Biblical Interpretation - Midterm

God’s Self-Revelation

Did not come in English or Western Culture

God chose to speak his word though human words in history

The Bible is God’s revelation of himself — so that we come to know God better, letting his attributes frame our worldview, and when we know who God is, the fitting responses of worship, commitment, and service follow

Authority

The Bible is the word of God and carries his authority. The evidence is internal and external

Authority - Internal Evidence

The Bible’s self attestation of its authority as delegated by God

Christ recognized the biblical writings as authoritative

The apostles recognized the biblical writings as authoritative

The unity of the Bible requires that all of it speak with divine authority

Authority - External Evidence

• Its practical effects in people’s lifestyles

• Its cumulative influence

• Its remarkable survival

• The confirmation of its claims in the findings of archeology

• The inner witness of the Holy Spirit

Implications of the Bible’s authority

We accept what it says as truth

We must respond — we cannot afford to ignore or neglect it, or him

Bible as an Art and Science

Science - Rules and Guidelines (Genre for Wisdom) to follow

Art - Apply them well takes wisdom — right guideline, right way, right place

The Interpretive Journey (Steps)

Step 1: Grasp the Text in Their town - What did it mean to the biblical audience

• Observe: grammar, significant words, historical & literary context

• Synthesize meaning in 1 - 2 sentences, past tense; be specific

• Tools: Bible dictionary, handbook, a formal translation, commentaries

Step 2: Measure the Width of the River - What are the differences?

• Gauge how wide the river is

• List the differences in culture, language, situation, time and (For the OT) covenant.

• For an OT text, identify the theological differences that came through the life and work of Jesus

Step 3: Cross the Principlizing Bridge - What is the theological principle?

• Hardest step

• Recall the differences, then find the similarities between their situation and ours

• State a broader principle genuinely in the text that spans them — the bridge across the river

• Write it in 1 - 2 sentences, present/future tense

• Five criteria

  • The principle should be reflected in the text

  • The principle should be timeless and not tied to a specific situation

  • The principle should not be culturally bound

  • The principle should correspond to the teaching of the rest of Scripture

  • The principle should be relevant to both the biblical and the contemporary audience

Step 4: Consult the Biblical Map - How does the principle fit the whole Bible?

• Enter the parts-whole spiral: move back and forth between your passage and the rest of Scripture. Is the principle consistent with the whole Bible?

• Do other passages add insight or qualification?

• For an OT text, run it “through the grid of the New Testament”

• Fine tune the wording

Step 5: Grasp the Text in Our Town - How do we live it out?

• Apply the principle to real life — don’t leave the meaning stranded in an abstract principle. Usually one (or a few) principle, but many applications, since Christians are in many different situations.

• Be specific about how you will respond

Exegesis

Hearing the word as the original readers heard it: “the careful, systematic study of Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning, primarily a historical task. The then and there

Observation

The meaning of the Bible is intertwined with the details of every sentence. Read closely

Read it over and over, don’t change only “deep” insights, understand the small pieces (words, phrases, sentences) before the big ones and the whole give context to the parts

What to look for in sentences - Repetition

Words that repeated in the sentence and around it - an early clue to the topic

What to look for in sentences - Contrasts

Ideas/people/items set against each other (differences)

What to look for in sentences - Comparisons

Likened to each other (similarities) — like/as

What to look for in sentences - Lists

More than two items — is there an order or grouping

What to look for in sentences - Cause & Effect

A cause + its effect (one cause can have several effects)

What to look for in sentences - Figures of Speech

Words used non-literally to paint an image; types: similes, metaphors, personifications, hyperbole

What to look for in sentences - Conjunctions

The “mortar” — and, but, for, therefore, since. What does each connect?

What to look for in sentences - Verbs

Tense

Imperative (command)

Active vs passive (passive often = God’s word)

What to look for in sentences - Pronouns

Find the antecedent - who/what does it refer to?

What to look for in paragraphs - General & Specific

Broad summary + supporting details - runs either direction

What to look for in paragraphs - Questions & Answers

A rhetorical question the author then answers

What to look for in paragraphs - Dialogue

Who speaks to whom? setting? others listening? point? (colour-code speakers)

What to look for in paragraphs - Purpose/result

Reason, result or consequence — that, in that, so that

What to look for in paragraphs - Means

How it is accomplished — insert by means of

What to look for in paragraphs - Conditional Clauses

If…(then) - name the condition and the result

What to look for in paragraphs - Actions of people & God

What God does (Father/Son/Spirit) vs. what people do — and the connection; relational names

What to look for in paragraphs - Emotional Terms

Words that carry feeling; kinship words (son, father, mother,)

What to look for in paragraphs - Tone

Overall feel: warm? scolding? sorrowful? calm? ____ is part of the message

What to look for in discourses - Connections Between Paragraphs and Episodes

Ask how your paragraph (letters) or episode (narratives) relates to what comes before and after it: repeated words and themes, logical links (cause & effect), conjunctions between units, and — in narrative — the time sequence.

What to look for in discourses - Story Shifts

Major Breaks and Pivots

Watch for the pivot where a text takes a new turn

Letters, a major break (often doctrine → practice)

Narrative, a pivot episode — an unusually significant event on which the story turns

What to look for in discourses - Interchange

Weaves two stories at once, moving back and forth — often to draw a contrast or comparison

Ask why the author interleaves them

Chiasm

A _____ arranges items so the first parallels the last, the second the next-to-last, and so on (a-b-c….c’-b’-a’)

Rare in English, frequent in the Bible (especially the OT). An unpaired centre usually carries the main point.

Example Genesis 11: 1 - 9

What to look for in discourses - Inclusio

Bracketing or framing, repeats the same or a similar word, statement, event, or theme at the beginning and end of a unit, enclosing everything between. The frame often tells you how to read what it surrounds.

Interpretive principle

For any interpretation to be valid, it must be consistent with the historical cultural context of the text

We need to figure out what the author is saying

Historical Cultural Context

Broadly, it is almost anything outside the text that helps you understand it

Three things:

• The biblical writer

• The biblical audience

• Historical cultural elements the passages touches

Historical Cultural Context - The Biblical Writer

The more we know about the writer the better

Historical Cultural Context - The Biblical Audience

Know the readers and their circumstances

Historical Cultural Context - Elements

Geography

Social customs

Religious customs

Economic and political

Dangers of Studying Background

Real dangers - though none as great as ignoring background altogether

1. Inaccurate information — verify your sources

2. Elevating background above meaning — there is a difference between the context of a passage and its meaning

3. Becoming a walking database of facts — background is a tool to grasp and apply meaning, not an end in itself

Tools for Background Studies

Ask about the writer

• Who wrote it?

• From what background — where is he from?

• When did he write?

• What kind of ministry did he have?

• What is his relationship to the audience?

• Why is he writing?

Ask about the audience

• Who were the readers?

• In what circumstances?

• In what relationship to God and to one another?

• What was happening at the time?

Bible Handbooks

OT & NT Introductions and surveys

Commentaries

Bible Atlases

Background commentaries

Bible Dictionaries

Bible Encyclopedias

Preunderstandings / Cultural Baggage

All the preconceived notions we bring before we study - formed consciously & subconsciously, by good and bad influences (church, music, movies, and culture)

Tired to a passage; submit & revise it

Preunderstanding - Dangers

Pride - assuming it’s always right

Pre-set agenda = overstanding - standing over the Word to dictate meaning vs. under it to hear God

Familiarity - “ I already know this”, so we skip fresh study and only see what we saw last time

Interpersonal Reflex

The automatic transportation of the biblical text into your cultural world

Fills gaps with our culture

Pre-decide possible/impossible meanings before studying

Foundational Beliefs

Our overall view of the Bible, from our relationship with Christ; we use them

Preunderstandings you want to keep, flow from our relationship with God, beliefs

• The Bible is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit

• The Bible is trustworthy and true

• God has entered human history - the supernatural occurs

• The Bible is not contradictory - unified yet diverse (with real tension & mystery)

Two Factors to Keep In Mind as You Approach the Bible

Did not come in English or Western Culture + Preunderstandings

Literary Genre

Notice the FORM (how did it mean?) before the content (what did it mean?)

OT genres: narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom

NT genres: Gospel, history, letters, apocalyptic

______ acts as a kind of covenant of communication, a fixed agreement between author and reader about how to communicate.

Let the author’s genre set our rules; to disregard it is to break covenant with the author and the Spirit

Surrounding Context

The texts that surround your passage — the words, sentences, paragraphs, and discourses before and after it

Immediate context - what comes right before and after (highest priority)

Larger section - a paragraph, discourse, chapter, or several chapters

Rest of the Book

Rest of the Bible

Dangers of Disregarding Literary Context

You can make the Bible say anything - only if you disregard literary context

Ignoring the Surrounding Context

• Rev 3:20 (I stand at the door and knock) - not evangelistic; Christ appeals to lukewarm believers to renew fellowship

• Matt 18:20 (I where two or three gather) - not about group prayer; the context is church discipline

Preaching

• Valid only if each passage is understood in context and the whole doesn’t violate them

  • Expository follows an authors flow of thought

  • Topical often strings unrelated thoughts

How to Identify the Literary Context

The Goal

• Identify how the author’s thought flows through each part to form the whole. The parts form a whole; the whole bounds the parts. The most accurate interpretation is the one that best fits the surrounding context

Three Steps

Divide the book into paragraphs / sections

• The paragraph is the basic unit of thought. Look for transition markers:

  • Conjunctions (therefore, then, but)

  • Change of subgenera (greeting → prayer)

  • Change of topic or theme

  • Change in time, location or setting

  • Grammatical changes (subject, object, pronoun, tense, person, number)

  • Repetition of words, phrases or concepts

Summarize each section in about a dozen words or less

• Capture the topic or theme and what the author says about it. Stick to the main point

Fit your passage into the surrounding context

• Ask how your passage relates to what comes before and after.

English - Only - Fallacy

Study the English word instead of the underlying Greek/Hewbrew. Two problems

• One Greek/Hebrew word → several English words

• Different Greek/Hebrew words → the same English word

Root/Etymology - Fallacy

“Real” meaning is the root (butterfly is not fly in butter). Give context priority over etymology

Time Frame - Fallacy

Read a late meaning back in — dynamis is not dynamite

Overload - Fallacy

A word carries ALL its meanings at once (spring = season + coil + jump + water)

Word - Count - Fallacy

Same meaning every time. Bock: word meanings are determined by context, not ____ _____

Word as concept - Fallacy

One word = whole concept (ekklesia does not equal all the NT says about the church)

Selective evidence - Fallacy

Cite only supportive evidence. Decide up front to accept ALL the evidence

Semantic range

List of all a word could mean — build it for the Greek/Hebrew word, not the English

Original & English ranges overlap but aren’t identical — find the point of overlap

Decide what the Word Does Mean

Context determines word meaning

• The word (immediate context)

• Same book

• Same author (priority)

• Rest of the same Testament

• Rest of the Bible

Authorial Intention

Meaning is set by the authors intention

Reader’s task: discover the author’s meaning

One meaning, tied to the text

Reader Response

Meaning is set by the reader/community

Reader’s task: create meaning with the text

Meanings multiply: the author is no longer involved

Author

Human AND Divine

Meaning

What the author conveys through his signs (grammar, syntax, word meanings)

ONE; validatable, same for all Christians

Application

What the reader does with the meaning

MANY (varies by reader, but bounded by the meaning)

Spiritualizing

Missing the obvious meaning to chase a hidden “super-spiritual” one → slides into reader response (we make the meaning)

Allegory (Device)

A story of extensive symbolism, metaphors strung together

Allegorical Interpretation (method)

Imposing symbolic meaning on non-allegorical text (early church’s fourfold sense)

Typology

General correspondence (event/person/institution)

Author/divine-intended; prophetic (promise → fulfillment)

Founded in history; IDENTIFIED by the NT

Gematria

Hebrew letters as numbers; links words of equal numeric value

Equidistant Letter Sequencing (ELS)

Codes from equally spaced letters.

Debunked

Same error as spritiualizing: meaning God didn’t encode; control handed to the reader. God’s message is in the plain literary sense

Three Steps for Doing a Proper Word Study

1. Choose your words carefully

2. Determine what the word could mean

3. Determine what the word means using context

Look for

• Words that are crucial to the passage

• Repeated words

• Figures of speech

• Words that are unclear, puzzling or difficult

Formal

Word for word

Keep source structure

Strength: see the original

Weakness: Stilted

Functional

Thought for thought

Meaning in today’s language

Strength: clear

Weakness: may decide interpretation