How Do Biblical Scholars Read the Hebrew Bible?

by Sarah Shectman

A quick look at the biblical-interpretation section in any college library will immediately show that
biblical scholars read the Hebrew Bible in a variety of ways. What most scholars have in
common, though, is that they avoid overtly doctrinal readings based on the idea that the Bible is
the word of God because such interpretations are based on faith claims that are inherently
unprovable. Though there is a place for theology in biblical scholarship, most scholars treat the
Bible as a work of literature with human authors and readers who live in particular places and
times that affect what they write or how they read a text. Biblical scholars use methods of
reading that are criticalthat is, they do not take the claims of the Hebrew Bible or of traditional
interpreters at face value. These methods fall into a range of historical and literary categories.

Historical-critical interpretation seeks to understand the development and meaning of the Bible
in its ancient context. First, scholars use textual criticism to try to determine the correct letters
and words of the text in its original language. Because there are no existing copies of the
Hebrew Bible from the period when it was written, this can be tricky. Different copies of the
same text exist and may contain different versions of a particular verse or chapterperhaps
because over the centuries the scribes copying the text made mistakes, or perhaps because the
text existed in more than one version from very early on.

Once the words of the text have been established, biblical scholars turn to the content itself to
try to determine its meaning, which often begins with trying to understand who wrote it, when,
and why. This is called source criticism, as it is aimed at determining the literary sources that
were used to create a particular biblical narrative. Many narratives contain repetitions,
contradictions, and gaps indicating that multiple sources have been combined in the text. In the
flood story, for example, variations as to the number of animals brought onto the ark (Gen 6:19-
20, Gen 7:2-3) and the length of the flood (Gen 7:17, Gen 7:24) show that two separate
accounts have been woven together to create a single story. Scholars also use redaction
criticism to study the process of redacting, or editing, the text.

Scholars may also use form criticism, which focuses on genres of biblical literature. This
approach is especially helpful for the book of Psalms, which contains a variety of types of poetic
textsfor example, communal laments (Ps 74), individual laments (Ps 77), hymns (Ps 19), and
psalms of thanksgiving (Ps 92). In this case, the form or type of poem tells us much about its
social function and purpose. Many genres of biblical literature can also be compared to
nonbiblical textsfor example, the biblical flood story bears remarkable similarities to the
Babylonian flood story, Atrahasis. This comparative approach helps us understand the Hebrew
Bible in its broader ancient context and see potential influences on the biblical texts.

Though not a means of reading the Hebrew Bible, archaeology is another useful tool in the
biblical scholars toolbox. When archaeologists determine the identity of a site mentioned in the
Bible and excavate it, their findings may be important for understanding biblical narratives that
mention that place. For example, excavations at the site of Jericho, which according to Joshua
6 had walls in the period of the Israelite conquest, have revealed no walls for the historical
period in which the conquest is supposed to have happened, thus indicating that the biblical
account cannot be entirely historical.

In addition to historical-critical methods, many scholars use literary approaches that have
developed as a result of postmodernist trends in twentieth-century scholarship more generally.
This broad category includes methods such as structuralist, deconstructivist, and reader-
response criticism, which closely examine a narratives literary features, but without the same
focus on the historical origins of the text. A related group of methods, also primarily literary, is
termed ideological criticism. Literary and ideological methods both reject the idea of objectivity,
arguing that all readings are subjective and thus the authors intent is both unrecoverable and
irrelevant. Such scholars instead advocate reading the text from specific, stated ideological
stances.

Thus, feminist interpreters use modern understandings of gender roles or patriarchal social
structures to reveal new readings of biblical texts, sometimes condemning them as misogynist
(for example, validating womens subordination to men) and sometimes applauding them as
empowering to women (for example, depicting female leaders such as Miriam and Deborah).
Postcolonial readings examine how the power imbalance between colonizer and colonized may
shed light on biblical texts and reveal new readings. Postcolonial interpretation varies from
culture to culture; in Latin America, for example, postcolonial interpretation of biblical texts about
oppression (such as Exod 1-14) and poverty (for example, in Jesuss life) led to the
development of liberation theology, allowing readers to reject the colonizers use of the Bible as
a means to maintain their own power. Marxist interpretation may also play a role in such
readings, which look at how economics and power function in biblical texts; exposing those
dynamics can allow them to be overturnedfor example, reading wisdom in Prov 1-9 as a
commodity to be acquired and thus accessible only to those with the time and money to pursue
it.

In between this focus on ancient and modern contexts for readings sits reception history, which
studies how the Bible has been read and received over the centuries. This can begin in the
canon itself, with references in one biblical text to another (for example, Dan 9:1-2 refers to Jer
25:11-12 and Jer 29:10-14), and extends into the modern period, covering the use of the Bible
in other religious writings, in literature, in the arts, and in communities. This approach is broad
(covering historical and literary aspects) and can shed considerable light on the many meanings
that biblical texts have had through the ages.

Akin to reception history, canonical criticism is a way of studying how the Bible functions
theologically in various communities of belief, from ancient Israelites to modern Americans.
Unlike the other methods discussed above, canonical criticism takes the final form of the text as
its starting point and focuses on how the text as a whole functions as sacred Scripture. Because
canons assume audiences of faith communities, this approach is inherently theological, though
it aims more to discover theologies in the text than to apply theologies to the text.

Most scholars use a combination of these methods, as each reveals different aspects of the
text, whether historical, cultural, sociological, literary, or theological. And when scholars of
different backgrounds, faiths, and cultures weigh in, they bring their own unique experiences
and questions to the text. Some scholars discuss literary approaches as though they are
completely separate from historical-critical ones, but in fact the two overlap in significant ways.
The fullest understanding of the biblical text is gained by trying to see the text from as many
perspectives as possible.

Sarah Shectman, "How Do Biblical Scholars Read the Hebrew Bible?", n.p. [cited 14 Nov 2017].
Online: https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/tools/bible-basics/how-do-biblical-scholars-read-the-
hebrew-bible

Contributors

Sarah Shectman
Sarah Shectman

Independent Scholar

Sarah Shectman is the author of Women in the Pentateuch: A Feminist and Source-Critical
Analysis (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009). She is an independent scholar living in San
Francisco, California.