Bible Study 101

Best practices for reading and interpreting scripture.

Welcome to my series on Bible study, exploring the questions of who should study it, why we should study it, why we can trust it, and, most importantly, how to study and interpret scripture. My goal with this series is to equip women of God to navigate these increasingly deceptive times in which we live by being thoroughly grounded in the truth of God’s word and fully armed with the Sword of the Spirit. Subscribe so you don’t miss a post!

Bible Study 101

There’s no one right way to do Bible study, but there are some principles and best practices to help you get the most of it.

Sound Bible study and interpretation begins with humility and teachability, and with trusting that the Bible is indeed God’s inspired word and that God is not the author of confusion -- therefore, His word says what it means and means what it says. It was meant to be understood by children and illiterate slaves, while at the same time being so deep and rich as to satisfy the most learned intellectual. It’s not an esoteric text that takes special gnosis to search and understand, but it does require the enablement and instruction of the Holy Spirit to fully apprehend and appreciate it. Even so, it can be read and understood plainly. You don’t need a theologian or a framework or even your pastor to unlock any hidden meanings for you. That said, sometimes things get lost in translation and we lose the historical context, so Bible study aids that can give you access to the original languages and provide more context and nuance are invaluable.

The Lord promised to reward those who diligently seek Him. Jesus said to ask, seek and knock. Proverbs repeatedly tells us to seek and search out God’s wisdom like we’re digging for hidden treasure and mining silver and gold. You can just sit and read the word on a surface level and obtain everything you need for life and godliness. But diligent study will give you a richer experience and grow your knowledge and understanding of the Lord -- not in gnosis, but ginosko, which is the kind of intimate knowledge we have of people we’re close to or things we’ve experienced first-hand.

To borrow a modern analogy (nerd alert!), someone can sit down and watch the theatrical version of the Lord of the Rings movies and come away with a love of the films and a basic understanding of Tolkien’s story and universe. But someone who has read the books repeatedly and who watches the extended director’s cuts repeatedly will find new things to appreciate with every viewing. They’ll notice easter eggs that the director hid throughout the films to reward the true fans. They’ll see nuances and connections that deepen their knowledge and understanding of Middle Earth and grow their appreciation for this story and all the thought and care that went into it.

The Author of the Universe -- and of scripture -- has done the same thing with His word. While you don’t need to become a Bible scholar and devote all your time to Bible study in order to live a good Christian life, being diligent to know the word as well as you can will be richly rewarding and deepen your relationship with the Lord, along with all of the benefits previously mentioned, such as helping you to be immune to deception.

How we approach scripture has a lot to do with what we get out of it. Are we coming to the word with a teachable heart, making sure we’re not quenching the Spirit through pride or arrogance or unconfessed sin, aware that we don’t know what we don’t know, and eager to learn what the Lord wants to teach us? Or are we coming to it thinking we already know what it says, or seeking to affirm what we already believe or think we know? I’m convinced that a lot of widespread error in the Church is the result of learned Bible teachers who approach the word with a proud heart, quenching the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit and interpreting scripture via their own intellect and man-made wisdom and tradition.

Before You Begin

Before opening the word, it’s a good idea to start with self-examination and prayer, addressing any unconfessed sins or attitudes that could quench the Spirit’s ministry and asking the Lord to give us a humble and teachable heart and an open mind that’s unencumbered by teachings and traditions that are contrary to the truth. Ephesians 1:17-19 is a good starting point:

“...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…” (ESV)

In John 16:13, Jesus said that the Spirit of Truth would lead us into all the truth, so I ask for that as well. Here’s a sample prayer that you can adapt or use as a starting point, based on how I pray prior to reading or studying scripture:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the truth of your word and for the unprecedented access we have to the fullness of your word. Please help me make the most of what I’ve been given. Prepare my heart and mind to receive your word with humility. Please cleanse me of my hidden sins, and forgive me for [fill in the blank].

Lord, I ask that you give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of You and enlighten the eyes of my heart so that I may understand the hope of my calling, the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints and your incomparable power toward those who believe. Please instruct me by Your Spirit in Your Truth and correct any error or false teaching that I’ve been believing or operating under. Please cleanse my mind by the washing of water with the word of any indoctrination into anything false or that is not of You, and illuminate the passages of scripture before me today to show me what You want me to see and help me understand what You want me to understand. Specifically, Lord, I need your help to understand [bring any questions you have about scripture to the Lord here]. I release my desire to be “right” or seen as smart. I just want to be in your will, walking in truth and love.

I ask you to give me wisdom and discernment to rightly divide the word of truth, and that your word in me will be profitable for sound doctrine, correction, reproof and instruction in righteousness, so that I’ll be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Please hold your light up before me throughout the day as a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, illuminating the way You want me to go. Thank you for Your Son, Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In His mighty name I pray.

Context, Context, Context

You may have heard it said that the first three rules of buying real estate are 1. Location, 2. Location, and 3. Location. In the same way, the first three rules of interpreting scripture are 1. Context, 2. Context, and 3. Context!

It’s all too easy to take scripture out of context and skew its interpretation to mean just about anything we want it to. I’m sure you’ve encountered this. But scripture is meant to be handled accurately. As I quoted in the prayer above, 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to study in order to become someone who “rightly divides” the word of truth. The Greek word for “rightly divide” is orthotomounta, a tailor’s term that literally means “to cut straight.” It’s a word denoting accuracy. Other Bible translations correctly translate this term as “accurately handle the word of truth.”

This instruction from the apostle Paul to his protege Timothy suggests that there is a right way to interpret and understand scripture -- and that way begins with context:

1. The immediate context of the surrounding verses and the theme of the chapter or book in which the passage is contained

2. The context of the genre. Is the passage in question poetry? History? Law? Prophecy? Doctrinal instruction? This matters. We don’t want to be woodenly literal in our interpretation of poetic or metaphorical language, for example, nor do we want to regard descriptive narratives as prescriptive.

3. The historical context in which it was written. Who was the author, if known? What was their mission or purpose for writing? Who was the original audience? What age and culture were they living in? What challenges were they facing? What was their worldview? How would they have understood this passage? Although many have tried, you can’t separate the Old Testament or the teachings of Jesus from their Jewish context. As it’s often said, scripture was written for us, but it wasn’t written to us. We err when we import modern Western cultural mores and sensibilities into ancient Near Eastern writings.

4. The whole counsel of scripture. In other words, scripture interprets scripture. Are there quotes or references to other passages of scripture that will provide more context? If so, treat those like hyperlinks and follow them where they go, reading the entire passage that is referenced.
   
   A good example of this is in Hebrews 8, when the author references and partially quotes the New Covenant that is detailed in Jeremiah 31. The author of Hebrews is citing the New Covenant to support his point that Jesus is superior to Moses and that the Mosaic covenant was never meant to be permanent. But you must go read Jeremiah 31 in its entirety to fully understand the totality of the New Covenant that God promises to make with the Jews in the Millennial Kingdom, and the irrevocability of that promise. Many have erred in believing that the Church is the fulfillment of this New Covenant because they don’t bother to read the Covenant promise in its totality but take these quoted verses out of context.
   
   Additionally, are there similar passages of scripture that will help to provide a fuller understanding, or seemingly contradictory passages that provide balance and nuance? Romans 13:1, for example, which commands us to submit to government institutions, is balanced out by numerous examples of civil disobedience when faced with ungodly laws.

Meditate on it

Growing in Biblical knowledge and understanding is a progressive and cumulative endeavor. You’ll most likely come across things that don’t make sense at first. This often happens because we’re missing context that can make it make sense, but when it does happen, it can be a temptation toward discouragement or even seeing God in a negative light. Or you may just struggle to wrap your mind around a concept or phrase.

I would encourage you to just put a question mark next to those passages and keep going, and keep praying for understanding. As you keep honoring your commitment to reading and studying the word, you’ll gain more context and things will eventually become more clear and begin to make better sense. And it’s such a rewarding experience to have those “A-ha!” moments when the light bulb blinks on and suddenly you just get it.

Meditating on scripture is also a necessary part of gaining understanding. Biblical meditation is not emptying your mind or getting grounded in your body as with transcendental or mindfulness meditation, which are unbiblical practices. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s a daily practice of turning scripture over in your mind, which is integral to taking it in, letting God’s words abide in you, and allowing the Holy Spirit to instruct you.

Paul states this in 2 Timothy 2:7, when he tells Timothy, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (ESV). It’s not simply as we read, but as we think over scripture that the Lord works to give us understanding.

Observation, interpretation, application

Our aim in Bible study is not just to know the word, but, as James writes, to be doers of the word (James 1:22). Whether you’re passively reading or actively studying, observe what’s happening or being said in the text, interpret it according to the context, and then prayerfully consider how to apply it in your life.

A helpful tip as you go through scripture is to, as much as you can, ignore divisions and chapter or section headings, which are not scripture, but were a later addition by publishers. These can sometimes be misleading, and they also create false divisions that cause us to miss the throughline in connected passages.

This can also be a problem with memory verses. While it’s good to memorize scripture (though it’s better to meditate on it and not just remember it by rote), we’re often tempted to take memory verses out of context and miss their intended meaning, imbuing them with our own meaning instead.

Eisegesis vs. Exegesis

This can also be a problem with memory verses. While it’s good to memorize scripture (though it’s better to meditate on it and not just remember it by rote), we’re often tempted to take memory verses out of context and miss their intended meaning, imbuing them with our own meaning instead. We need to take care not to perform eisegesis on the word, which is importing things into scripture. Rather, we want to be careful to perform exegesis, which is drawing out what is actually in the text.

One common form of eisegesis is what is somewhat sarcastically called narcogesis -- a portmanteau of narcissism and eisegesis which refers to reading oneself into the text. A good example of this is making yourself David and making Goliath a challenge or difficult person in your life. This also commonly occurs when people take promises that are specifically for the nation of Israel and apply them personally. A good rule of thumb in this regard is to remember that promises for Israel are principles about God’s nature for the Church-age believer. While we can stand on those principles as we petition the Lord in prayer, we can’t claim those promises exactly as they’re written (unless you also want to be subject to the curses that went along with them).

A good example of this is Psalm 46:10, the oft’ quoted “Be still and know that I am God.” I’ve read and even bought into some wonderful-sounding teachings on how this passage is telling us to, essentially, “Let go and let God.” But that’s not what this verse means at all in context. Psalm 46 is a prophetic psalm about Israel’s ultimate deliverance at the Battle of Armageddon. In this verse, God is telling the nations who are warring against Israel and her Messiah to stop fighting and know that HE is God, and He WILL be exalted in all the earth. Therefore, it’s futile to fight against Him.

There is a principle there that we can apply individually, understanding that it’s useless to go against God’s will and that it’s better to trust and cooperate with Him. But that’s not typically the message you hear when this verse is taken out of context.

Again, it’s important to remember that the Bible was written for our instruction, but it wasn’t written to us. It has an accurate meaning that is not open to subjective interpretation, and with the help and enablement of the Holy Spirit, we’re expected to search out that meaning and to be accurate in how we handle the text.

Commentaries and Study Tools

Commentaries and Bible study guides can be helpful, but it’s important to remember that they’re written by humans who are often pushing a particular theological perspective or tradition. That doesn’t automatically mean that they’re wrong or not insightful, but they can be mistaken. It’s a good idea to pray for discernment and guidance as you take in any human teaching, and to be willing to examine multiple perspectives, testing them against what scripture actually says as you pray to be led to the truth. Personally, I tend to go to Bible commentaries as a last resort after I’ve spent time examining the text, praying about it, and searching scripture for answers to any questions I have.

I can recommend David Guzik’s Enduring Word study guides, which pull together insights from multiple commentators from throughout Church history, offering a well-rounded view of the text. You can find them on the Enduring Word website, which also has its own app, and they’re also embedded in the Blue Letter Bible app, which I’ll tell you about below.

Here are the apps and tools that I incorporate into my personal Bible study:

• Bible Hub - This is also both a website and an app. It offers multiple free commentaries from historical theologians, parallel views of Bible verses in multiple translations, and it’s my go-to app when I want to look up a word in its original language, offering not only Strong’s concordance but multiple Greek and Hebrew lexicons. It also offers a free English translation of the Septuagint (LLX), which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that served as the primary Bible translation from which Jesus and the Apostles often quoted.

• Blue Letter Bible - Also both a website and an app. It’s similar to Bible Hub, but is more of a Bible reading app with bonus features and it may be more user friendly and easier to navigate, especially when it comes to looking up original languages. It also includes both the Enduring Word study guides and commentaries by Chuck Smith.

• The Logos Bible Study app - This is a great resource for deep Bible study, with a rich library of resources, including Old Testament commentaries by the late Dr. Michael Heiser, which can help add historical context and insights to your studies.

• Got Questions? - This website can be helpful when we run up against questions about theology, church practices and traditions, or what the Bible says about certain topics.

I’ll be diving deeper into hermeneutics -- the science of Bible interpretation -- next time, Lord willing. But I hope this overview gives you what you need to start going deeper in your Bible study with confidence.

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