1. Translation. Compare at least three modern translations including either the NJPS or the NRSV to see if there are issues related to the translations of words or phrases that are significant in interpreting your passage. The Online Parallel Bible sites I have listed on my website can be very useful in comparing translations of canonical texts. Such issues are also discussed in the reference works listed on my list of acceptable biblical reference materials at Biblical Studies Reference Resources.

An example from the Hebrew Bible is how one translates ruah as spirit or wind in Genesis 1. An example from the New Testament is the translation of paidagogos in Galatians 3:24 as disciplinarian, guardian and teacher, or custodian.

2. Text criticism (sometimes called "lower criticism") - Are there any alternative manuscript readings for your passage? How would these different readings affect interpretation of your passage. In a few cases, this might be quite significant. For example, John 7:53-8:11 does not exist in some manuscripts. The notes in the NRSV indicate alternative textual traditions ["Other ancient authorities read:"].  You may find extended discussions of translation in some reference works listed on my list of acceptable biblical reference materials and not in others.  For a "popular" explanation of textual criticism see http://bibledudes.com/biblical-studies/textual.php

1. Genre. Does your passage belong to a particular genre such as saga, law code, miracle story, lament, proverb, letter, etc.? What is the genre of the larger text of which it is a part?

2. Structure/Plot. What part of the structure of the biblical book or set of books does your passage come from?  How does this affect its interpretation?  For example, in one of Paul’s letters, is your passage part of the salutation, exhortation/parenesis, etc.?  Is it part of the introduction of a longer narrative as is  Exodus 1:1-7 which opens the book with a list of the sons of Israel, the death of Joseph, and the multiplication of the Israelites?  (Note:  Ex. 1:1-7 also plays a transitional role between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus.)   Where does your passage fit in its immediate context as well as in the context of the text as a whole? How does it contribute to its immediate context and to the text as a whole? Note: Outlines of the biblical books can be found in Bandstra for Hebrew Bible and in Barr for the New Testament as well as in many commentaries. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary often has extensive outlines at the beginning of its discussion of each biblical book. Note, however, that different interpreter's may use different markers to structure their outlines: content, repeated phrases, etc.  If your text is part of a narrative, one might think of structure in terms of plot.

3. Rhetorical Functions. Does your passage serve a function in a larger rhetorical plan such as demonstrative, deliberative, or judicial (defensive) rhetoric in Paul's letters or in terms of setting, plot, character development, etc. in a narrative?

4. Literary or Rhetorical Techniques. Are there any literary or rhetorical techniques such as allegory, metaphor, typology, diatribe, rhetorical questions, deliberative rhetorical features, inclusio or ring composition, chiasm, verbal repetition, irony, puns or plays on words, parallelism large and small scale, etc.?  (For small scale parallelism especially in poetic passages see the discussion of synonymous, antithetic, and climactic parallelism in Bandstra, 2nd ed. 386-91; 3rd ed. 403-08.) How do these help to shape the form and content of the passage?

5. Intertextuality. Does your text incorporate, refer to, allude to, or play upon other texts? For example, in the Hebrew Bible frequent references are made to earlier texts or events such as the Exodus. Paul’s letters make frequent references to passages or persons from the Hebrew Scriptures. Note: Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity sometimes used Hellenistic interpretive techniques such as interpreting two passages in the light of one another if they are connected by a single word, interpreting a passage allegorically, or playing on words.

1. Reconstruction of Historical and Social Context: General. What were the forms of government, economic structures, typical religious practices,  types of agriculture, social codes,  gender roles, etc.?  For example, in the first and second centuries CE: the dominance of Rome, the existence of various forms of Judaisms, the patriarchal household structure, cultic practices, the process of institutionalization of the church, geography, etc. Example: learning what a paidagogos was in interpreting Galatians 3:24 or the location of Corinth.  Example, determining the types of warfare practiced in the ancient Near East and how this helps in understanding  Amos 1-2. Archeology can play a role in reconstructing the historical and social context. Comparative Literature/History/Worldview -   Sometimes this aspect focuses on parallel texts.  How does your passage or the larger text of which it is a part compare to other texts from the surrounding environment?   Examples:  What are the similarities to and differences from creations stories in Israel, Egypt, and Mesopotamia?  How does the flood story in Genesis compare to Atrahasis or the flood story in the Gilgamesh Epic?   In other cases, one might trace and compare systems of slavery or models of social relations such as the honor/shame paradigm.   

2. Reconstruction of Historical and Social Context: Specific. What are the various reconstructions of the specific context to which your text is addressed or in which it has been written? (the "story behind the text") What alternate reconstructions have been suggested? E.g., the different theories about Paul’s opponents in Galatians.  Or, the identification of large parts of Deuteronomy with the scroll found in the Temple as described in 2 Kings.   (Note:  Reconstructing a specific context is more difficult for the Pentateuch than for a prophetic book like Jeremiah  or a letter of Paul where the specific situation is clearer.)  What do you see as the most plausible reconstruction and why?

3. Source, Form and Redaction Criticisms and Tradition History- Maybe. Note: Some scholars would put source criticism and to a certain extent form criticism and redaction criticism in this category in that the goal is to go behind the text to follow the process of how it came to its present form. For example, following the documentary hypothesis, J passages likely reflected conditions and concerns of the south, interests of the royal court, etc, circa time of David and Solomon.  Others would place these criticisms in the literary category as they are interested in processes liked editing, forms such as sagas, proverbs, or parables and their transmission in oral and written tradition, etc.

1. Key Categories. Does your text involve the nature and/or function of important categories such as God, human beings, the cosmos including the natural world, prophets, priests, sages, kings, messiah, the concept of the people of God, soteriology (salvation), eschatology, the summum bonum, moral virtues, and/or their inter-relationships? [for the NT, also Christology (or view of Christ) and ecclesiology (the church)]

2. Loaded Terms. Are there any loaded terms such as Spirit (ruah or pneuma), covenant, sin, or righteousness (zedakah or dikaios)? What do these terms mean in the context of this particular passage? What role do they play?

3. Classical Problems. Does your passage address some classic theological/philosophical problem such as the problem of free will, the problem of evil, the nature of God, or the proper relationship between the state and the individual?

4. Theology in Context. Does your passage address a particular theological or philosophical problem or issue that arose in the original historical context of the text? For example, it is often said that Paul’s letters were occasional documents. Thus it is likely that they will address specific contextual issues as well as possibly opening the door to later theological and philosophical speculation.  Does your passage speak to debated theological or philosophical issues in the history of theology or philosophy or today?  Has it been crucial in such discussions?  For example, Job has often been a dialog partner in discussions of theodicy/problem of evil.

5. Gaps/Ambiguities. What theological or philosophical gaps and/or ambiguities exist in the text? How may these be approached?

6. Presuppositions and Methods. What are the presuppositions and methods used by various types of readers including rabbinic readers, historical-critical critics, feminist critics,  German critics, African critics, etc.? What presuppositions do you bring to the table in your evaluation of other interpretations and in offering your own. What methods have you employed?

Discovering key alternative views in each of the areas mentioned above (if there are any) as well as major alternative interpretations of the passage as a whole can be very useful in developing your own interpretation.. The focus could be on the likely meaning(s) of the passage for its first or subsequent audiences. You do not have to advocate a single preferred interpretation. But if you do advocate a single interpretation, it is always a good idea to address various options. This gives you an opportunity to persuade your reader why your final interpretation should be preferred and to answer possible objections that readers might raise.

Some Helpful Discussions of Method:

Anderson, Janice Capel and Stephen D. Moore, eds.  Mark and Method:  New Approaches in Biblical Studies.  2nd ed.  Minneapolis:   Fortress Press, 2008.

Barr, David, "Introduction," in The New Testament Story: An Introduction. 4th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008.

Barton, John.  Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study.  Louisville:  Westminster/John Knox, 1997.

Clines,  David J. A. "Methods in Old Testament Study" online at http://www.shef.ac.uk/bibs/DJACcurrres/Postmodern1/Methods.html

Hayes, John H., ed.  Methods of Biblical Interpretation.  Nashville:  Abingdon, 2005.

http://www.bibledudes.com/biblical-studies/   - the cartoon and irreverent dudes