Biblical Interpretations - Study Guide

word study

Purpose/Result

Phrases or sentences that describe the reason, the result, or the consequence of some action

Frequently introduced by result oriented connections as that, in order that, and so that, but can also be introduced with the simple infinitive

Emotional Terms

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

The bible is about relationships, primarily relationships between God and people.

Story Shifts: Major Breaks and Pivots

Letters → major break

The writer shifts topics, frequently chaining form doctrinal discussion to practical discussion

Narratives → pivot episodes

A shift in the direction father story will be signalled by an unusually significant episode

A pivot episode is an unusually significant episode that shifts the direction of the story

Example

Ephesians

Who has blessed us (1:3)

God raised us up (2:6)

Interchange

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

Is a literary device, used primarily in narrative, that involves contrasting or comparing two stories at the same time as part of the overall story development

Things to Look for in Discourses - Chiasm

A list of items, ideas or events is structured in such a manner that the first item parallels the last item, the second item parallels the next to the last item, and so forth

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

Formal

(word-for-word)

Keeps source structure

Less sensitive to the receptor language, which may result in an awkward translation

Strength: see the original

Weakness: stilted

Functional

thought-for-thought

Meaning in today’s language

Less sensitive to the source language, which may result in distorted meaning since form helps communicate meaning

Strength: clear

Weakness: may decide interpretation

The ______ _______ approach tries to stay as close as possible to the structure and words of the source language

more formal

The ______ ______ approach tries to express the meaning of the original text in today’s language

more functional

Spiritualizing

An approach that borders on allegorizing the bible (shows little or no sensitive to the biblical context.

Missing the obvious meaning to chase a hidden “super-spiritual” one

slides into reader response (we make the meaning)

Self-Revelation

The Bible is God’s revelation of himself

Its object": the we come to know God better, letting his attributes frame out worldview. It is the story of God revealing himself in history — and when we know who God is, the fitting responses of worship, commitment and service follow.

Authority

If the Bible is God’s self-revelation, it is far more than godly opinion — it I step word of God and carries his authority. The evidence is internal and external

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

External evidence

Its practical effects in people’s lives; it cumulative influence; its remarkable survival

The confirmation of its claims in the fingers of archaeology

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

The River of differences

We are separated from the biblical audience by culture, language, situation and time - a river blocking a straight move from “what it mean to them” to “what it means” to us

The OT river is wider: a change of covenant (Israel under the law; we approach God through Christ under the new covenant)

Interpretive Journey Step 1: Grasp the text in their town - What did it mean to the biblical audience

Observe all you can: grammar, significant words, historical & literary context (how the passage relates to what comes before and after)

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

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

Interpretive Journey 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

Interpretive Journey Step 3: Cross the Principlaizing Bridge

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

Interpretive Journey 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 teh 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

Interpretive Journey 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 situation. Be specific about how you will respond.

Meaning

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

Not set by the reader

One (validatable, same for all Christians)

Application

What the reader does with the meaning

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

Author

Human and divine

English - Only Fallacy

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

1. One greek/Hebrew word → several English words

2. Different Greek/Hebrew words → the same English word (e.g. comfort)

Root/etymology - Fallacy

“Real” meaning is in the root (butterfly does not equal fly in butter)

Give context priority over etymology

Time-frame - Fallacy

Read a late meaning back in — dynamic does not euqal dynamite)

Overload - Fallacy

A word carries ALL its meanings at once

(“spring” = season + coil + jump + water?)

Word-count - Fallacy

Same meaning every time

Word meanings are determined by context, not word counts

Word-as-concept

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

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

What to Look for in Sentences - Repetition

Words that repeat in the sentence and around it — an early blue 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)

Figures of Speech

Words used non-literally other pain an image

types: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

What to Look for in Sentences - Conjunction

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 other that, so that What to Look for in Paragraphs

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 (father, son, mother)

What to Look for in Paragraphs - Tone

Overall feel; warm? scolding? sorrowful? calm? Tone is part of the message

Discourse

A unit of connected text longer than a paragraph

Things to Look for in Discourses - Connection 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 and effect), conjunctions between units, and — in narrative — the time sequence.

These connections are critical

Things to Look for in Discourses - Story Shifts: Major Breaks and Pivots

What for the point where a text takes a new turn, in letters, a major break (often doctrines → practice).

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

Things to Look for in Discourses - Interchange

Interchange (mainly in narrative) weaves two stories at once, moving back and forth — often to draw a contrast or comparison.

As why the author interweaves them

Things 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

Gematria

Hebrew letters as numbers; links words of equal numeric value (claimed hidden connections)

Equidistant Letter Sequencing (ELS)

“codes” from equally spaced letters

debunked (such codes appear in any long book)

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

Typology

General correspondence (event/person/institution)

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

Grounded in history; identified by the NT

Is a historical event or person in the Old Testament that serves a prophetic pattern or example of a New Testament

Allegory (device)

a story of extensive symbolism

Allegorical interpretation (method)

imposing symbolic meaning on non-allegorical texts (early church’s fourfold sense)

Authorial Intention

Meaning is set by the author’s intention

Readers task: discover the authors meaning

One meaning, tied to the text, validatable

Readers Response

Meaning is set by the reader/community

Readers task: creating 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

Application

What the reader does with the meaning

= Many

Determining What the Author Meant

Recover meaning by reading the signs in literary and historical context - not dictionary/grammar alone

Literary Genre

Refers to the different types of literature found in the Bible

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

NT genres; gospel, history, epistles, apocalyptic

Each has its own rules of interpretation

Genre as a covenant of Communication

A fixed agreement between author and reader about how to communicate

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 content

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 - where two or three gather - not about group prayer; the context is church discipline

Topical preaching - distorts the meaning of Scripture by disregarding literary context

Steps for Identifying Literary Context

1. Divide the entire book into paragraphs / sections

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

- Conjunctions

• Change of genre

• Changes of topic or theme

• Changes in time, location or setting

• Grammatical changes

• Repetition of words, phrases or concepts

2. Summarize each sectioning about a dozen words or less

• Capture the topic or theme and what the author says about it

• Summarize the main idea of each section

3. Fit Your Passage into the Surrounding Context

• Ask how you passage relates to what comes before and after

• Explain how your particular passage relates to the surrounding sections

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

Preunderstanding

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

May not be correct

Refers to all of our preconceived notions and understandings that we bring to the text that have been formulated, both consciously and subconsciously, before we actually study the text in detail

Interpretation relfex

The automatic transportation of the biblical text into your cultural world

Affects our interpretation in 2 ways:

• Pre-decide possible/impossible meanings before studying

  • our cultural background performs a parameter of limiting possibilities for a text event before we grapple with the intended meaning. In this situation, based on our culture we subconsciously create a world of interpretive possibilities and a world of interpretive impossibilities

• Fill gaps with our culture

  • and ambiguities in teh biblical texts with explanations of our culture

Interpretive principle

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

Dangers of Background Studies

Real dangers - though not 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

Semantic Range