Never take biblical interpretation lightly. Never assume you've arrived or learned all that you can. Be a lifelong learner, but always apply what you're learning to yourself in real-life situations. Accurate interpretation is meant to lead to obedience.

With every literary genre or form come some conventional expectations that the biblical authors either follow or deviate from.

In the New Testament alone there are Gospels, acts, epistles, and an apocalypse. Gospels contain literary forms like miracles, parables, pronouncements, proverbs, farewell discourses, annunciations, and so on. Epistles can be apologetic, commendatory, friendship-oriented, exhortational, diatribes.

The Bible may be more than an ordinary human book but it's not less, and the same principles therefore apply in interpreting it as in interpreting what my wife wants me to do. Only the stakes are even higher!

The Bible itself claims that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom".

Don't assume a parable narrates something that actually happened. Recognize that apocalyptic is filled with symbols. Expect a lot of metaphors in poetry. Don't treat a proverb as an exception-less absolute.

Never take biblical interpretation lightly. Never assume you've arrived or learned all that you can. Be a lifelong learner, but always apply what you're learning to yourself in real-life situations. Accurate interpretation is meant to lead to obedience.