Bible Study is like good detective work

Yes - you have to look at a text, and put a perimeter around it, yet connect it to the whole. Who has investigated this text before, and why? What were the results? What methods were used? Did the previous investigation yield any new clues, a firm clear and convincing interpretation? What method is available for study now that was not available before? You have to look at each tiny piece of the text and ask why is it there? What is so obvious that you are missing it? You need to carry a respectful yet suspicious attitude about previous approaches and understandings of the text. Do not necessarily take for granted that those findings are correct. No matter how good the version. Usually the answer is in the text itself, and in its context. If you think you need to look something up in the Greek, before you do, ask yourself why? Why is not the English clear? What is it that doesn't make sense in the English or in whatever modern language translation. What is it exactly you need to clear up by going to the Greek? If you are not sure about your question, you won't be clear about the answeres you get. Why are you interested in this text? What is it about you and your own understanding of God, the Scriptures, that may be biasing or prejudicing you to accept a text as it reads or to question it? Some cases take years to figure out. Some are straight forward. The difficult ones require more patience and accumulation of evidence, and sorting out small clues that may come in even if they come from other investigations.

Eventually, all of a sudden, it may be minutes, hours, days, or even years, the meaning of the text comes clear to you. It is a special finding. Discovery. Gratitute. Worship. You know what you found is so clear, so good, so much for you, it had to be given to you. Regardless of your search, what you found was given to you. "Seek and you shall find."