Bible commentary to help with interpreting Bible

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El_Kevino

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Is there a Bible commentary that explains how we, as Catholics, are supposed to interpret the Bible?

For example, I’m looking for something that explains how we can interpret the Creation story. I understand that parts of the creation story can be taken figuratively or literally. However, we must also believe that Adam and Eve were two people (as opposed to symbols for two tribes of people).

Is there a commentary that goes over something like this, especially for the Old Testament? I was looking for something that wasn’t extremely long (like one whole book per each book of the Bible is a little long, at least for now). Thanks!
 
Walking with God : A Journey Through the Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins. This was one of those books I devoured in 3 days. Very direct, to the point, without being simplistic.

I also find much of my bible study happens when I’m away from the text itself. Recently I tried reading more text faster rather than slowing down and digesting it. A few days later I noticed myself getting angry, and in the middle of the process remember the verse, “and Satan entered into Judas.” It gave me a real, tactile appreciation for what was happening.

Of course there’s time for slower, meditative reading as well, and sometimes a really in depth commentary is more what we need. I also bought St John Chrysostom’s sermons on the Book of John. I would read part of the gospel, wait a while, then read some of his sermons. There were some things he mentioned that had already come to mind to me, and some things I missed. It turned into a bible study with a Doctor of the Church 🙂

Lastly, sometimes I write out the Sunday gospel reading in a journal. There’s something about writing something out by hand that allows us to have all kinds of thoughts and reflections while the movement of our hand making the words forces us to stay on topic. For me it’s kind of like “hands on lectio divina.” I imagine the monks who copied bibles got a lot more out of the work itself than many of the final owners of those bibles.
 
I currently have “Walking with God.” It’s been great so far. It definitely fits the bill for what I was looking for. Just wondering if there was another commentary that looked at the Bible from another angle. Thanks for that vote of confidence in the book. And thank you for your other suggestions as well. God bless.
 
I have found the New Jerome Biblical Commentary most helpful. It is authored and edited by Catholic scholars.
 
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