Three Questions to Ask When Reading the Bible

Jewish tradition has always treated scripture as something to be interrogated, not merely recited. The rabbis didn't just read Torah — they wrestled with it, and that wrestling produced the Talmud, Midrash, and centuries of commentary. Three questions naturally emerge from this tradition when approaching any biblical text.

1. What does the text actually say? This is the peshat — the plain, literal meaning. King Josiah's scribes model this instinct well. When the scroll was found, the immediate response was urgent inquiry: 2 Kings 22:13 the king commanded, "Go, inquire of GOD on my behalf, and on behalf of the people, and on behalf of all Judah, concerning the words of this scroll that has been found." You can't obey what you haven't first understood literally.

2. What is God saying through this text? The prophetic dimension matters enormously. Jeremiah frames this as a direct question worth asking: Jeremiah 23:37 "What did GOD answer you?" or "What did GOD speak?" — implying that reading scripture is, in part, an act of listening for divine communication.

3. What does this require of me? Deuteronomy's model of diligent inquiry points toward action. Deuteronomy 13:14 The text instructs: "Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain..." — the goal of investigation is to confirm truth so that one can act rightly. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (20th century) argued that the Bible isn't primarily a book of information but of obligation; every reading should end with a question about response.

Christian Bible reading has been shaped by centuries of hermeneutical reflection, from Origen's allegorical method in the 3rd century to the Reformation's sola scriptura emphasis on plain meaning, to modern scholars like Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart whose 1981 handbook How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth popularized a structured, question-based approach. Three questions consistently surface across these traditions.

1. What does the text say? Observation is the foundation. Paul's letter to the Ephesians suggests that attentive reading produces genuine comprehension: Ephesians 3:4 "Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." The assumption is that reading carefully and repeatedly yields understanding — but only if the reader is actively engaged.

2. What does the text mean? Interpretation — or hermeneutics — is the second step. Context, genre, original audience, and authorial intent all matter here. Mark records Jesus himself modeling this: Mark 9:16 he asked the scribes directly, "What question ye with them?" — demonstrating that clarifying the question being asked is essential before any answer can be trusted.

3. How does this apply to my life? Application is where many readers stall, but it's the point the New Testament consistently drives toward. Fee and Stuart argue that a text cannot mean something to us today that it couldn't have meant to its original audience — but once meaning is established, personal application is non-negotiable. The Ephesians passage Ephesians 3:4 frames understanding not as an end in itself but as a gateway to grasping the deeper "mystery of Christ" — implying that comprehension should move the reader toward transformation.

Islam doesn't treat the Bible as a primary scriptural authority — Muslims hold the Qur'an as the final, preserved revelation. That said, the Qur'an itself directly addresses the practice of questioning scripture and consulting earlier revealed texts, which makes it relevant to this discussion in a limited but genuine way.

Qur'an 10:94 is striking in this context. It instructs the Prophet, if ever in doubt about revelation, to consult those who read prior scriptures: Quran 10:94 "So if you are in doubt, [O Muḥammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters." This implies that asking questions of scripture — and of those who study it — is a legitimate and even encouraged practice.

Islamic scholarship, particularly in the tradition of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), has always emphasized three similar questions when engaging sacred text: what does it say, what is its context (asbab al-nuzul, or occasions of revelation), and what does it demand in practice (fiqh). Scholar Ibn Kathir (14th century) exemplified this method in his famous commentary. While the Bible itself isn't Islam's text, the intellectual posture of inquiry, context-seeking, and application maps closely onto the approach the Qur'an models. Quran 68:37

Three questions to ask when reading the Bible emerge directly from the Tanakh: (1) Have I inquired and searched diligently whether this is true and certain? Deuteronomy 13:14 (2) How should I inquire of GOD concerning the words that have been found in this scroll? 2 Kings 22:13 (3) What did GOD answer, and what did GOD speak? Jeremiah 23:37

These verses model careful verification, communal consultation, and direct appeal to God’s answer when confronting the text, so readers are shown to test claims, seek authoritative guidance, and ask what God has actually spoken. Deuteronomy 13:14 2 Kings 22:13 Jeremiah 23:37

Readers also see leaders commissioning inquiry on behalf of the community, indicating that interpretation is not merely private but accountable, which keeps study tethered to obedience to what is written. 2 Kings 22:13 2 Chronicles 34:21

Three questions to ask when reading the Bible arise from the New and Old Testaments: (1) As I read, does this help me understand the mystery of Christ? Ephesians 3:4 (2) What are we asking and discussing together about this passage, rather than arguing past one another? Mark 9:16 (3) Have I inquired diligently to confirm what is true and certain in what I’m concluding? Deuteronomy 13:14

Paul’s line ties reading to grasping the revealed mystery of Christ, while the Gospel scene shows Jesus pressing disputants to clarify their questions, and the Torah’s directive safeguards discernment through serious investigation. Ephesians 3:4 Mark 9:16 Deuteronomy 13:14

These questions encourage Christ-centered understanding, honest communal dialogue, and rigorous testing of claims, so study moves beyond assumptions toward understanding. Ephesians 3:4 Mark 9:16 Deuteronomy 13:14

Three questions to ask when reading the Bible from an Islamic vantage, given the Qur’an’s guidance about earlier Scripture, are: (1) If I am in doubt about what has been revealed or about an interpretation, have I asked those who have been reading the Scripture before me? Quran 10:94 (2) Am I learning from an actual scripture and not from unfounded conjecture? Quran 68:37 (3) Am I moving from doubt toward truth that has come from the Lord, rather than remaining among the doubters? Quran 10:94

These questions reflect the Qur’anic directive to consult knowledgeable People of the Scripture, to ground learning in a text, and to let the truth given by God displace wavering, which frames engagement with the Bible as honest, text-based inquiry under God. Quran 10:94 Quran 68:37 Quran 10:94

Disagreement and questioning are acknowledged, but the path forward is consultation and learning, not indecision. Quran 10:94 Quran 10:94