Hermeneutics

Discover How to Read Scripture in Context

The Bible was written for us, but it was not originally written to us.

Explore this lesson in three steps: watch the 3-minute video above, follow the five-step study method below, and practice with a Scripture example. Before applying a passage, ask:

“What did God communicate through this text when it was originally given?”

That is where hermeneutics helps us.

What Is Hermeneutics?

Hermeneutics is the set of principles, tools, and practices used to interpret a text so that its original meaning is understood before applying it to our lives today.

Hermeneutics is not about making Scripture complicated.

It is about slowing down long enough to hear what Scripture is actually saying.

The goal is not to make the Bible say what we want it to say.

The goal is to understand what the biblical writer communicated, how the original audience would have understood it, how that truth fits within the whole of Scripture, and then how we should faithfully live in light of it today.

Interpretation asks: What does the text mean?
Application asks: What should I do because it means that?

Application should follow interpretation, not replace it.

Why Does Hermeneutics Matter?

It is possible to quote the Bible and still misunderstand the Bible.

A verse can be true while the way we are using it is wrong.

When verses are separated from their context, we can unintentionally make Scripture support ideas the biblical writer was never teaching.

Sound interpretation helps protect us from:

• Reading our traditions into Scripture

• Building doctrine from isolated verses

• Confusing personal experience with biblical meaning

• Making every passage directly about ourselves

• Applying promises that were given in a different covenant or setting without understanding them

• Allowing church culture to determine what the Bible means

• Accepting something simply because a preacher, teacher, denomination, or respected person said it

Hermeneutics teaches us to bring our assumptions under Scripture instead of bringing Scripture under our assumptions.

A Simple Way to Read Scripture Wisely

1. PRAY

Ask God for humility, wisdom, and truth.

Before studying the Word, recognize that we are approaching God's revelation.

Prayer reminds us that Bible study is not simply an intellectual exercise.

Ask:

“Lord, help me see what is actually here, not merely what I expect to find.”

Prayer does not replace careful study.

It prepares our hearts to receive the truth discovered through careful study.

2. OBSERVE

What does the text actually say?

Before asking what a passage means for my life, carefully examine what is written.

Read the passage several times.

Notice:

• Repeated words

• Commands

• Promises

• Questions

• Comparisons

• Contrasts

• Cause and effect

• People

• Places

• Actions

• Connecting words such as therefore, because, but, if, and so that

Ask:

What do I see in the text before I begin explaining the text?

Observation helps us avoid jumping immediately to conclusions.

3. CHECK THE CONTEXT

Never isolate a verse from its surroundings.

Every verse belongs to a paragraph.

Every paragraph belongs to a larger section.

Every section belongs to a biblical book.

And every biblical book belongs within the larger story of Scripture.

Ask questions such as:

Who is speaking or writing?

Is it Jesus?

Paul?

Moses?

David?

A prophet?

A narrator describing an event?

Who is the original audience?

Israel?

The disciples?

A local church?

A particular individual?

People living under the Old Covenant?

Believers living after Christ's resurrection?

Why was this written?

Was the writer:

• Correcting something?

• Encouraging believers?

• Warning someone?

• Teaching doctrine?

• Describing history?

• Giving commands?

• Explaining the gospel?

What happened before and after this passage?

Sometimes the verses surrounding the passage answer questions that disappear when we read only one verse.

Context is one of the greatest protections against misinterpretation.

4. INTERPRET

What did this passage mean then?

Now begin asking what the author intended to communicate to the original audience.

This is one of the most important questions in Bible study:

What did this mean to them before asking what it means for me?

Consider several things.

Historical Context

What was happening historically?

What customs, political realities, religious practices, or social conditions would the original readers have understood?

Literary Context

What kind of writing am I reading?

The Bible contains different literary genres, including:

• Historical narrative

• Poetry

• Wisdom literature

• Prophecy

• Gospel

• Parable

• Letters

• Apocalyptic literature

We should not interpret poetry exactly like historical narrative or a proverb exactly like a promise.

Biblical Context

How does this passage relate to the rest of Scripture?

Clearer passages can help us understand more difficult ones.

No interpretation should contradict the broader teaching of Scripture.

This is sometimes described as:

Scripture interpreting Scripture.

5. APPLY

How should this truth shape my life now?

Only after observing, examining context, and interpreting should we move toward application.

Ask:

• Is there a truth about God I should believe?

• Is there a command I should obey?

• Is there a sin I should avoid?

• Is there an attitude that should change?

• Is there an example worth following?

• Is there a warning I should take seriously?

• Is there someone I should love, serve, forgive, encourage, teach, or help?

• How should this truth affect the way I live among other believers?

• How should this truth affect the way I live before the world?

Biblical study should eventually produce biblical living.

Jesus did not merely call people to know His words.

He called people to obey them.

Four Questions to Carry Into Every Bible Study

When reading Scripture, learn to consistently ask:

1. What did this passage mean to the original audience?

Before placing yourself into the passage, understand the people who first received it.

2. What is the historical and literary context?

Understand what was happening and what type of literature you are reading.

3. How does this passage fit within the whole of Scripture?

One verse should not become disconnected from the Bible's larger message.

4. What truth carries from their world into ours?

Cultures and circumstances may change.

God's truth does not.

Our task is to identify the biblical principle and faithfully live it in our present circumstances.

An Important Difference: Meaning vs. Application

A passage normally has an intended meaning, but that truth may have many legitimate applications.

For example:

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another…” — Ephesians 4:32

Paul originally wrote this to believers within the Christian community.

The meaning does not change every time someone reads it.

But the applications can be numerous.

It may mean:

• Forgiving your spouse

• Reconciling with another believer

• Responding graciously to someone who offended you

• Refusing bitterness

• Showing compassion to someone struggling

One meaning can produce many faithful applications.

We should never create an application that contradicts the original meaning.

Description Is Not Always Prescription

Another important principle is learning the difference between what Scripture describes and what Scripture commands.

The Bible records many things people did.

That does not automatically mean God commands every believer to repeat everything they did.

For example, Acts tells us many things that happened in the early church.

When studying Acts, we should ask:

Is Luke simply describing what happened, or is this presented as a pattern or command believers should follow?

This prevents us from turning every biblical event into a universal rule.

Be Careful With “The Bible Says…”

Before saying “The Bible says…”, we should be willing to ask:

• Where does it say it?

• Who said it?

• Who were they speaking to?

• What was happening?

• What comes before and after it?

• Is this a command, promise, principle, description, proverb, prophecy, or narrative?

• Does my interpretation agree with the rest of Scripture?

Those questions do not weaken our confidence in the Bible.

They help us handle the Bible more faithfully.

You Do Not Have to Be a Scholar

Hermeneutics is not reserved for pastors, professors, theologians, or people with seminary degrees.

Every believer who opens the Bible is interpreting Scripture.

The question is not whether we will interpret.

The question is whether we will interpret carefully.

You can begin with something as simple as:

Pray.
Observe.
Check Context.
Interpret.
Apply.

Slow down.

Ask questions.

Read entire passages.

Compare translations.

Look at the surrounding chapters.

Learn the historical setting.

Allow Scripture to challenge what you already believe.

And never be afraid to say:

“I need to study this more before deciding what it means.”

That is not weakness.

That is humility.

Scripture Is the Authority

Hermeneutics does not give us authority over Scripture.

It helps us submit ourselves to Scripture.

Our traditions are not the final authority.

Our experiences are not the final authority.

Church culture is not the final authority.

Our favorite teacher is not the final authority.

Our denomination is not the final authority.

Even our long-held understanding must remain open to correction.

God's Word remains the authority.

As Paul told Timothy:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15

From Reading to Living

The purpose of studying Scripture is not merely collecting information. Knowledge should lead toward transformation.

We study so that we might:

Know what God has revealed.
Understand what He has said.
Believe what is true.
Obey what He commands.
Live what we have learned.
Teach others to do the same.

That is where hermeneutics and discipleship meet.

We learn the Word correctly so that we can live the Word faithfully and help someone else do the same.​​​​​​​​

Bible Study Resources

Bible Gateway

Read and compare multiple Bible translations BibleGateway.com

Blue Letter Bible

Strong’s numbers, Greek/Hebrew, lexicons, concordances and interlinear study BlueLetterBible.org

STEP Bible

Excellent deeper study of Hebrew/Greek words, grammar and original-language connections STEPBible.org

NET Bible

Scripture with extensive translators’ notes explaining why passages were translated particular ways NETBible.org

Bible Hub

Parallel translations, interlinear, Strong’s, dictionaries, cross-references and commentaries BibleHub.com

TOSO — Teach One Send One

Learn it. Live it. Teach it. Send it.