Biblical Interpretation

Reading

▪ David Bernard, Understanding God’s Word: An Apostolic Approach to Interpreting the Bible, Hazelwood: Word Aflame Press, 2005. Chapters 1-3, 6 -7, 10.

Introduction

▪ Hermeneutics is the science and art of interpretation (also referred to simply as Biblical interpretation).

▪ The word “hermeneutics” comes from the Greek word hermēneuō, which means “to interpret,” “to explain,” or “to translate.”

▪ Exegesis is the explanation or interpretation of a text.▪ exegesis literally means “to lead out of”

▪ eisegesis literally means “to lead into” (the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text)

▪ We have a responsibility to interpret the Bible accurately

The Necessity of Hermeneutics

Jesus - Luke 24:13-32

▪ The Greek word translated “expounded” is diermeneuo (to interpret); Jesus was engaging in hermeneutics.

▪ Jesus need to open the scriptures to them; they were closed before.

▪ The result was that their confusion was turned to understanding and faith; they were not longer “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe”

▪ He explained things concerning himself; it was Christological.

Philip - Acts 8:26-40

▪ There was a role for both the Holy Spirit and a human being (Philip).

▪ It involved the preaching of the gospel.

▪ It was Christological.

Priscilla and Aquilla - Acts 18:24-28

▪ There was a human element (Pricilla and Aquilla).

▪ There was a need for humility (Apollos was well educated and an eloquent speaker).

▪ It was Christological.

Peter - 2 Peter 3:15-16

▪ Paul wrote of things hard to understand – implying the need for accurate interpret.

▪ Some will try to twist or distort scripture – also implying the need for accurate interpretation.

Timothy - 2 Timothy 2:15

▪ Diligence is required – i.e. hard work.

▪ “Rightly dividing” refers to “rightly handling” (ESV) or “correctly handling” (NIV).

The BibleOur approach to hermeneutics will depend on our view of the Bible.

The Bible is the Word of God in written form. How do we know?

▪ It claims to be the Word of God▪ The prophets said: “Thus says the Lord...”

▪ It contains internal evidence▪ Jesus and the apostles treated OT scripture as the word of God (e.g. John 10:34-35)▪ Peter identified Paul’s writing as scripture (2 Pet 3:16)

▪ It convinces us as we read

▪ It has changed lives (and those whose lives have changed testify to its transforming power)

▪ It has proven itself though fulfillment of prophesy

Characteristics

▪ Inspired▪ 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16▪ The word “inspiration” is translated from the Greek word theopneustos meaning “God-

breathed”▪ Defined as “a supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen men in

consequence of which their writings become trustworthy and authoritative.” (Carl Henry)▪ Applies to the original autographs (not to transmission or translation).▪ Every word (verbal inspiration)▪ All the words (plenary inspiration)▪ Note: The Bible is also written by humans; therefore, we find influences of personality,

culture and background of writer. Although each word is inspired, it was not mechanically dictated.

Characteristics

▪ Authoritative▪ The doctrine of inspiration implies the Bible is our authority for questions of doctrine and

Christian living.

▪ “We must let the Bible determine our worldview, our purpose in life, and our way of life. Our response to its message will determine our eternal destiny” (David Bernard)

▪ Truthful▪ The Bible is infallible (never wrong and therefore trustworthy).

▪ The Bible exhibits characteristics of truth: absolute, precise, immutable, whole, consistent, eternal, unbreakable and irrevocable.

▪ The Bible is inerrant (without error). However, note that: figures of speech and modes of expression based on the standards and culture in which it was written and there are accommodations to human understanding.

Canon

▪ The list of books accepted a scripture

▪ The OT canon was accepted by the Jewish people prior to the beginning of Christianity

▪ The NT canon was not completely settled until the about the fourth century.

▪ Some books were disputed: e.g. Hebrews because of uncertain authorship, 2 Peter because of difference in style compared to 1 Peter, etc.

▪ Criteria: apostolic authorship. I.e. written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle.

▪ Requires faith that God superintended the final determination of the canon.

Text

▪ Textual criticism deals with determining the best rendering from various manuscript evidence.

▪ We have no autographs but a large quantity of manuscripts, many which are of an early date.

▪ Overall, these variations do not present problems with respect to essential doctrine.

▪ Note: The authority of the Old Testament text has been support by the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Translations

▪ The OT was written in Hebrew and Aramaic and the NT was written in Greek. There are three basic methods of translation to English.

▪ Formal equivalence (e.g. KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV)▪ Essentially word for word translation with words rearranged to correspond to English

grammar.

▪ With respect to the New Testament, the KJV, NKJV and NASB are based on the Received Text ESV is based primarily on the Critical Text.

▪ The advantage of the NKJV is that it updates words in the KJV that are now archaic.

▪ Reading: David Bernard, God’s Infallible Word, pp. 142-148 “The King James Version”

Translations

▪ Dynamic equivalence (e.g. NIV)▪ Essentially a thought for thought (or meaning for meaning) translation

▪ “More inclined to reflect the interpretive views of the translator” (Preface to the English Standard Version)

▪ Paraphrase (e.g. the Message, the Good News)▪ Restatement in different words

Context for Hermeneutics

Three Elements: Author, Text and Reader

▪ The traditional approach is to discern the meaning the original author intended to convey (discussed below).

▪ Another approach is to focus on the text rather than the authors intention.

▪ A new approach, based on postmodernism, postulates that meaning is determined by the impact on the reader.

▪ However, the postmodern approach does not allow for the objective truth of the text to change the mind of the reader.

▪ There may be ways in which the new approach is helpful, but ultimately the approach should be abandoned as it denies absolute truth

The Hermeneutical Spiral

▪ The hermeneutical spiral acknowledges that we go to the Bible with our own presuppositions or preunderstandings, but we also allow the Bible to challenge out thinking; then we go to the Bible again with revised presuppositions.

Principles

The grammatical-historical method should be used rather than the allegorical method.

▪ The grammatical-historical method asks: What did the authors intend to communicate to the original audience?

▪ The meaning is determined from the grammatical and historical context.

▪ Assumes Biblical writers used the common language of their day.

▪ Sometimes referred to as the literal method, but recognizes figurative language (idioms, figures of speech, etc.)

▪ The allegorical method seeks for hidden, “spiritual” meaning in the text.

▪ The grammatical-historical method adheres to the doctrine of the verbal, plenary inspiration of scripture.

Illumination of the Spirt is necessary.

▪ The grammatical-historical method is not sufficient without the illumination of the Holy Spirit

▪ E.g. Paul speaks of the Jews of his day who had a veil over their eyes which could only be taken away if they turned to the Lord (2 Cor 3:14-17).

▪ The Holy Spirit leads a person to truth (John 16:13).

▪ However, the Holy Spirit does not eliminate the need for study, or for pastors and teachers.

Scripture is clear and meant to be understood.

▪ Not all passages are easy to understand; however essential doctrine is not hidden.

Scripture is adapted to the human mind.

▪ The language of scripture often accommodates to human way of thinking. For example:▪ The LORD remembered Noah (Gen 8:1)

▪ The LORD covered Moses with his hand, then uncovered his hand while he passed by only revealing his back parts (Gen 33:22-23)

Scripture reveals truth progressively from the Old to the New Testaments

▪ The law was a turor to bring us to Christ (Gal 3:24-25).

▪ Dietary and sabbath laws had fulfillment in Christ (Col. 2:16-17)

Scripture interprets scripture.

▪ Use of parallel passages (e.g. the Olivet discourse)

▪ Acts provides context for the epistles.

▪ Daniel and Ezekiel help to interpret Revelation.

▪ Accounts of conversion in the book of Acts.

Scripture is unified and its central focus is Jesus Christ.

▪ There is a remarkable unity throughout the Bible amid diversity of backgrounds (ranging from kings to herdsmen), genres and writing styles.

▪ The unifying theme is God’s plan of salvation for the human race through Jesus Christ.

Truth has several witnesses

▪ 1 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1

▪ For the most part, we should not base a doctrine solely on one scripture

Each passage has one primary meaning, but can have many applications.

▪ E.g. there may be many applications to the statement “the letter kills but the spirit gives life.”

Rules of logic may be used to interpret scripture.

▪ Logic is the science of correct reasoning.

▪ God invites us to reason (Isa 1:18).

▪ Jesus used logic to prove that he could not be casting out demons by the prince of demons (Matt 12:25-27).

Application What you need to consider when applying the grammatical-historical method

Biblical History

▪ What is the historical context of the passage? What were the social, political, economic, cultural, philosophical and religious forces?

▪ Can be determined from the Bible as well as other sources.

▪ Examples:▪ The extent to which Assyria was a threat to the northern kingdom provide insight into

Jonah’s disappointment over their repentance that averted the judgement of God.

▪ The symbolism of the animals in Daniel 7 is best interpreted as ancient kingdoms rather than modern day countries.

Biblical Geography

▪ Knowledge of Bible lands and typology can aid in interpretation.

▪ Examples:▪ The geographical location of Samaria (as well as the cultural division) provide

background to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4). Jesus was intentionally taking the shorter route through Samaria to Galilee.

▪ Paul’s missionary journeys are difficult to follow without the aid of a map or atlas.

Biblical Culture

▪ Includes such things as transportation, housing, dress, language, political systems, economics, social norms, philosophies, and religious beliefs and institutions (e.g. the synagogue)

▪ E.g. what is meant by a Sabbath day’s journey?

Genre (Literary Category)

▪ History or narrative

▪ Law

▪ Poetry

▪ Wisdom literature

▪ Prophesy

▪ Gospels

Genre (Literary Category)

▪ Epistles

▪ Apocalypses (uses symbolic language in a context of a struggle between good and evil and an expected intervention by God)

▪ Preaching and teaching

Genre (Literary Category)

▪ These genres guide interpretation. For example:▪ When interpreting law we should consider whether the laws are ceremonial, judicial or

moral.

▪ When interpreting poetry we should expect figurative language and look for Hebrew parallelism (synonym, antithesis or synthesis). See the parallelism in Psalm 1.

▪ When interpreting epistles, we should understand that the statements are not directed toward unbelievers.

▪ When interpreting prophesy or apocalypse, we should be careful not to interpret symbols literally.

Setting

▪ The immediate background or situation.

▪ Takes into consideration: the speaker or author, the audience or reader, the occasion, the means of transmitting the message, and the purpose.

Special Literary Forms

▪ Idioms – an expression that has meeting only as a whole. ▪ English example: hearing from the horse’s mouth.

▪ Biblical example: the right hand of God.

Special Literary Forms

▪ Figures of speech▪ metaphor

▪ simile

▪ hyperbole (e.g. John 21:25),

▪ personification (Prov. 8:22-23)

▪ metonymy - substitution of a word or phrase for another (e.g. Zion for Jerusalem)

▪ irony (perhaps used by Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:15-16)

▪ many others

Special Literary Forms

▪ Larger Forms of Special Expression▪ parable – fictional story but true to life

▪ allegory – story with symbolic meaning illustrating many points

▪ fable – an imaginary story that teaches a moral (2 Kings 14:19-10)

▪ proverb – a short pithy saying that expresses a basic truth

▪ riddle – a question or statement that requires thought to answer (Judges 14:14)

Literary Context

▪ Considers the sentence, passage, book and testament (New vs. Old) of the verse or phrase.

▪ Considers the information about the book: author, date, theme, purpose, outline, etc.

▪ Considers compositional technique of the author (e.g. chiasm)

▪ Considers parallel passages elsewhere in the Bible.

Literary Context

▪ Failure to consider context can lead to errors in interpretation. For example, ▪ The valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 does not refer to the resurrection of saints; it refers

to the restoration of the nation of Israel.

▪ Jesus statement about being “lifted up” in John 12:32 is interpreted for us in verse 33, which pointed to the crucifixion.

Word Meanings

▪ The English meaning of an English word may be the first step, but a proper word search should examine the meaning of the word in the original language.

▪ Word origins (etymology) can be helpful, but we cannot assume the Greek root of an English word conveys the same meaning as the original Greek word.

▪ Concordances are useful to compare how the same word is used elsewhere in the Bible.

▪ The meaning of a word depends on the context. A dictionary or lexicon will provide a range of meanings. The task is to discern the right meaning for the context. E.g. the word for head (using the Blue Letter Bible)

▪ For example, the Greek work for “believe” can mean mental assent (James 2:19) or trust and reliance (Acts 16:31).

Grammar and Syntax

▪ Grammar is the system of rules of a language; syntax is the study of rules applied within a sentence.

▪ A knowledge of the grammatical systems of Biblical language aide in interpretation, even without learning the vocabulary - it allows you to follow explanations referencing Hebrew or Greek grammar.

▪ A study of Hebrew and Greek grammar is beyond the scope of this course.

Harmony of Scripture

▪ Harmony of scripture refers not only to parallel passages, but also our theological understanding from scripture on a given topic.

▪ If our interpretation is not consistent with our theological understanding, we may have to dig deeper.

Example

▪ David Bernard, Understanding God’s Word, pp. 158-159, “Example of Matthew 28:19

Use

Principles of interpretation especially apply to preaching and teaching

▪ Paul commanded Timothy to preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2), implying not to preach on topics of interest outside of scripture

▪ He also told him to accurately handle the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15)

▪ Merely using a Biblical text does not ensure it is correctly interpreted

Principles of interpretation apply to doctrine. Doctrine or theology should:

▪ be informed by the grammatical-historical method

▪ rest primarily on the New Testament

▪ be Christ-centered

▪ not be a complete body of knowledge (the Bible is practical in nature)

▪ be coherent on the topics addressed in scripture

▪ be limited to the biblical record

▪ use proof texts only if the context supports the point▪ Note in a pastor’s sermon: “weak point, speak louder.”

Principles of interpretation apply to Christian living.

▪ For example, we need to understand what Jesus meant when he spoke of turning the other cheek

Principles of interpretation apply to biblical examples

▪ Not all that the Bible recounts is what God approves

▪ Some commandments are specific to individuals

Principles of interpretation apply to Biblical promises

▪ Do not use a promise to tempt God

▪ Avoid a mystical approach (e.g. picking verses at random)

▪ Determine whether a promise is universal or individual (e.g. the healing of Naaman)

▪ Determine whether a promise is for the present time

▪ Determine whether a promise is unconditional or conditional▪ We need to ask according to his will (1 John 5:14-15)

▪ We cannot ask amiss (James 4:2-3)