I commend you, sister in Christ, for your desire to actually do Bible study, actually study the Bible. That is how I started & have been blessed doing now for over 40 years as a spiritually born again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are some simple basic principles to keep in mind when studying the Bible, to understand it as God spoke it to others who wrote it down & the meaning intended by the Bible writer at the time it was written.
“The aim of good interpretation is not a uniqueness but to get at the ‘plain meaning of the text,’ the author’s intended meaning.” Gordon Fee
I try to make it a simple acrostic so it is easier to remember:
PHROCIA: Prayer, Hermeneutic Basic Principles, Read Repeatedly the passage being studied, Observe--Ask the reporter's questions, Correlate other Scriptures, Interpretation in Context, Application in love. A friend of mine who graduated from Bible college made it even simpler: Inquire, Look, Hook, Book, Took.
P...is for prayer first of all. It is inquiry--of God. Seek the Lord for understanding & the Holy Spirit's guidance into all the truth; so we can understand the Scriptures rightly & correctly. (please read Luke 24:25-27,44,45; John 16:12-15; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Ephesians 1:18; Psalm 119:18) 'Then He OPENED THEIR MINDS to understand the Scriptures.'
See also Proverbs 2:1-5 & Psalm 42:1,2 & Prov 8:33-35.
H...is for Hermeneutical Principles. Hermeneutics is the field of study which is concerned with how we interpret the Bible. Interpretation or exegesis is the actual interpretation or explaining of the Bible by drawing the meaning out of the Biblical text.
#1. When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, one usually seeks no other sense, lest it result in nonsense.” In other words,
"take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal (plain) meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages & axiomatic (self-evident or unquestionable) & fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.” Dr. David L. Cooper, The Biblical Research Society
Examples: John 16:29 His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking PLAINLY & are not using a FIGURE OF SPEECH.
Matthew 7:3 “Why do you complain about the splinter in your brother’s eye when you have a plank in your own eye?”
The use of figurative language here only enhances the plain meaning of the text. Even though this is figurative language, we have no trouble understanding what Jesus meant. His use of metaphors makes it even plainer, clearer.
#2 Let Scripture interpret Scripture; Scripture best explains Scripture. In other words, the Scriptures must harmonize. The orthodox Christian view of the Bible is that it is not in error & does not contradict itself. Therefore when examining a passage we must approach it with an eye to what the whole Bible says about that topic.
It also states we should interpret difficult or seemingly confusing passages based on clear passages. (I Cor 14:33) Understanding the Bible is not meant to be confusing or contentious but confirming what God actually said & what the writer of Scripture's meant in the culture, grammatical language & historical time in which it was written.
Let Scripture speak for itself. Neither add to it nor subtract from it. (Prov 30:4; Deut 4:2; 12:32) Let the Bible be your best commentary.
Example: Genesis 2:16,17 with Genesis 32,3--Can you figure out what Eve subtracted or left out of God's commandment? Can you figure out what she added to the commandment? That is what we are talking about. And the consequences we live with today. Remember--one of the first interpreters was the serpent in the garden. Don't fall into his clever deceptions: quoting verses out of context, quoting partial verses & twisting them to mean something else, etc. (see Luke 4:1-14)
#3 Active, saving faith & dependence on the Holy Spirit are necessary for us to understand & properly interpret Scripture. There are natural eyes & ears & spiritual eyes & ears. (Matt 13:9,15)
Example: 2 Cor 2:9-14 Just as it is written: “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN & EAR HAS NOT HEARD &
which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed
them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the
thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the
thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual
thoughts with spiritual
words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him & he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
#4. Interpret words by the author's intent in harmony with their grammatical, historical, cultural, prophetical context.
The Bible was written in the language of men & can be understood if we follow the proper rules of language.
Example: Matthew 24. This has become one of the most misinterpreted passages because of not following the above principle, as well as the prior & post ones. Oftentimes you will see in Scripture where the writer 'explains' a term used, for the sake of those reading it.
Example: Matt 1:23; Mark 5:41; 15:22,34; John 1:38; Acts 4:36; 9:36; etc.
#5,6,7 Avoid private interpretation & let one's experiences be made more sure by Scripture, seeking to verify: 'by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses let every fact be confirmed.' (Deut 17:6; 2 Cor 13:1; Matt 18:16, etc.)
I combined 3 principles in one for the sake of space & time.
Example: 2 Peter 1:16-21 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power & coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor & glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— & we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic word
MADE MORE SURE, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns & the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this FIRST, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of one’s OWN interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
#8 God says what He means & means what He says. This principle was driven home to me when a godly pastor told me when he did Bible study & had the group read the passage, he then asked, "What did the passage say? Inevitably, people would look up from the Scripture & give their opinion of what they thought it MEANT or meant to them. He would then say, "I didn't ask you what it meant or meant to you, I asked you what did it actually say." Then they would have to look down again & read it again & simply tell what it actually said. He smiled & said, "Now you are BEGINNING to do Bible study."
Example: Matthew 16:5-12
I've gone on too long but you can learn from learned others in the following websites:
BiblicalStudies.org.uk: The Interpretation of Scripture
https://bible-truth.org/InterpretationPrinciples.pdf
Exegesis and Hermeneutics: The Bible Interpreter's Two Most Important Tasks
https://factsandtrends.net/2014/03/12/7-principles-of-biblical-interpretation/
R...is for read the Scripture to be studied, over & over again, with the intent to think God's thoughts after Him. Saturate our minds with God's thoughts, even memorize verses. God reveals truth progressively & at the maturity level that you can handle, so that the primary goal is not to just obtain knowledge of Scripture but to know the Savior as well & obey it & practice it in our daily lives. (John 5:37-40) Soon the Spirit begins to open our minds to understand.
O...is for observation. This is the LOOK of the R and O. I am looking for what it says. I am asking all the reporter's questions: who is talking? who is the audience? what is going on? What time of the day is this happening? Is the text ordinary or figurative? Is the text historical narrative or prophecy? Where is this happening? Why did that happen? How is this key word in the text defined? What is the immediate, book & whole bible context for this passage or verse? Is the text past, present or future?
Example: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In-start of a prepositional phrase. Not by or before or from, or between, etc. 'The beginning.' Which beginning is being referred to here? 'Was': past tense verb. What was already existing in the beginning? 'the Word': what or who is the Word? 'And': connective word, joining two ideas. How do these fit into the surrounding context? You tie vs 14 with the Word & learn more. And so on. This is probably one of the foundational study principles that keeps one from making erroneous & private interpretations. I often ask these questions of God when i am doing study & ask for His help on answering them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit brings other Scriptures to mind, even as I was writing this post!
C...is for correlation. I am looking throughout the Bible for similar passages, letting Scripture interpret Scripture or helping me find clear passages to clear up an obscure one. I can do a topical study by looking up all the verses in Scripture on the parable of the sower/soils. This is the HOOK--that ties things together & harmonizes them.
Though Jesus gave the interpretation, this is probably one parable he taught in many places with various people over a three year period. Thus in one gospel I may get more detail than in another & by harmonizing all accounts, I can gain more insight into what Jesus taught & what it means, than in just viewing the one passage.
