How to Study the Bible: Interpretation. What does the Bible mean?
Word from Bro. Craig. How to Study the Bible: INTERPRETATION. What does the Bible mean?
Bible study begins with observation. In observation we seek to determine what the text says. We do that by asking questions of the text. The next step in Bible study is interpretation. In interpretation we attempt to state what the text means in our own words. Acts 8 records the story of Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch had been reading from the book of Isaiah but he didn’t understand what he was reading, which means he couldn’t restate it in his own words.
Each portion of the Bible contains a meaningful message. When we declare what we believe that message is we are interpreting the Bible. In my sermon outlines I give you what I believe to be the main idea of the passage. That one sentence summary is my interpretation of the passage. In one simple sentence I am telling you what I believe that text means.
Like the Ethiopian eunuch, sometimes we get stuck trying to understand what the Bible means. That’s because the Bible was written a long time ago in a different part of the world where their languages and cultures were different from ours. Fortunately, excellent resources exist to bridge the gaps between the biblical world and our own.
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First and foremost we have English translations of the Bible, an enormous blessing because most people don’t read Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, the original languages of the Bible. By comparing a few translations we can get a good understanding of what the text says. The best translations for study, listed in order from the oldest to the newest
Choose one as your primary Bible but consult at least one more and preferably two or more when studying a particular passage. Often what is obscure in one translation will be clearer in another. You can access all these translations and many others online for free at places like biblegateway.com and youversion.com. |
Other resources to help you interpret the Bible the way Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch would be a study Bible, a Bible dictionary, an atlas of the Bible, a concordance, and a commentary.
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Several fine study Bibles exist today. Many love the Life Application Study Bible because its notes are not technical and are geared toward application. The ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive on the market. Beyond them the NIV Study Bible, NKJV Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, and the colorful HCSB Study Bible are good choices. Note: I prefer to use study Bibles as references and not as my primary Bible because I find it difficult to resist the temptation to read the notes before I have completed my own study of the text. |
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A Bible dictionary will prove its weight in gold when you want to learn more about Canaan or if you are confused about which Herod you are reading about. The New Bible Dictionary, the Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary, or the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary will do the job for you. |
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Although most Bibles contain maps, either the Holman Bible Atlas or the Zondervan Atlas of the Bible will give you considerably more. |
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If you want to know how many times a word is used or where it is found in the Bible you need a concordance. Many Bibles have concordances, but they don’t typically give you every place a word occurs in the Bible. To get that information you have to turn to a concordance. They make these for several translations, so look for one that is compatible with your preferred translation. |
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Last, you will benefit immensely from a good one-volume commentary. The best I have found are these: New Bible Commentary, New International Bible Commentary, The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, The Moody Bible Commentary, Believer’s Bible Commentary, and Life Application New Testament Commentary. |
Bro. Craig