How Does the Bible Interpret Itself?
One of the safest principles of Bible study is to let Scripture explain Scripture whenever possible. God did not reveal His will through one isolated book or one isolated passage. The Bible is one unfolding revelation, and later passages often explain, develop, or complete what was revealed earlier.
Jesus Himself taught this way. After His resurrection He explained how Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms pointed to Him (Luke 24:27, 44). The apostles followed the same pattern. Peter explained Pentecost through Joel. The writer of Hebrews explained the priesthood, sacrifices, and tabernacle in the light of Christ. Again and again, later revelation helps us understand what came before.
This does not mean the Old Testament was wrong or incomplete in its own setting. It means that God revealed His plan progressively. The New Testament does not contradict the Old Testament; it reveals how God's promises find their fulfillment in Christ.
This principle also helps us avoid building doctrine on isolated or difficult passages. When one verse seems unclear, ask where else the Bible discusses the same subject. Clear passages often help us understand those that are more difficult.
The same principle applies to symbols and figures of speech. Before deciding what a symbol means, ask whether God has already explained it somewhere else. Many symbols are interpreted within the Bible itself, protecting us from unnecessary speculation.
Not every question has an easy answer, and some passages require patience and careful study. But the more familiar we become with the whole Bible, the more clearly we see how its books fit together.
Whenever you study a passage, ask yourself,
"Where else does the Bible speak about this subject?"
Very often the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture itself.
GOING DEEPER
Letting the Bible Interpret Itself Is More Than Finding Similar Verses
When we say, “Let Scripture interpret Scripture,” we do not mean finding another verse that contains the same word and joining the two together.
We mean something more careful.
Sometimes one biblical writer quotes another.
Sometimes a later writer tells us that an earlier passage has been fulfilled.
Sometimes the New Testament explains an Old Testament symbol, institution, person, or event.
Sometimes several passages discuss the same subject from different directions.
And sometimes the Bible itself tells us exactly what a symbol means.
These connections are especially valuable because we did not invent them. Scripture made the connection for us.
Jesus Taught His Disciples to Read the Old Testament This Way
After His resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke tells us:
“Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
— Luke 24:27
Later Jesus told the apostles:
“All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
— Luke 24:44
That gives us an important principle.
We should certainly ask what an Old Testament passage meant in its original setting.
But Christians cannot read the Old Testament as though Jesus and the apostles never explained it.
Their inspired interpretation becomes part of our understanding of the text.
Peter Shows Us How This Works
On Pentecost, extraordinary things were happening and the crowd wanted an explanation.
Peter did not ask his listeners to guess what those events meant.
He said:
“This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.”
— Acts 2:16
Then he quoted Joel 2.
That connection is not ours.
Peter made it.
Whatever conclusions we reach about Joel's prophecy must therefore take Acts 2 seriously.
We cannot insist that Joel must refer exclusively to some event thousands of years after Pentecost if Peter says:
“This is that.”
That does not eliminate the need to study Joel carefully. It gives us inspired information about how Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled.
Matthew Does the Same Thing With Isaiah
Isaiah wrote:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son...”
— Isaiah 7:14
We begin by studying Isaiah 7 in its own setting. Ahaz, Judah, Syria, and Israel matter. The prophecy was spoken into a real historical crisis.
But Matthew later writes about the birth of Jesus and says:
“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet...”
— Matthew 1:22
Then Matthew quotes Isaiah.
That settles at least one question for us:
Isaiah's words have a connection to the birth of Jesus because an inspired New Testament writer tells us they do.
We aren't discovering a secret code.
We are following Matthew.
Hebrews Changes the Way We Read the Tabernacle and Sacrifices
Imagine trying to understand the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrifices using Exodus and Leviticus alone.
We could learn a great deal.
But Hebrews gives us information those books by themselves do not fully explain.
The writer calls the law:
“a shadow of good things to come.”
— Hebrews 10:1
He contrasts repeated animal sacrifices with Christ's sacrifice:
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
— Hebrews 10:12
Now consider what that does to our interpretation.
If someone proposes a future system in which animal sacrifices again become central to God's worship, we cannot study Ezekiel or another Old Testament passage as though Hebrews had never been written.
The later revelation matters.
The New Testament helps us understand where the earlier institutions were pointing.
Paul Does This With Abraham's “Seed”
God made promises to Abraham and his descendants.
But Paul makes an important argument in Galatians:
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made...”
Then he says:
“And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
— Galatians 3:16
Later Paul writes:
“And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
— Galatians 3:29
Those statements must become part of our understanding of the Abrahamic promises.
We cannot develop a doctrine about Abraham's seed while pretending Galatians 3 does not exist.
Again, Paul made the connection. We didn't.
Sometimes the Bible Interprets Its Own Symbols
This principle becomes extremely important when we reach books such as Daniel and Revelation.
Revelation contains beasts, horns, lampstands, stars, a dragon, a woman, and many other images.
Our first question should not be:
“What modern event does this remind me of?”
It should be:
“Has the Bible told me what this symbol means?”
Sometimes Revelation itself does.
John sees seven golden lampstands. Jesus explains:
“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”
— Revelation 1:20
John sees a dragon. Later the book identifies him:
“That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.”
— Revelation 12:9
Revelation 17 even provides explanations for several symbols in John's vision.
When the inspired writer gives us the interpretation, our imagination doesn't get a vote.
Daniel Helps Us Read Revelation
This becomes even more interesting when one biblical book deliberately uses imagery from another.
Daniel sees beasts representing kingdoms.
Revelation later uses remarkably similar beasts, horns, and symbolic imagery.
That does not mean every symbol in Revelation has exactly the same meaning as every similar symbol in Daniel.
But it does mean Daniel should probably be consulted before the morning newspaper.
John's first readers possessed the Old Testament Scriptures.
When John used familiar biblical imagery, those Scriptures provided a vocabulary his readers could recognize.
This is one reason knowing the whole Bible matters.
But There Is a Danger Here Too
“Let the Bible interpret the Bible” can itself be abused.
Suppose we decide what we want a passage to mean, search until we find another verse containing similar words, and then declare:
“See? Scripture interprets Scripture.”
That isn't necessarily interpretation.
It may simply be connecting verses that were discussing different subjects.
Words such as Israel, kingdom, save, world, fire, day, spirit, and coming do not automatically mean exactly the same thing everywhere they occur.
We still have to study each passage in its own context.
So the rule is not:
Same word = same meaning.
The rule is:
Understand each passage in its own context, and then pay careful attention to connections Scripture itself gives us.
Be Especially Careful About Connections Scripture Does Not Make
This brings us to an important boundary.
If Matthew tells us Isaiah points to Jesus, follow Matthew.
If Peter tells us Joel is being fulfilled at Pentecost, follow Peter.
If Paul explains Abraham's seed in relation to Christ, follow Paul.
If Revelation tells us what a symbol represents, accept the explanation.
But suppose someone takes a number from Daniel, another number from Revelation, adds them together, and announces the year of Christ's return.
We should ask:
Where did Scripture tell us to combine those numbers?
If the connection comes entirely from the interpreter rather than from the biblical text, we should be cautious.
There is a major difference between:
discovering a connection Scripture makes
and
creating a connection Scripture never makes.
That distinction can protect us from a great deal of speculation.
Clear Passages Can Help With Difficult Ones
There is another way Scripture helps interpret Scripture.
Suppose one passage is difficult or capable of several interpretations while several other passages address the same subject clearly.
We should hesitate before adopting an interpretation of the difficult passage that contradicts what is plainly taught elsewhere.
That doesn't mean we force the difficult passage into our preferred system.
It means we allow all the evidence to speak before reaching our conclusion.
One verse should not be made to silence ten others.
Sound interpretation asks:
“What explanation best accounts for everything Scripture says about this subject?”
The Bible Is an Unfolding Story
Genesis does not contain everything Revelation contains.
Moses did not possess everything later revealed through the prophets.
The prophets did not possess everything later revealed through Christ and His apostles.
God's revelation unfolds.
That means later revelation can give us information earlier readers did not yet possess.
This is why we begin with the original context but don't necessarily end there.
We ask:
What did this passage communicate when it was written?
Then:
Has God revealed anything later that develops, fulfills, or explains it?
Both questions matter.
One Final Test
Whenever someone tells you:
“The Bible says this passage really means...”
ask:
“How do we know?”
Did the immediate context establish it?
Did another inspired writer quote the passage?
Did Jesus or an apostle explain it?
Did Scripture identify the symbol?
Does the proposed interpretation fit the rest of what Scripture says?
Or did someone simply discover an interesting similarity and build a doctrine around it?
That little question—
“Where did the Bible make that connection?”
—can save us from a great many mistakes.
Let Scripture make the connections whenever Scripture has made them.
And where Scripture has not made the connection, proceed carefully.
Continue Your Study
How Do We Recognize Different Kinds of Bible Literature?
Should history, poetry, prophecy, parables, and apocalyptic visions all be read the same way? The next lesson will help us recognize the different kinds of writing found in the Bible and how each should be understood.
Related Bible Studies
What Did the Author Intend?
How Should We Read the Prophets?
Understanding the Book of Revelation
Companion Video
How Does the Bible Interpret Itself?
Read First. Conclu