HOW TO EASILY AND RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE

 

HOW TO EASILY AND RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE. 

One of the simplest ways to understand the Bible is to grasp basic literature and basic grammar. If you overlay spirituality, logic, and philosophy onto every biblical passage, you will make grave errors in Bible interpretation. The entire Bible is communicated through grammar and literary devices, for which reason it is spiritually suicidal to rip a verse out of its immediate context or approach every book of the Bible in the same manner.

While grammar forms the building blocks of communication, literature is the vehicle that conveys thoughts in a particular manner that the author or communicator chooses to reveal the message.

The Bible is written primarily as a literary document, with different genres such as narrative, history, law, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, gospel, and letters. Each genre must be read, understood, and interpreted from the premise of the basic laws and knowledge governing it as a genre. For example, the Book of Genesis is a narrative, while the book of Proverbs and Song of Solomon are wisdom nuggets and poetry. You don't read or approach the book of Proverbs the same way you approach Genesis. In the same way, you don't approach Song of Solomon as you would approach the letters, such as Corinthians.

The book of Genesis, as a narrative, uses the laws of narration, such as in reading a novel or history. So it tells stories of actual people, places, and events with underlying particular themes. Unlike Leviticus, for example, it doesn't set rules. It narrates and describes - and of course, sets down necessary precedence and backgrounds for general biblical understanding and some important doctrinal foundations.

As a literary document, the Bible uses literary devices such as images, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, contrast, idioms, parables, irony, etc.

Some examples include:

1. SIMILE:

This is a device used to compare two things with the use of 'like' and 'as' to convey a thought and provide better understanding:

   i. “The kingdom of heaven is 'like' treasure hidden in a field.” (Matthew 13:44)

   Note that the kingdom of heaven is not a treasure hidden in a field. What this statement reveals simply is that the Kingdom of heaven is a valuable treasure. So you don't go into a field with a shovel to dig the ground out in search of a treasure called the Kingdom of God.

   ii. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like burning fire.” (Revelations 1:14).

   John the Beloved saw a vision of Jesus Christ and tried to describe what he saw in the language we would understand and appreciate. Hence he uses words like wool, snow, and burning fire. This doesn't mean the head and hair of Jesus are wool and snow. It also doesn't mean the eyes of Jesus are literal burning fire.

2. METAPHOR:

Just like Simile, this is also a device used to compare, but with metaphor, 'as' and 'like' are not used. For example,

   i. The Lord is my shepherd. (Psalm 23:1)

   Note that God is not a shepherd. He doesn't take care of sheep. As a shepherd, David understood the full meaning of being a shepherd and how that God protected and provided for him. Therefore, he chose to compare God to a shepherd in his music (poetry), in order for his audience to have a full meaning of God's nature and Providence.

   ii. I am the bread of life. (John 6:48).

   Jesus is not bread. He used the statement to compare himself to bread in order to reveal that as food (bread) sustains the body and provides nourishment, so he also nourishes human life. And therefore, calls upon men to believe on him as they would depend on food for survival.

3. HYPERBOLE

   i. "Also, the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland." (2nd Chronicles 1:15).

   Obviously, it isn't possible for silver and gold to be as common as stones. But what the author means with the use of such exaggeration is that Solomon was extremely rich, and his kingdom was full of wealth.

   ii. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Matt. 5:29)

   You cannot believe Jesus meant you should literally pluck out your eye. What he meant was that do not give any room for anyone to mislead you to sin. It reveals the gravity of sin and how to brutally deal with it, despite how it may cost your relationship with someone.

In conclusion, understanding the Bible involves recognizing its literary genres, grammar, and the use of literary devices. This approach ensures a more accurate interpretation, avoiding misinterpretation caused by reading spiritual or philosophical ideas into every passage. 

Abeiku Okai

Anathallo Chapel Int. 

13/09/2023