Biblical prophecy is believed to be literally true by a number of conservative Christians[nyatakan menurut siapa?]. Interpreters uphold this principle by providing details of prophecies that have been fulfilled[petikan diperlukan]. In this view it is usually maintained that no Bible prophecy has ever failed, or ever will[petikan diperlukan]. It is therefore up to the interpreter to find a meaning in the words that is true. They[nyatakan menurut siapa?] also dispute the legitimacy of non-biblical prophets and psychics.[131] Professor Peter Stoner and Dr. Hawley O. Taylor, for example, believed the Bible prophecies were too remarkable and detailed to occur by chance.[petikan diperlukan] Arthur C. Custance maintained that the Ezekiel Tyre prophecy (Ezek. 26: 1-11; 29:17-20) was remarkable.[petikan diperlukan]

These interpretive issues are related to the more general idea of how passages should be read or interpreted - a concept known as Biblical hermeneutics. Bible prophecy is an area which is often discussed in regard to Christian apologetics. Traditional Jewish readings of the Bible do not generally reflect the same attention to the details of prophecies. Maimonides stated that Moses was the greatest of the prophets and only he experienced direct revelation.[132] Concern with Moses' revelation involves law and ethical teaching more than predictive prophecy. According to Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed the prophets used metaphors and analogies and, except for Moses, their words are not to be taken literally.

According to the Talmud, prophecy ceased in Israel following the rebuilding of the second temple. Nonetheless Maimonides held that a prophet can be identified if his or her predictions come true. Some Orthodox Jews believe that a future prophet, perhaps a returned Elijah, will identify the future Messiah, the correct location of the Holy of Holies, and other matters essential for the restoration of Jewish worship.[petikan diperlukan]

Many academic scholars and historians who read the Bible today maintain that it contains no accurate predictions of any past or future events. Transcribers of the scriptures may have inserted prophecies or attributed work that was written much later to earlier authors. The neo-Platonist Porphyry of Tyros argued, for example, that the eleventh chapter of Daniel was written around 165 B.C. rather than at the time of the Babylonian exile period of 6th century B.C. when the book was purported to have been written (a view now shared by many modern scholars: see Book of Daniel). Gustave Holscher maintained that certain passages of the Book of Ezekiel were not written by a pre-Exilic prophet of Israel but were later added in the Persian period.In other cases readers of the Bible create what they see as "prophecy", a tendency known as postdiction. In the last century this view has been accepted by some more liberal theologians. Some have maintained that prophetic verses are ambiguous enough to allow flexibility of interpretation. Others say that there are prophecies which were not or could not be fulfilled within time frames which have already expired.