What Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible: A Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Comparison

Jewish Bible study — rooted in the rabbinic tradition of midrash and chevruta (paired learning) — treats questioning as a sacred obligation, not an optional exercise. The foundational questions are: Who is speaking? To whom? In what historical context? and What does the original Hebrew actually say? Deuteronomy commands the community to "enquire, and make search, and ask diligently" before drawing any conclusion Deuteronomy 13:14, establishing inquisitive rigor as a Torah value itself.

A second layer of questions concerns meaning across time: How did the sages interpret this passage? Where does it appear elsewhere in the Tanakh? What is the plain meaning (peshat) versus the deeper allegorical meaning (derash)? Isaiah challenges readers: "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning?" Isaiah 40:21 — implying that prior tradition and accumulated knowledge must be consulted before any new interpretation is offered.

Proverbs frames the goal of all such questioning: diligent inquiry ultimately leads to understanding "the fear of the LORD" and finding "the knowledge of God" Proverbs 2:5. Scholars like Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (1937–2020) argued that every honest question is itself an act of worship in the Jewish framework.

Christian Bible study has historically centered on a cluster of interpretive questions shaped by the conviction that all Scripture points toward Christ. The most foundational question is: What does this passage reveal about Jesus? Jesus himself instructed, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" John 5:39. This Christocentric lens means every passage — even Old Testament law and prophecy — is read with the question, How does this foreshadow or fulfill Christ?

A second critical question is deeply personal: Am I living in alignment with what I'm reading? Paul's letter to the Corinthians commands, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" 2 Corinthians 13:5. This self-examination question transforms Bible study from an academic exercise into a spiritual audit. Theologians like John Calvin (1509–1564) and, more recently, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart in their 1981 work How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, both stress that application questions must follow observation and interpretation.

Ephesians adds another dimension — asking what is the deeper mystery here? Paul writes that by reading carefully, believers "may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" Ephesians 3:4. Practical study questions therefore include: What is the literary genre? What did the original audience understand? What is the single main point? And what must change in my life as a result?

Islam's relationship to Bible study is nuanced. Muslims regard the Torah (Tawrat) and Gospel (Injil) as originally revealed scriptures, but mainstream Islamic scholarship holds that the texts as currently preserved have undergone alteration (tahrif). When a Muslim scholar or layperson does engage the Bible, the primary question asked is: Does this passage align with or contradict Quranic teaching? This confirmatory-versus-contradictory framework shapes every other inquiry.

Within that framework, Islamic hermeneutics does share some methodological questions with Judaism and Christianity: Who is the prophet being addressed? What is the moral or legal principle being conveyed? and Does this passage point toward the oneness of God (tawhid)? Classical scholars like Ibn Hazm (994–1064) and, more recently, Ahmad Deedat (1918–2005), engaged the Bible extensively by asking where its text affirms the prophethood of Muhammad or the absolute unity of God.

The Quranic spirit of inquiry — asking whether one has truly heard and understood prior revelation — resonates with Isaiah's challenge: "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning?" Isaiah 40:21. Islam would add the follow-up question: And does what you've heard match the final, uncorrupted revelation? The goal of any such study, consistent across traditions, remains finding the knowledge of God Proverbs 2:5.