Seven Keys to Understanding Scripture:

Follow these simple guidelines to help better grasp what God’s Word is
saying
By Tremper Longman III

Everyone who reads the Bible interprets the text. Unfortunately, however, the Bible is
not always easy to understand. Even when the text seems straightforward, we may feel
uncertain that our interpretation is right. All of us want to treat the Word of God with
the respect it deserves, and we certainly don’t want to read into it things that are not
there. For these reasons, we need to apply the basic principles of hermeneutics—the
science of interpretation—as we read the text.

Many believers already apply these principles just by using common sense. Indeed,
they are simply principles of good reading. Though the Bible is a unique book in many
ways, many of the rules for interpreting the Bible are rules for interpreting any book.
The goal of our Bible reading and study is to find out what it means. These seven
principles can help us understand what God is saying to us through Scripture.

Principle 1—Look for the Author’s Intended Meaning.

Look for the author’s intended meaning. Notice that this principle acknowledges that
there is a meaning to the text! In an age of relativism, this point is important. Many
nonChristian interpreters of the Bible suggest that the Bible has no set meaning, and we
may read into it whatever we want. On the contrary, we must realize that when we
interpret the Bible we are looking for the author’s original meaning, not imposing our
own meaning on a text. When the reader’s interpretation conflicts with the author’s,
then the reader is wrong.

Each biblical passage has a set meaning intended by its author. The interpreter’s task is
to discover that meaning. This principle seems clear enough, but we must come to grips
with a couple of issues.

First, who is the author and how do we uncover his intention? This question is more
complex than it might first appear. Even when we know the name of the human author
(Moses, Paul, etc.), we have no independent access to him. We can’t ask Paul whether
he was describing Christians or nonChristians in Ro. 7:21-25. We can only answer such
questions by placing ourselves in the time period when the authors first wrote and
asking what they meant to tell us (see Principle 4).

A second issue has to do with the unique character of the Bible as the Word of God. As
2 Pet. 1:21 states, “Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from

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God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” God is the ultimate Author of the
Bible, and this important truth has implications for how we understand it.

Let’s look at an example,

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son. —Hosea 11:1

Who is the author of this passage? According to the first verse of Hosea it is the prophet
by that name. But how can we know what his intention is in the passage? First, we
know approximately when he lived. We also have the broader context of the whole
book (see Principle 2), which gives us a fuller idea of what Hosea intended to say in this
one verse. When we study his text in the context of his entire book, we find that Hosea
is referring to the Exodus described in the book of Exodus.

But later we may be reading Matthew 2 and come across verse 15. Here the writer
applies Hosea 11:1 to Jesus as a youth returning to Judea from Egypt. This reference
does not seem in keeping with the intention of Hosea. It is here we must remember
where the meaning of a text ultimately resides—in the intention of its Author, God
Himself. And as we read the Scripture in the context of the Bible as a whole, we see that
He has made an analogy between Israel, God’s son, being freed from Egypt, and Jesus,
God’s Son, coming up from Egypt, a pattern that runs throughout Matthew’s gospel.

Principle 2—Read A Passage in Context

Read a passage in context. With the Bible, as with all good literature, we must get a
grasp of the whole in order to appreciate and understand the parts. This principle
doesn’t stop us from turning to the middle of the book of Romans to read a section on
sin, but we should only do so with an understanding of where Paul’s teaching on sin
fits in with the message of the whole book.

When we do read little bits and pieces of Scripture, we must exercise great caution.
Imagine reading Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 7:27: “Are you unmarried? Do not look for a
wife.” Without taking into account the context, especially Paul’s advice in verse 9, we
might conclude that the Bible commands celibacy.

Context is an ever-expanding concept when applied to a passage of Scripture. For

example, take Gen. 50:20, where Joseph says, ”You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
If we look at the immediate context, we will see that he is speaking to his brothers right
after his father died. To understand what he is referring to, we need to read the entire
Joseph story (Gen. 37:1-50:26). Here we see that his brothers tried to get rid of him by
selling him to Midianite traders, who took him to Egypt. We also observe how God

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used their evil actions to place him in a position of power from which he could save his
family.

But even further, we have to read Gen. 50:20 in the light of the whole book of Genesis.
Genesis describes the promise that God gave Abraham about numerous descendants
and land. Joseph’s statement at the end of the book shows his awareness that God is
overruling the evil of his brother’s intentions in order to preserve the family line and
fulfill His promise to Abraham.
And we are still not done. The ultimate context of any Bible passage is the whole Bible.
As we read the Bible we see many parallels to Joseph’s statement, but none so vivid as
the words of Peter as he describes Jesus’ death. In Acts 2:22-24 Peter says that Jesus was
killed by men who only intended to kill him, but God used those very actions to save
many from their sins.
How do we learn to read in context? Avoid only reading little snippets of Scripture.
Read whole books. If you can sit down for two or three hours to read a novel, try the
same with Isaiah or Acts. Whenever you do read a short passage, do it with an outline
of the whole book in your mind or with the help of a good commentary.

Of course, the exact nature of the context may differ from biblical book to biblical book.
The context of the historical books is provided by the flow of events of the story; in the
letters, one idea comes from another. Proverbs 10-31 has a looser context as one pithy
proverb—on laziness, for example—is followed by two on the tongue and then another
on laziness. Still, in all books we should have a sense of the whole book as we study any
part of it. Ask yourself, how does this passage fit into the message of the whole book,
even the whole Bible?

Your ability to read the Scriptures in their ever-expanding context will increase the
more you spend time reading God’s Word.

Principle 3—Identify the genre of the passage you are reading.

Identify the genre of the passage you are reading. One evening I opened a new book
and was jarred by this opening sentence: “As Gregor Samsa awoke from an uneasy
sleep, he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.” It was a striking sentence,
but it didn’t shake me. The book was Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, a fictional story in
which human beings can turn into bugs without raising the reader’s disbelief.

The Bible is a literal cornucopia of literary types. As we read from Genesis to

Revelation, we encounter history, poetry, prophecy, proverb, gospel, parable, epistles,
and apocalypse. Knowing the type, or genre, of literature you are reading is essential to
understanding it. Different genres evoke different expectations and interpretive
strategies.

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Let’s take as a classic example a book of the Bible that has been misinterpreted because
its genre was misidentified. For a long time, the Song of Songs was interpreted as an
allegory of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church. When early
interpreter Cyril of Alexandria read Song of Songs 1:13, “My lover is to me a sachet of
myrrh resting between my breasts,” he thought the two breasts represented the Old and
New Testaments. The sachet was Christ, who spanned both!

Most people today recognize that the Song is a love poem. Its primary message
concerns the intimacy of human love. Of course, since human love reflects Christ’s love
for the Church (Eph. 5:22-32), the older interpreters were not entirely wrong. But they
did miss the most obvious meaning of the text.

A very helpful handbook for recognizing the different genres is The Bible Study Tool Kit
(IVP). On a more advanced level, try A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible (Zondervan).
Old Testament Introduction (Zondervan) by T. Longman III and R. B. Dillard discusses
the genre and style of each book in the Old Testament.

Principle 4—Consider the historical and cultural background of the

Bible.
Consider the historical and cultural background of the Bible. The Bible was written in a
time far distant from ours, and in cultures quite strange to us. So as we try to discover
the author’s meaning, we must learn to read his writing as one of his contemporaries
would. We must transport ourselves by means of our informed imagination back to the
time of Moses, David, Solomon, or Paul.

But how do we do this? For most Bible readers, it means turning to commentaries and
other helps. These books can give us insight into the cultural and historical
backgrounds to the biblical books.

For instance, the Bible often depicts the Lord as riding a cloud (Ps. 18:7-15, 68:4, 104:3;
Nahum 1:3). We might learn from a commentary that Israel’s neighbors frequently
pictured the god Baal riding a cloud chariot into battle. As we place the biblical image
in the light of the ancient Near East, we realize that God’s cloud is a chariot that He
rides into war. When we turn to the New Testament and see that Jesus also is a cloud
rider (Mt. 24:30, Rev. 1:7), we understand that this is not a white, fluffy cloud, but a
storm cloud that He rides into judgment. Furthermore, we now sense that the use of the
image was an appeal to those Israelites who worshipped the wrong god, Baal, to come
back and worship the true cloud rider, the Lord.
But what about a passage like Psalm 23? Can’t we understand the imagery of a
shepherd without recourse to the ancient world? We know what a shepherd does. He
protects, guides, and takes care of his sheep.

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The answer is yes, and no. Shepherds in biblical times acted like shepherds in modern
times in all these ways. However, unless we are aware of the use of the shepherd image
in the ancient Near East, we will miss an important aspect of the psalm. The great kings
of the Near East often referred to themselves as the “shepherds” of their people. Thus,
as we read Psalm 23 in the light of its ancient background, we recover an important
teaching of Psalm 23: the Lord is a royal shepherd.

Principle 5—Consider the grammar and structure within the passage.

Consider the grammar and structure within the passage. In a word, we must read our
passage closely in all its detail.

Look for things like connectors, verb tenses, and modifiers to nouns. Connectors (words
like but, and, therefore), for instance, help give the reader the logical connection between
words. Remember, though, that the meaning of the Bible is not in the isolated words but
in the context, namely, in sentences.

Let’s look at the conjunctions, tense, adjectives, and other indications of the relationship
between words and clauses in Psalm 131.

Our example comes from a poem that has a special kind of structural feature,
parallelism, in which the clauses echo each other. The first clause makes a statement,
which is then expanded upon in the following related clauses. When reading a poem,
reflect on how the parallelism contributes to the meaning of the psalm.

The parallel structure (both in the meaning of the words and the grammar) links the
first three clauses of verse one together:

My heart is not proud, O LORD,

...my eyes are not haughty;
do not concern myself with great matters
...or things too wonderful for me.

Careful attention to the structural relationship between the three clauses shows that
David distances himself from pride in three distinct areas: his core personality (heart),
his external demeanor (eyes), and his actions.

The “but” that begins the second verse draws a strong contrast between the pride
described in the first verse and the attitude expressed in the second.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

...like a weaned child with its mother
...like a weaned child is my soul within me.

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The English translation of the Hebrew verbs (”have stilled” and ”have quieted”)
indicate that his confidence is rooted in the past and continues in the present.

He then illustrates his present disposition by using the word like. Note that David does
not use a generic term for child, but the word for a weaned child. When we reflect on the
word choice, we may realize that a weaned child, one that does not need its mother’s
milk, is especially calm in its mother’s lap. It is not grasping for the source of its
sustenance, but resting quietly in its mother’s arms.

The final verse of the psalm uses imperatives in order to drive home the application of
the truths presented in the first two verses:

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD

... both now and forevermore.

Most Bible readers do not have access to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or the
Greek of the New Testament. Serious grammatical and syntactical study must be based
on the original languages. For that reason, it is helpful to have a copy of a very literal
translation like the NASB around for serious study. Indeed, the best way to get a feel for
the original text is to compare a number of different translations. A good commentary
based on the Hebrew or Greek text is invaluable for insight into the grammatical and
structural relationships.

Principle 6—Interpret experience in light of scripture, not Scripture in

the light of experience.

Interpret experience in light of Scripture, not Scripture in the light of experience. All too
often, we distort Scripture by allowing our experience to shape our understanding of
Scripture rather than the other way around.

One way we let experience dictate our interpretation is by imposing our desires upon it.
Many believers find a passage out of context to support their desire, ignore the rest of
the Bible’s teaching (thus violating Principle 7), and argue that their desire is the same
as biblical truth.

For instance, if sharing my faith made me uncomfortable, I might build an excuse for
not doing evangelism around scriptures about God’s love. I could quote 1 Corinthians
13 and a host of other passages to show that God and love are nearly synonymous.
Then I might reason: “If God is love, how could He condemn anybody?” In this way, I
would be “off the hook” for telling people about Jesus despite all the clear teaching
about sin, judgment and hell.

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Another way that experience can warp our interpretation of Scripture is through our
cultural makeup. We can unconsciously make the Bible a Western, even American, text
as we read into it the values that come naturally to us due to our upbringing.
Capitalism is nowhere taught as such in Scripture; socialism isn’t either. But American
right-wing Christians and Latin American proponents of liberation theology both will
use the Bible to promote their agendas. The antidote to such lopsided readings is to
point to biblical passages that undermine both capitalism and socialism in the Bible.
Our experience of capitalism as good and socialism as bad should not compute into
considering the former biblical and the latter unbiblical.
Perhaps one of the most hotly debated issues in evangelical circles today is whether the
gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy and tongues, continue today. Arguments on both
sides of this debate often appeal to experience over biblical teaching. If someone speaks
in tongues, then he will be predisposed to believe the Bible justifies the experience. On
the other hand, if someone else observes that these gifts add chaos to worship, then he
might be more likely to find evidence to refute their practice.

Principle 7--Always seek the full counsel of Scripture

Always seek the full counsel of Scripture. We should never read Scripture in isolation
from the whole Bible. While many human authors contributed to the Bible, God is the
Ultimate Author of the whole. While the Bible is an anthology of many books, it is also
One Book. While it has many stories to tell, they all contribute to a Single Story.

This principle has many important implications. First, we should never base doctrine or
moral teaching of Scripture on an obscure passage. The most important ideas in the
Bible are stated more than once. When a text teaches something obscure or difficult and
we can find no other passage to support it, we must not attach too much significance to
it.

Second, if one passage seems to teach something, but another passage clearly teaches
something else, we must understand the former in terms of the latter. That is, we must
determine the meaning of the unclear verse by examining the clear teaching of
Scripture.

Last year I was asked to debate a popular radio teacher on the subject of Christ’s return.
The teacher had just published a lengthy book arguing that Jesus was going to come
again in 1994.
The debate never would have happened if he and his supporters had simply applied
this principle. You see, they had all kinds of convoluted mathematical arguments based
on obscure interpretations of Scripture that led them to believe that Christ would return
in1994. But the clear teaching of Scripture refutes the teacher’s arguments. Take a look
at Mk. 13:32: “No one knows about that day or hour.” Just reading that clear verse

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should have stopped all the stretching and manipulating of passages to reach a
conclusion.

In order to grasp the full counsel of Scripture, we need to study the themes and
analogies that stretch from Genesis to Revelation. Then, when we read any one passage,
we will be able to understand its place in the unfolding history of salvation.

This principle is particularly important as we read the Old Testament. After all, Jesus
Himself told us that the whole Old Testament, not just a handful of messianic
prophecies, looks forward to His coming (Lk. 24:25-27, 44).
Take as an example Mt. 4:1-11, which describes Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. If
we keep the whole of Scripture in mind as we read, we may pick up signals when we
read that Jesus, the Son of God, spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. This
reference may remind us of the Israelites’ 40-year trek in the wilderness. But the
comparison goes beyond the number 40. The Israelites also were tempted in the
wilderness in the same three areas in which Jesus was tempted: (1) hunger and thirst,
(2) testing God, and (3) worshiping false gods. Jesus, however, shows Himself to be the
obedient Son of God where the Israelites were disobedient. Indeed, Jesus responded to
the temptations by quoting Deuteronomy, the sermon that Moses gave the Israelites at
the end of their 40-year sojourn.

Reading Scripture in the light of the whole message, the whole counsel of God not only
prevents erroneous interpretations, it gives us deeper insight into the Word of God.

Conclusion
It is impossible to approach the Bible in a completely objective way. We all come to the
Bible with questions, issues, troubles, and joys. Each of us also approaches the Bible
from different cultural and social experiences. This truth contains great benefit and
danger.

The benefit is that the Bible is relevant for every life. The danger, of course, is that we
will warp God’s Word in a way that it was never intended to be read.

There are three ways to avoid the danger while maximizing the benefits. The first is to
follow the seven principles for understanding Scripture. These can keep you from
reading your own thoughts into the Bible and help you discover the intention of the
Author himself.

The second is to read the Bible in community. That is, don’t be a lone ranger in your
Bible interpretation. Talk to others about what the Bible means to them and be open to
their reading of the text. Read books by Christians from other walks of life and different
cultural backgrounds.

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Finally, bathe your Scripture reading in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to open your
eyes to the truth found in the Word. Without the Spirit, we cannot understand God’s
Word (2 Cor. 2:6-16).

Understanding Scripture does not have to be a daunting task. After all, the God who
gave us His Word longs for us to understand it even more than we do.

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