INSTRUCTOR M ANUAL

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Introduction

The instructor’s manual for Introduction to Biblical Interpretation is intended to provide

useful resources to assist in teaching a course on hermeneutics. The material in the manual is

divided into six sections.

The first section contains websites that are helpful in studying the process of

interpretation. These are grouped into three categories: general, associations, and journals.

The second section titled chapter summaries contains six items. 1) Key terms are given,

which are important words and phrases that are employed in the chapter. Flashcards for these key

terms are made available to the students. The flashcards contain information gathered from the

chapter of the book. 2) Key points are the most crucial points the chapter makes or issues it

covers. 3) Chapter summaries give an overview of what is in each chapter. 4) Pedagogical

suggestions give ideas about how to teach various items or ideas that are discussed in each

chapter. 5) Other media sources/websites provide specific websites that are relevant for the

material in the respective chapters. 6) Suggested essay questions are offered, which seek to

broadly address some of the key ideas in each chapter.

The third section outlines student learning objectives. These objectives give a brief

overview of some of the crucial areas covered in each chapter, and they provide a sense of what

a student should glean from each chapter.

The fourth section contains chapter quizzes. They contain ten true/false, five fill in the

blank, and ten multiple choice questions. Answers are given in bold type.

The fifth section gives sample syllabi. There are two sets of syllabi. The first set, which

contains a syllabus with a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule and another with a Tue/Thur schedule,

essentially splits the textbook materials in half, with six chapters of the text covered for the

midterm and six chapters covered for the final. The second set of syllabi, still including both a

Mon/Wed/Fri schedule and a Tue/Thur schedule, front loads the semester to cover chapters 1-8

by the time of the midterm in order to offer extended time in the second half of the semester to

work through and illustrate the particular interpretive requirements of the diverse OT and NT

literature. A brief course description is provided along with general intended learning outcomes

for the course. The weekly course schedule gives readings from Introduction to Biblical

Interpretation, and it also provides dates on which chapter quizzes and exams could be given.

The final section contains a midterm and a final exam. These exams are both seventy-five

questions in length and are comprised of questions from the chapter quizzes (with some

reformatting). Study guides for both exams are made available to the students.

It has been a pleasure to work through a new edition of Introduction to Biblical

Interpretation – the text that significantly shaped my own understanding of the interpretive

process as a seminary student – and to prepare these educational resources. It is my sincere hope

that what follows will assist you in teaching this crucial subject.

Luke Hoselton

Grand Canyon University

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Table of Contents

Suggested Websites ……………………………………………………………………....2

Chapter Summaries………………………………………………………………………..3

Student Learning Objectives……………………………………………………………..51

Chapter Quizzes………………………………………………………………………….56

Sample Syllabi…………………………………………………………………………...92

Midterm and final exams……………………………………………………………….108

Midterm and final exam study guides…………………………………………………..121

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Suggested Websites

General

• Tyndale House Toolbar: www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/toolbar

• Hebrew Bible Project: tanakh.info/

• Academic Online Bibles: www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/

• Westminster Leningrad Codex: http://www.tanach.us

• Biblical Manuscripts: rosetta.reltech.org/Ebind/docs/TC/

• Scripture and Resources: www.textweek.com/scripture.htm

• Early Christian Writings: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com

Associations

• British New Testament Society: www.bnts.org.uk

• European Association of Biblical Studies: https://www.eabs.net/site/

• Society of Biblical Literature: https://www.sbl-site.org

• Society of New Testament Studies: http://snts.international/

Journals

• Biblica: http://www.bsw.org/project/biblica

• Bulletin for Biblical Research: https://www.ibr-bbr.org/bulletin-biblical-research

• Catholic Biblical Quarterly: http://catholicbiblical.org/publications/cbq

• Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis: http://poj.peeters-

leuven.be/content.php?url=journal&journal_code=ETL

• The Expository Times: http://ext.sagepub.com

• Filologia Neotestamentaria: http://www.bsw.org/filologia-neotestamentaria/

• Journal for the Study of the New Testament: http://jnt.sagepub.com

• Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters:

www.eisenbrauns.org/Journals/jnls_SPL.html

• Journal of Biblical Literature: http://www.sbl-

site.org/publications/journals_jbl_noLogin.aspx

• Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism: http://www.jgrchj.net

• New Testament Studies: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=NTS

• Novum Testamentum:

http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/15685365

• Review of Biblical Literature: http://www.bookreviews.org

• Studies in Christian Jewish Relations: http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/scjr/

• Tyndale Bulletin: http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/index.php?page=tyndale-bulletin

• Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft:

http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zntw?rskey=n3VgtJ&result=3

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Chapter Summaries

Chapter One - The Need for Interpretation

Key Terms

Hermeneutics; presupposition; preunderstanding; locution; illocution; perlocution; referential;

denotative; connotative; contextual; text; author; audience; meaning; significance; distance of

time; cultural distance; geographical distance; distance of language; eternal relevance

Key Points

● Hermeneutics describes the necessary interpretive principles people use to understand

what a message means and how to apply it to their lives.

● Interpretation is both an art and a science and all interpreters bring presuppositions and

agendas that affect the ways they understand the text, as well as the conclusions they

draw from it.

● The meaning of a message is discerned by considering its content, purpose, and effect

while also taking into account the interplay of text, author, and audience.

● The challenges that face the interpreter of biblical texts include the distance of time and

language, as well as cultural and geographical distances.

Chapter Summary

The term “hermeneutics” describes the principles that can be used to interpret the

meaning of the various forms of communication found in Scripture. Indeed, as we will see,

numerous factors make it necessary for readers to attempt to interpret the biblical texts if they are

to understand their meaning and significance. Along these lines, this book aims to establish,

explain, and demonstrate the various guidelines and methods that will guide readers who want to

both understand and apply Scripture correctly and appropriately. In what follows, numerous

issues are highlighted that underscore the need for biblical interpretation.

When discussing interpretation, it is important to recognize that the act of interpretation is

both an art and a science. It is scientific in the sense that all communication uses various “codes”

(e.g., sound cues, spelling, or tone of voice) to convey meaning, and therefore various methods,

rules, and tactics must be employed to “decode” the communicated message. As an artistic

endeavor, however, we must recognize that all such “codes” are generally part of certain

sociological subcultures, and these must be considered and deciphered in order to understand the

particular meaning of the message. Another important consideration focuses on the role of the

interpreter in the hermeneutical process. Just as the biblical texts originated from historical and

personal circumstances for which we must account, so the reader brings his or her own

circumstances, presuppositions, and preunderstandings to the text. All such details must be

weighed in the process of interpretation.

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The meaning of a message must be determined by considering multiple factors. With the

use of speech act theory, we can discern that all communication involves three elements: a

message’s locution, illocution, and perlocution. The locution refers to that which is said or

written, the words and sentences in a given sentence or larger discourse. The term illocution

highlights the writer or speaker’s intention for the words that he or she has chosen: what he or

she was aiming to “do” to or for the reader or hearer. The perlocution, finally, refers to the

results or effects the writer or speaker has envisioned for the recipient of the message. This has

more than one implication for determining the meaning of a message. For example, we recognize

that a message’s meaning is comprised of more than merely understanding its content; indeed,

both how the message is constructed (locutions) and to what end(s) (illocutions and perlocutions)

combine to determine its meaning. Moreover, we can highlight the important point that the

author or speaker primarily determines the meaning of the communication because they decide

how they will encode their message to achieve their intention, and what results they hope to

bring about. In light of this last point we also realize the fuller significance of the fact that we

only have the biblical text itself, for neither the author nor the original readers are available to

describe the intended or actual effect of the message. This reality underscores the necessity for

the interpreter to consider the interplay of text, author, and audience as he or she attempts to

determine the meaning of a message.

While analyzing the message of a text, it is important to determine the precise meaning of

words by distinguishing between their referential, denotative, connotative, and contextual uses.

Similarly, the meaning of individual words must be understood within the larger literary

structures of sentences, paragraphs, and discourses. Broader still, it is crucial to recognize that

such literary structures function according to the intentions of authors in light of their chosen

genre, and each genre must be recognized and interpreted in terms of its own design and rules.

Next, when discussing the significance of the author and audience for determining the meaning

of a message, it is crucial to learn as much as we can about the original circumstances of both

parties, as well as what we can regarding the relationship between them. The historical

circumstances of the author/audience establishe an important parameter for our understanding of

a message’s meaning: the meaning of the communication to the original recipients must be

considered in light of what they could have understood at the time.

This point highlights a necessary distinction between a message’s meaning and its

significance. The meaning of a text is governed by what the author may have intended to

communicate to the original audience. However, a text’s significance may be understood in

terms that are broader than the original audience may have been able to recognize - for the

modern reader has access to the entire canon of Scripture and millennia of theological reflection.

The challenges involved in the interpretive process of biblical texts are numerous. Indeed,

there are four critical distances between the biblical text and the interpreter that must be

overcome: the distance of time, cultural distance, geographical distance, and the distance of

language. The distance of time highlights both the distance between the modern reader and the

writing of the texts, and also the distance between the writing of the texts (or recording of events)

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and the earlier point in time when such events actually occurred. The cultural distance highlights

the vast difference between the everyday circumstances of the biblical characters and those of

modern day readers. Numerous aspects related to, for example, the political, social, economic,

and religious circumstances must be understood if we are to accurately interpret the message of

the Bible. Next, the geographical distance presents a difficulty for the modern interpreter who is

attempting to understand a message intimately tied to a landscape that is very different and, in

many cases, now inaccessible. Finally, there is a distance between the modern language of

interpreters and the ancient languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Hellenistic Greek, in which the

Bible was written, since a basic difference exists in how these languages function and

communicate through their distinctive literary conventions.

One final consideration is necessary: the task of biblical interpretation (as opposed to the

interpretation of other documents) has further significance in that the Bible is God’s word to his

people. While historical and critical methods of interpretation are crucial for correct

interpretation of the message, they are not enough for the interpreter to grasp the theological and

spiritual value found in God’s eternal message. In addition to such historical and grammatical

methods, the interpreter must be attentive to God’s intention to communicate divine truth

through the Bible. This points, then, to the dual goal of hermeneutics: to allow the interpreter to

understand both the original meaning of the text and to help the interpreter comprehend the

significance of the text’s meaning for his or her personal life and for the life of the church.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Gather the students into groups to discuss the need for a hermeneutical method when

studying the Bible. What are some of the challenges that face the modern interpreter and

how can these be overcome?

● Have the students discuss the strengths and pitfalls of approaching the biblical text with

presuppositions and preunderstandings.

● Assign the students to groups to debate where a text’s meaning comes from. Have one

group make a case for authorial intention, another for the meaning residing with the

reader, and a third for meaning residing within the text itself.

Other Media Sources/Websites

• How Hermeneutics Led Me to a Deeper Faith, a blog post by Jonathan Nicoletti: In

this blog Nicoletti explains how hermeneutics helped him move from a simplistic faith to

a deeper faith. This blog could help you understand the journey that many of your own

students are traveling. biologos.org/blog/how-hermeneutics-led-me-to-a-deeper-faith

• Hermeneutics—What Is It, and Why Do Bible Readers Need It? a blog by Dr. Ben

Witherington: In this blog Witherington defines and explains the importance of

hermeneutics. benwitherington.blogspot.com/2008/10/hermeneuticswhat-is-it-and-why-

do-bible.html

• Lesson 6: Principles of Biblical Interpretation, a blog by Dr. James Davis: In this

blog Davis outlines seven principles of biblical interpretation.

bible.org/seriespage/lesson-6-principles-biblical-interpretation

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Suggested Essay Questions

● Explain some of the factors which make the process of interpretation necessary today.

● Why must the interpreter be wary of his or her own presuppositions and pre-

understandings in the interpretive process?

● Describe the difference between a text’s meaning and its significance.

● Why is biblical interpretation different from the interpretation of any other text or

message?

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Chapter Two - The History of Interpretation

Key Terms:

Inner biblical allusion; Targum; Hellenistic Judaism; Qumran; Rabbinic Judaism; literal

fulfillment; typology; Apostolic Fathers; allegory; church councils; Jerome; Vulgate;

scholasticism; Aquinas; the Reformation; Erasmus; Luther; Council of Trent; renaissance;

pietism; the Enlightenment; rationalism; historical-critical method; history of religions; canonical

criticism; theological interpretation

Key Points

● Exposure to the history of interpretation keeps the modern interpreter humble and helps

him or her avoid various pitfalls.

● While allegorical method and traditional interpretation largely dominated interpretation

from the death of the apostles until the Reformation, a strand of historical or literal

interpretation was always present.

● The watershed of the Reformation highlighted anew the central role of the Bible for

Christian living.

● The development of the scientific method and rationalism have impacted the interpretive

process significantly, casting a shadow of suspicion over the historicity and divine

character of the Bible.

Chapter Summary

The history of interpretation can be summarized in seven different phases. The first phase

of Biblical interpretation corresponds to the multiple stages of Jewish interpretation. The ancient

Israelites who wrote and edited what would later become the Hebrew Scriptures used a process

sometimes called inner biblical allusion. During this process, texts that were accepted as

authoritative were revised and updated to address the challenges of a new generation; the result

was that both the original (source) text and the revised text were accepted as authoritative.

Interpretation during the transition into the intertestamental period was dominated by the

production of Targums (the translation and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures into their

vernacular language of Aramaic) and by the vigorous study of the Pentateuch in Hebrew by

scribes and rabbis. However, by the NT period at least three interpretive schools were

discernible, each demonstrating an attempt to hold tight to their Jewish identity in response to the

changing world around them. In the first, Hellenistic Judaism, interpreters sought to integrate

their Jewish beliefs with Greek philosophy. A major interpretive development in this period was

the allegorical method, which attempted to discern the deeper meaning behind the written words

of a text; this approach is evidenced, for example, in the writings of Philo. This period also

witnessed the landmark translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (i.e., the Septuagint),

which crucially made them accessible in the common language of the day. A second school, the

Qumran Community, demonstrated a heavy focus on OT prophecy and the writing of numerous

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commentaries. Believing that they were the final generation of which the ancient prophecies

spoke, the Qumran community employed an important interpretive practice called pesher,

through which they could emend a text or contemporize a prophecy to fit their interpretation.

Rabbinic Judaism, the third school, promoted obedience to the Torah above all through the

production of the Mishnah, Abot, and the Talmuds. This branch of biblical interpretation is

distinctive for its dependence on the contributions of earlier rabbis, its attention to literal

interpretation, and the practice of midrash, through which interpreters attempted to uncover the

deeper meanings inherent to the actual wording of texts.

The second major interpretive stage was the Apostolic Period (CA. AD 30-100). In this

period the first Christian interpreters attempted above all to demonstrate the validity of their

beliefs about Jesus from the OT scriptures. While the fundamental hermeneutical principle of

this period was Jesus’ literal fulfillment of OT prophecy, at least three other interpretive

approaches were also employed. Through the use of typology, the apostles identified things such

as patterns, symbols and events in the OT thought to be anticipating God’s activity later in

history through Jesus. Second, the apostles also employed a literal-contextual interpretation, in

which an OT passage was interpreted within its original context and according to its normal

meaning. Finally, using the principle/application method, a passage from one context could be

interpreted in light of an underlying principle that was comparable to the situation of another

context.

The Patristic Period (ca. AD 100-590) represents the third major era of interpretive

history, and it can be differentiated into three subperiods. The subperiod of the apostolic fathers

highlights the writers from the first half-century after the death of the apostle John (e.g., Clement

of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, etc.). This subperiod evidences four important interpretive

approaches to Scripture. In addition to the use of typology and allegory (which was the most

popular method), the fathers also displayed midrashic tendencies and employed a significant

hermeneutical principle that might be called “traditional interpretation.” In reference to the latter,

since there was not yet a completed canon of Scripture, church tradition offered the only firm

basis through which the correct teaching of the apostles could be explicated and defended against

alternative heretical interpretations. By the second subperiod - the Alexandrian School (CA. AD

150-400) - we find that allegorical interpretation had become a dominant methodology. This is

particularly evident in the writings of Clement of Alexandria and Origen. The third subperiod of

the patristic era is the time of the church councils. In an attempt to determine authoritatively the

meaning of Scripture in a series of church councils (CA. AD 400-590), orthodox church leaders

appealed to the principle of “apostolicity” - that as the apostles’ successors, only they were the

true interpreters of Scripture since only they had received the apostolic teaching. This, then,

served to solidify further the prominent role of traditional interpretation in the Western church.

In this final period, two events are worth noting in particular. First, Augustine became the first to

attempt to articulate a comprehensive hermeneutical approach to the Scriptures. Against the

widespread emphasis on allegory among his contemporaries, Augustine contended that the literal

or historical meaning of a text was primary for proper interpretation. Jerome’s translation of the

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OT, NT, and apocrypha into Latin marks the second major event, for the Vulgate became the

official Bible of the Western church and basis for Catholic doctrine, with the effect of thoroughly

diminishing the use of original languages in biblical interpretation until the Reformation.

The Middle Ages (CA. AD 590-1500) represent the fourth period. During this era three

primary interpretive methods were prevalent. First, the allegorical method continued to dominate

interpretation. Second, the traditional interpretation method continued to bolster accepted

doctrinal understanding of texts in the church, with the views and interpretive comments of the

fathers collected in catenae (i.e., chains of interpretation). In the eighth and ninth centuries

medieval monks also began writing the comments and commentary from the fathers in the

margins or in between the lines of the biblical text, a feature known as an “interpretive gloss.” At

the same time, thirdly, there is evidence that the method of historical and literal exegesis

continued to be used, often with the aid of Jewish interpretation. Around this time the movement

called scholasticism emerged with a concern to discern the relationship between the Christian

faith and human reason. For the present summary it is significant that Thomas Aquinas, who

would become the most important spokesman for scholasticism, heavily emphasized the need for

a literal hermeneutic. With reference to interpretive methodologies, Aquinas’s influence may

have pointed the Middle Ages on a trajectory toward the Reformation.

The Reformation (CA. AD 1500-1650) marks the fifth era. Advances in both Hebrew and

Greek allowed for a renewed examination of the Scriptures in their original languages. For

example, Erasmus published the first modern edition of the Greek NT in 1516. Meanwhile, a

growing interest in early manuscripts exposed numerous translation errors in the Latin Vulgate,

dealing a blow to its absolute authority in supporting Catholic Church doctrine and to the

absolute authority of the Catholic Church itself. The threefold contribution of Martin Luther for

biblical interpretation cannot be overestimated. First, by arguing that Scripture is its own best

interpreter, Luther affirmed Scripture - and not church tradition - as the ultimate authority for the

Christian life and established the central Reformation principle of sola scriptura (Scripture

alone). Second, Luther rejected the allegorical method of interpretation in favor of one that

sought to understand the text within its original historical context using standard grammatical

rules. Third, Luther emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of interpretation. Thus,

much like Calvin, Luther emphasized Scripture above all, following Aquinas and Augustine in

interpreting its plain sense while also valuing the insights of the fathers. Elsewhere, groups such

as the Anabaptists and Mennonites applied the Reformation principles of sola scriptura in new

hermeneutical directions by giving priority to the NT and reading it literally. Finally, the

Catholic Church responded at the Council of Trent by upholding the authenticity of the Vulgate

and forbidding all interpretation of Scripture that is out of harmony with church doctrine.

The Post-Reformation period (CA. AD 1650-1750) witnessed movements heading in

very different directions. Linked with figures such as Philip Jacob Spener, John Wesley, and

Jonathan Edwards, pietism was an important outgrowth of the Reformation. With the Bible

freshly translated into their vernacular languages, the pietistic movements sought to reject the

dryness of scholasticism by cultivating Christianity as a way of life through group Bible study,

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prayer, and an emphasis on personal morality. At the same time, however, the Renaissance was

producing the Enlightenment and a movement called rationalism, the latter of which emphasized

the human mind as an independent authority capable of determining truth. The effect of

rationalism thereby set human reason over religion and over Scripture.

Finally, the Modern Period (ca. AD 1750-present) has introduced a flurry of challenges,

changes, and advances to interpretive methodology. In the nineteenth century radical advances in

science encouraged the use of a more scientific method for studying history and the biblical text,

the latter phenomenon coming to be known as the historical-critical method. Undergirded by a

view of reality that explained everything in terms of natural laws, interpreters began to treat the

Bible like any other piece of literature, thereby excluding the possibility of all supernatural

events. With the validity of its theological and historical claims stripped, the Bible was reduced

to a source for moral and ethical values. With regard to biblical interpretation more specifically,

two significant shifts warrant mention. First, scholarly focus shifted from attempting to discern

what a text meant to discovering the sources behind it (source criticism). Second, denying the

Bible as a divine revelation, some interpreters instead endeavored to explicate the various texts’

(presumed) undergirding historical development, challenging the historical validity and early

dating/writing of many of its events.

The twentieth century, in turn, witnessed the development of two influential interpretive

approaches. First, new attention to the history of religions offered insight into the various

religions contemporary to the Bible; this resulted in a better understanding of the ancient

character of the OT texts and of the importance in comparing the Bible with surrounding cultural

evidence. Second, though it began as an attempt to examine the original oral compositions out of

which the Bible’s written sources were allegedly derived, form criticism came to offer valuable

assistance to interpreters when their focus shifted to the literary types of the OT and the Gospels.

The period between the end of WWII and the dawn of the twenty-first century has also

observed the launch of many interpretive developments. The Biblical Theology Movement

forced a reconsideration of the Bible’s overall unity and, perhaps above all else, revived the

study of the theological dimension of the Bible. The emergence of redaction criticism enabled

interpreters to try to discern the distinctive theological emphases of the individual biblical writers

or editors. Reacting against Bultmann’s dismissal of the possibility to know anything about the

historical Jesus, the “new quest for the historical Jesus” movement attempted to delineate what

the Gospels might detail about the historical person of Jesus. With many positive results, the

development of the “new hermeneutic” implied a different view of the biblical text in which the

text guides interpretation and grips the reader, rather than the reader guiding interpretation and

controlling the text with his or her questions. Deriving from the Biblical Theology Movement,

canon criticism was developed to discern the theological meaning of the books of the Bible by

examining its canonical shape. A “Third Quest for the Historical Jesus” began to ask fresh

questions about Jesus in light of new archaeological data and newly discovered manuscripts.

Meanwhile, new literary approaches - such as the new literary criticism, reader-response

criticism, and deconstructionism - and new sociological approaches - such as feminist

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hermeneutics and liberationist hermeneutics - have all pushed the discussion about interpretive

methods into new horizons.

In the twenty-first century many of these literary and sociological hermeneutical trends

have continued. At the same time many more have appeared. For example, interpretation from

the perspective of gender orientation (e.g., queer hermeneutics), interest in intertextuality studies,

in the Bible’s reception history, hermeneutics from a Pentecostal perspective, and canon

criticism have all burgeoned with increasing relevance. One notable development during this

century is the movement broadly known as the Theological Interpretation of Scripture, which

aims to recover the Bible’s theological voice and the viability of interpreting Scripture

theologically with the aid of pre-critical and pre-reformational voices. Beyond these, finally, the

rise of methods like the redemptive-movement hermeneutic and the hermeneutic of

transformation, and interest in the relationship between exegesis and ancient spiritual practices

such as lectio divina are set to insure that the topic of biblical interpretation continues to generate

conversation well into the future.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Have the students get into two groups to discuss the various ways the Reformation

changed the landscape of biblical interpretation. What were the dominant methodologies

prior to it?

● Ask the students to debate the strengths and shortcomings of how the Enlightenment and

rationalism has affected interpretation.

● Splitting into groups, have students attempt to identify various types of interpretive

methods. Make a case study out of canonical criticism, redaction criticism, source

criticism, and intertextuality for them to distinguish and discuss the strengths of each

method.

Other Media Sources/Websites

• Origen: Friend or Foe, an article by Dr. John Franke: In this article Franke examines

the Church Father Origen, who although he was committed to the authority of Scripture

used allegorical interpretation to read Scripture.

http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/2003/issue80/2.18.html

• Use of Typology in Biblical Interpretation, an interview with Dr. Scott Hahn: In this

interview Hahn explain the role of typology in biblical interpretation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cml9IU70iCc

• The Tradition of Christian Allegory, an article by Dr. Leroy Huizenga: In this article

Huizenga argues that reading for allegory is a natural and normal way to read religious

texts, since it is seen in the biblical texts themselves and is part of premodern tradition.

stpaulcenter.com/documents/scripture/LS8_-_Huizenga_-

_The_Tradition_of_Christian_Allegory_Yesterday_and_Today.pdf

• An Evangelical Approach to Theological Criticism, an essay by Dr. I. Howard

Marshall: In this essay Marshall presents the case for an evangelical alternative to

German form criticism and German redaction criticism.

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biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_criticism_marshall.html

• Ancient Faith Blog: “The Masoretic Hebrew vs. The Septuagint, Part 1”

blogs.ancientfaith.com/departinghoreb/masoretic-hebrew-vs-septuagint-part-1/

• Ancient Faith Blog: “The Masoretic Hebrew vs. The Septuagint, Part 2”

blogs.ancientfaith.com/departinghoreb/masoretic-hebrew-vs-septuagint-part-ii/

Suggested Essay Questions

● Why is it important to be broadly aware of the history of interpretation?

● What are some of the factors that make the Reformation significant for interpretive

history?

● What are some of the ways that the Enlightenment and the development of rationalism

affected biblical interpretation?

● Describe at least two of the critical methods that have challenged the historicity of the

Bible and at least two that have supported its theological value. How have these methods

accomplished this?

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Chapter Three - Literary and Social-Scientific Approaches to Interpretation

Key Terms

Historical-Grammatical analysis; literary criticism; social-scientific analysis; narrative criticism;

poststructuralism; postmodernism; reader-response criticism; deconstruction; social history;

liberation theology; feminist hermeneutics; cultural criticism; postcolonialism; LGBT

hermeneutics

Key Points

● Scholars have turned to modern literary criticism and social-scientific analysis to aid in

interpreting Scripture, for some as an alternative to more traditional historical-critical or

historical-grammatical methods.

● Literary criticism includes narrative criticism and poststructuralist methodologies, such as

reader-response criticism and deconstruction.

● Social-scientific approaches include those that look at history and those that apply

modern theories to text, as well as various advocacy groups.

● All such approaches must be assessed on a case by case basis. The beneficial approaches

should be employed alongside more traditional historical-grammatical analysis, but not in

place of them.

Chapter summary

Scholars have in recent decades explored the avenues of modern literary criticism and

social-scientific analysis as alternative methods for interpreting Scripture. Literary criticism is a

wide-ranging category. It includes numerous methods that are ahistorical in nature, focusing only

on the final form of the text without regard for details such as authorial intention or the text’s

historical background information. Two such approaches include narrative criticism and

poststructuralism.

Narrative criticism closely resembles the critical methods used to study the great literary

classics in that it examines the features of a text such as plot, theme, characterization,

symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. While narrative criticism generally focuses more on a text’s

artistic value than on its moral or theological value, it remains very useful to readers of the Bible.

For example, attention to the development of a character in a narrative can shed light on whether

the author wants readers to identify with or imitate him or her. The focus on the final form of a

text, which in narrative criticism is regarded as a unity, is also to be welcomed, since it is the

final form of the biblical book that is inspired and authoritative. As noted, however, narrative

criticism does include some serious pitfalls. In addition to the tendency to undermine a

narrative’s religious value in favor of its aesthetic value, narrative criticism also tends to regard

the literature of the Bible as fiction, even though this grossly misunderstands the relationship

between historical and fictional texts in antiquity. Despite this, this method can be very useful to

the interpreter for approaching Scripture.

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Linked ideologically with postmodernism, poststructuralism is a form of literary analysis

that finds meaning to be the product of individual readers or interpretive communities rather than

as residing in a text. The two major categories of this type of analysis include reader-response

criticism and deconstruction. Reader-response criticism focuses on the various ways readers

respond to a text and affirms that meaning derives from the interaction between a text and its

readers. A conservative form of reader-response criticism may attempt, for example, to aid a

reader in exploring the “gaps” in a text which require the reader to supply his or her own

meaning, such as when the David and Bathsheba account curiously begins with David at home

rather than at war (2 Sam 11:1). Meanwhile, a more radical reader-response criticism may

completely detach objective meaning from the symbols of the text in favor of ultimately reading

into it a foreign meaning from the individual reader or interpretive community. As a literary

method, deconstruction seeks to demonstrate how all human communication, and therefore all

texts, ultimately undermine themselves or deconstruct. This critical method may be used, for

example, to dispute that a text has a fixed meaning by highlighting any subtle ideological

inconsistencies or ambiguities that might be hard to resolve. Indeed, such intentions leave

deconstruction with very little value for interpreters with a traditional view of Scripture’s

inspiration or authority.

Interpreters have also turned to social-scientific models of inquiry (e.g., sociology,

anthropology, economics, political science) to gain new insights into the biblical text. Social-

scientific studies fall into two categories: those that explore the social history of the biblical

world and those that apply modern theories of human behavior to biblical texts.

Studies that are interested in the social history of the Bible seek to cast new light on a text

by obtaining a better understanding of the social world out of which it comes. Indeed, the

opportunities for insights into the social world of the Bible and the new questions they provide

the interpreter are almost endless. To note a specific example, a better grasp of the ideology of

the Roman Imperial Cult may shed light on the political ramifications of the early Christian

claim that Jesus is Lord.

The other method of social-scientific analysis which applies modern theories about

human behavior to biblical texts in an attempt to understand the various social dynamics that

may have been operating can also lead to significant new insights into the text. To give but one

example, sociological analysis has shed light on the economic dynamics that may have been at

play in the divisions addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. While many are helpful,

however, it is important to be aware that not all methods of analysis are equally compatible or

beneficial to biblical interpretation. The presuppositions of a chosen model may need to be tested

to ensure and that it is not fundamentally at odds with a traditional view of the Bible or whether

it improves on the traditional methods of interpretation.

Several other subdisciplines have developed within the broader arena of social-scientific

inquiry and each may be said to share a common commitment to the liberation of the

disenfranchised within the world and a view of the idea of a detached objective approach to

interpretation as nonsensical. Such advocacy groups include, for example, liberation

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hermeneutics, cultural criticism, feminist hermeneutics, and LGBT hermeneutics. Liberation

hermeneutics begins with the experience of the injustice of poverty and attempts to analyze the

reasons for such an impoverished existence; it often embraces biblical narratives depicting

liberation from oppression such as the exodus narrative. Then, with a belief that God sides with

the oppressed, liberation theologians call on believers to endeavor towards a more humane

society on earth today, oftentimes promoting the ideals of socialist economics and the

redistribution of wealth. Although liberation theology has waned to a degree in recent decades, a

number of studies under the banner of cultural criticism have been produced; such studies

regularly emphasize reading Scripture through the eyes of those raised in cultures that have been

traditionally marginalized. One important branch of cultural criticism is postcolonialism, which

has emerged in former Asian and African colonies. In its emphases on the emancipation of the

subjugated and prioritization of the marginalized, for example, postcolonialism shares many of

the ideological tenets undergirding liberation theology, but postcolonialism generally goes a step

further in accepting pluralism among religious worldviews. While a number of issues can (and

should) be raised in challenge, it should be said that voices from both liberation theology and

cultural criticism deserve a hearing by interpreters within the Majority World so that they might

examine their own preunderstandings and the presuppositions with which they approach

Scripture. After all, all interpreters are the products of their own cultures and subcultures.

Another subdiscipline is feminist hermeneutics. Among the various ways one might

discuss feminist hermeneutics, one is to distinguish between evangelical (or biblical) feminists

and nonevangelical Christian feminists. The former maintain that, before the fall and after

redemption, the biblical teaching best describes the full equality of the sexes and does not

delineate unique roles based on gender. The latter feminists, however, aver that parts of the Bible

promote patriarchalism and limit the roles of women within the church and within the household.

In response, they either refuse to accept such texts as authoritative and/or focus on other more

“programmatic” texts which they see as teaching complete equality (e.g., Gal 3:28). Finally, it is

possible to trace the shape of LGBT hermeneutics along similar lines as feminist hermeneutics,

in terms of more liberal versus more evangelical approaches. In this case, the views on

homosexual behaviors range along a parallel spectrum, from those who find the Bible’s teaching

on homosexual practices to be mistaken (or that it was meant to be applied in less than a timeless

fashion) to those who think its teaching was timeless but simply reject it. Other specific

applications of LGBT hermeneutics have also spawned, such as “Queer” theology. As with the

literary methods, each of these social-scientific and advocacy group methodologies must be

assessed on an individual basis; not all are likely to be deemed legitimate, but those that are

significantly expand the horizons of all interpreters.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Split the class into two groups and assign the same narrative text to both. Have one group

analyze the text using narrative criticism and the other analyze the text using

deconstruction. Compare and contrast the results.

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● Debate the strengths and limitations of employing a social-scientific approach that

investigates the social world of a text.

● Offer a list of passages to choose from and allow each student to select one. Have each

student examine the text using two of the following hermeneutical approaches: liberation

reading, feminist hermeneutics, LGBT hermeneutics. Ask them to highlight any

principles that result.

Other Media Sources/Websites

● Literary Approaches to the Old Testament, by Dr. Joe Sprinkle: In this essay

Sprinkle describes the approaches taken by James Muilenberg, Robert Altar, Adele

Berlin, and Meir Sternberg when interpreting Old Testament narrative.

www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/32/32-3/32-3-pp299-310_JETS.pdf

● Interpreting the Gospels: The Landscape and The Quest, by Dr. Donald Hagner: In

this article Hagner argues that evangelicals must use a historical criticism that does not

deny the supernatural, but at the same time is honest as it grapples with history as history,

so that we can interpret the Gospels rightly.

www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/24/24-1/24-1-pp023-037_JETS.pdf

● Prophets Now, with Dr. Walter Brueggemann: In this interview Brueggemann

analyzes how the prophets broke through the domineering structures of their day to bring

a message of judgment and hope. Brueggemann then applies the lessons of the prophets

to the challenges of our day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxV6l12v8uQ

● Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, an interview with Dr. Randy Richards: In

this interview Richards discusses many of the mistakes that are made when we read our

culture into the Bible. www.blogtalkradio.com/grok558/2014/05/17/misreading-

scripture-with-western-eyes

Suggested Essay Questions

● What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of narrative criticism? Delineate at least

two of each.

● What are the assumptions that fuel poststructural readings of the text such as reader-

response and deconstruction? Are these approaches valuable methods, in your opinion?

Why or why not?

● How might someone use something like the study of sociology or anthropology to shed

light on an ancient text?

● What are some of the basic assumptions that undergird and motivate liberation

hermeneutics.

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Chapter Four - The Canon and Translations

Key Terms

canon; apocrypha; intertestamental; Council of Jamnia; Marcion; Muratorian Fragment; Origen;

Athanasius; Council of Hippo; Council of Carthage; canon criticism; textual criticism;

autograph; translation principle; formal equivalency; dynamic equivalency; optimal equivalency

Key Points

● The “canon of Scripture” refers to the biblical books that are accepted as authoritative;

the issues related to this pertain to how we can know which are the correct books to

include.

● The OT canon was decided by at least the early- to mid-first century AD. The NT canon

was established in the fourth century AD. The ordering of the books is a complex

discussion.

● Textual criticism is necessary because the original autographs no longer exist and

unintentional mistakes and changes were introduced in the process of making copies.

● There are a range of translations that follow various theories. Each translation principle

seeks to accomplish some emphasis or balance between accuracy and clarity.

Chapter Summary

The phrase “canon of Scripture” refers to the collection of biblical books that are

accepted as authoritative by Christians (canon comes from the Greek term canon, which means

“list” or “standard”). However, since Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians disagree as

to which books should be included, the question of the canon pertains to how we know we have

the right books.

Since the Reformation, Protestants have accepted an OT canon that includes 39 books.

Meanwhile, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians include additional literature

known as the apocrypha, which was influential during the early period of church history.

Protestants defend their OT canon on the basis that these 39 books were the only books used by

Jews in the time of Jesus and were accepted by the apostles. The apocrypha, meanwhile,

generally dates to the intertestamental period, after which Jews believe prophecy ceased. While

some have argued that the Jews of Jesus’ day had no fixed canon, the evidence from the Council

of Jamnia points to the more likely reality that Jews agreed upon what was included in the OT

canon by the early- or mid-first century AD.

The question of the OT canon’s order is not quite so straightforward. The arrangement in

what is perhaps the oldest order of the books in Jewish tradition goes as follows: the Law

(Genesis-Deuteronomy), the Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah,

and the Twelve Minor Prophets), and the Writings (Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,

Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles). Other traditions

follow the general sequence of Law, Prophets, Writings, but may alter the order of the books in

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the latter two. Meanwhile English Bibles follow the arrangement of the Septuagint, such that the

books of the Prophets and Writings are interspersed with each other.

The recognition of a developing NT canon began early (see how 1 Timothy 5:18 cites

Luke 10:7 and the reflection on Paul’s writings as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:16), but its final shape

took centuries to agree upon. In the second century, such challenges as the spread of Marcion’s

beliefs, the rise of gnostic writings about secret post-resurrection revelations from Jesus, and the

persecution of Christians forced Christians to begin delineating the shape of the NT canon. Thus

around AD 150 Christians began producing lists, such as the (so-called) Muratorian Fragment,

which identify the books that were to be regarded as Scripture. By the early third century, Origen

notes all 27 of our NT books, but notes that Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude

were disputed. In AD 367, Athanasius became the first known Christian writer to endorse all 27

of the NT books without hesitation, and the subsequent Councils of Hippo (AD 393) and

Carthage (AD 397) ratified his views. Thus, despite challenges, the traditional boundaries of the

NT canon have been well established since the fourth century AD.

The order of the NT canon combines chronological and topical concerns with matters

such as the length of the various documents. The four Gospels were placed first to describe the

origins of Christianity in the life of Jesus and were followed by the historical development of the

movement described in the book of Acts. The Pauline epistles are differentiated into two groups,

with one addressing churches and the other addressing individuals; they are generally organized

in terms of decreasing length. With its authorship unclear, Hebrews follows the Pauline epistles

and it is in turn followed by James, Peter, John, and Jude. These epistles are organized by

decreasing length and perhaps by the descending order of their authors’ prominence in the

earliest church. The focus on the end of history in the book of Revelation provides a fitting

conclusion to the canon.

Various theories about how Jews came to accept the 39 books that comprise our current

OT are available, but the clear reasons are largely lost in antiquity. However, the criteria for the

canonicity of the NT may be helpfully understood in the following terms: apostolicity,

orthodoxy, and catholicity. Though not necessarily written by an apostle, all of the NT books

were believed to have been closely associated with those who were considered apostles

(including Paul) or with a connection to Jesus, and came from the apostolic age (first century). In

terms of orthodoxy, Christians believed that the NT books as a whole offered a coherent

theological and ethical message. Finally, the NT canon’s criterion of catholicity refers to the

perceived usefulness of each book to a wide range of churches from the earliest generations of

the faith. In this it is important to be clear that the process of canonization did not impute the

biblical books with authority, rather that the books with recognized authority were admitted to

the canon.

With this in mind, we can now expand the earlier focus on canon criticism, a process

which seeks to interpret the biblical texts in light of their final form. While canon criticism can

examine how the final form of a text has been shaped by its author or editor, it can also focus on

the final form of the text in terms of its placement within the broader OT or NT canon. The

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former of these is a welcome correction to the tendency within historical criticism to search for

earlier tradition histories beneath or behind a text. Meanwhile, the latter approach runs the risk of

deflecting attention from the original meaning or intention of the texts. However, overall, as it

looks past some of the methods employed within modern historical criticism, canon criticism

offers a helpful renewed emphasis on the unity of the Scriptures and draws attention to Bible’s

important theological topics.

We turn now to examine issues related to the biblical text and translations. For students

without training in the biblical languages, who must rely on a translation of the biblical text, it is

important to consider two things: the extent to which their translation utilizes the most accurate

findings of modern textual criticism, and what kind of translation it is they are using.

In a basic sense, the process of textual criticism is necessary because the original

autographs no longer exist. Instead, we have copies of copies of copies (etc.) of the original

autographs and these copies were produced by hand. In the process of making these copies,

scribes occasionally introduced unintentional errors, such as when letters, words, and lines were

omitted. At other points, scribes may have intentionally altered a difficult text in an attempt to

harmonize it with another or smooth over a perceived mistake. For reasons such as these, the

need for textual criticism is crucial and in some sense all other methods of biblical interpretation

rely on it.

When we turn to examine the techniques of how translation is done, we need to take into

account two important factors: accuracy and clarity. Translations based on the principle of

formal equivalency emphasize accuracy and seek to preserve the form and structure of the

original text, sometimes at the expense of clarity. Examples include the (N)KJV and NASB. On

the other hand, translations that are based on the principle of dynamic equivalency prioritize

clarity over replicating form and structure of the original, while still aiming to be true to the

meaning of the text. Examples include the NLT and CEV. Between these, translations that are

optimally equivalent do not prioritize clarity over accuracy or vice versa, but instead attempt to

attain as much of each as possible in every passage. Examples of this type of translation include

the NIV and HCSB.

When choosing a translation it is most important to keep one’s goals in mind. Different

translations are more useful than others for certain activities. For example, a desire to read the

most literal, word for word translation that attempts to follow the structure of the biblical

language would be met with the NASB. Meanwhile, a more readable but still accurate translation

of the original languages in modern English could be found in the NIV. The bottom line is that

wise interpreters of the biblical text will consult more than one translation.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Have students give a presentation on one of the following issues: How did the NT canon

come into being? How is the OT canon ordered and why? How is the NT canon ordered

and why?

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● Split the class in half and have the two sides debate whether the NT canon is closed and

why this debate matters.

● Give a demonstration of a textual criticism issue, explaining how one goes about

considering and deciding between different variants and their ramifications.

● Split students into groups to compare different modern translations of a passage with an

interlinear translation that gives a word-for-word translation of the original language.

Have them identify some of the strengths and shortcomings of each technique in the

modern translations.

Other Media Sources/Websites

● One Bible, Many Versions, featuring Dave Brunn: Brunn helps us sort out the many

competing claims surrounding various English Bible translations.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwYK2duyPg

● Fifteen Myths About Bible Translation, a blog by Dr. Dan Wallace: In this blog

Wallace outlines 15 myths about the translation process.

danielbwallace.com/2012/10/08/fifteen-myths-about-bible-translation/

Follow-up Post: danielbwallace.com/2012/12/28/five-more-myths-about-bible-

translations-and-the-transmission-of-the-text/

● Did Copyists Copy the New Testament Correctly? a sermon by Dr. Daniel Wallace:

In this sermon Wallace discusses the origin of the New Testament and whether or not

what we read in our Bible translations today is the same as what was written in the

original manuscripts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AklwfTtAFoM

● NTcanon.org: compilation of a wealth of material relating to the formation of the NT

canon. www.ntcanon.org/index.shtml

Suggested Essay questions

● Why is it important that we have an established canon? Would it be significant if the NT

canon were still open?

● What were the circumstances that led up to the early church deciding on the books of the

NT canon? Who were some of the main figures involved? Why does the Protestant Bible

not include the Apocrypha?

● Use your understanding of translation theory to respond to the following statement: Only

very literal interpretations relay what God wants to communicate.

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Chapter Five - The Interpreter

Key Terms

Interpreter; qualification; Holy Spirit; illumination; presupposition; revelation; authoritative;

spiritual document; unity; diversity; understandable; methodology; hermeneutics;

preunderstanding; informed circularity

Key Points

● Certain qualifications in the interpreter are necessary for the proper interpretation of the

Bible.

● All interpreters bring certain presuppositions to the text and it is crucial that these be

identified and adjusted as necessary.

● All interpreters also bring a number of preunderstandings to the text. These should be

assessed, compared to the teaching of Scripture, and revised or jettisoned as necessary.

The goal of interpretation is to let the Bible increasingly shape one’s view of reality.

Chapter summary

This textbook maintains certain qualifications as necessary for one to be properly

positioned to yield valid interpretations of the Bible. For example, one must know God and

believe that he speaks through the Bible for a full understanding of it. One must also possess a

willingness to submissively hear and respond to what God reveals in the text. Indeed, a genuine

understanding of a biblical text should be demonstrated in the effect that is had on the reader’s

life. A third necessary qualification involves allowing the Holy Spirit to work in the exegetical

process. One aspect of the Spirit’s indwelling is that the Spirit will illumine or enable the

believer to apprehend a spiritual truth and specifically its significance for Christian living. That

is, working within standard methods of interpretation, the Spirit will enable the reader to grasp

the text’s significance for them. Another qualification relates to the need to recognize one’s

membership in the local and global church. This affiliation will provide accountability and guard

the interpreter from inappropriately individualistic and sectarian readings. Finally, appropriate

methods need to be employed for proper interpretation. In other words, the interpreter must

pursue excellence and learning in all areas that relate to the study of Scripture, with a willingness

to learn from and employ insights from the latest research and data available.

All readers approach texts with underlying assumptions that govern (and even determine)

their interpretations. As such, it is hugely important to identify and consciously adopt the

presuppositions that one agrees with and can defend; otherwise the interpreter will uncritically

maintain and employ the presuppositions they have, which may or may not be adequate and

valid. Since an interpreter’s presuppositions will significantly affect their reading of texts, it is

important to develop a set of presuppositions that constitute a solid starting point. What follows

is an outline of the presuppositions necessary for an accurate interpretation of the biblical text.

23

To start, one’s view of the nature of the Bible will determine the method he or she will adopt as

an interpreter.

Therefore, the first presupposition necessary is that the Bible is a revelation of God’s

message that is inspired by God himself: a supernatural book given to his people through the

work of divinely inspired human authors. Another presupposition that follows is that the Bible is

authoritative and true. As a revelation through which God speaks, the Bible possesses ultimate

authority and provides the standard for human belief and behavior. Moreover, when understood

properly in light of its various literary genres and the accepted cultural standards of its day, it is

true in all it intends to teach. Thirdly, the Bible is a spiritual document which manifests

unparalleled spiritual worth and a capacity to transform lives through the Spirit’s aid. This

spiritual dimension sets the Bible apart from all other writings. A fourth presupposition is that

the Bible is an overall unity even while its contents are diverse. The vehicle of narrative offers a

useful way to view this balance between unity and diversity: the storyline of Scripture’s overall

narrative is unfolded through a diverse number of forms and genres. The fifth presupposition

highlights the belief that the Bible is an understandable document; it is accessible in all that it

intends to communicate to the reader. The sixth and final presupposition maintains the 66 books

of the Protestant canon to constitute God’s scriptural message. These books are to be given

hermeneutical priority in interpretation and authority.

Next, it is necessary to identify one’s presuppositions about methodology. While students

of the Bible should employ all methods that assist in arriving at an accurate understanding of the

meaning of the text, certain methods may conflict with the interpreter’s presuppositional beliefs

about the nature of Scripture, and therefore may require modification or rejection (e.g., methods

which dismiss the possibility of the miraculous). But when an interpretive technique is merely

neutral as it relates to one’s presuppositions, it should be used insofar as it yields results in the

pursuit of the biblical text’s meaning.

A final presupposition revolves around the ultimate goal of hermeneutics: to arrive at the

meaning the authors (or editors) intended their original audience to understand. Related to this

presupposition, however, is the presupposition that the Bible speaks today as the text’s

significance grows out of the original meaning.

We turn now to examine the definition and role of an interpreter’s preunderstandings. All

interpreters approach a text with certain views of the world that are based on their previous

experiences, training, and thinking. Everything from, for example, one’s language, gender,

cultural values, physical environment, and political allegiances contributes. These views,

whether true or false (or some combination) and whether recognized or unrecognized (or some

combination), function as a lens that colors everything the a person encounters and influence

how he or she makes sense of new experiences, including how the interpreter understands their

reading of the biblical text. Thus it is crucial to recognize, as much as it is possible, these pre-

understandings so that they do not improperly determine the meaning of the text in one’s act of

interpretation. The interpreter must be willing to adjust, revise, or even reject erroneous

24

preunderstandings, while embracing new ones. Ultimately, the goal is to let the meaning and

significance of the biblical text further shape one’s understanding of reality.

But how can one know if his or her preunderstandings are valid and will assist the task of

biblical interpretation? In short, the interpreter must test his or her preunderstandings to examine

whether they correspond to the biblical data. Such a statement is based on the belief that the

Bible makes better sense of life than other philosophical systems. A Christian preunderstanding

is informed by a commitment to the Christian faith, which, in its commitment to the Bible as

God’s true and authoritative revelation, provides the boundaries for the believer’s reading of the

Bible. This is an informed circularity.

At the same time, the goal of all interpreters should be an ever-growing, biblically

oriented pre-understanding of the Bible itself that enables further insights into the meaning of its

texts and message. This happens as one’s pre-understandings are continually shaped by new

understandings gained from Bible study. With the new understanding in place, the interpreter can

further engage the text with new questions and allow the answers and insights - discovered

through objective criteria of employing critical methods in pursuit of the original meaning of the

text - to further transform and shape their understanding.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Split the class into five groups and have each group prepare and present to the class on

one of the necessary qualifications for an interpreter.

● Choose two or three presuppositions, a mix of both positive and negative, and

demonstrate to the class how they would affect one’s approach to the Bible,

methodology, or the goal of hermeneutics in a step-by-step basis.

● Have students list out all the possible pre-understandings that may be coloring their view

of Scripture. Talk about the process of identifying what may need to be reformed and

what may need to be rejected.

Other Media Sources/Websites

● The Role of the Spirit in Interpretation, by Dr. Clark Pinnock: In this article Pinnock

argues that the Spirit is necessary for interpretation, because only the Spirit can allow

Christians to faithfully express the message of Jesus. www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-

PDFs/36/36-4/36-4-pp491-497_JETS.pdf

● What Does the Bible “Mean?” Is the Holy Spirit Necessary for Biblical

Interpretation? by Dr. Roger Olson: In this blog Olson carves a middle ground

between persons who argue that only serious textual analysis leads to meaning and those

who argue that all a person needs is the Holy Spirit to reach a correct interpretation.

www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2014/01/what-does-the-bible-mean-is-the-holy-

spirit-necessary-for-biblical-interpretation/

25

Suggested Essay Questions

● Why would it be insufficient to interpret the Bible without a belief that God speaks

through it?

● Why is it necessary to have some presuppositions intentionally set in place when

attempting to understand the Bible?

● Identify at least three various experiences or memories that have shaped your pre-

understandings about the Bible. Which of these is good, and what about these may need

to be revised and changed?

26

Chapter Six - The Goal of Interpretation

Key Terms

communication; author; audience; speech act; locution; illocution; perlocution; authorial

intention; textual meaning; perceived meaning; meaning; significance

Key Points

● Human communication comprises what is called a “speech act,” including the locution,

illocution, and perlocution.

● A locution can have three potential aspects of meaning: authorial intention, textual

meaning, and perceived meaning.

● The question of whether a text can have multiple levels of meaning is indeed complex;

the best option available to modern interpreters is to pursue the author’s intended and

historically conditioned meaning.

● Validating one’s interpretation involves determining the most probable interpretation

with respect to language, literary genre, and historical circumstances, all while

accounting for personal biases.

Chapter Summary

The act of communicating is successful when the meaning understood corresponds to the

meaning intended. As was outlined in chapter one, human communication comprises what are

sometimes called “speech acts.” Speech act theory distinguishes communication into three

elements that together comprise a message’s meaning: the locution (the words, sentences, genre

[etc.] of what is actually spoken or written); the illocution (the intention the author or speaker has

for those words in the form and with the kind of energy employed); and the perlocution (the

author or speaker’s desired or intended response or outcome for the recipients of the message).

There are three potential aspects of meaning in a locution: (1) the meaning the author

intends to convey, (2) the actual grammatical and lexical meaning of the words written, and (3)

the reader’s understanding of the meaning. These aspects raise important questions, since, for

example, the author may not accurately formulate his message (the locution) in a way that

matches his intent (illocution), or, alternatively, the reader’s understanding may not accurately

reflect the author’s intention or the text’s meaning. Because of this, it is necessary to distinguish

between authorial intention, textual meaning, and perceived meaning. Normally the reader of a

message will aim to understand what the author intended. However, we often do not have access

to the author’s mind, but only the text. Thus in biblical interpretation, an important point is that

the goal of interpretation is to understand the meaning of the text with the recognition that it has

been encoded by an author or editor to accomplish some purpose. Along these lines, then

author/text centered methods (such as historical, grammatical, literary, cultural, etc.) must be

central to examining a message’s meaning, including its illocutionary and perlocutionary effects.

27

Still, the question of whether a text can have multiple meanings requires attention. For

example, how do we understand instances where a NT author appears to attribute meaning to an

OT text in ways the original OT author did not intend? In answering such a question it is clear

that the distinction between meaning and significance must be maintained: while it can have

multiple points of significance, a text has only one meaning (unless it is otherwise clear that the

author intended more than one). However, there are instances where it seems evident that a later

writer assigns meaning beyond the original author’s historical sense. In such cases, the NT

authors used interpretive techniques derived from their Jewish background (such as midrash,

pesher, and typology) to envision new meanings. In the instance of typology, we can see that the

OT author had a single intended meaning, but that in God’s larger developing narrative of

salvation, later writers were able to find in prior Scripture a pattern or category that explained

God’s present activities. This process may or may not be repeatable today (see more below).

As noted, this textbook maintains the view that biblical authors generally wrote texts with

a single meaning as they conveyed specific content to effect responses from their readers; this

author-encoded historical meaning is the central objective of hermeneutics. The textual meaning

of a text (a locution) refers to that which the words and grammar of the text disclose regarding

the probable intention of its author/editor (the illocution and perlocution) and the likely

understanding of that text by its intended readers. Thus, while a number of reader-oriented

interpretive approaches may attempt to locate the meaning of the text within the reader’s

experience with the text, only the author-encoded meaning of the text can be legitimately

considered the inspired message of God. At the same time, the author- and text-centered

approach requires the interpreter to study the Bible as literature, for the writer’s message is

encoded in the form of certain known genres that must be appreciated and understood in light of

the ancient customs. Literary considerations are complementary and equally important to the

historical concerns about the world of the author and text. With reference to historicity,

moreover, interpreters must be willing to accept the historicity of an account on the basis of how

the author/editor intended it to be read and how the original readers would have interpreted it in

light of the literary and textual conventions of the day.

We return to the question raised above and consider the role of the interpreter or reader in

the process of discovering meaning. If NT authors found meanings in addition to the original

meaning of the OT author, can we replicate this practice today? As has been noted before, it

must be acknowledged that readers approach texts with different experiences that have shaped

their pre-understandings and presuppositions. While two readers can be guided by the goal of

determining the author’s intent for a text, they may perceive the author’s meaning differently.

They may be driven by an unbeknownst desire to view the evidence in a certain way or a

blindness to other alternatives (or both) and this influences their execution of the interpretive

process. Thus, even while the historical meaning of the text is our goal, we must be open to the

idea that a text with a single purpose (or illocution) can generate multiple perlocutions that go

beyond the one the original author intended, though due care and certain controls are necessary.

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The reader’s fresh interpretation must be consistent with the text’s historical meaning, but it does

not need to be limited to the original perlocution.

How then can one know whether his or her understanding of a passage is correct? Since

we no longer have access to the original author or audience, this question is difficult to answer

with absolute certainty. However, with the established goal of determining the historical meaning

of the text that was intended by the author, we can say that the most probable interpretation of

any given text will be consistent with the use of language and literary genre at the time the text

was written. At the same time we must account for any personal biases which may

inappropriately color our interpretation, as much as it is possible to do so. One may do this by

reading widely about a subject or passage or by consulting the broader church community about

one’s conclusions, to name but two options. If at the end of this process we still remain in

disagreement with other believers about the particular meaning of a text, then Christian grace

must prevail: we should acknowledge that both options are possible and agree to disagree as we

support the other in the life of faith and work of the gospel.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Display a text on the board and have the class attempt to identify and distinguish between

its locution, illocution, and perlocutionary elements.

● Divide students into three groups and have each group make a case for finding a text’s

meaning in one of the following ways: the meaning an author intends; the meaning a

reader understands; the meaning conveyed by the words of the text itself.

● Splitting into pairs or groups, have the students discuss how it may be that a text may

generate multiple perlocutions that go beyond the one the original author intended. What

might this look like? What are some of the controls that may need to be put in place?

Other Media Sources/Websites

● What Factors Should Be Considered in Determining How to Approach a Passage of

Scripture?: In this blog the author argues that in order to determine the original intended

meaning of biblical text the reader must account for style of language, the genre of

literature, the original audience, and the historical and cultural context.

https://biologos.org/common-questions/biblical-interpretation/scripture-interpretation

● Divine Meaning of Scripture, an article by Dr. Vern Poythress: In this article

Poythress delves into the question of the dual authorship of the Bible. www.frame-

poythress.org/divine-meaning-of-scripture/

● ‘Was Augustine an Intentionalist? Authorial Intention in Augustine’s

Hermeneutics,’ an article by Dr. Tarmo Toom: In this article Toom argues that

Augustine held a middle ground between the modern categories of authorial intention and

reader-response.

www.academia.edu/2005657/_Was_Augustine_an_Intentionalist_Authorial_Intention_in

_Augustine_s_Hermeneutics_

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● Shared Intentions? Reflections on Inspiration and Interpretation in Light of

Scripture’s Dual Authorship, an article by Jared Compton: In this article Compton

argues that “1. inspiration does not suggest that the divine and human authors must share

intentions and 2. shared intentions are not the sole means of interpretive stability.”

themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/shared-intentions-reflections-on-inspiration-and-

interpretation-in-light-of

Suggested Essay Questions

● Why is it necessary to comprehend the difference between the locutionary, illocutionary,

and perlocutionary elements of a text?

● How is it possible to declare that there can be different meanings in a text? Delineate the

various potential meanings of a text and identify which is most central to the task of

interpretation.

● Do you agree with the following statement? “We have not completed the interpretive task

until we have determined how a text does or does not correspond with Jesus’ ministry or

the ministry of the church.” Offer some supporting analysis for your agreement or

disagreement.

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Chapter Seven - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Prose

Key Terms

Literary context; flow of thought; immediate context; contextualization; historical-cultural

background; word meaning; word study; lexicon; grammar; morphology; syntax; word order;

sentence; paragraph; discourse; structural relationship; logical relationships

Key Points

● The intended meaning of a passage must be consistent with its immediate and broader

literary contexts.

● A correct interpretation of a passage should also be consistent with its historical

background.

● The words of a passage are critically important. Their meaning must be investigated and

they must be understood in the way that the author uses them.

● The grammar and structural relationships of a passage also factor into understanding what

the author intended to communicate.

Chapter Summary

The main task of this chapter is to outline the principles and procedures necessary for

discerning the author’s meaning in light of the conventions of language communication. This

process involves exploring five essential areas: literary context; historical-cultural background;

word meanings; grammatical relationships; and literary genre. The first four of these will be

examined here.

One basic principle of interpretation is that the intended meaning of a passage must be

consistent with the broader literary context in which it occurs. Three factors support this. First,

the broader literary context establishes the author’s flow of thought (the logical pattern of

communication in which each statement builds on the previous) and to take a passage out of

context violates this flow of thought. Second, as individual words generally can have more than

one meaning, it is the literary context that serves as the most reliable guide for determining the

meaning of the words used. The meaning of these words must be consistent with the other ideas

expressed in the literary context. Third, as words, individual sentences, and paragraphs together

develop the larger arguments of a biblical book, context helps determine the correct relationship

between these units. That is, to qualify as the text’s intended meaning, one’s interpretation must

be compatible with the flow of thought and the particular intention of the immediate context and

the larger book context. Indeed, to interpret a text without any reference to its context is to be

liable to abusing the meaning of the text, and the smaller the passage being studied, the greater

the chance of error.

In order to interpret a passage in its literary context, one must recognize and examine the

passage in at least three stages of context. First, the immediate context, which is that material

immediately before and after the passage, exerts the most important influence over the meaning

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of the passage. One investigates the immediate context by focusing on its theme and structure.

The second stage is the context of the entire biblical book: the passage must be understood in

terms of the message of the book overall. In this endeavor, the interpreter should pay attention to

the book’s controlling themes, its basic outline, and any parallel passages that deal with the same

subject as the passage under examination. Lastly, the context of the entire Bible provides the

final measure of literary context. While this can be harder to evaluate, given the diversity of the

Scriptures, the correct meaning of a passage should be consistent with the larger teaching of that

subject.

The correct interpretation of a passage in Scripture must also be consistent with the

historical-cultural background of the passage. Three points spell this out. First, since the

circumstances in which communication occurs substantially control meaning, it is necessary to

comprehend the perspective of the original communicators (the author and readers) to understand

the correct meaning. To do this, the interpreter must understand as much as possible about the

details of the message’s historical and cultural background. The second point relates to the

mindsets of the author and audience. To understand both the content and the intended impact of a

passage of Scripture, we must be aware of the mindset of the original communicators, and this

requires an understanding of the historical-cultural background of their world. The final point

focuses on the issue of contextualization. The interpreter is prepared to contextualize a text’s

meaning only when he or she understands the background of the biblical world well enough to

express and apply the meaning in contemporary culture.

A number of principles guide the interpreter in this endeavor. First, interpreters must

understand each passage in a manner that is consistent with its historical and cultural

background. Any interpretation that does not fit consistently with the historical and cultural

background cannot be the correct interpretation. Second, the (emotional) impact the message

would have had in its original message must be determined. Third, the interpreter’s conclusions

must be communicated through modern language in ways that closely correspond to the ideas of

the original culture. Finally, the interpreter must be careful not to let the exploration of the

historical-cultural background force a conclusion that is inconsistent with the evident intention of

the author.

The process for studying the historical-cultural background has two main parts: (1)

studying the background of a biblical book and (2) investigating the background of the specific

passages in the book. To study the background of the biblical book, the interpreter should

become familiar with details about the author/editor, the recipients, date of composition, and

purpose of the book. While the historical background study of a particular passage may go more

in depth, it should always be consistent with the historical setting of the book as a whole. In

terms of the cultural background, issues related to, for example, the passage’s worldview,

societal and economic structures, behavioral patterns and political and religious climate are all

essential. Indeed, to the extent that the interpreter can enter the world of the biblical setting to

understand the situations of and relationship between the writer and audience, he or she can

grasp the meaning of the text.

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Words also play a central role in the process of interpretation. Indeed, the correct

interpretation of the Bible is based on the normal meaning of words in their contexts. Apart from

the idea that words come to represent through repeated usage, words are otherwise only arbitrary

signs. Thus, for correct interpretation, it becomes crucial that the interpreter seeks to understand

the words of a passage in the way the author uses them, with the meaning they would have had at

the time of writing (since the meaning of words changes over time). Moreover, since a single

word can have a range of meanings, context is crucial for determining which meaning makes the

best sense. The process for conducting a word study begins with identifying the words that are

most important to study; these may be difficult or rare words, or words that appear to be

theologically loaded. Once the word is selected, the interpreter should determine the range of

meaning the word could have through consulting a lexicon. Then, once the range of meaning is

understood, the specific meaning of the word should be compared to other words in its field of

meaning and with any non-biblical uses of the word there may have been at the time of writing.

With all these steps completed, the interpreter should identify the meaning that best fits the

context in which the word is used.

The final component that must be assessed to determine a writer’s meaning is the

grammatical-structural relationships of the literary units (words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.) he

or she uses. The two main elements involved in grammar are morphology and syntax.

Morphology pertains to the forms of individual words and how they change (or are inflected) to

indicate their function in a language (e.g., changing “pick” to “picked”). Syntax, on the other

hand, denotes the system a language uses to combine its various elements in order to

communicate. Indeed, word order, the forms and combinations of words, and how various

connecting words mark the relationships between words, sentences, and even paragraphs in a

larger discourse all contribute to meaning.

It is also important to understand the structural relationships that are operating in the

author’s writing. After identifying the natural divisions of a section, the interpreter should seek to

trace the author’s flow of thought in the section through an examination of how the sentences

develop a writer’s point(s) in each paragraph. Attention should be given to the various types of

logical relationships the sentences may have (e.g., temporal, causal, comparative, etc.). Attention

should also be given to the force of the verbs used by the authors, including their mood, aspect,

and time. Finally, the interpreter must pay attention to the connectives, adjectives, adverbs, and

pronouns that are employed.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Assign a passage and ask students (either working individually or in pairs) to take ten

minutes to read and interpret the passage, attempting to identify its meaning and

significance. Then provide the students the larger context within which the passage is

found and see what changes the context makes on their interpretations.

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● Split the class into groups of four or five and assign them a text. Providing the necessary

study materials, have the groups explore the historical-cultural backgrounds and share

how their findings might shed light on the passage.

● Offer a selection of biblical words from which to choose. Have students pair up and work

through the process of investigating the word’s most likely meaning in the passage. Have

each pair share the results.

Other Media Sources/Websites

● Glorying in Indicatives and Insisting on Imperatives, a blog by Dr. Kevin DeYoung:

In this blog DeYoung highlights a theological debate that surrounds the practical

implications of imperative verbs that are found in the Bible.

www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/08/16/glorying-in-inidactives-

and-insisting-on-imperatives/

● Conditional Sentences in the New Testament, by Dr. William E. Elliott: In his

dissertation Elliott gives a detailed account of the different types of conditional clauses

that are used throughout the Greek New Testament.

faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/new_testament_greek/text/elliott-

conditionals/elliott-conditionals.pdf

● Why It Is Important to Study the Bible in Context, a blog by Dr. Craig Keener: In

this blog Keener briefly explains why neglecting context disrespects the character of

Scripture. www.craigkeener.com/why-it-is-important-to-study-the-bible-in-context/

● Is ‘Background Information’ Ever Necessary to Understand the Bible? a blog by

Andy Naselli: In this post Naselli offers a cautious ‘yes’ to the necessity of background

information for understanding the Bible. www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-

background-information-ever-necessary-to-understand-the-bible

● The Benefits and Dangers of Word Study, a blog by Dr. Ken Schenck: In this blog

Schenck outlines the basic fallacies and a basic strategy for word study. His word study is

much like that described in Grasping God’s Word, but he adds a few helpful suggestions

at the end. kenschenck.com/wordbenefits.html

● Firstborn: How to Do a Word Study, a blog by Dr. Thomas Howe: In this blog Howe

outlines eight steps that are required to complete a word study.

www.equip.org/article/firstborn-how-to-do-a-word-study/

Suggested Essay Questions

● Discuss the dangers of ignoring or avoiding the literary context or historical-cultural

background (choose one or the other) for interpretation. In what ways might the results of

our interpretation differ if ignored as compared to if they were investigated?

● Why is it important to attempt to understand the words of a passage in the way that the

author was using them at the time that he or she wrote? What are some of the dangers if

this practice is not followed?

● Describe in your own words why it is crucial to investigate matters like grammar and

structural relationships within a passage.

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Chapter Eight - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Biblical Poetry

Key Terms

poetry; prose; imagination; sound; rhyme; meter; assonance; alliteration; wordplay;

onomatopoeia; parallelism; stich; couplet; triplet; ellipsis; chiasm; merismus; imagery; simile;

metaphor; personification; apostrophe; hyperbole; metonymy; synecdoche; irony

Key Points

● Poetry is the second most common form of literature in the Bible and even prose can

have a very poetic structure.

● To understand and interpret poetry requires an understanding of how it uses sound,

structure, and language (certain devices) to communicate.

● Interpreting poetic language requires an interpreter to identify the figure and its emotional

connotations, distill the figurative meaning from the literal one, and then determine the

figure’s function.

Chapter Summary

Poetry is the second most common form of literature in Scripture, making up nearly one-

third of the Bible. As such, it is crucial to understand how it functions and how it should be

interpreted properly.

The distinctive features of poetry include its terseness, the vivid and inventive choice of

words, and a high degree of structure. We may also observe that concrete images are often

employed to convey an abstract idea in poetry. Indeed, the vivid language of poetry aims to

impact the reader’s imagination more than his or her reason; the reader should experience the

topic through the images given. Certainly, poetry is not entirely unrelated to prose, for prose can

consist of very poetic language. Rather, they represent the ends of a literary continuum: the more

the language can be described by the features noted above, the closer it is to the poetry side of

the continuum. The interpreter’s task, when it comes to biblical poetry, is to understand the

poetry’s sound, structure, and language.

In English poetry, sound is analyzed in terms of its rhyme and meter. Rhyme depicts the

correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words at the end of successive or

alternating lines; meter references the movement between accented and unaccented syllables in

each line. Hebrew poetry differs in two significant ways. First, it does not follow a structured

system of rhyming, but rather uses rhyming occasionally and with great effect. Second, its use of

meter is quite flexible. Attention to rhyme helps the interpreter recognize the additional

dimensions and movements of a text. But biblical poetry also uses the sounds of words to create

poetic effects. For example, we find that the biblical authors regularly employed assonance

(repetition of vowel sounds) and alliteration (repetition of consonants) in their poetry (and poetic

prose), often times creating memorable wordplay. Other memorable examples of this kind of

wordplay include the repetition of words and the use of onomatopoeia (a word that sounds like

35

the action it depicts). By giving attention to the words the author emphasized through these

methods, the interpreter may find important clues about the passage’s meaning.

Parallelism is a term that describes when two or more successive lines (or stichs) of a

poem strengthen, reinforce, and develop the thought of the other. Often, it is the second line that

further develops, defines, or expands the first. There are three main variations of parallelism,

each of which can be nuanced further. A first variation of parallelism (A=B) occurs when lines A

and B are interchangeable, as B either echoes or contrasts A. The second variation of parallelism

(A > B) occurs when A states the main idea and B qualifies it, bringing the thought of A to

completion. A third type of parallelism (A < B) describes when A prefaces the main idea and B

develops the main idea in a way that complements or completes A. The main categorizations of

this type of parallelism include time, continuation, comparison, specification, and intensification.

Numerous other poetic structures are possible, including the staircase parallelism, chiasm,

merismus, and inclusio. Indeed, the reader that gives due attention to these features of

parallelism will better understand how structure contributes to a poem’s communication.

Finally, proper interpretation requires examining how biblical poetry uses language. One

aspect of its use of language is imagery. It is crucial to recognize that poets effectively “paint”

pictures with their words; it is these concrete images from everyday life make that their

communication so powerful and memorable. Another observable characteristic of poetry is its

use of numerous devices. For example, poetry frequently employs similes of various kinds

(simple, paired, extended) to compare two things (using “like” or “as”). A poem may also draw a

comparison in a more straightforward manner with the use of a metaphor or a string of

metaphors. In both cases, interpretation must be guided by literary and historical-cultural

context. The poem may also include devices such as personification or the use of an apostrophe,

of hyperbole, metonymy, synechdoche, or irony. To interpret such a wide range of figures, the

interpreter should do the following: first attempt to identify the type of figure, then try to distill

the figurative meaning from the literal meaning, and finally work to determine the figure’s

function.

Much of the discussion so far has assumed shorter units of poetry. Of course not all

poetry is so short! Much larger units of poetry will need to be broken down into their smaller

constituent parts so that these steps of interpretation may be taken and the development of a

larger passage can be traced and its main themes understood.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Demonstrate for the class some of the ways alliteration and assonance can create

wordplays in Hebrew poetry. Offer an example or two of onomatopoeia as well.

● Letting the students pair or triple up, hand out various poems on sheets of paper and have

them attempt to identify the variation of parallelism that is exemplified.

● Hand out numerous examples of Hebrew poetry and let the students practice the process

of identifying imagery figures, distinguishing the figurative from the literal meaning, and

determining how the figure is operating in the poetry.

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Other Media Sources/Websites

● Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Explained and Illustrated; by Dr. E.W.

Bullinger: In this book Bullinger clarifies the meaning of over 200 figures of speech

found in the Bible. www.biblicalresearchjournal.org/brj-

pages_pdf/001ewb_figures_of_speech.pdf

● Getting Brutally Honest with God, by Dr. Tremper Longman: In this article Longman

explains how the psalms of lament provide instruction on how to voice frustration, but

also point us toward hope. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/april/getting-

brutally-honest-with-god.html?share=h04Effqh0uCQY1y10OuI9hXybGXzlFOA

Suggested Essay Questions

● What are some of the ways Hebrew poetry differs from English poetry when it comes to

sound?

● How does parallelism in Hebrew poetry play a role in communicating the poet’s

message? Give at least two examples.

● Identify at least three different devices often used in poetry to communicate imagery.

Explain how each one works and when or why an author might choose to employ it.

37

Chapter Nine - Genres of the Old Testament

Key Terms

genre; narrative; prophet story; comedy; farewell speech; Law; casuistic law; unconditional law;

Deuteronomy; poetry; prayer; imprecatory prayers; songs; liturgies; wisdom psalm; prophecy;

foretelling; forthtelling; prophecy of disaster; prophecy of salvation; woe speech; vision report;

apocalyptic; wisdom; Proverbs; Job; disputation speech

Key Points

● The OT is full of different literary genres and subgenres, each of which must be

interpreted according to its unique design for proper understanding.

● The main literary categories of the OT include narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, and

wisdom literature, with narrative and poetry being the most common.

● OT Law must be carefully interpreted in light of its potential fulfillment with the coming

of Christ.

● A crucial aspect of interpreting the prophetic literature is gaining an understanding of the

many various ways prophecy may be fulfilled.

Chapter Summary

Knowing the genre of a text will provide the interpreter crucial information about how

the text will look and how it properly functions. Accordingly, this chapter delineates the many

types of genres found in the Old Testament literature, examining them using the rubric of

Narrative, Law, Poetry, Prophecy, and Wisdom. It also offers an array of guidelines for their

proper interpretation.

Narratives are the most common form of literature found in the OT, comprising one-third

of its contents. As such, it is important to learn to interpret such a common feature properly!

Narratives themselves occur in many forms in the OT, and these may helpfully be differentiated

in terms of reports and heroic narratives. Reports function as a building block of narrative by

describing the basic facts of what happened. Examples of reports may include anecdotes, battle

reports, dream or epiphany reports, historical stories, etc. Heroic narratives, meanwhile, sketch

some of the episodes that comprise the life and exploits of an important figure, such as their

birth, marriage, life work, or death. These narrative depictions can be positive or negative and

thereby emphasize the need to emulate or avoid. The heroic narrative may be offered in the form

of an epic, prophet story, comedy, or farewell speech, to highlight but a few. Each of these has

their own interpretive requirements about which the reader should be aware. It is common also

for a narrative to have one or more embedded genres. These may be listed as popular proverbs,

blessings and curses, riddles, fables, parables, songs, and lists, each of which has their own

distinctive features. It is important to seek to determine what these features contribute to the

larger message.

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The Law (or legal materials) is one of the major categories within which narratives are

employed in the OT. The Law functioned to outline how through obedience Israel could enjoy

God’s blessings, and what the consequences would be for her disobedience. The primary types of

legal material in the OT are the casuistic law and the unconditional law. Casuistic law is

discernible in its “if/then” structure to outline the principle and its corresponding blessing or

consequence. Unconditional laws, meanwhile, consist of absolute orders about right and wrong

and most often pertain to moral and religious matters. Examples of these include prohibitions,

admonitions, and curses, and these unconditional laws often occur within a similarly styled

series. Moreover, we also find legal instruction genres, some of which instructed priests as to

their various responsibilities (priestly instruction) and some of which provided instruction for lay

people about proper ritual practices. On the whole, to interpret the genre of Law, it is important

to remember that its aim was ultimately instructional and with reference to Israel’s ongoing

relational life with God. To understand the OT law’s significance for Christians today,

meanwhile, is a complicated matter: some laws retain literal validity while others do not in light

of their fulfillment in Christ. These must be interpreted on a case by case basis.

After narrative, poetry comprises the next most common form of literature in OT. The

major categories of poetry include prayers, songs, liturgies, and wisdom psalms. Prayers, for

example, may constitute protests to God for help with an otherwise irresolvable crisis,

imprecations against evil or evildoers, or penitential cries for mercy or relief. Songs may include

thanksgiving songs, various hymns, love songs, and wedding songs. Another form of poetry is

the liturgy. Liturgies were performed in the worship of Israel and involved participation from

both the worship leaders and the congregation. Finally, wisdom psalms often focus on the

identity of God as the creator and cosmic ruler and probe ethical matters such as God’s toleration

of human suffering. Each has unique interpretive requirements.

Another major literary genre in the OT is prophecy. Prophecy is a phenomenon by which

God could convey a message to his people through the agency of human speakers or writers.

Broadly speaking we find prophetic statements in the shape of “foretelling” (i.e., future

predictions) and, more commonly, “forthtelling” (i.e., announcements of coming judgment).

Prophetic utterance can be widely varied, however. For example, the genre of prophecy includes

prophecies about disaster or salvation, a prophetic commission or call to hear, the woe speech,

the vision report, and prophecies against foreign nations. Each of these has its own distinctive

features and requires an interpretive approach that takes them into account. The interpreter

should also be aware of the various ways biblical prophecy can be fulfilled, including literal,

suspended, historical/figurative or historical/spiritual fulfillment. Finally, there is another form of

prophetic literature in the OT known as apocalyptic prophecy. In this genre God uses dreams or

visions with symbols or numbers to reveal his hidden future plans.

A final major genre category in the OT is wisdom literature. Rather than finding wisdom

through the means of divine revelation, wisdom literature is rooted in creation theology and

largely works from observations regarding what does and does not work in God’s world. Indeed,

in light of the widely varying observational perspectives that come from the wisdom literature, it

39

is important to read the literature canonically rather than in isolation. As with the other genres we

have seen, there are different types of wisdom literature. These include, for example, the

proverb, instruction, example stories and reflection, and disputation. Proverbs are brief and

memorable truth statements; they may be descriptive, prescriptive, antithetical (etc.). When

interpreting parables, it is important to recognize they teach probable rather than absolute truths;

following their advice does not then guarantee success, but it raises one’s chances at achieving

success in most cases. Instruction literature functions in the imperative mood to persuade hearers

in one way or another. Differing from parables, these expect to be heeded absolutely. Wisdom

literature also employs example stories and reflections in order to pass on some kind of moral

truth (which is the point). Finally, Job offers an extended example of the disputation speech, in

which the speakers debate in the attempt to persuade the reader or hearer of some truth. These

speeches regularly include various elements, such as protests, petitions, and hymnic elements. At

the heart of interpreting these speeches is the need to determine the truth (or truths) that operate

at the heart of the speaker’s attempt to persuade.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Hand out strips of paper with the names of the OT genres. Hand out on other separate

strips of paper some of the particular rules that go with each genre. Have the students

attempt to match the interpretive rules with the correct genre.

● List various prophetic statements and decide together as a class whether the statement is

an example of foretelling or forthtelling. How should each statement be understood

today?

● List various examples of OT laws on the board. Debate and decide how this law should

be understood in light of the NT.

Other Media Sources/Websites

● Bakhtin on Genre: In this excerpt Mikhail Bakhtin explores the nature of genre.

http://neamathisi.com/literacies/chapter-7-literacies-as-multimodal-designs-for-

meaning/bakhtin-on-genre

● Interpreting and Applying Old Testament Historical Narrative: A Survey of the

Evangelical Landscape, by Dr. Keith Essex: In this article Essex surveys the

interpretive and applicational approaches advocated by Evangelicals toward Old

Testament narrative. These approaches are then presented as a foundation for a

discussion on how to preach 1 Samuel 17. www.tms.edu/m/msj26b.pdf

● The Transformative Power of the Psalms, with Dr. Walter Brueggemann: In this

podcast, Brueggemann argues that the Psalms foremost drive us toward honesty with

God. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz3djIUGCm0

● Qoheleth in the Canon? Current Trends in the Interpretation of Ecclesiastes, by Dr.

Craig Bartholomew: In this essay Bartholomew gives an overview of the history of

interpretation of this book. Then he offers a strategy for reading Ecclesiastes, so that it

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maintains a distinct voice within the canon. https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/themelios/qoheleth_bartholomew.pdf

● Guidelines for Understanding and Proclaiming the Book of Job, by Dr. Greg W.

Parsons: In this essay Parsons articulates specific guidelines for understanding and

proclaiming the book of Job. faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/18-

job/text/articles/parsons-understandingjob-bs.pdf

● The History of Interpretation of Song of Songs, by Dr. J. Paul Tanner: In this essay

Tanner surveys the interpretive approaches to this book and evaluates the hermeneutical

foundations of each. biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_song1_tanner.html

Suggested Essay Questions

● What does the narrative nature of the majority of the OT say about how God has chosen

to reveal himself to humanity? What does this say about the character of God?

● Highlight some of the ways prophetic foretelling, prophetic forthtelling, and apocalyptic

prophecies are distinctive. Why is it necessary to recognize these differences?

● Why is it important to recognize that the wisdom literature teaches probable rather than

absolute truths? What kind of problems can a failure to recognize this distinction lead to?

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Chapter Ten - Genres of the New Testament

Key Terms

Gospels; redaction criticism; theological biography; vertical reading; horizontal reading;

Kingdom of God; ethics; Acts; theological history; epistle; occasional nature; creeds; hymns;

household codes; vice and virtue list; Revelation; apocalyptic; symbolism

Key Points

● The Gospels are theological biographies of Jesus’ life and ministry. They must be read

both horizontally and vertically, giving attention to their unique subgenres (e.g., parables)

and theological emphases.

● The book of Acts tells a theological history. Its themes are developed through its many

narrative features, which must be understood for proper interpretation.

● The NT epistles are “occasional” letters, written to address particular issues. As such, the

circumstances surrounding their writing are crucial to understand as much as it is

possible.

● The book of Revelation combines elements of the epistle, prophecy, and apocalyptic. As

such, each element has unique interpretive requirements.

Chapter Summary

The four main genres that appear in the NT include Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and

Revelation. Within these we find numerous subcategories.

There are four Gospels in the NT and each records a theological account or biography of

Jesus’ public life of ministry and teaching. While these narratives have parallels with other

literature (e.g., Hellenistic biographies), they are uniquely Christian in their attention to the life

and message of Jesus. As such, when assessing the authenticity of the Gospels it is important to

evaluate them according to the standards of their day. When interpreting the Gospels, a few

initial considerations need to be kept in mind. First, it is helpful to read the Gospels both

horizontally and vertically. For example, because of the many parallel but not identical accounts

within the Gospels, a horizontal reading allows the student to identify and assess the distinct

theological emphases of each of the Gospel writers. Rather than blending them together, these

emphases should be respected as unique contributions. At the same time, a vertical reading is to

be prioritized over the horizontal reading. As the vertical reading takes account of the Gospel’s

teaching in light of its own structure and ordering of the themes, it offers the reader the

opportunity to hear the author’s teaching on his own terms. This latter point leads to the second

consideration, which involves the audiences of the Gospels. It is quite likely that the author’s

main emphases in writing were shaped by their concern for the particular needs of their audience.

At the same time, the disciples in the Gospels can be taken to represent believers in any age.

Third, due to the prevalence of their portrayals, both the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ ethics must

be considered. The announcement of the arrival of God’s reign (i.e., the Kingdom of God) is

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Jesus’ central teaching. The message is that the transformative power of God has broken into the

world to set things to rights. However, while God’s reign has been inaugurated, the Kingdom has

not yet fully arrived.

The Gospels contain numerous literary forms, including legal maxims, beatitudes,

announcement stories, and farewell discourses, to name but a few. However, three literary forms

are especially prominent: parables, miracle stories, and pronouncement stories. Parables are the

short, memorable stories told by Jesus. Their interpretation involves a few key elements. As

narrative fiction, it is important to consider each parable’s literary context and helpful to

approach the parable’s meaning by looking for a main point associated with each main character.

Miracle stories, in turn, function to describe the occurrence of something beyond human

capability, something only God could accomplish (himself or using an intermediary). They are

often structured with common motifs, including a description of someone’s distress, their cry for

help, the miracle worker’s response, the miracle, the crowd’s reaction, and finally the miracle

worker’s reaction to the crowd. These miracle stories function to demonstrate who Jesus was and

the powerful reality that characterizes God’s in-breaking reign. A third prominent literary form is

the pronouncement story. These proverbial and memorable statements function to introduce a

key climactic statement by Jesus.

The second major genre in the NT is found in the book of Acts; it can be properly

considered in terms of a theological history. Acts is related to its preceding volume (the Gospel

of Luke), but expands its scope to narrate the activities and teachings of numerous early church

leaders; in a sense it is best understood as recording the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” in the early

expansion of Christianity. Proper interpretation of Acts requires attention to its narrative features,

such as plot structures, climax, character development, etc. This calls for a vertical reading of its

material in light of the book’s larger outline (and broader relationship to the Gospel of Luke).

The reader will need to wrestle with the degree to which the book’s events are descriptive versus

prescriptive. It is specifically necessary to take note of the event of Pentecost in Acts 2, for this

marks a pivotal turning point between the Mosaic covenant and the age of the new covenant, in

light of which the rest of the book’s events must be understood. Another significant feature

central to Acts is the expansion of the gospel from Jewish to Gentile territory.

The New Testament epistles makeup the third major literary genre. As the epistles are

letters to specific groups or individuals, it is necessary for the interpreter to identify as much as it

is possible the identity and historical circumstances surrounding the author and audience. This is

particularly crucial in light of the “occasional” nature of epistles. Epistles in the first century

typically included a salutation, a prayer or expression of gratitude for the well-being of the

recipient(s), the major reason for writing, a possible exhortation, and a closing farewell.

Knowing this helps the interpreter identify the typical and atypical features of the NT epistles.

Epistles can be further divided into various classifications, including, for example, exhortational

letters (e.g., 1 Thess), diatribes (e.g., Romans), letters of recommendation (e.g., Philemon), and

family letters (e.g., Philippians). In contrast, Hebrews, James, 1 John, and Jude vary from the

traditional letter genres and require specific attention to their unique formats and emphases for

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interpretation. Beyond this, epistles contain a few significant forms of material, including creeds

and hymns, the domestic code, slogans, and vice and virtue lists.

The book of Revelation offers the fourth major literary genre of the NT. It uniquely

combines elements from three distinct genres: epistle, prophecy, and apocalyptic. As an epistle,

Revelation includes many characteristics of a letter and was written to a particular group of

churches. As such, the interpreter will do well to reconstruct the historical circumstances so as to

better understand the details of the author’s comments to each church. In this vein, it is crucial to

remember that the author’s meaning could not be something incomprehensible to the original

audience. As a form of prophecy, Revelation stands in the tradition of the OT’s major prophets,

including both forthtelling and foretelling. Indeed, its closest parallels are with Isaiah, Jeremiah,

and Ezekiel. The time-orientation of Revelation is hotly debated, but it may be best to understand

the prophecy as a combination of both past (preterist) and future events. In particular, the events

described in chapters 6-19, which usher in Christ’s return, remain future. The nature of how

these prophecies will be fulfilled is also unknown; it seems they predict literal events, but the

descriptions do not portray those events literally. Finally, as apocalyptic, Revelation shares

features of a common genre, including a description of the events surrounding the end of world

history through visions, and God’s supernatural intervention. To be sure, Revelation employs

such features in line with a distinctively Christian character. In line with other apocalyptic

literature, Revelation employs highly symbolic and figurative imagery and numbers. While it is

crucial to discover what these features represent, they should not be interpreted too literally.

Instead, each scene and image should be studied in light of the information given by Revelation

itself, the relevant OT backgrounds, and in light of what historical information John’s first-

century audience could have been aware. In this endeavor, there are no shortcuts and the

guidance of good commentaries is paramount. Overall, a helpful guideline follows: attempt to

determine the book’s major theological principles while avoiding getting bogged down with the

details.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Assign a miracle story found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. Have students conduct

both a vertical and horizontal reading in order to expound on the significance of that

episode for that particular Gospel.

● Split the class into small groups of two or three. Give each group two or three episodes

from the book of Acts and have them determine and defend whether the episodes are

prescriptive or descriptive.

● Divide the students into groups, assigning each group one of the following epistles:

Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, or Philemon. Have the groups work to identify the

particular circumstances surrounding the epistle and present to the class how these shed

light on the epistle’s teaching.

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Other Media Sources/Websites

• Interpreting the Gospels: The Landscape and the Quest, by Dr. Donald Hagner: In

this article Hagner argues that evangelicals must use a historical criticism that does not

deny the supernatural, but at the same time is honest as it grapples with history as history,

so that we can interpret the Gospels rightly.

www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/24/24-1/24-1-pp023-037_JETS.pdf

• Parables in the Gospels: History of Interpretation and Hermeneutical Guidelines, by

Dr. Robert Plummer: In this article Plummer has a threefold goal: 1. define “parable”; 2.

give a brief historical survey of how the parables have been interpreted; 3. offer some

guidelines for properly interpreting parables. http://equip.sbts.edu/wp-

content/uploads/2009/10/sbjt_v13_n3_plummer.pdf

● The Unity of Luke and Acts with Dr. Darrell Bock: In this video Bock defends the

unity of Luke and Acts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUqAsnm09u0 Note: To see the

other parts of this interview simply search “Darrell Bock Luke Acts” on the YouTube

homepage.

● Listening to Intertextual Relationship in Paul’s Epistles with Richard Hays, by Dr.

Charles Gieschen: In this article Gieschen interacts with Hays’ project of understanding

Paul’s use and interpretation of the Old Testament.

www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/gieschenlisteningwithhays.pdf

● Reassessing a Rhetorical Approach to Paul’s Letters, by Dr. Michael Bird: In this

article Bird assesses the values and limits to rhetorical approaches in relationship to

Paul’s letters.

www.academia.edu/4601237/Reassessing_a_Rhetorical_Approach_to_Pauls_Letters

● The Book of Revelation, with Dr. Richard Bauckham and Dr. Ben Witherington: In

this video Bauckham and Witherington discuss the theology of Revelation.

seedbed.com/feed/dr-richard-bauckham-and-dr-ben-witherington-iii-on-the-book-of-

revelation/

Suggested Essay Questions

● How does a vertical reading of a Gospel differ from a horizontal reading? Explain some

of the reasons you would employ a vertical reading and some of the reasons you would

employ a horizontal reading.

● What are some of the primary ways the responsible interpreter would read the book of

Acts differently from an epistle like Ephesians or James?

● Why is it necessary to wrestle with the question of whether Acts’ contents are descriptive

or prescriptive? What is at stake in the decision for daily Christian life?

● Why is it so important to take seriously the occasional nature and historical

circumstances of Revelation? What interpretive problems could arise if we do not?

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Chapter Eleven - Using the Bible Today

Key Terms

revelation; information; understanding; motivation; worship; liturgy; theology; systematic

theology; biblical theology; preaching; teaching; pastoral care; spiritual formation; beauty;

literature

Key Points

● The hermeneutical process should be employed in the service of something greater: the

active working of the Word of God.

● The Bible can be used in numerous ways, including, for example, for gaining

information, motivating worship, formulating theology, and providing pastoral care.

● Biblical theology and systematic theology are both useful approaches to understanding

the theological message God has revealed. They have distinct differences, however, that

should be understood.

Chapter Summary

The task of hermeneutics is not an end in itself; it ultimately functions in the service of

the active working of the living Word of God. This chapter outlines a number of uses of the

Bible today.

To start, we find that one way the Bible can be used is to gain information and

understanding. That is, as God’s revelation to humanity, the Bible contains information about

God and his world. In order to understand such things as who God is, why the world is the way it

is, how God has acted to redeem the world, and how God desires his people to live in the world,

God’s people must turn to the Bible.

The Bible can also be used to motivate and enrich worship. Since it contains the divine

revelation, for example, of who God is and what he has done to redeem and reconcile humanity

to himself, its message inherently draws the Christian to worship. Moreover, through its own

examples of worship and its exhortatory instruction, Scripture also functions to give shape to

both individual and corporate worship. In a closely related third use, the Bible can provide a

source from which to create liturgies that further aid and enable worship. Such liturgies helpfully

enable the worshiper to rehearse elements of the Bible’s saving drama and embody or direct their

responses to God.

Scripture also operates to enable the church to formulate theology. In employing this

fourth function, Christians use the Scripture as a source from which to formulate in an orderly or

systematic fashion its system of belief about God, his action, and his world. This formulation can

take different shapes. Biblical theology aims to expound the Bible’s theology as it emerges from

its historical framework while using the Bible’s own terminology, categories, and thought forms.

Systematic theology, meanwhile, aims to provide a coherent presentation of Christian doctrine

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through a summary of the entire Bible’s witness, using the chosen categories of the

systematician.

A fifth use of the Bible involves preaching, the act of communicating the biblical

message to people. Preaching involves arriving at an understanding of a biblical text’s correct

meaning and significance, and communicating these in order to persuade hearers to respond in an

appropriate manner. A related and sixth use of Scripture is that of teaching, or giving specific

instruction in the issues of Christian beliefs. Teaching assumes the similar process of gaining an

understanding of the author’s original meaning and the significance of a text for the believer

today.

The Bible can also be used to provide pastoral care. As life happens in a fallen world,

with its many cruel realities and experiences, the Bible serves as an irreplaceable resource of

comfort and assurance to God’s people. These reminders point to God’s character, his activity,

his faithfulness, and his promises to the believer.

The eighth use is related: the Bible serves as a catalyst for the Christian’s spiritual

formation. Its many teachings and exhortations provide both the guidance and the motivation for

the believer to develop a robust spiritual life and walk with God. And indeed, the Holy Spirit

nurtures the spiritual lives of Christians through the reading of Scripture.

Finally, the Bible may be read simply for the purpose of enjoying its beauty as literature.

With its many facets and features (including its narratives filled with adventure, humor, and

suspense; its beautiful poetry, fascinating apocalyptic visions, and intriguing parables) the Bible

is a message to be enjoyed by its readers, both intellectually and emotionally.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Divide the class into enough groups to assign either one or two of the biblical uses that

were discussed in this chapter. Have each group present on some of the practical ways

this use of the Bible may be performed and how it may be beneficial for the building up

of the church.

● List a number of theological issues on the board or on a handout. As a class, discuss and

decide how each issue would be differently served when using either a biblical or

systematic theological approach toward delineating it.

● Have each student choose one of the uses of the Bible described in this chapter and write

a 500- to 750-word paper on ways they could integrate their chosen use into their lives.

What changes or growth might they expect or hope to see?

Other Media Sources/Websites

● The Primacy of Expository Preaching, a lecture by Dr. D. A. Carson: In this lecture Carson

explains the richness and role of preaching, specifically expository, in the local church.

www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/the-primacy-of-expository-preaching-part-1

47

● Jesus the Logician, by Dr. Dallas Willard: A portion of this article suggests that the

integration of serious analysis with lectio divina would serve the greater end of bringing

together faith and learning. www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=39

● BiblicalTraining.org: An online biblical and ministry training website featuring courses

in Bible, Greek, Hebrew, theology, and practical ministry. Features full audio of courses

taught by various prominent evangelical scholars. www.biblicaltraining.org/

● The Gospel Coalition: Provides various sermons, reviews, and teaching helps for the

study of the Bible. thegospelcoalition.org/resources/

● Help Me Teach the Bible: Provides an audio episode on the topic of teaching Biblical

Theology with Graeme Goldsworthy. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/help-

me-teach-the-bible-graeme-goldsworthy-on-biblical-theology

Suggested Essay questions

● What do you understand the phrase “hermeneutics is not an end in itself; it ultimately

functions in the service of the Word of God” to mean? Why is this crucial to grasp as

interpreters?

● Select two of the uses of the Bible outlined in this chapter, one that would be useful for a

group of believers and the other for an individual. Describe how you would seek to

employ that use of the Bible to build up either that group or that individual. What kind of

changes or signs of growth would you hope to see?

● What are the primary differences between biblical and systematic theology? What are

some of the reasons you would choose to employ one approach rather than the other?

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Chapter Twelve - Application

Key Terms

Meaning; application; principle; significance; literary context; historical context; methodology;

universal application; culture; spiritual rebirth; spiritual maturity; diligent study; common sense;

logic; humble dependence; Holy Spirit

Key Points

● Looking beyond the relevance of the Scriptures for their first audience, this chapter

explores their significance for modern interpreters today.

● There are numerous mistakes that are to be avoided while seeking to apply the Bible, but

some of the most common ones are delineated here.

● A four-step process lays out the responsible methodology for applying the Bible.

● Five necessary elements for proper interpretation and application are described.

● Reliance on the Holy Spirit is necessary for the approach to Scripture.

Chapter Summary

For the Christian, the interpretive process culminates in determining how the meaning of

a text applies to life. In asking about application, we are inquiring about the relevance of

Scripture beyond its first audience, and looking to determine its significance for our lives today.

The basis for this concern is found in the Bible’s own claim that all of Scripture is inspired and

has relevance for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

While there are numerous mistakes to avoid in the interpretive process, here are three of

the more common ones. The first mistake is to entirely neglect all context. While it is crucial to

look to the Bible for instruction for living life, this mistake occurs when we drop in and out of

Scripture looking for guidance without any concern or attention whatsoever to the broader

context. Apart from context, the meaning of a singular verse or statement will be unclear and

may even appear to teach something the author would not have condoned! It is also common,

secondly, to mistakenly neglect the literary or historical context of a passage. This happens when

we take a verse or passage out of its culturally or historically conditioned context and blankly

apply it to our lives, assuming it proves true. Such a mistake, for example, is commonly

exercised with Jeremiah 29:11. A third and more subtle mistake is to apply a properly interpreted

passage to a situation for which it was not intended. For example, that Jesus promises to be

present where two or more are gathered is true, but the point in Matthew 18:20 has a direct

reference to church discipline.

How then can we devise a methodology for responsible application? Using sound

hermeneutical principles, here is a four-step process for determining a relevant and transferrable

principle of a passage to today’s situation that can help. The first step is to determine the original

application intended by the passage. How did the author want the original audience to respond?

49

For example, is there a command to follow or truth to believe? Next, we should evaluate the

level of specificity of those applications to their original circumstances. If the original

applications can be transferred across time and space, we may do so in a culturally appropriate

manner. As this can be difficult to assess, there may be a need to investigate the transferability of

the original application through a process of questioning laid out in this chapter. For example, is

the original principle embodied elsewhere in Scripture in another form? Does the broader context

of the book limit the principle’s application or does it promote a universal application? Does

subsequent revelation limit or qualify or even contradict the original application of a principle?

Third, if the original applications cannot be transferred, identify the cross-cultural principle(s)

that are reflected in the text. If we find a passage to have a broad and timeless principle tied to a

particular culture or historical context, it is necessary to devise new applications of that principle

for new situations. In doing this kind of work with principles, it is helpful to remember that the

closer the application is to the originally intended response, the greater the authority the principle

has. Alternatively, the further we remove the principle from the intended application in the

original situation, the more caution we need to use in its contemporary application. The fourth

step of the process is to find appropriate applications that embody the broader principles. Once

the principle/application relationship of the original context is understood, we

seek to translate the same principle for an appropriate application today. In order to do this we

must become faithful in our attempt to understand not only the original cultural application, but

also the culture in which we now live, so that responsible application is possible.

In practical terms, five things are necessary for the proper interpretation and application

of Scripture: spiritual rebirth, spiritual maturity, diligent study, common sense and logic, and a

humble dependence on the Spirit for understanding and discernment. Of course, everything

taught in this book requires a reliance on the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the hermeneutical task.

While this does not promise an infallible interpretation, ensure a comprehensive understanding,

or replace diligent study and the need for logic, this should be the established pre-understanding

of the interpreter.

Pedagogical Suggestions

● Using different texts, demonstrate how the most frequent interpretive mistakes are often

made, and how they can be avoided.

● Provide students with a few texts and descriptions of various cross-cultural scenarios. As

a class, attempt to discern the underlying principle of the passage and how that might be

contextualized and applied to each of those different cultural scenarios.

● Splitting the class into groups, assign each group one of the categories of a necessary

element for proper interpretation and application (discussed in this chapter). Have the

students prepare a presentation on why their assigned feature is so important.

Other Media Sources/Websites

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● Applying Old Testament Narratives, by Dr. Ken Schenck: In this presentation

Schenck gives an overview of some key aspects of Old Testament narratives and how

Christians might engage them in application. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzaIqoguws

● Applying New Testament Letters, by Dr. Ken Schenck: In this lecture Schenck

discusses how we appropriate New Testament letters as Scripture.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8EWMIm8yo

● The Holy Spirit’s Role in Biblical Interpretation, by Dr. Daniel Fuller: In this article

Fuller shows that proper interpretation is only gained through the Holy Spirit.

www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/14_2_PDFs/14_2%20Fuller%20Holy%20Spirit.pdf

● The Role of the Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics, by Dr. Roy Zuck: In this article Zuck

explains how the Holy Spirit is active in the interpretive process. This allows believers to

read the Scripture rightly. biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_spirit_zuck.html

Suggested Essay Questions

● Why does context remain so important for the process of determining application?

● How does the author’s intended response (perlocution) for the original audience relate to

modern-day application?

● According to the authors, the Holy Spirit does not override logic, give intuitive insights,

or ensure comprehensive understanding. So why is it important to rely on the Holy Spirit

for proper interpretation? What are some of the ways the Spirit guides our interpretation?

51

Student Learning Objectives

Chapter One - The Need for Interpretation

Student learning objectives:

1. To understand the purpose of the hermeneutical process.

2. To identify the challenges to proper interpretation.

3. To understand the challenge of accounting for one’s presuppositions and pre-

understandings.

4. To understand the elements involved in the composition of a message’s meaning.

5. To recognize the additional, deeper significance of the interpretive process for a

Christian.

6. To comprehend the difference between meaning and significance.

Chapter Two - The History of Interpretation

Student learning objectives:

1. To gain a broad overview of the history of interpretation.

2. To learn about the various methods that shaped the Apostles’ interpretive methods.

3. To learn about the impact of key figures in history, including Augustine, Jerome,

Aquinas, Erasmus, and Luther.

4. To comprehend the significant impact of the Reformation for interpretive practice.

5. To understand the effect of the Enlightenment and rationalism on interpretive

methodologies and the modern interpreter’s presuppositions.

6. To recognize the distinct trends that have influenced and shaped the modern methods of

interpretation.

Chapter Three - Literary and Social-Scientific Approaches to Interpretation

Student learning objectives:

1. To examine and evaluate other critical methods commonly employed for interpretation.

2. To learn about forms of literary criticism, including narrative criticism and

poststructuralism.

3. Within poststructuralism, to learn about deconstruction and reader-response methods.

4. To learn to differentiate social-scientific approaches between those that explore a text’s

social history and those that apply modern theories of human behavior.

5. To explore the many benefits of investigating the social history of a text.

52

6. To learn about the various aspects of interpretation being conducted by various advocacy

groups, such as liberation hermeneutics, feminist hermeneutics, LGBT hermeneutics, etc.

Chapter Four - The Canon and Translations

Student learning objectives:

1. To gain an understanding of what the “canon of Scripture” refers to.

2. To learn when the canon was established for the OT and for the NT.

3. To learn about the main figures and the main councils involved in establishing the

biblical canon.

4. To learn how the order of the books for each testament was decided.

5. To learn the basics of textual criticism, including why it is necessary.

6. To learn the basics of how texts are translated and about the major English translations.

Chapter Five - The Interpreter

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn about the various qualifications necessary for the interpreter.

2. To attempt to comprehend why they are indeed necessary and not merely suggestions.

3. To learn some of the important presuppositions about the nature of the Bible,

methodology, and the goal of hermeneutics.

4. To learn to recognize and identify the many types of pre-understandings.

5. To comprehend the goal of letting one’s pre-understandings be shaped further and further

by the Bible.

Chapter Six - The Goal of Interpretation

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn to understand and use the three elements of “speech act” theory.

2. To learn to distinguish among authorial intention, textual meaning, and perceived

meaning.

3. To recognize that the goal of interpretation is to discover the author-encoded meaning of

a message.

4. To identify the various options related to the question of whether a biblical text has one

or multiple meanings.

5. To examine the various elements involved in discerning the author-centered meaning of a

text.

6. To learn about the place of the reader in “constructing” meaning.

7. To identify the means of validating one’s interpretation.

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Chapter Seven - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Prose

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn about literary context and how it has bearing on discovering the intended

meaning of a passage.

2. To learn about the importance of the historical-cultural background for interpreting a

passage.

3. To learn the process and elements involved in investigating the historical and cultural

background.

4. To learn the importance of coming to understand the meaning of words.

5. To learn the basic method of doing a word study.

6. To learn about grammatical-structural relationships, including morphology and syntax.

7. To learn and understand the importance of the structural relationships in an author’s

writing.

Chapter Eight - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Biblical Poetry

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn how poetry generally operates and how it should be interpreted properly.

2. To become familiar with the distinctive features of poetry, both English and Hebrew.

3. To learn about how Hebrew poetry employs the use of sound for dramatic effect, and the

ways this may aid in making a poem memorable.

4. To examine the variations of parallelism and the ways in which they structure their

content.

5. To gain an understanding of the various types of devices used in biblical poetry to convey

imagery.

6. To learn the process of interpreting a biblical poem.

7. To learn how to break down larger units of poetry and ask questions to enable

interpretation.

Chapter Nine - Genres of the Old Testament

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn about the genres of the OT and become familiar with the many various

subgenres within each literary genre category.

2. To explore which genres are the most common, and where they are found in the OT.

3. To be able to describe how narratives work, where they are found in the OT, and some of

the basic rules of interpretation for this genre.

4. To learn to discuss how poetry operates, which parts of the OT employ this type of genre,

and how poetic literature should be interpreted.

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5. To be able to outline the different types of prophecy found in the OT, where they would

be found, and how one might approach them interpretively.

6. To learn about the wisdom literature in the OT, including where it is found, and how one

should go about attempting to interpret it.

Chapter Ten - Genres of the New Testament

Student learning objectives:

1. To gain an overview of the genre of Gospel, its purpose, distinctive features, and various

literary forms.

2. To learn to read and interpret the Gospels vertically and horizontally, paying attention to

their unique literary features and theological emphases.

3. To learn about the distinctive elements of the book of Acts and how to read it

responsibly.

4. To examine the genre of epistles, learning how they functioned and were structured in the

first century.

5. To learn to read the epistles in light of their occasional nature and historical

circumstances (author and audience) and according to their structure and unique material

forms.

6. To gain an understanding of the unique features of Revelation, observing how it

combines elements found in epistles, prophecies, and apocalyptic.

7. To learn principles for properly interpreting Revelation.

Chapter Eleven - Using the Bible Today

Student learning objectives:

1. To explore and be able to explain why hermeneutics is not an end in itself.

2. To learn about the various ways the Bible may be used in the life of believers and the life

of the church.

3. To be able to describe how you might employ these uses in your own ministry with

individuals and groups.

4. To learn the primary features that distinguish biblical theology from systematic theology.

5. To be able to explain some of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of both approaches

and when one should be employed or consulted over the other.

6. To explore how the Bible may be enjoyed simply as good literature.

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Chapter Twelve - Application

Student learning objectives:

1. To learn why the interpretive process culminates in application.

2. To be able to explain why application is so important.

3. To learn to describe some of the more common mistakes interpreters often make, and

how to avoid them.

4. To learn to use a four-step method for practicing legitimate interpretation.

5. To be able to describe the process of determining whether an application can be

transferred across time and space.

6. To be able to delineate the various levels of authority an application may have.

7. To learn to describe how the Holy Spirit does and does not influence the interpretive

process.

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Chapter Quizzes

Chapter One - The Need for Interpretation

Chapter quiz

True and False

1. The term “hermeneutics” refers to the principles used to understand what a message

means. -True

2. It is not important to consider the role of the interpreter in the interpretation process.

-False

3. Perlocution refers to the content of a message. -False

4. The genre of a text is an important factor to consider when interpreting it. -True

5. Meaning is comprised of the interplay between locution, illocution, and perlocution.

-True

6. One challenge to interpreting the Bible is that we know nothing about any of its human

authors. -False

7. The use of critical methods is important but not entirely sufficient for interpretation.

-True

8. Cultural distance is the only challenge the interpreter faces. -False

9. The original meaning must be limited to what the original readers could have understood.

-True

10. The full interpretive process involves determining a message’s meaning and its

significance. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. In light of the need to account for the text, author, and audience, it is an important

limitation that modern interpreters only have direct access to the text .

12. A text’s meaning must be understood in light of the author’s intended communication.

13. A text’s significance may be understood in light of the broader message of the Bible

and history of interpretation

14. The denotative use of a word refers to its precise or direct meaning.

15. The distance of language refers to the difference between the ancient biblical languages

and the modern language of the interpreter.

Multiple Choice

16. The act of interpretation is both:

a. An art and a skill

b. An art and a science

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c. A skillset and a science

d. A habit and a method

17. The interpreter brings the following to the text:

a. Circumstances

b. Presuppositions

c. Pre-understandings

d. All of the above

18. The term locution refers to:

a. The speaker’s intention for his or her words

b. The effects the speaker envisions for his or her words

c. The actual words or content of a speaker’s message

d. The distance between the reader and the location where the event took place

19. The meaning of a text is primarily determined by the text’s:

a. Author

b. Reader

c. Text

d. Interpretive Tradition

20. The distance of time refers to:

a. The fact that numerous languages were used in writing the Bible

b. The reality that the Bible was written in a different land from the majority of

interpreters today

c. The truth that many centuries have passed since the writing of the Bible

d. The belief that early Christians and Jews used a different calendar

21. A contextual use of a word highlights its:

a. Direct meaning

b. Sense suggested by its context

c. Suggestive sense that is related to its denotative use

d. Secondary meaning

22. Which of the following challenges exist in interpretation:

a. Modern interpreters have access only to the text

b. There is a difference in modern and biblical languages

c. The cultural values of modernity and antiquity are different

d. Many of the places where the events of the Bible took place are difficult to access

or inaccessible

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e. All of the above

23. The Holy Spirit plays the following role in interpretation:

a. To convince and convict about truth and enable right living

b. To conceal certain messages and convict about sin

c. To illuminate deeper meanings and convince about truth

d. To teach the meaning of difficult texts and enable understanding

24. The goal of hermeneutics is found in helping a reader:

a. Uncover and understand the meaning of the text

b. Understand and teach the truth of the text to others

c. Recognize and understand the hidden messages of Scripture

d. Understand and apply the message to their lives

25. The Eternal Relevance of biblical interpretation refers to:

a. The idea that meaning is governed by what the original audience could have

understood

b. The idea that significance is more important than meaning

c. The idea that the Bible is God’s word to his people

d. The idea that all interpreters have their own theological presuppositions

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Chapter Two - The History of Interpretation

True or False

1. The major interpretive method employed within Hellenistic Judaism is allegory. -True

2. The “patristic period” began employing traditional interpretation as they sought to defend

their understanding of doctrine against alternative teachings. -False

3. The Vulgate became the basis of Catholic biblical interpretation and church doctrine.

-True

4. Anabaptists and Mennonites were distinctive among Reformation groups for their

allegorical method of interpreting the NT. -False

5. At the Council of Trent the Catholic Church responded to the Reformation by upholding

the authority of the Vulgate. -True

6. The main concern of pietism was to cultivate Christian practice through group Bible

study, prayer, and emphasis on personal morality. -True

7. The historical-critical method was often used to explore a text’s undergirding history

development without any commitment to the Bible as divine revelation. -True

8. Barth critiqued liberalism and emphasized the authority of the Word of God. -True

9. The Biblical Theology Movement attempted to recover the unity of the Bible and

rediscover its theological voice. -True

10. Canon criticism focuses on the sources behind the text of the Bible. -False

Fill in the Blank

11. Typological interpretation refers to the identification of earlier patterns or symbols with

God’s later work in Christ.

12. A hermeneutical principle using church tradition as authoritative may be called the

traditional interpretation method.

13. The concern of scholasticism was to discern the relationship between faith and reason,

while rationalism identified human reason as capable of determining truth.

14. Redaction criticism highlights attention to the distinctive theological emphases of

biblical writers and editors.

15. Theological interpretation aims to recover the theological voice of the Bible with the

help of pre-critical and pre-reformation voices.

Multiple Choice

16. Which of these schools of Jewish interpretation attempted to address the challenge of the

cultures around them by promoting obedience to Torah?

a. Ancient Judaism

b. Qumran

c. Rabbinic Judaism

d. Hellenistic Judaism

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17. Which of the following describes the process of updating or revising authoritative texts to

address the challenges of a new generation?

a. Scholasticism

b. Inner biblical allusion

c. Allegorical interpretation

d. Typology

18. The apostolic interpreters employed which hermeneutical method(s)?

a. Literal fulfillment interpretation

b. Typological interpretation

c. Literal-contextual interpretation

d. Principle/Application interpretation

e. All of the above

19. Who completed the first modern edition of the Greek New Testament?

a. Augustine

b. Erasmus

c. Jerome

d. Luther

20. Which of the following describes the approach used to understand the contemporary

religious milieu surrounding the Bible?

a. Theological interpretation

b. Lectio divina

c. History of interpretation

d. History of religions

21. Which of the following was an important example of an exegete who prioritized the

literal or historical meaning of a text?

a. Philo

b. Origen

c. Augustine

d. Clement of Alexandria

22. The Latin translation of the OT, NT, and Apocrypha is known as the

a. Septuagint

b. Masoretic Text

c. King James Version

d. Vulgate

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23. Which is not true about Luther?

a. He affirmed Scripture as the ultimate authority for the Christian life.

b. He produced the first modern edition of the Greek NT.

c. He emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit in interpretation.

d. He rejected the allegorical method of interpretation.

24. The phrase sola Scriptura captures which of the following Reformation principles?

a. Faith alone

b. Grace alone

c. Scripture alone

d. Christ alone

25. Which of the following interpretive approaches is not associated with the twentieth or

twenty-first centuries?

a. History of religions

b. Reader-response criticism

c. Intertexual criticism

d. Allegorical interpretation

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Chapter Three - Literary and Social-Scientific Approaches to Interpretation

True or False

1. Literary criticism is generally ahistorical. - True

2. Narrative criticism employs many of the same methods used to study classic literature. -

True

3. One problem with narrative criticism is the tendency to view Scripture as fiction. - True

4. Poststructuralism is a form of social-scientific analysis. - False

5. Reader-response criticism maintains that meaning come from the text itself. - False

6. Deconstruction methods aim to show problems in the text and how the text ultimately

undermines itself. - True

7. Social-scientific analysis attempts to apply modern theories about human behavior to the

Bible. - True

8. Liberationist readings aim to read Scripture from the perspective of the marginalized. -

True

9. Feminist hermeneutics can shed light on the patriarchal perspective that undergirds

Scripture. - True

10. LGBT readings of Scripture often turn to the significant accounts of God’s liberation of

his people. - False

Fill in the Blank

11. Poststructuralism is linked ideologically with postmodernism.

12. One might examine social history in an attempt to better understand the social world

out of which texts come.

13. Much like liberation theology, postcolonialism aims to read Scripture from the

perspective of the marginalized.

14. One benefit of narrative criticism is that it offers a helpful examination of the text in

its final form.

15. Queer readings often focus attention on cases of strange human behavior in the Bible.

Multiple Choice

16. From the reading in the chapter, we might say that problems with narrative criticism

include:

a. Viewing Scripture as a unity

b. Its appreciation for aesthetics over religious value

c. Its tendency to view Scripture as fiction

d. Both a & b

e. Both b & c

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17. The valuable aspects of narrative criticism include:

a. Character development

b. Plot

c. Foreshadowing

d. All of the above

18. Which of the following is a category of poststructuralism?

a. Narrative criticism

b. Structuralism

c. Reader-response

d. Postcolonialism

19. Social-scientific analysis employs which of the following disciplines?

a. Sociology

b. Economics

c. Political science

d. All of the above

20. An attempt to understand the significance of purity laws highlights which of the

following approaches:

a. Deconstruction

b. Social history

c. Reader-response criticism

d. Liberation theology

21. An attempt to understand the economic divisions in Corinth is an example of:

a. Feminist hermeneutics

b. Queer theology

c. Social-scientific analysis

d. Narrative criticism

22. A realization of the effects one’s gender has in their reading of the Bible would arise

from which of these approaches:

a. Postcolonialism

b. LGBT hermeneutics

c. Deconstruction

d. Feminist hermeneutics

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23. An investigation into the nature of David and Jonathan’s relationship would most likely

occur within which of the following methods?

a. LGBT hermeneutics

b. Feminist hermeneutics

c. Liberation theology

d. Social-scientific analysis

24. The main difference between liberation theology and postcolonialism is that the former

does not maintain an ideological commitment to which of the following?

a. Identifying with the marginalized

b. Socialism

c. Pluralism

d. Both A and B

25. Webb’s maintains which of the following is true of Scripture’s trajectories?

a. Its trajectory is away from slavery

b. Its trajectory is away from limitations on gender roles

c. Its trajectory remains consistent in its prohibition of homosexual acts

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

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Chapter Four - The Canon and Translations

True or False

1. The Protestant Bible contains a different number of books than does a Catholic Bible.

-True

2. The concept of purgatory derives from apocryphal literature. -True

3. Jewish traditions have unanimously agreed on the order of the books in the OT canon.

-False

4. The order of the OT in English Bible translations is arranged like the Septuagint. -True

5. There is evidence that the writings of the NT were believed to be part of Scripture as

early as the first century. -True

6. The earliest list of books to be treated as Scripture is probably the Muratorian fragment.

-True

7. The criterion of apostolicity refers to the belief that all NT books have apostolic

connections. -True

8. The order of the NT is arranged strictly according to length. -False

9. It is not recommended to derive a theological principle solely from a contested textual

reading. -True

10. Since many good translations exist, Bible interpreters should choose an English

translation based on their purpose or occasion. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. The word canon refers to a “list” or “standard.”

12. Athanasius was the first Christian writer to endorse all 27 books of the modern NT

without hesitation.

13. The criterion of catholicity refers to the belief that all NT books evidenced wide use in

the earliest generations of Christianity.

14. Canonical criticism helpfully underscores the unity of the Bible.

15. Formal equivalency refers to a translation technique that prioritizes preserving the form

and structure of the original text.

Multiple Choice

16. Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles often include what that is additional to the

Protestant Bible?

a. The Pentateuch

b. Major and minor prophets

c. The Apocrypha

d. The Synoptic Gospels

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17. The common arguments that Protestants use to defend the 39 books in their OT include:

(Circle all that apply.)

a. These books were accepted by Jews at the time of Jesus and the apostles

b. All 39 books have known authorship

c. Jesus quoted from all 39 of these books

d. The apocryphal literature date from the intertestamental time period, after

which Jews believed prophecy had ceased.

18. The OT canon includes all but which of the following?

a. The Writings

b. The Epistles

c. The Law

d. The Prophets

19. Which of the following events motivated Christians in the second century to identify

which NT books were to be regarded as Scripture? (Circle all that apply.)

a. The rise of gnostic writings

b. The persecution of Christians

c. Nero’s personal mission of erasing the memory of Jesus

d. The influence of the heretic Marcion’s teaching

20. Which of the following is not a common category used to determine canonicity in the

NT?

a. Orthopraxy

b. Orthodoxy

c. Apostolicity

d. Catholicity

21. The councils that are most commonly associated with the canonization of the Old and

New Testaments include all but which of the following?

a. Jamnia

b. Constantinople

c. Carthage

d. Hippo

22. Why is textual criticism necessary?

a. We no longer have the original autographs.

b. Scribes made mistakes when copying copies of the original manuscripts.

c. Scribes often intentionally perverted the message of manuscripts.

d. A & B

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23. Which of the following translation principles seeks to find the very best balance between

accuracy and clarity?

a. Dynamic equivalence

b. Formal equivalence

c. Optimal equivalence

d. Structural equivalence

24. According to the textbook, what percentage of the NT is it possible to reconstruct from

the existing manuscripts?

a. 69%

b. 79%

c. 89%

d. 99%

25. While textual uncertainty raises questions about the text of the Bible at points, which of

the following is true, according to the authors?

a. The Greek OT is an upgrade to the Hebrew OT.

b. No major doctrine rests solely on contested manuscript evidence.

c. 90% of the OT can be constructed from the NT texts.

d. 45% of the NT records the actual words of Jesus.

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Chapter Five - The Interpreter

True or False

1. The Spirit’s work of illumination does not impart new revelation in the interpretive

process. -True

2. The most fundamental pre-understanding for interpreting the Bible is an understanding of

Jesus as the Logos. -False

3. It is possible for one’s presuppositions to negatively color their interpretation. -True

4. It is not necessary to believe in God for a full understanding of the Bible. -False

5. Pre-understandings that have been shaped by Scripture allow the interpreter to engage the

text with new questions. -True

6. The interpreter must be willing to employ the appropriate methods to understand a text.

-True

7. Only some people have presuppositions that influence their interpretation. -False

8. One must believe in the possibility of miracles to accurately interpret the significance of

the Bible. -True

9. Not all interpreters approach the text with pre-understandings. -False

10. If a method conflicts with the interpreter’s beliefs about the nature of Scripture, it may

need to be modified or rejected. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. A hermeneutical approach involves identifying and accounting for one’s

presuppositions.

12. The Bible was written by divinely inspired human authors.

13. The views shaped by an interpreter’s previous experiences may be called pre-

understandings .

14. The valid interpretation of the Bible requires a willingness to obey its message.

15. Our understanding of the Bible continually shapes and reshapes our pre-understandings.

Multiple Choice

16. The first necessary presupposition about the nature of the Bible, according to the authors,

is that:

a. It consists of sixty-six books.

b. It was written by holy men.

c. It is a revelation of God’s own inspired message.

d. It all points to the coming of Jesus.

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17. of the following is a necessary qualification for understanding the Bible, according to the

textbook?

a. A large vocabulary

b. A spiritual sensitivity

c. An excellent memory

d. A sharp eye for detail

18. According to this chapter, the idea that the interpreter should compare his or her pre-

understandings against the teaching of the Bible demonstrates a belief that:

a. The Bible is trustworthy.

b. The Bible has a coherent textual tradition.

c. The Bible’s message is more logically sound than our own thinking.

d. The Bible makes better sense of life than other philosophical systems.

19. Which of the following was not included in the author’s list of evangelical

presuppositions about the nature of the Bible?

a. Inspiring

b. A spiritual document

c. Authoritative and true

d. Understandable

20. Which of the following can influence or shape an interpreter’s pre-understandings?

a. Gender

b. Language

c. Physical environment

d. Cultural values

e. All of the above

21. Please finish this sentence with one of the following options: The authors maintain that

since the biblical “sources prove reliable where they can be tested”…

a. We need not worry about what cannot be tested.

b. The historical reliability of all other texts is settled.

c. We should give them the benefit of the doubt where they cannot be tested.

d. Only those sources that can be tested are inspired.

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22. When outlining types of necessary presuppositions, the authors highlight all but which

one of the following categories?

a. Presuppositions about the nature of the Bible

b. Presuppositions about methodology

c. Presuppositions about translation theories

d. Presuppositions about the goal of hermeneutics

23. Which elements are involved in the work of the Spirit to illuminate Scripture? (Select all

that apply.)

a. A comprehension of Scripture’s significance

b. A revelation of the text’s meaning out of the blue

c. An understanding of the Bible’s application to life

d. An ability to recall connections between passages when needed

24. A text’s significance grows out of its:

a. Interpretation

b. Autograph

c. Meaning

d. Application

25. In revising old and embracing new pre-understandings, the ultimate goal is to let the

meaning and significance of the Bible:

a. Shape one’s understanding of reality

b. Motivate one’s evangelism

c. Illuminate one’s false beliefs

d. Dictate one’s study habits

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Chapter Six - The Goal of Interpretation

True or False

1. The author-encoded historical meaning of a text is the central objective of hermeneutics.

-True

2. Literary considerations are secondary and less significant than historical considerations of

a text. -False

3. To account for personal biases, it is helpful to read and listen to others. -True

4. According to the authors, the reader-response approach to finding additional meanings in

a text should be rejected. -True

5. Literary studies are essential tasks in the process of interpretation. -True

6. The most probable interpretation of a text is the one that is most agreeable within one’s

community. -False

7. There are instances in Scripture where NT authors envisioned new meanings for OT

texts. -True

8. All we have from which to determine the author’s intended meaning is the biblical text.

-True

9. It is possible for a text with a single purpose (illocution) to generate multiple perlocutions

beyond what the author intended. -True

10. A valid interpretation should conform to orthodox Christian doctrine. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. To validate one’s interpretation, it is necessary to weigh the evidence pertaining to the

text’s most probable meaning.

12. Only the author-encoded meaning of the text can be legitimately considered the inspired

message of God.

13. The question of historicity examines whether the events of the Bible occurred as

recounted.

14. The idea that interpreting texts helps us formulate our understandings and systems is

known as the hermeneutical spiral .

15. The perlocution describes the author’s desired or intended response from the readers.

Multiple Choice

16. When multiple valid interpretations of a text are possible and difficult to discern between,

committed interpreters should

a. Agree to disagree

b. Refuse to talk

c. Keep on arguing until everyone agrees

d. Dismiss the text as non-crucial

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17. Typically the interpretation with the greatest authority will be the one that is:

a. The most historically defensible

b. The most widely supported

c. The least offensive

d. The closest to the words of Jesus

18. Which is not one of the potential aspects of meaning in a locution?

a. Perceived meaning

b. Authorial intention

c. Redacted meaning

d. Textual meaning

19. Which two types of data are involved in verifying an interpretation? (Select two)

a. Evidence involving the interpreters

b. Evidence related to the original languages

c. Evidence pertaining to the text itself

d. Evidence of the Spirit’s influence

20. To account for personal biases, an interpreter must account for all but which of the

following:

a. Sin and depravity

b. Social, racial, political, and religious factors

c. Prejudice and parochialism

d. Literary genre

21. According to the authors, divergent views on certain issues in Scripture can be a result of

interpreters causing a variety of interpretations in which of the following way or ways?

a. Interpreters want to read evidence in a certain way.

b. Interpreters may be blinded to other alternatives.

c. Several conclusions about the meaning may be possible and even valid.

d. All of the above.

22. Which of the following options comprises the proper order of interpretation, according to

this chapter?

a. Significance, application, meaning

b. Application, meaning, significance

c. Meaning, significance, application

d. None of the above

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23. The idea that the Holy Spirit may have encoded an additional meaning not intended by

the human author is known as:

a. Sola Fide

b. Sensus plenior

c. Sola Gratis

d. Sensus Spiritus

24. Which of the following will not help in the task of accounting for personal biases in

interpretation?

a. Consulting other believers

b. Assessing whether the interpretation works in the praxis of the church

c. Reading and listening to others

d. Memorizing the text

25. What were the two examples of issues for which there are arguably multiple valid

interpretations that were given in this chapter?

a. Repentance and Faith

b. Tribulation and Trials

c. Baptism and the Millennium

d. Regeneration and Sanctification

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Chapter Seven - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Prose

True or False

1. It is unnecessary to know as much as possible about the circumstances and perspective of

the author and audience. -False

2. The correct interpretation of the Bible is based on the normal meanings of words in their

contexts. -True

3. Morphology relates to the system a language uses to combine its various components in

order to communicate. -False

4. It is not possible for a word’s meaning to change over time. -False

5. Non-biblical uses of a word can shed light on the meaning of biblical uses of a word.

-True

6. The immediate context exerts the most important influence over the meaning of a

passage. -True

7. How the sentences of a passage are constructed give insight into the author’s flow of

thought. -True

8. The interpretation that does not fit consistently with the historical and cultural

background cannot be the correct interpretation. -False

9. Conducting a word study should begin with identifying the most important word to study.

-True

10. Word order, combinations of words, and connecting words all contribute to a passage’s

meaning. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. The immediate context refers to the material immediately before and after the passage.

12. A passage’s worldview, economic structures, and political and religious climate are all

aspects of its cultural background.

13. To understand the content and intended impact of a passage, it is very important to be

aware of the mindset of the author.

14. Morphology pertains to the forms of individual words and how they change to indicate

their function in a language.

15. One can determine a word’s range of meaning by consulting a lexicon .

Multiple Choice

16. Which option is not involved in investigating the context of a biblical book for a

particular passage?

a. Its basic outline

b. Examining parallel passages that deal with similar subject matter

c. Investigating the logic of the book overall

d. Its controlling themes

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17. The process for studying the historical-cultural background has which two main parts?

a. Investigating the archeology and genealogy of a passage

b. Investigating the background of the biblical book and the specific passage

c. Investigating the cultural practices and historical timeframe of a passage

d. Investigating the provenance and audience of a book

18. Investigating the author’s use of words involves seeking to understand which of the

following two options (select two):

a. The meaning in light of the widest range of usage

b. The meaning according the way the author uses them in the passage

c. The meaning the words would have had at the time of writing

d. The meaning that is closest to how Jesus used the words

19. Which two elements are involved in investigating the immediate context of a passage?

a. Theme and structure

b. Verbs and nouns

c. Genre and structure

d. Grammar and motif

20. Which of the following is not a principle involved in understanding the historical-cultural

background?

a. The emotional impact of the original message must be determined.

b. The historical-cultural background should not force a conclusion that conflicts

with the clear intention of the author.

c. The conclusions reached should closely correspond to the ideas of the original

culture, even when expressed in modern language.

d. It is crucial to know the timeframe of original writing within at least a

decade.

21. Because a single word can have a range of meanings:

a. Context is crucial for determining which meaning makes the best sense.

b. Nothing shorter than a clause or sentences should be studied.

c. The author’s original meaning is impossible to discern.

d. There is freedom to choose the meaning of a passage for the interpreter.

22. The second stage of investigating literary context is:

a. The immediate context

b. The entire Bible

c. The entire Testament

d. The entire biblical book

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23. The two main elements involved in grammar are:

a. Verbs and nouns

b. Clauses and punctuation

c. Syntax and morphology

d. Lexemes and discourses

24. When looking at how the Bible as a whole serves as a measure of context for a particular

passage, the principle is that:

a. The correct meaning should be consistent with the larger teaching on the

subject.

b. The theme should be found in both testaments.

c. There will be very little diversity in how the meaning is expressed.

d. One should not expect a unified voice on any particular theme.

25. Understanding a biblical book’s background involves which of the following elements?

a. The date of composition

b. The details about the author

c. The purpose of the book

d. The details about the recipients

e. All of the above

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Chapter Eight - General Rules of Hermeneutics: Biblical Poetry

True or False

1. With the use of imagery, poets effectively paint pictures with their words. -True

2. The term “onomatopoeia” refers to a word that sounds like the action it depicts. -True

3. All biblical poetry consists of short units. -False

4. Parallelism can be used to strengthen or reinforce the thought of another line of poetry.

-True

5. Poetry makes up nearly one-third of the Bible. -True

6. In an A=B parallelism, the two lines typically are contrasted from each other. -False

7. Poetry is entirely unrelated to prose. -False

8. Hebrew poetry uses rhyming only occasionally and with great effect. -True

9. Poetry aims to impact the reader’s imagination more than his or her reason. -True

10. Similes compare two things using “like” or “as.” -True

Fill in the Blank

11. The repetition of consonants is an example of alliteration .

12. There are three main variations of parallelism in biblical poetry.

13. In English poetry sound is analyzed in terms of its rhyme and meter.

14. Parallelism refers to when two or more successive lines of a poem develop the thought

of the other.

15. Hebrew poetry uses the sounds of words to create poetic effects.

Multiple Choice

16. Which is true about poetry?

a. It makes up one fifth of the Bible.

b. It is the second most common form of literature in the Bible.

c. It is largely equivalent to a parable.

d. It is the third most common form of literature in the Bible.

17. Select from below at least two ways Hebrew poetry differs from English poetry.

a. Hebrew poetry is rigid in its use of meter.

b. Hebrew poetry is flexible in its use of meter.

c. Hebrew poetry follows a structured system of rhyming.

d. Hebrew poetry does not follow a structured system of rhyming.

18. A > B parallelism typically indicates that:

a. A states the main idea and B qualifies it.

b. A is contrasted from B.

c. B is contrasted from A.

d. B states the main idea and A qualifies it.

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19. The interpretation of similes and metaphors must be guided by:

a. Literary and historical-cultural context

b. Word order

c. Lexical definitions

d. The allegorical method

20. The three main aspects involved in interpreting biblical poetry include all but which of

the following? (Select one.)

a. Sound

b. Pace

c. Structure

d. Language

21. Some of the language devices used in poetry may include: (Select all that apply.)

a. Irony

b. Metonymy

c. Humor

d. Hyperbole

22. For interpreting figures in poetry, readers should:

a. Identify the figure; examine its meaning in lexicon, apply it

b. Identify the figure; distill the figurative meaning from the literal; determine

the figure’s function

c. Determine the figure’s function; observe its parallelism; distinguish its literal

meaning

d. Determine the figure’s function; distill the figurative meaning from the literal;

examine its meaning in a lexicon

23. Assonance refers to the:

a. Repetition of consonants

b. Repetition of meter

c. Repetition of parallelism

d. Repetition of vowels

24. Examples of an A < B parallelism, where B develops the main idea in a way that

complements or completes A, include all but which of the following?

a. Intensification

b. Comparison

c. Reduction

d. Continuation

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25. The Hebrew poet may create a memorable wordplay in which of the following ways?

a. The repetition of words

b. Employing assonance or alliteration

c. Employing an onomatopoeia

d. All of the above

e. Both A and C

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Chapter Nine - Genres of the Old Testament

True or False

1. Narratives are the most common form of literature in the Bible. - True

2. Prophetic “foretelling” (i.e., predictions about the future) is far more common than

prophetic “forthtelling” (i.e., announcements of imminent divine judgment). - False

3. The book of Deuteronomy is a classic example of the genre of poetry. - False

4. In literature, a comedy is a narrative whose plot has a happy ending. - True

5. Apocalyptic prophecy usually comes through direct speech by God. - False

6. When interpreting how an OT law applies to Christians today we must consider whether

it is fulfilled in Christ. - True

7. Prophetic foretelling (i.e., predictions about the future) must be interpreted in light of the

NT. -True

8. It is important to remember that proverbs teach guaranteed, absolute truths. - False

9. Imprecatory psalms use hyperbole to display the psalmist’s feelings in an attempt to

persuade Yahweh to act on Israel’s behalf. - True

10. Wisdom literature has its roots in creation theology rather than divine revelation. - True

Fill in the Blank

11. A proverb is a short, memorable statement about life found in the wisdom literature.

12. An epiphany report is used to describe the appearance of God or an angel to someone,

most often to convey a message.

13. One function of the Law/Legal material was to guide Israel along the way to enjoy

God’s blessings through obedience.

14. A prophecy of salvation describes the announcement of hope for the future.

15. Poetry is the second most common literary form in the Bible.

Multiple Choice

16. The basic building block of narrative in the Bible is the:

a. Anecdote

b. Epic narrative

c. Poem

d. Report

17. Examples of poetry found in the OT include which of the following?

a. Songs

b. Liturgies

c. Prayers

d. All of the above

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18. A prophet story generally includes all of the following characteristics, except:

a. A demonstration of virtues worthy of emulation.

b. A fight with false prophets.

c. A critique of the reader’s world.

d. A retelling of events from the prophet’s life.

19. Casuistic Law (or Case Law) is clearly identified by the following feature:

a. It maintains an “if…then” style of outlining the condition and the penalty.

b. It lacks any conditions attached.

c. It is marked by a prohibition, such as “You shall not murder.”

d. It always includes a measure of retaliation, such as “an eye for an eye.”

20. Which of the following psalm types describe an individual seeking mercy for sin or

relief from the physical and emotional distress sin has caused?

a. Imprecatory psalm

b. Thanksgiving psalm

c. Penitential psalm

d. Wisdom psalm

21. Which of the following subgenres is the least likely to be found in a narrative?

a. Riddles

b. Psalms

c. Parables

d. Prophet stories

22. Apocalyptic literature generally includes all but which of the following features?

a. It “reveals” God’s hidden future plans.

b. It always depicts God’s intervention through normal, natural means.

c. It primarily uses dreams or visions.

d. It often uses strange symbolism or numbers.

23. Which of the following features describes how an OT law may be understood in light of

the NT today?

a. In some cases, the NT makes the OT law stricter.

b. Some laws remain fully valid for Christians today.

c. Some laws have been entirely fulfilled in Christ, and no longer retain literal

validity for Christians today.

d. Laws that no longer apply literally can still teach an important and timeless truth.

e. All of the above

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24. The following elements should be kept in mind when interpreting prophetic forthtelling

(select all that apply):

a. Many prophecies are conditional rather than absolute.

b. Such prophecies may have a historical fulfillment.

c. Such prophecies may have a figurative fulfillment.

d. Such prophecies may have multiple fulfillments.

25. Which of the following is the most common genre among the prophets?

a. The vision report

b. The woe speech

c. The prophecy of disaster

d. The disputation

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Chapter Ten - Genres of the New Testament

True or False

1. The book of Acts is an example of an apocalyptic prophecy. - False

2. Inaugurated eschatology highlights that God’s in-breaking and reign has begun, but it

awaits its full consummation in the future. -True

3. When interpreting Revelation, it is crucial to remember that the text cannot mean

something that would have been incomprehensible to the original audience. - True

4. The main recurring theme of Acts relates to the spread of the gospel from Jewish to

Gentile territory. - True

5. Paul is the author of most of the NT’s epistles. -True

6. The Gospels must be evaluated according to the ancient standards of their day. - True

7. Epistles are the least occasional of all NT genres. - False

8. The Kingdom of God refers to the in-breaking Kingship or reign of God. - True

9. The book of Revelation was written to seven churches in Italy. -False

10. Redaction criticism largely focuses on how editors may have shaped a text with certain

distinctives. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. A(n) epistle is essentially a letter.

12. The genre of Gospel is best thought of as a theological biography.

13. A vertical reading takes account of the Gospel’s own structure and ordering of themes.

14. A parable is a short fictional story with one or more characters intended to convey a

lesson

15. The event of Pentecost in Acts 2 marks a crucial turning point between the age of the

Mosaic covenant and the new covenant.

Multiple Choice

16. The book of Revelation combines which of the following genres:

a. Apocalyptic

b. Epistle

c. Prophecy

d. All of the above

e. All but B

17. All but which of the following features should be remembered when studying the

Gospels:

a. They are selective in what they include about Jesus.

b. They contain the voice of Jesus, but not his very words.

c. They were written with the same standards biographies are written today.

d. They are organized thematically, but not necessarily chronologically.

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18. Which of the following should be consulted in the process of interpreting Acts?

a. Literary criticism

b. Archeology

c. Historical criticism

d. All of the above

19. Which of the following is not a distinct form found within epistles?

a. Domestic codes

b. Virtue and Vice Lists

c. Parables

d. Creeds or hymns

20. Which of the following takes precedence in Gospel interpretation?

a. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of parallel accounts.

b. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of extra-biblical accounts.

c. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of Romans.

d. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of the structure and

themes of the Gospel it is found in.

21. Which of the following is not a literary form found within the Gospels?

a. The pronouncement story

b. The letter of introduction

c. The parable

d. The miracle story

22. As apocalyptic, which of the following characterize the message of Revelation overall?

(Select all that apply.)

a. Indicates suffering is not to be expected

b. Offers assurance of God’s ultimate victory

c. Promises God’s intervention

d. Uses ancient symbols to depict current-day events and realities

23. The central theme of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels is:

a. The need for baptism

b. Justification by faith

c. The Kingdom of God

d. The necessity of works for real faith

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24. All but which of the following is true for interpreting apocalyptic images?

a. Its highly symbolic and figurative imagery should not be interpreted too literally.

b. Its images should be studied in light of the OT.

c. Numbers should always be taken literally.

d. A text cannot mean something it could not have meant to its original audiences.

25. Which of the following is not a main theme found in the letter of James?

a. Trials and temptations

b. The risk of apostasy

c. Wealth and poverty

d. Wisdom and speech

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Chapter Eleven - Using the Bible Today

True or False

1. One must first understand a text’s significance before one can understand its meaning.

- False

2. Hermeneutics should not be considered as an end in itself. - True

3. A great risk in reading the Bible is for it to remain on the cognitive level only. -True

4. Whereas biblical theology generally aims to trace the development of a theme or motif

through Scripture, systematic theology may examine a theme in light of contemporary

interests or questions. -True

5. It is not biblical to enjoy the Bible for its aesthetic value. -False

6. Any claim to biblical preaching must rest on what the Bible teaches or clearly implies.

-True

7. Theology should originate from an inductive analysis of the relevant biblical passages.

-True

8. All humans live according to a belief system or worldview. -True

9. It is rare that a reader brings his or her presuppositions to the text. - False

10. A sound hermeneutical method is crucial for the one desiring to teach the Word. - True

Fill in the Blank

11. Spiritual formation loosely refers to the idea that the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to

speak to God’s people in order to grow them spiritually.

12. Liturgies enable worshipers to enact parts of the salvific drama and embody their

responses to God’s grace.

13. Believers may employ the Bible to worship both individually and corporately .

14. Systematic theology is typically discussed in the framework of the author’s choosing.

15. The Bible is God’s special written revelation for humanity.

Multiple Choice

16. According to the textbook, the Bible offers all but which of the following means of

motivating and enriching worship?

a. The Psalms model worship of God, drawing the reader into that worship.

b. It conveys the message of what God has done, which motivates worship in

response.

c. The Bible directs readers to acts of praise, confession of sins, and prayers of

thanksgiving.

d. The Bible threatens curses on those who refuse to worship in a certain way.

17. Which of the following are involved in the call of biblical preaching?

a. To comprehend the ancient text, including its correct meaning

b. To convey the text’s meaning and significance to people in their own time

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c. To illuminate how they may apply the biblical truths to their lives

d. All of the above

18. This chapter noted a number of different approaches to doing biblical theology. Which of

the following was not noted?

a. Biblical theology as worldview-story

b. Biblical theology as hermeneutical method

c. Biblical theology as canonical approach

d. Biblical theology as history of redemption

19. Christian theology regards which of the following as the necessary foundation and source

for its development?

a. Prayer

b. Church tradition

c. The Bible

d. Liturgies

20. Which of the following choices is the most true?

a. Biblical theology is always more accurate than systematic theology.

b. Systematic theology is always more accurate than systematic theology.

c. At their best, systematic and biblical theology generally contradict each other, and

should both be avoided.

d. At their best, systematic and biblical theology generally complement each

other, and should both be employed and consulted when seeking to

understand God’s revelation.

21. According to the authors, which of the following most accurately outlines the process of

lectio divina?

a. Reading the text, meditating on the text, prayer, contemplation

b. Meditating on the text, contemplating the text, memorizing the text, prayer

c. Memorizing the text, contemplating the text, reading the text, prayer

d. Prayer, reading the text, contemplating the text, meditating on the text

22. Which of the following was not one of the uses of the Bible described in this chapter?

a. To construct liturgy

b. To provide pastoral care

c. To design Sunday school curriculum

d. To motivate worship

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23. Biblical theology emerges from a combination of all but which of the following

historical conditions?

a. The interaction of author and recipients

b. The philosophical system of the reader

c. The historical setting

d. The actual terms, categories, and thought forms

24. What are some of the ways the Bible can enable someone to provide pastoral care?

(Select all that apply.)

a. It can remind those who are lonely or hurting that God does care for them.

b. It serves to remind those grieving a loss of the great promise of life with God

for all eternity.

c. It can remind the reader that God is sovereign and in control.

d. It teaches principles and values that give guidance to the one needing

direction.

25. According to the authors, the first three principles to be employed for formulating

theology include all but which of the following? (Select one.)

a. Base theology on the Bible’s total teaching, not isolated texts.

b. Determine and delineate the Bible’s own emphases on an issue.

c. Follow the conclusions of a sound exegesis on the appropriate biblical passages.

d. Compare conclusions with the insights of others.

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Chapter Twelve - Application

True or False

1. The Holy Spirit will ensure the interpreter a comprehensive understanding. -False

2. For the Christian, the interpretive process culminates in understanding how a text applies

to life. -True

3. It is relatively insignificant to know how the text was originally to be applied. -False

4. Context is insignificant for determining a text’s application. -False

5. It is possible that the meaning of a text was limited to an exceptional situation. -True

6. The task of application examines how Scripture is significant for a Christian’s life today.

-True

7. The Holy Spirit often gives sudden intuitive flashes when we seek to interpret the Bible.

-False

8. The biggest mistake often made in application is completely neglecting context. -True

9. The application of one text could be limited by a subsequent application of the passage.

-True

10. An application must be consistent with the meaning of the text. -True

Fill in the Blank

11. Applications possess different levels of authority .

12. Reliance on the Holy Spirit is absolutely crucial for interpretation.

13. The NT applies to the church many OT passages that originally applied solely to Israel .

14. The Spirit’s role in hermeneutics is in his work of illumination .

15. It is necessary for application to identify cross-cultural principles.

Multiple Choice

16. The highest level of confidence in our application should be when

a. We attempt to apply general truths from a passage that may or may not be actual

applications of the specific text at hand.

b. We can employ the originally intended response to our situation with very

little change.

c. We have been able to derive a broad principle whose application incorporates a

significant number of elements of the passage.

d. None of the above

17. For the purpose of application, one must exegete both the Scriptures and one’s

a. Presuppositions

b. Culture

c. Pre-understandings

d. Feelings

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18. When we take a verse out of its context and blindly apply it to our lives, we:

a. Mistakenly neglect the literary or historical context of the passage.

b. Run the risk of misunderstanding and misapplying it.

c. Risk introducing a serious misunderstanding of God and his Word into our lives.

d. All of the above.

19. Which is NOT one of the four steps for proper application listed in this chapter?

a. Determine the original application(s) intended.

b. Evaluate the specificity of those applications for their original historical

situations.

c. Determine whether textual variants suggest any additional applications.

d. Find appropriate applications for today that implement those principles.

20. The context of the promise in Matthew 18:20, that “where two or three are gathered,”

indicates that Christ’s presence relates primarily to the issue of:

a. Church discipline

b. His omnipresence

c. The Kingdom of God

d. The Incarnation

21. It is necessary to explore whether the NT elsewhere limits or qualifies an earlier

application of a NT text because:

a. The NT itself sometimes revokes earlier commands of presents alternate

models.

b. The NT can contradict itself.

c. If it does not, then the interpreter is free to apply the passage as he or she chooses.

d. The later qualification would demonstrate exactly how to apply the passage now.

22. The first step in doing responsible application is:

a. To understand the culture of which you are a part.

b. To know precisely what the original languages say.

c. To determine the original application intended by the passage.

d. To know the history of the text’s interpretation.

23. In this chapter it was said that understanding the practice from “back then” that was

associated with the underlying principle will:

a. Help us understand the original meaning.

b. Help us understand the various perlocutions of the text.

c. Enable us to think more accurately about the culture in which the practice took

place.

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d. Enable us to discern the most appropriate practice “today” that implements

the same principle.

24. According to this chapter, the Scriptures repeatedly claim that people glorify God by

a. Confessing their sin

b. Obediently applying his Word

c. Going to church

d. Speaking in tongues

25. Which of the following was not one of the roles of the Holy Spirit listed in this chapter?

a. He does not guarantee that our interpretations are infallible.

b. He does not override common sense and logic.

c. He does ensure comprehensive understanding.

d. He does move the Christian to apply the meaning of Scripture.

92

Sample Syllabi

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation Syllabus (Mon/Wed/Fri)

I. Course description:

This course will introduce students to the process of biblical interpretation, and to the manifold

issues related to that process.

II. Intended learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be expected to:

1. Describe what hermeneutics is and why it is necessary to understand the roles of the

author, audience, reader, and text.

2. Understand the methods that have been developed and used throughout the history of

interpretation, including the many interpretive methodologies used in modern

interpretation.

3. Be able to explain the importance of understanding how genres each have different

interpretive requirements; and be able to describe the main genres found in the Bible.

4. Be capable of describing the importance of application and how to arrive at a valid

application of a text.

III. Outline of weekly course schedule

Week 1

• Mon – Introduce the course

• Wed – The need for interpretation

o Read IBI (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation) pp. 39-52

• Fri – Challenges of Bible interpretation and the goal of hermeneutics

o Read IBI pp. 53-65

o Quiz #1

Week 2

• Mon – The history of interpretation: Jewish and Apostolic periods

o Read IBI pp. 66-79

• Wed – The history of interpretation: Patristic, Middle Ages, Reformation

o Read IBI pp. 80-95

• Fri – The history of interpretation: Post-Reformation through the Modern period

o Read IBI pp. 96-116

o Quiz #2

Week 3

• Mon – Literary criticism

o Read IBI pp. 117-133

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• Wed – Social-scientific approaches to Scripture

o Read IBI pp. 134-143

• Fri – Advocacy groups

o Read IBI pp. 144-164

o Quiz #3

Week 4

• Mon – The canon and translations and the biblical canon

o Read IBI pp. 165-166

• Wed – The canon of the Old Testament

o Read IBI pp. 167-171

• Fri – The canon of the New Testament

o Read IBI pp. 172-177

Week 5

• Mon – Criteria of canonicity and canon criticism

o Read IBI pp. 178-182

• Wed – Texts and translations

o Read IBI pp. 183-200

• Fri – Quiz #4

Week 6

• Mon – Qualifications of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 201-209

• Wed – Presuppositions for correct interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 210-225

• Fri – Pre-understandings of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 226-243

o Quiz #5

Week 7

• Mon – Speech acts

o Read IBI pp. 244-246

• Wed – Levels of meaning

o Read IBI pp. 247-262

• Fri – Author-centered textual meaning

o Read IBI pp. 263-270

Week 8

• Mon – The place of the reader and validating our interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 271-292

• Wed – Quiz #6

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• Fri – Midterm

Week 9

• Mon – The literary context

o Read IBI pp. 293-311

• Wed – Historical-cultural background and word meanings

o Read IBI pp. 312-343

• Fri – Grammatical-structural relationships

o Read IBI pp. 344-360

o Quiz #7

Week 10

• Mon – Biblical poetry and the dynamics of poetry

o Read IBI pp. 361-372

• Wed – Other poetic structures and the language of poetry

o Read IBI pp. 373-408

• Fri – Larger units of poetry

o Read IBI pp. 409-416

o Quiz #8

Week 11

• Mon – Genres of the Old Testament and narratives

o Read IBI pp. 417-437

• Wed – Law

o Read IBI pp. 438-450

• Fri – Poetry

o Read IBI pp. 451-461

Week 12

• Mon – Prophecy

o Read IBI pp. 462-492

• Wed – Wisdom

o Read IBI pp.493-505

• Fri – How to write a structural outline

o Read IBI pp. 505-509

o Quiz #9

Week 13

• Mon – Genres of the New Testament and Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 510-518

• Wed – Key theological issues and forms within the Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 519-531

95

• Fri – Acts

o Read IBI pp. 532-540

Week 14

• Mon – Epistles and individual forms

o Read IBI pp. 541-554

• Wed – Key theological questions for the Pauline epistles

o Read IBI pp. 555-557

• Fri – Revelation

o Read IBI pp. 558-570

o Quiz #10

Week 15

• Mon – Using the Bible: information, worship, and liturgy

o Read IBI pp. 571-577

• Wed – Using the Bible: formulating theology, preaching, and teaching

o Read IBI pp. 578-592

• Fri – Using the Bible: pastoral care, spiritual formation, enjoyable literature

o Read IBI pp. 593-601

o Quiz #11

Week 16

• Mon – Importance of application and avoiding mistakes

o Read IBI pp. 602-608

• Wed – Steps for legitimate application and the role of the Holy Spirit

o Read IBI pp. 609-636

o Quiz #12

• Fri – Final

96

Sample Syllabi

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation Syllabus (Tues/Thur)

I. Course description:

This course will introduce students to the process of biblical interpretation, and to the manifold

issues related to that process.

II. Intended learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be expected to:

1. Describe what hermeneutics is and why it is necessary to understand the roles of the

author, audience, reader, and text.

2. Understand the methods that have been developed and used throughout the history of

interpretation, including the many interpretive methodologies used in modern

interpretation.

3. Be able to explain the importance of understanding how genres each have different

interpretive requirements; and be able to describe the main genres found in the Bible.

4. Be capable of describing the importance of application and how to arrive at a valid

application of a text.

III. Outline of weekly course schedule

Week 1

• Tue – Introduce the course; Discuss the need for interpretation

o Read IBI (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation) pp. 39-52

• Thur –Challenges of interpretation and the goal of hermeneutics

o Read IBI pp. 53-65

o Quiz #1

Week 2

• Tue – The history of interpretation: Jewish, Apostolic, and Patristic periods

o Read IBI pp. 66-87

• Thur – The history of interpretation: Middle Ages & Reformation through Modern period

o Read IBI pp. 88-116

o Quiz #2

Week 3

• Tue – Literary criticism

o Read IBI pp. 117-132

• Thur – Social-scientific approaches to Scripture

o Read IBI pp. 133-164

o Quiz #3

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Week 4

• Tue – The biblical canon and the canon of the Old Testament

o Read IBI pp. 165-171

• Thur – The canon of the New Testament

o Read IBI pp. 172-177

Week 5

• Tue – Criteria of canonicity and canon criticism

o Read IBI pp. 178-180

• Thur – Texts and translations

o Read IBI pp. 181-200

o Quiz #4

Week 6

• Tue – Qualifications of the interpreter and presuppositions for correct interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 201-225

• Thur – Pre-understandings of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 226-243

o Quiz #5

Week 7

• Tue –The goal of interpretation, speech acts, and levels of meaning

o Read IBI pp. 244-262

• Thur – Author-centered textual meaning

o Read IBI pp. 263-270

Week 8

• Tue – The place of the reader and validating our interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 271-292

o Quiz #6

• Thur – Midterm

Week 9

• Tue – Literary context and historical-cultural background

o Read IBI pp. 293-323

• Thur – Word meanings and grammatical-structural relationships

o Read IBI pp. 324-360

o Quiz #7

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Week 10

• Tue – The dynamics of poetry and structure of Hebrew poetry

o Read IBI pp. 361-388

• Thur – Other poetic structures, the language and units of poetry

o Read IBI pp. 389-416

o Quiz #8

Week 11

• Tue – Genres of the Old Testament, Narratives and Law

o Read IBI pp. 417-450

• Thur – Poetry

o Read IBI pp. 451-461

Week 12

• Tue – Prophecy

o Read IBI pp. 462-492

• Thur – Wisdom and writing a structural outline

o Read IBI pp. 493-509

o Quiz #9

Week 13

• Tue – Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 510-531

• Thur – Acts

o Read IBI pp. 532-540

Week 14

• Tue – Epistles

o Read IBI pp. 541-557

• Thur – Revelation

o Read IBI pp. 558-570

o Quiz #10

Week 15

• Tue – Using the Bible today: information, worship, liturgy, and theology

o Read IBI pp. 571-588

• Thur – Using the Bible today: preaching, teaching, pastoral care, spiritual formation, and

enjoyable reading

o Read IBI pp. 589-601

o Quiz #11

99

Week 16

• Tue – Application

o Read IBI pp. 602-636

o Quiz #12

• Thur – Final

100

Sample Syllabi

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation Syllabus (Mon/Wed/Fri)

I. Course description:

This course will introduce students to the process of biblical interpretation, and to the manifold

issues related to that process.

II. Intended learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be expected to:

1. Describe what hermeneutics is and why it is necessary to understand the roles of the

author, audience, reader, and text.

2. Understand the methods that have been developed and used throughout the history of

interpretation, including the many interpretive methodologies used in modern

interpretation.

3. Be able to explain the importance of understanding how genres each have different

interpretive requirements; and be able to describe the main genres found in the Bible.

4. Be capable of describing the importance of application and how to arrive at a valid

application of a text.

III. Outline of weekly course schedule

Week 1

• Mon – Introduce the course

• Wed – The need for interpretation

o Read IBI (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation) pp. 39-52

• Fri – Challenges of Bible interpretation and the goal of hermeneutics

o Read IBI pp. 53-65

o Quiz #1

Week 2

• Mon – The history of interpretation: Jewish and Apostolic periods

o Read IBI pp. 66-79

• Wed – The history of interpretation: Patristic, Middle Ages, Reformation

o Read IBI pp. 80-95

• Fri – The history of interpretation: Post-Reformation through the Modern period

o Read IBI pp. 96-116

o Quiz #2

Week 3

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• Mon – Literary Criticism

o Read IBI pp. 117-133

• Wed – Social-scientific approaches to Scripture

o Read IBI pp. 134-143

• Fri – Advocacy groups

o Read IBI pp. 144-164

o Quiz #3

Week 4

• Mon – The biblical canon and Old Testament canon

o Read IBI pp. 165-171

• Wed – The canon of the New Testament and criteria of canonicity

o Read IBI pp. 172-179

• Fri – Canon criticism and texts and translations

o Read IBI pp. 180-200

o Quiz #4

Week 5

• Mon – Qualifications of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 201-209

• Wed – Presuppositions for correct interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 210-225

• Fri – Pre-understandings of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 226-243

o Quiz #5

Week 6

• Mon – Speech acts and levels of meaning

o Read IBI pp. 244-262

• Wed – Author-centered textual meaning

o Read IBI pp. 263-270

• Fri – The place of the reader and validating our interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 271-292

o Quiz #6

Week 7

• Mon – The literary context

o Read IBI pp. 293-311

• Wed – Historical-cultural background and word meanings

o Read IBI pp. 312-343

• Fri – Grammatical-structural relationships

o Read IBI pp. 344-360

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o Quiz #7

Week 8

• Mon – Biblical poetry

o Read IBI pp. 361-388

• Wed – Other poetic structures

o Read IBI pp. 389-416

o Quiz #8

• Fri – Midterm

Week 9

• Mon – Genres of the Old Testament and the nature of genre

o Read IBI pp. 417-419

• Wed – Genres of the Old Testament: Narratives

o Read IBI pp. 420-432

• Fri – Embedded genres

o Read IBI pp. 433-437

Week 10

• Mon – Genres of the Old Testament: Law

o Read IBI pp. 438-449

• Wed – Deuteronomy

o Read IBI pp. 449-451

• Fri – Genres of the Old Testament: Poetry

o Read IBI pp. 451-461

Week 11

• Mon – Genres of the Old Testament: Prophecy

o Read IBI pp. 462-492

• Wed – Genres of the Old Testament: Wisdom

o Read IBI pp. 493-505

• Fri – Writing a structural outline

o Read IBI pp. 505-509

o Quiz #9

Week 12

• Mon – Genres of the New Testament: Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 510-518

• Wed – Key theological issues

o Read IBI pp. 519-522

• Fri – Forms within the Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 523-531

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Week 13

• Mon – Genres of the New Testament: Acts

o Read IBI pp. 532-540

• Wed – Genres of the New Testament: Epistles

o Read IBI pp. 541-554

• Fri – Key theological questions for Pauline epistles

o Read IBI pp. 555-557

Week 14

• Mon – Genres of the New Testament Revelation – Revelation as epistle

o Read IBI pp. 558-560

• Wed – Revelation as prophecy

o Read IBI pp. 561-562

• Fri – Revelation as apocalyptic

o Read IBI pp. 562-570

o Quiz #10

Week 15

• Mon – Using the Bible: information, worship, and liturgy

o Read IBI pp. 571-577

• Wed – Using the Bible: formulating theology, preaching, and teaching

o Read IBI pp. 580-592

• Fri – Using the Bible: pastoral care, spiritual formation, enjoyable literature

o Read IBI pp. 593-601

o Quiz #11

Week 16

• Mon – Importance of application and avoiding mistakes

o Read IBI pp. 602-608

• Wed – Steps for legitimate application and the role of the Holy Spirit

o Read IBI pp. 609-636

o Quiz #12

• Fri – Final

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Sample Syllabi

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation Syllabus (Tue/Thur)

I. Course description:

This course will introduce students to the process of biblical interpretation, and to the manifold

issues related to that process.

II. Intended learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be expected to:

1. Describe what hermeneutics is and why it is necessary to understand the roles of the

author, audience, reader, and text.

2. Understand the methods that have been developed and used throughout the history of

interpretation, including the many interpretive methodologies used in modern

interpretation.

3. Be able to explain the importance of understanding how genres each have different

interpretive requirements; and be able to describe the main genres found in the Bible.

4. Be capable of describing the importance of application and how to arrive at a valid

application of a text.

III. Outline of weekly course schedule

Week 1

• Tue – Introduce the course; Discuss the need for interpretation

o Read IBI (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation) pp. 39-52

• Thur –Challenges of interpretation and the goal of hermeneutics

o Read IBI pp. 53-65

o Quiz #1

Week 2

• Tue – The history of interpretation: Jewish, Apostolic, and Patristic periods

o Read IBI pp. 66-87

• Thur – The history of interpretation: Middle Ages & Reformation through Modern period

o Read IBI pp. 88-116

o Quiz #2

Week 3

• Tue – Literary criticism

o Read IBI pp. 117-132

• Thur – Social-scientific approaches to Scripture

o Read IBI pp. 134-164

o Quiz #3

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Week 4

• Tue – The biblical canon and criteria of canonicity

o Read IBI pp. 165-179

• Thur – Canon criticism, texts and translations

o Read IBI pp. 180-200

o Quiz #4

Week 5

• Tue – Qualifications of the interpreter and presuppositions for correct interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 201-225

• Thur – Pre-understandings of the interpreter

o Read IBI pp. 226-243

o Quiz #5

Week 6

• Tue – Speech acts, levels of meaning, and author-centered textual meaning

o Read IBI pp. 244-270

• Thur – The place of the reader and validating our interpretation

o Read IBI pp. 271-292

o Quiz #6

Week 7

• Tue – Literary context and historical-cultural background

o Read IBI pp. 293-323

• Thur – Word meanings and grammatical-structural relationships

o Read IBI pp. 324-360

o Quiz #7

Week 8

• Tue – The dynamics of poetry and structure of Hebrew poetry

o Read IBI pp. 361-388

• Thur – Other poetic structures, the language and units of poetry

o Read IBI pp. 389-416

o Quiz #8

Week 9

• Tue - Midterm

• Thur –The nature of genre and narratives

o Read IBI pp. 417-437

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Week 10

• Tue – Law

o Read IBI pp. 438-450

• Thur – Poetry

o Read IBI pp. 451-461

Week 11

• Tue – Prophecy

o Read IBI pp. 462-492

• Thur – Wisdom and writing a structural outline

o Read IBI pp. 493-509

o Quiz #9

Week 12

• Tue – Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 510-518

• Thur – Key theological issues and forms within the Gospels

o Read IBI pp. 519-531

Week 13

• Tue – Acts

o Read IBI pp. 532-540

• Thur – Epistles

o Read IBI pp. 541-550

Week 14

• Tue – Individual forms in the epistles and key theological questions

o Read IBI pp. 551-557

• Thur – Revelation

o Read IBI pp. 558-570

o Quiz #10

Week 15

• Tue – Using the Bible today: information, worship, liturgy, and theology

o Read IBI pp. 571-588

• Thur – Using the Bible today: preaching, teaching, pastoral care, spiritual formation, and

enjoyable reading

o Read IBI pp. 589-601

o Quiz #11

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Week 16

• Tue – Application

o Read IBI pp. 602-636

o Quiz #12

• Thur – Final

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Midterm and Final Exams

Name: __________________

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

Midterm exam – with answers

Each question is worth two points

True/False

1. The term “hermeneutics” refers to the principles used to understand what a message

means. -True

2. The order of the NT is arranged strictly according to length. -False

3. The original meaning of a message must be limited to what the original readers could

have understood. -True

4. The Protestant Bible contains the same number of books as a Catholic Bible. -False

5. Reader-response criticism maintains that meaning come from the text itself. -False

6. Deconstruction methods aim to show problems in the text and how the text ultimately

undermines itself. -True

7. The order of the OT in English Bible translations is arranged like the Septuagint. -True

8. The main concern of pietism was to cultivate Christian practice through group Bible

study, prayer, and emphasis on personal morality. -True

9. The author-encoded historical meaning of a text is the central objective of hermeneutics.

-True

10. All readers have presuppositions that influence their interpretation. -True

11. Liberationist readings aim to read Scripture from the perspective of the marginalized.

-True

12. Canon criticism focuses on the sources behind the text of the Bible. -False

13. Pre-understandings that have been shaped by Scripture allow the interpreter to engage the

text with new questions. -True

14. The Biblical Theology Movement attempted to recover the unity of the Bible and

rediscover its theological voice. -True

15. It is not possible for a text with a single purpose (illocution) to generate multiple

perlocutions beyond what the author intended. -False

16. The criterion of apostolicity refers to the belief that all NT books have apostolic

connections. -True

17. The historical-critical method was often used to explore a text’s undergirding historical

development without any commitment to the Bible as divine revelation. -True

18. Not all interpreters approach the text with pre-understandings. -False

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19. There are instances in Scripture where NT authors envisioned new meanings for OT

texts. -True

20. All we have from which to determine the author’s intended meaning is the biblical text.

-True

21. If a method conflicts with the interpreter’s beliefs about the nature of Scripture, it may

need to be modified or rejected. -True

22. The full interpretive process involves determining a message’s meaning and its

significance. -True

23. Narrative criticism employs completely different methods from those used to study

classic literature. -False

24. It is possible for one’s presuppositions to negatively color their interpretation. -True

25. Cultural distance is the only challenge the interpreter faces. -False

Fill in the Blank

26. The connotative use of a word refers to the suggestive sense that grows out of its

denotative meaning.

27. The views shaped by an interpreter’s previous experiences may be called pre-

understandings .

28. The valid interpretation of the Bible requires a willingness to obey its message.

29. Redaction criticism highlights attention to the distinctive theological emphases of

biblical writers and editors.

30. The criterion of catholicity refers to the belief that all NT books evidenced wide use in

the earliest generations of Christianity.

31. Canonical criticism helpfully underscores the unity of the Bible.

32. Much like liberation theology, postcolonialism aims to read Scripture from the

perspective of the marginalized.

33. One benefit of narrative criticism is that it offers a helpful examination of the text in

its final form.

34. A text’s meaning must be understood in light of the author’s intended communication.

35. The word canon refers to a “list” or “standard.”

36. Athanasius was the first Christian writer to endorse all 27 books of the modern NT

without hesitation.

37. A text’s significance may be understood in light of the broader message of the Bible

and history of interpretation

38. Poststructuralism is linked ideologically with postmodernism.

39. In the attempt to better understand the social world out of which texts come, one might

examine social history .

40. To validate one’s interpretation, it is necessary to weigh the evidence pertaining to the

text’s most probable meaning.

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41. Only the author-encoded meaning of the text can be legitimately considered the inspired

message of God.

42. Whether the events of the Bible occurred as recounted or not raises the question of

historicity.

43. The idea that interpreting texts helps us formulate our understandings and systems is

known as the hermeneutical spiral .

44. The illocution describes the energy and form employed to accomplish the author’s intent.

45. A hermeneutical approach involves identifying and accounting for one’s

presuppositions.

46. A hermeneutical principle using church tradition as authoritative may be called the

traditional interpretation method.

47. Typological interpretation refers to the identification of earlier patterns or symbols with

God’s later work in Christ.

48. The separation between the cultural situation of the ancient readers and the modern

interpreter is known as the distance of culture.

49. A valid interpretation should most likely conform to orthodox Christian doctrine .

50. The attempt to recover the theological voice of the Bible with the help of pre-critical and

pre-reformation voices is known as theological interpretation.

Multiple Choice

51. The term locution refers to:

a. The actual words or content of a speaker’s message

b. The distance between the reader and the location where the event took place

c. The speaker’s intention for his or her words

d. The effects the speaker envisions for his or her words

52. Why is textual criticism necessary?

a. We no longer have the original autographs.

b. Scribes made mistakes when copying copies of the original manuscripts.

c. Scribes often intentionally perverted the message of manuscripts.

d. A & B

e. A & C

53. Which of the following will not help in the task of accounting for personal biases in

interpretation?

a. Consulting other believers

b. Memorizing the text

c. Assessing whether the interpretation works in the praxis of the church

d. Reading and listening to others

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54. Which of the following is a category of poststructuralism?

a. Reader-response

b. Narrative criticism

c. Structuralism

d. Postcolonialism

55. Please finish this sentence with one of the following options: The authors maintain that

since the biblical “sources prove reliable where they can be tested”…

a. We need not worry about what cannot be tested.

b. We should give them the benefit of the doubt where they cannot be tested.

c. The historical reliability of all other texts is settled.

d. Only those sources that can be tested are inspired.

56. The phrase sola Scriptura captures which of the following Reformation principles:

a. Scripture alone

b. Faith alone

c. Grace alone

d. Christ alone

57. The OT canon includes all but which of the following?

a. The Writings

b. The Law

c. The Epistles

d. The Prophets

58. Which of the following can influence or shape an interpreter’s pre-understandings?

a. Gender

b. Language

c. Physical environment

d. Cultural values

e. All of the above

59. Which of these schools of Jewish interpretation attempted to address the challenge of the

cultures around them by promoting obedience to Torah?

a. Ancient Judaism

b. Rabbinic Judaism

c. Qumran

d. Hellenistic Judaism

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60. Which of the following is not a common category used to determine canonicity in the

NT?

a. Orthodoxy

b. Apostolicity

c. Orthopraxy

d. Catholicity

61. The first necessary presupposition about the nature of the Bible, according to the authors,

is that:

a. It consists of sixty-six books.

b. It was written by holy men.

c. It is a revelation of God’s own inspired message.

d. It all points to the coming of Jesus.

62. An attempt to understand the significance of purity laws highlights which of the

following approaches?

a. Deconstruction

b. Reader-response criticism

c. Social history

d. Liberation theology

63. The Holy Spirit plays the following role in interpretation:

a. To conceal certain messages and convict about sin

b. To convince and convict about truth and enable right living

c. To illuminate deeper meanings and convince about truth

d. To teach the meaning of difficult texts and enable understanding

64. Typically the interpretation with the greatest authority will be the one that is:

a. The most historically defensible

b. The most widely supported

c. The least offensive

d. The closest to the words of Jesus

65. Which of the following was not included in the author’s list of evangelical

presuppositions about the nature of the Bible?

a. Inspiring

b. A spiritual document

c. Authoritative and true

d. Understandable

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66. Social-scientific analysis employs which of the following disciplines?

a. Sociology

b. Economics

c. Political science

d. All of the above

67. While textual uncertainty raises questions about the text of the Bible at points, which of

the following is true, according to the authors?

a. The Greek OT is an upgrade to the Hebrew OT.

b. 90% of the OT can be constructed from the NT texts.

c. No major doctrine rests solely on contested manuscript evidence.

d. 45% of the NT records the actual words of Jesus.

68. The goal of hermeneutics is found in helping a reader:

a. Uncover and understand the meaning of the text

b. Understand and teach the truth of the text to others

c. Recognize and understand the hidden messages of Scripture

d. Understand and apply the message to their lives

69. The idea that the Holy Spirit may have encoded an additional meaning not intended by

the human author is known as:

a. Sola Fide

b. Sola Gratis

c. Sensus Spiritus

d. Sensus plenior

70. Which of the following describes the approach used to understand the contemporary

religious milieu surrounding the Bible?

a. Theological interpretation

b. History of religions

c. Lectio divina

d. History of interpretation

71. The meaning of a text is primarily determined by the text’s:

a. Reader

b. Text

c. Author

d. Interpretive tradition

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72. Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles often include what that is additional to the

Protestant Bible?

a. The Pentateuch

b. Major and minor prophets

c. The Apocrypha

d. The Synoptic Gospels

73. Which of the following options comprises the proper order of interpretation, according to

this chapter?

a. Significance, application, meaning

b. Meaning, significance, application

c. Application, meaning, significance

d. None of the above

74. The valuable aspects of narrative criticism include:

a. Character development

b. Plot

c. Foreshadowing

d. All of the above

75. Who completed the first modern edition of the Greek New Testament?

a. Augustine

b. Erasmus

c. Jerome

d. Luther

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Name: __________________

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

Final exam – with answers

Each question is worth two points

True/False

1. It is unnecessary to know as much as possible about the circumstances and perspective of

the author and audience. -False

2. When interpreting the book of Revelation, it is crucial to remember that the text cannot

mean something that would have been incomprehensible to the original audience.

- True

3. Theology should originate from a deductive analysis of the relevant biblical passages.

-False

4. When interpreting how an OT law applies to Christians today, we must consider whether

it is fulfilled in Christ. - True

5. Prophetic “foretelling” (i.e., predictions about the future) is far less common than

prophetic “forthtelling” (i.e., announcements of imminent divine judgment). - True

6. The immediate context exerts the most important influence over the meaning of a

passage. -True

7. The biggest mistake often made in application is completely neglecting context. -True

8. Inaugurated eschatology highlights that God’s in-breaking and reign has begun, but it

awaits its full consummation in the future. -True

9. All humans live according to a belief system or worldview. -True

10. Similes compare two things using “like” or “as.” -True

11. The main recurring theme of Acts relates to the spread of the gospel from Jewish to

Gentile territory. - True

12. The Holy Spirit will ensure the interpreter a comprehensive understanding. -False

13. One must first understand a text’s significance before one can understand its meaning.

- False

14. Prophetic foretelling (i.e., predictions about the future) must be interpreted in light of the

NT. -True

15. Imprecatory psalms use hyperbole to display the psalmist’s feelings in an attempt to

persuade Yahweh to act on Israel’s behalf. - True

16. The term “onomatopoeia” refers to a word that sounds like the action it depicts. -True

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17. The Holy Spirit often gives sudden intuitive flashes when we seek to interpret the Bible.

-False

18. The Gospels must be evaluated according to the ancient standards of their day. - True

19. Morphology relates to the system a language uses to combine its various components in

order to communicate. -False

20. In an A=B parallelism, the two lines typically are contrasted from each other. -False

21. Poetry makes up nearly one-third of the Bible. -True

22. An application must be consistent with the meaning of the text. -True

23. It is rare that a reader brings his or her presuppositions to the text. - False

24. Narratives are the third most common form of literature in the Bible. - False

25. Word order, combinations of words, and connecting words all contribute to a passage’s

meaning. -True

Fill in the Blank

26. The immediate context refers to the material immediately before and after the passage.

27. A(n) epistle is essentially a letter.

28. The genre of Gospel is best thought of as a theological biography.

29. The idea that the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to speak to God’s people in order to grow

them spiritually is sometimes called spiritual formation .

30. The NT applies to the church many OT passages that originally applied solely to Israel .

31. Liturgies enable worshipers to enact parts of the salvific drama and embody their

responses to God’s grace.

32. A passage’s worldview, economic structures, and political and religious climate are all

aspects of its cultural background.

33. The repetition of vowels is an example of assonance .

34. A proverb is a short, memorable statement about life found in the wisdom literature.

35. An epiphany report is used to describe the appearance of God or an angel to someone,

most often to convey a message.

36. Applications possess different levels of authority .

37. Reliance on the Holy Spirit is absolutely crucial for interpretation.

38. The second most common literary form in the Bible is poetry .

39. A vertical reading takes account of the Gospel’s own structure and ordering of themes.

40. A parable is a short fictional story with one or more characters intended to convey a

lesson

41. Systematic theology is typically discussed in the framework of the author’s choosing.

42. The Bible is God’s written special revelation for humanity.

43. The event of Pentecost in Acts 2 marks a crucial turning point between the age of the

Mosaic covenant and the new covenant.

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44. There are three main variations of parallelism in biblical poetry.

45. Parallelism refers to when two or more successive lines of a poem develop the thought

of the other.

46. Hebrew poetry creates poetic effects by using the sounds of words .

47. Morphology pertains to the forms of individual words and how they change to indicate

their function in a language.

48. One function of the Law/Legal material was to guide Israel along the way to enjoy

God’s blessings through obedience.

49. A prophecy of salvation describes the announcement of hope for the future.

50. One can use a lexicon determine a word’s range of meaning.

Multiple Choice

51. Which two elements are involved in investigating the immediate context of a passage?

a. Genre and structure

b. Theme and structure

c. Verbs and nouns

d. Grammar and motif

52. Christian theology regards which of the following as the necessary foundation and source

for its development?

a. Prayer

b. Church tradition

c. The Bible

d. Liturgies

53. The basic building block of narrative in the Bible is the:

a. Anecdote

b. Epic narrative

c. Poem

d. Report

54. Biblical theology emerges from a combination of all but which of the following

historical conditions?

a. The interaction of author and recipients

b. The philosophical system of the reader

c. The historical setting

d. The actual terms, categories, and thought forms

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55. For interpreting figures in poetry, readers should:

a. Identify the figure; examine its meaning in lexicon; apply it

b. Identify the figure; distill the figurative meaning from the literal; determine

the figure’s function

c. Determine the figure’s function; observe its parallelism; distinguish its literal

meaning

d. Determine the figure’s function; distill the figurative meaning from the literal;

examine its meaning in a lexicon

56. Which of the following are involved in the call of biblical preaching?

a. To comprehend the ancient text, including its correct meaning

b. To convey the text’s meaning and significance to people in their own time

c. To illuminate how they may apply the biblical truths to their lives

d. All of the above

57. The second stage of investigating literary context is:

a. The immediate context

b. The entire Bible

c. The entire Testament

d. The entire biblical book

58. Casuistic Law (or Case Law) is clearly identified by the following feature:

a. It maintains an “if…then” style of outlining the condition and the penalty.

b. It lacks any conditions attached.

c. It is marked by a prohibition, such as “You shall not murder.”

d. It always includes a measure of retaliation, such as “an eye for an eye.”

59. According to the authors, which of the following most accurately outlines the process of

lectio divina?

a. Prayer, reading the text, contemplating the text, meditating on the text

b. Meditating on the text, contemplating the text, memorizing the text, prayer

c. Reading the text, meditating on the text, prayer, contemplation

d. Memorizing the text, contemplating the text, reading the text, prayer

60. A > B parallelism typically indicates that:

a. A is contrasted from B.

b. A states the main idea and B qualifies it.

c. B is contrasted from A.

d. B states the main idea and A qualifies it.

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61. Which of the following takes precedence in Gospel interpretation?

a. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of parallel accounts.

b. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of extra-biblical accounts.

c. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of Romans.

d. It is most important to interpret a passage in light of the structure and

themes of the Gospel it is found in.

62. Apocalyptic literature generally includes all but which of the following features?

a. It primarily uses dreams or visions.

b. It often uses strange symbolism or numbers.

c. It “reveals” God’s hidden future plans.

d. It always depicts God’s intervention through normal, natural means.

63. The first step in doing responsible application is:

a. To understand the culture of which you are a part

b. To know precisely what the original languages say

c. To determine the original application intended by the passage

d. To know the history of the text’s interpretation

64. Which of the following features describes how an OT law may be understood in light of

the NT today?

a. In some cases, the NT makes the OT law stricter.

b. Some laws remain fully valid for Christians today.

c. Some laws have been entirely fulfilled in Christ, and no longer retain literal

validity for Christians today.

d. Laws that no longer apply literally can still teach an important and timeless truth.

e. All of the above

65. The central theme of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels is:

a. Justification by faith

b. The Kingdom of God

c. The need for baptism

d. The necessity of works for real faith

66. Which of the following is not a distinct literary form found within epistles?

a. Virtue and Vice Lists

b. Parables

c. Domestic codes

d. Creeds or hymns

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67. For the purpose of application, one must exegete both the Scriptures and one’s

a. Presuppositions

b. Pre-understandings

c. Culture

d. Feelings

68. The Hebrew poet may create a memorable wordplay in which of the following ways?

a. The repetition of words

b. Employing assonance or alliteration

c. Employing an onomatopoeia

d. All of the above

e. Both A and C

69. Understanding a biblical book’s background involves which of the following elements?

a. The date of composition

b. The details about the author

c. The purpose of the book

d. The details about the recipients

e. All of the above

70. Which is NOT one of the four steps for proper application listed in this chapter?

a. Determine the original application(s) intended.

b. Evaluate the specificity of those applications for their original historical

situations.

c. Determine whether textual variants suggest any additional applications.

d. Find appropriate applications for today that implement those principles.

71. Which of the following is not a main theme found in the letter of James?

a. The risk of apostasy

b. Wealth and poverty

c. Trials and temptations

d. Wisdom and speech

72. The highest level of confidence in our application should be when

a. We attempt to apply general truths from a passage that may or may not be actual

applications of the specific text at hand.

b. We can employ the originally intended response to our situation with very

little change.

c. We have been able to derive a broad principle whose application incorporates a

significant number of elements of the passage.

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d. None of the above

73. Which of the following should be consulted in the process of interpreting Acts?

a. Literary criticism

b. Archeology

c. Historical criticism

d. All of the above

74. The three main aspects involved in interpreting biblical poetry include all but which of

the following? (Select one)

a. Structure

b. Language

c. Sound

d. Pace

75. When looking at how the Bible as a whole serves as a measure of context for a particular

passage, the principle is that:

a. The theme should be found in both testaments.

b. The correct meaning should be consistent with the larger teaching on the

subject.

c. There will be very little diversity in how the meaning is expressed.

d. One should not expect a unified voice on any particular theme.

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Study Guides

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

Midterm Study Guide

The midterm exam is comprised of true/false, fill in the blank, and multiple choice questions.

There are seventy-five questions worth two points each. The exam covers the first six chapters of

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation.

Major Sections:

• The Need for Interpretation

• The History of Interpretation

• Literary and Social-Scientific Approaches to Interpretation

• The Canon and Translations

• The Interpreter

• The Goal of Interpretation

Key Terms:

• hermeneutics

• presupposition

• pre-understanding

• locution

• illocution

• perlocution

• author

• audience

• meaning

• allegory

• literal fulfillment

• typology

• historical-critical method

• theological interpretation

• literary criticism

• social-scientific analysis

• canon

• interpreter

• methodology

• speech act

• authorial intention

• textual meaning

• perceived meaning

• significance

Key Points

• Hermeneutics describes the necessary interpretive principles people use to understand

what a message means and how to apply it to their lives.

• Exposure to the history of interpretation keeps the modern interpreter humble and helps

him or her avoid various pitfalls.

• The meaning of a message is discerned by considering its content, purpose, and effect

while also taking into account the interplay of text, author, and audience.

• The challenges that face the interpreter of biblical texts include the distance of time and

language, as well as cultural and geographical distances.

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• Scholars have turned to modern literary criticism and social-scientific analysis to aid in

interpreting Scripture. All such approaches must be assessed on a case by case basis.

• Textual criticism is necessary because the original autographs no longer exist and

unintentional mistakes and changes were introduced in the process of making copies.

• There is a range of translations that follow various theories. Each translation principle

seeks to accomplish some emphasis or balance between accuracy and clarity.

• The “canon of Scripture” refers to the biblical books that are accepted as authoritative.

• All interpreters bring certain presuppositions to the text and it is crucial that these be

identified and adjusted as necessary.

• All interpreters also bring a number of pre-understandings to the text. These should be

assessed, compared to the teaching of Scripture, and revised or jettisoned as necessary.

• Human communication comprises what is called a “speech act,” including the locution,

illocution, and perlocution.

• The best option available to modern interpreters is to pursue the author’s intended and

historically conditioned meaning.

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Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

Final Study Guide

The final exam is comprised of true/false, fill in the blank, and multiple choice questions. There

are seventy-five questions worth two points each. The exam covers the latter six chapters (7-12)

of Introduction to Biblical Interpretation.

Major Sections:

• General Rules of Hermeneutics: Prose

• General Rules of Hermeneutics: Biblical Poetry

• Genres of the Old Testament

• Genres of the New Testament

• Using the Bible Today

• Application

Key Terms:

• literary context

• historical-cultural background

• word meaning

• word study

• poetry

• prose

• sound

• rhyme

• meter

• assonance

• alliteration

• parallelism

• simile

• metaphor

• genre

• narrative

• law

• poetry

• prophecy

• foretelling

• forthtelling

• apocalyptic

• wisdom

• Gospels

• theological biography

• theological history

• epistle

• Revelation

• systematic theology

• biblical theology

• application

• principle

Key Points:

● The intended meaning of a passage must be consistent with its immediate and broader

literary contexts. A correct interpretation of a passage should also be consistent with its

historical background.

● To understand and interpret poetry requires an understanding of how it uses sound,

structure, and language (certain devices) to communicate.

● The main literary categories of the OT include narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, and

wisdom literature, with narrative and poetry being the most common.

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● The Gospels are theological biographies of Jesus’ life and ministry. They must be read

both horizontally and vertically, giving attention to their unique subgenres (e.g., parables)

and theological emphases.

● The NT epistles are “occasional” letters, written to address particular issues. As such, the

circumstances surrounding their writing are crucial to understand as much as it is

possible.

● The book of Revelation combines elements of the epistle, prophecy, and apocalyptic. As

such, each element has unique interpretive requirements.

● The hermeneutical process should be employed in the service of something greater: the

active working of the Word of God.

● Looking beyond the relevance of the Scriptures for their first audience, the question of

application explores their significance for modern interpreters today.