Clearly, God’s act of communication through the Bible is not a simple, cut-and-dried affair, a fact that has practical implications. The first is that we must study the text thoroughly. Though our goal is the author’s intention, we gain access to the author only through his text. Since the Author/author(s) spoke in the language and idiom of the ancient Near East, we must become acquainted with the Hebrew language and the broad literary and cultural conventions of the day. We must not read the Bible