Steps to read a Biblical text

This is an icebreaker towards a Bible interpretation class. Before getting into any Bible book, I use this paper to introduce people to some tools useful for the proper interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

Neotestamentica, 2015

This edited book about reading the whole Bible is primarily aimed at undergraduates and adult Bible study groups (7). It follows the Christian church's intention to treat the Bible as Scripture and thus approaches the Bible in terms of "its overall unity" (157). Rather than presenting a detailed introduction to the historical or contextual issues surrounding the text, this book aims to provide readers of the Bible with the big picture of the biblical story (8). Each chapter represents a canonical unit and begins by framing the books within their contribution to the biblical metanarrative, followed by a discussion of their arrangement and placement within the biblical canon, their literary features, and the theological questions they evoke concerning God, God's people and God's world.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, 2008

First published in 2008 for the US Bishops' "Year of the Word," this brief piece offers an overview of biblical basics for catechists and Sunday school teachers.

2018

What’s actually in the Bible? Where do we find the story of Moses or Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son? A Guide to Bible Basics discusses important people, places, and terms for each biblical book so that the reader can quickly see its primary focus. This accessible and concise book introduces the content of the Bible without theological, historical, or literary commentary. Tyler Mayfield provides a summary and chapter outline of each biblical book so as to facilitate quick comprehension of its fundamental story and subject. This book can be used alone to aid readers in their knowledge of the Bible and is great for beginners or those in need of a refresher course.

Bible Review XXI/4 (2005), pp. 19-23, 48-50

old testament

Basic Bible Study Skills by Dr. Jeff C. Barger, 2022

The self-descriptive name of this course is Basic Bible Study Skills. The goal is to provide the student with knowledge and skills that will enable him or her to become their own interpreter of the Bible. Though Basic is part of the course name, this is a seminary-level course of instruction. In this course, we’ll discuss general rules and principles of Bible interpretation. We’ll discuss what are challenges and barriers to correct interpretation. Some things an interpreter might have to un-learn. I will challenge you to be become aware of and to think about your thinking. As we go, we’ll buttress principles and concepts with abundant biblical examples, and we’ll put our skills to practical use.

Religious texts, like all others, are human products; unlike all others, they often misrecognize and misrepresent this fact, claiming more than human origin, status, and authority. Close reading of a Upanishadic text provides an example of the human interests that motivate an extremely ingenious piece of cosmological speculation,