There are a number of considerations in studying the Bible.
The least productive is, as you found reading from cover to cover, The Hebrew Canon
arranges the Books in a different order than the Christian Canons. Simply dividing the
book into 365 sections to be read daily is no better.
First, the Bible is not a history. Even the Hebrew Testament is not a history in the way we
think of history. Philo, a Jewish philosopher from Alexandria Egypt and a contemporary of Jesus referred to the Hebrew Testament as an historical allegory of God’s chosen people.
None of the Canons, Hebrew, Roman, Slavic, or Protestant have the Books arranged in
the order in which they were written!
Even within the Books, the are different time periods. Genesis Chapter 1 was written
400 years after Chapter 2!
It is important to know the context in which the Scriptural author was writing to gain an
better understanding of the writing. In the case of the Hebrew Scriptures, we lose a lot
in translation. This is especially true of the acrostic, or teaching writings. John’s Gospel
cannot be fully appreciated without identifying and understanding the nested chiasms in
the writing. If you are studying without assistance it may be helpful to go on line and
find the text books that are used in various college course of “Bible As Literature”.
The rabbi’s have taught correctly that there is no one single “correct” interpretation of any
verse in Scripture.
The rabbinic scholars have identified 4 levels of communication of the Scripturres.
The p-shat or simple literal meaning.
A Samaritan woman was standing at a well.
The remez or hint of a meaning
An outsider, a Samaritan, can drink from Jesus’ well, the well of salvation
This is Jacob’s well, so it fulfills a Hebrew Testament promise
The water from the well is the source of life
The drash, or allegorical meaning
All of the remez interpretations
plus:
It is Jesus, not His apostles whoi grants the source of the living water to
the outsider
Should we be Christlike and recognize God’s gifts, including salvation,
those whom we perceive as outsiders?
Does God forgive those who have 5 husbands? Will God forgive us
for adulterating His Word?
The sod or secret meaning
This is the message we personally receive from God, if we are receptive
each time we read Scripture.
It is why we can find a new meaning to a pericope(a group of verses) each
time we read them.
As far as a reading plan, things work more intelligibly if have a plan.
One plan is to follow the Lectionary. The Lectionary has 5 readings for each Sunday
Code:
Hebrew Testament Reading
Responsorial Psalm
New of Greek Testament Reading
Gospel Acclamaition (Alleluia verse)
Gospel
These 5 readings are supplimented in the Roman Missal by an Entrance Antiphon/Introit
and a Communion Antiphon. If a choir sings, these antiphons are not read, but the hymns
the choir sings should match these antiphons in theme.
There is an 8th reading, the Offertory Antiphon and if a choir sings the Offertory hymn should match this Antiphon is theme.
All 8 readings ARE related to each other.
The Gospel Acclamaition is the theme of all of the readings. Start there and see how
each of the other readings can be interpreted in light of that reading.
The Protestant Lectionary (Revised Common Lectionary) usually matches the Roman Catholic Lectionary at the Gospel reading level, and often at all other levels.
When the RCL has other readings, they are thematically similar. Even though the readings may be different, often they share common links to paragraphs of the
Catholic Catechism. It is more difficult to make the connection between the aggada of
the Mishnah and the Talumuds because at this time there is no published catalog of these
themes and teachings that crossreference to the Christian Catechisms.
An almost exact match occurs in the Easter Vigil readings. The RCL adds an 8th set
of Hebrew Testament and Psalm reading, “The Flood”. In most Protestant Liturgies on
the Easter Vigil, the Great Hillel, Psalm 136, the Heils Geschichte, History of Salvation
is sung, and the Roman Missal substitutes a hymn that erroneously has the Church replace God as the source of salvation.
Another thematic way to approach Bible study is to use one of the various “Devotional”
Bibles. Zondervan is the largest publish of these Bibles, which are based on the NIV or
rNIV translations. Typically these follow the Hebrew Canon and do not have the inter-
testamentary Books, but the themes and Scriptural theme links are great. You can Zondervan on line and purchase these and other Bibles and Bible study guides and programs from Christian Book Distributors in Peabody MA.
The level of study you are engaged in will determine the appropriate commentary that will
help you. Various study Bibles can be a first step, The Harper Collins Study Bible with
Apocrypha is amoung the best. You get a bonus of having the addition of the 4 Books
incuded in the Slavic Christian Canon that are missing from the Roman Canon.The Matthew Henry commentaries are pastorially oriented and are good primer coment- aries.
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