How to be not only to a Bible student, but also a careful Bible student? What is a careful student? Which qualities does such a student possess?

1. A Personal Relationship with the Author

A personal relationship with the One whose words are recorded in the Bible, the God of Israel is the first and most important quality. The Scriptures themselves point us to such a reality (See 1 Corinthians 2:11-14). Moreover, it only makes sense that a person may truly understand the Word of God in its fullest if he/she knows, in a very intimate sense, the Author of the Scriptures.

2. The Ability to Observe Details

A second quality one must possess in order to be a careful Bible student is the ability to observe details. The more one is able to observe what is written in the text, the more accurate one will become at interpreting and understanding the text. Contrary to what one might think, careful observation is a skill anyone can learn. All it requires is patience and practice.

Patience.  We all are tempted to draw quick conclusions from the Scriptures as soon as possible without adequately noticing exactly what is actually recorded. We would be amazed at how many words we overlook, the amount of reading-into the text we do, and the plethora of assumptions we make about any given passage we attempt to study. If we would but read and re-read the same passage 10-20 times, we will begin to see the text in a completely different light than ever before.

One can also become a better observer simply by practice. For example, the next time a passage is studied, take out a piece of paper and a pen and begin to list as many details about the text as possible – before making any personal application. In order to do such an exercise, ask the questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? frequently, and look for the answers in the text – and in the text only. If this is done with every passage that is studied, it will provide the adequate practice one needs in order to become a good observer of the biblical text.

3. The Proper Use of the Biblical Languages

One of the best ways to more accurately interpret the Bible is to know and understand the original biblical languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. But one is not always in a position to learn these beautiful languages.

In the past that was sometimes a huge problem. However, we live in an age that is continually producing user-friendly biblical language helps, aids, and tools for the laymen who is not able to know these languages. The earnest Bible student will do his best to acquire such tools and to become acquainted with the use of them.

Just knowing these biblical languages, however, will not solve all of the interpretive problems. For one, some problems are not the result of poor translations. There are simply some passages of the Bible that are very difficult to correctly understand. For these passages, a proper study method will need to include the consistent application of all of the standard hermeneutical methods and tools – not to mention a complete dependency on the Spirit of God. Even then, we must realize that we still are not able to understand completely every passage in the Bible. The study of the Scriptures is a life-long undertaking; it will last for eternity, for it is the Eternal Word!

Sometimes the adage is true that “a little knowledge is dangerous.” Merely knowing the meaning of some Greek or Hebrew is not entirely sufficient to accurately translate biblical passages. On occasion, sincere Bible teachers, while attempting to use the original languages, make sincere, but unfortunate, interpretive mistakes, simply because they were not familiar with the grammatical nuances of the languages. There is much more to know in handling the biblical languages than the average language student realizes. (For a contemporary example of this point, please see the article entitled,”The Truth about Alef-Tav” in the Checking It Out section of our website.)