painting, each passage while unique is also part of a larger item or picture that all flows together.
The next is to compare the passage in various translations. There are 3 main groups of types of translations. 1. Literal which would include King James (KJV), New King James (NKJV), New American Standard Bible (NASBn1995 or 2020), and the English Standard Version (ESV). The Literal is an attempt to translate as close to word for word as possible. While this style is the most difficult to read, it also has the least amount of interpretation on the meaning. 2. Next Dynamic Equivalent, or sometimes referred to as thought for thought type of translation, while this style is easier to read, it also allows for more bias to enter into the translation. Note that while this style can allow more bias, a number of churches do use this style as their official or the standard they use in their teaching. Translations in this style would include the New International Version (NIV), The New Living Translation (NLT), and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and The last type while it is sometimes referred to as Free Translation or paraphrase examples of this are The Living Bible (LV) or The Message (MSG). This style is the easiest to read but is also the most subjective in that it is an attempt to say what the author is trying to say which requires not only an interpretation of the words, but what they meant during that period of time. While these are good for new believers to get the main points, they can also become problematic when you start to do more serious study and dig deeper. Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message, did not intend for it to be a primary resource for in-depth scriptural study. He believed that his congregation was getting lost in the language of the Bible and missing its main themes. Peterson's goal was to translate the Bible into modern language so that his congregation could connect with it.
Other Resources
Concordance (sometimes found within Bibles) is a listing on where a word appears, this can be beneficial in attempting to understanding the meaning, however one needs to remember that words can have more than one meaning so again you have to consider the context where it is used as well as the historical context.
Bible Dictionaries – much like concordances can help with attempting to understand what the word means. While concordances generally focus on where else the word is found, dictionaries often will provide some definitions, however they may not be all inclusive and the meaning of words even within the same language can change over time.
Commentaries – These are people’s opinions on what a passage means or is saying. While a number of them can provide insights and references to allow for additional research, a number of them do not which leaves you with them simply saying that this is what it means. Good commentaries can be extremely useful, however frequently the best ones focus on a single book or writer. Commentaries are frequently influenced by the writer’s bias.
History and Historical customs – often times understanding the customs of the time period provides insights into the passage and its meaning. There are numerous books about the customs during Biblical times and a significant amount of information online about history in general, just make sure to verify to the best degree possible as there is also a lot of false information online.
In conclusion the idea of studying the Bible is to attempt to figure out what the original meaning of the writer was so that we can make modern applications in our lives. While there are multiple college level classes on how to study most people do not have the ability to go to these classes. When writing this I wanted to spend most of the time on items that a majority of people could have access to. There are a number of free resources online for looking up passages in different translations, as well as concordances, dictionaries as well as a few commentaries to get you started.