Tips for Studying the Old Testament in 2026

I was reminded in Sunday School today that not everyone is as enthusiastic about studying the Old Testament as I am. And I acknowledge there are some major difficulties to wrestle with (until daybreak), but I really think you should wrestle, and go all-in on the Old Testament, and I think with a few tools, you’ll have more success with it than ever before. Here are my top tips for better understanding and enjoying the scriptures this year: 


First, know your why. Here’s mine: the primary way God has chosen to be in relationship with humanity is through a covenant made with a single family*: The family of Israel. That covenant  is foreshadowed, given, challenged, and explored at length throughout the Old Testament. As a Christian, I believe the covenant was fulfilled (not superceded or replaced) by Jesus Christ, and it continues to be fulfilled today as the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is restored through the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil in the latter-days. The fundamentals of the covenant and the principles of living in it are found in the Old Testament through sometimes too real concrete examples. I want to know how to live in covenant with God, and I believe there is no better book than the Old Testament to teach me how. But reader beware, to take the Old Testament seriously is sometimes to face uncomfortable truths. 


Second, have fun! The Old Testament is weird and wonderful. Don’t miss the action by frowning your way through serious study all year. My brilliant wife collected coloring and activity pages to align with the whole year of Come Follow Me study this year. Maybe try that: Come Color Me. 


Third, study a modern translation–or at least keep one handy. The King James Version is beautiful, but its language was outdated by the time it was published, plus its verse-centric formatting breaks ideas apart and doesn’t tell you when you’re reading poetry. The church recently changed its guidance on using alternative translations, and you should take full advantage of that. I prefer the NRSV or NRSVUE, but I also bought my kids each NIrV translations which the church now recommends for younger readers. I use biblegateway.com for reading different translations. If you buy study bible (the Oxford Annotated Study Bible is great!) take study aids with a grain of salt; footnotes are not part of the translation and sometimes have a theological bias (even an anti-mormon bias). 


Fourth, ask the right questions at the right time. A lot of Latter-day Saints (myself included!) jump straight to asking “how does this apply to my life?” and “how does this fit in with LDS doctrine?” when the authors of the Bible didn’t have either of these things in mind. That’s not to say that the Bible isn’t compatible with LDS doctrine, or that it isn’t applicable to your life. It’s just that those questions can tie you up in knots when the answers aren’t apparent and the apologist in you wants to force the text to do what it wasn’t written to do. Instead, start by asking “what does this say?” Like, literally, what are the words saying, and (maybe) what might they mean to an ancient, non-christian audience? Try to keep later revealed doctrines out of it, and I know this is a hard pill to swallow: ask yourself what it would mean if it wasn’t trying to talk about Jesus at all. After you’ve figured out what a passage is saying, then move on to modified versions of the questions above: How COULD this apply to my life? How COULD this fit in with LDS doctrine? Importantly, be ready and willing to answer these questions by admitting that it doesn’t. 


Fifth, avoid common myths: 


Myth: The God of the Old Testament is justice-oriented and violent, while the God of the New Testament is mercy-oriented and kind. 


Truth: These aren’t separate gods. It’s the same God all the way through. There’s an entire religious tradition (Judaism) that relies on the Old Testament alone, and they are no more violent than Christians. The Old Testament contains depictions of God being unimaginably merciful and kind (just ask Jonah) and the New Testament contains depictions of God being unimaginably vengeful and violent (Just ask John the Revelator). 


Myth: The Bible’s original copies contained God’s direct words verbatim. 


Truth: There are no original copies! God works through the chaos of history-unorganized to speak across time, and he reveals truth through messy messengers line-upon-line and precept-upon-precept. 


Myth: The Bible never contradicts itself.


Truth The Bible’s many authors frequently contradict each other. Sometimes they actually argue against and correct each other. If you don’t realize this, you will miss what some passages are actually saying and things will get confusing as you try to warp one author into agreement with another. 


Myth: The Bible is always applicable to your life. 


Truth: It’s okay to disagree with parts of the Bible. It’s okay to see it for what it really is and say “nope, that’s not what I believe,” or “nope, that bit doesn’t apply to me.” It’s actually inevitable that you will do this, it just takes maturity to recognize that’s what you’re doing. 


Myth: The Old Testament is a christian book. 


Truth: You can read the Old Testament in a Christian way, but the authors of the Old Testament probably didn’t know about Jesus at all (Yes that includes Isaiah). It may be impossible not to see some Christian doctrines in Hebrew texts–the Jewish scriptures are the basis for much of Christianity after all–but it is extremely useful to isolate Christianity from the Old Testament until you fully understand what it means without a christian lens. Isaiah is so much easier to understand if you scribble out “Isaiah speaks messianically” from the chapter headers and just read it for what it says, then ponder how the gospel leverages and fulfills Isaiah after you understand Isaiah (and other Old Testament Books) in their own context.


*In this way, the Old Testament is very much like Star Wars. 

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