Most, not all, Christians don’t spend the time in reading the Bible that they should. As it was said by an evangelist on the subject, “How often do you eat? Daily, right?! Why then would you only partake of spiritual nourishment but once a week, month, not at all…?” Great point, if we’re going to be honest. Most of us, not all, are spiritually malnourished. A contributing factor is the inability to know how to interact with God and His word. There is a ‘big’ word for the science and art of biblical interpretation…hermeneutics.
Bible interpretation answers the question, “What does this passage mean and how can I understand it?” Due to the rules that govern its use, it is a science. However, knowing the rules isn’t good enough, so it’s also an art. Also required is the practice to know how to use the rules.
Interpreting the Bible is no small issue. It’s a battleground for our souls. It’s been said that if the enemy had a wish list of things he doesn’t want us doing, Bible study is number one, followed by prayer and worship. It’s through Scripture we learn Who Jesus is and are empowered to become like Him. If you don’t know what Jesus is like how could you ever hope to be like Him? Paul prayed for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9). Knowing Scripture and obeying it are the foundations of a God-centered life. A life that produces a further desire to immerse into studying God’s Word. Biblical interpretation done right, takes student from study to applying back to study and on to more application in a continual climb toward God. Satan’s attempts to squelch our desire to study The Bible is his attempt to remove the basis for our spiritual growth.
Six principles of solid biblical interpretation
1. Due to The Bible being a divine Book, and our limitation as people, prayer is absolutely critical as we study. Paul teaches that unbelievers and the spiritually immature/ignorant Christian are restricted in their ability to comprehend Christian things (1 Corinthians 2:14–3:3). So, we have to pray that God bridges the gap that keeps us from understanding things of a spiritual nature, by the Holy Spirit’s teaching us (John 14:26; 16:13). Without this insight from God, we can’t learn. This need was the concept Paul referenced when he instructed Timothy to “reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this” (2 Timothy 2:7).
2. The Bible is a human book too, and to a degree, must be interpreted as any other book. Enter the principle of common sense. The grammatical–historical method for studying the Bible directs us to: examine the grammar carefully for what it says; and, understand a statement in light of historical background. We understand historical statements as straightforward statements and don’t change their literal, grammatical sense. This is “common sense.” Jesus says Christians can have anything for which they ask (John 15:7). Common sense dictates that there must be limitation on a statement like this because we know that Christians don’t have whatever they like. (1 John 5:14 confirms the limitation is God’s will) Using this common sense principle this way can be a tad dangerous because it can become an excuse for discarding any portion of Scripture we don’t like. However, if God controls our common sense, it is valid to use for interpreting the Bible.
3. We learn the right questions to ask of the text. What’s problematic here is that most people don’t know what they (the right questions) are, or they don’t want to learn. As a science Biblical interpretation and its rules take time, energy, and commitment to learn. But once learned, it’s much more satisfying asking the right questions than just guessing.
4. Primary rule of interpretation is “context.” This can’t be emphasized enough. If people would just let the passage speak for itself within context, the majority of errors in interpretation wouldn’t happen. A significant problem is our bias, or subjectivity. Many times our attitude is one of already knowing what a passage says. In that process we read our own meaning into it. This is eisegesis. (Eis is Greek meaning “into.”) However, interpreting correctly demands we listen to the text itself, and then draw out the meaning. This is exegesis. (Ex is Greek meaning “out of.”) If we allow a passage to be defined by what it and surrounding verses say, then we’ve taken a good step toward interpreting properly. Now, it’s impossible to completely dismiss our own bias/subjectivity. Our interpretation will be affected by our culture and opinions about the passage, or our theological beliefs, which are based in part by the passage. But this shouldn’t squash our attempts to let the passage speak as freely as possible, without being hampered with our own personal opinions and views.
5. Observation, interpretation, evaluation, and application—are the basis of all approaches to what the Bible means. They provide what questions you ask and when.
Observation: Do I understand the basic facts such as the meaning of all the words?
In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul discusses the subject of eating meat that’s been offered/sacrificed to idols. Whatever leftover meat sacrificed to an idol wasn’t eaten by priests was then sold at market. Some of the Corinthian Christians believed that because the idols were just fabricated from wood and stone that it was okay to eat the meat. However, others thought it wasn’t allowed for the fear that it might look like that they still had some attachment to a pagan practice. We need to understand this background before we move on with understanding the passage.
Interpretation: What did the author mean in their historical setting?
We have to try and put ourselves in the place of the Passage’s original audience. What does the specific passage actually say? Often we fail to examine carefully what Scripture is saying. There are some that quote Matthew 5:21–22 as evidence that have bad thoughts is just as wrong as carrying out the action. Would you agree that anger is the same as murder? No, it’s not. (common sense confirms this.) However, the passage doesn’t say they’re the same. The passage says the law regarding murder isn’t fully obeyed by outward obedience only; we need to have and keep a proper attitude devoid of anger, which will keep us from the act of murder.
Next question is, does the context assist in defining the meaning of the verse? For example, what’s meant by the passage, “There is no God” (Psalms 53:1)? Context demonstrates this is a foolish statement. What’s meant by the verse that says Jesus will return like “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)? In context this means His coming is going to be sudden (v. 3). Should women remain totally silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34)? No, 1 Corinthians 11:5 instructs women can pray or prophesy. Does Jesus’ statement, “When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites” (Matthew 6:16) command His disciples to fast? No, Matthew 9:14 explains that His disciples didn’t fast while He was alive. (When we use Scripture to interpret Scripture and the Bible answers its own questions, then you know the answer is correct.) The twin matters of what the text actually says and the passage’s context help complete the second stage of interpretation.
Integrity is a critical element in all interpretation – we can’t ever forget Whose letters we are reading. They’re from God Himself, and demand respect. They speak for themselves. They demand honesty and integrity. We cannot ever put our guesswork/conjecture on the same level as God’s Word. Back to our interpretation of 1 Corinthians 8 – when we understand the background and facts of the verse, and we have asked what its actually saying and what its context is, then we understand Paul is teaching the lesson of voluntarily refraining from something that, in and of itself isn’t wrong, could be harmful to a fellow believer. This is step one in interpretation. We’ve seen the meaning of the verse as it would have been understood in Paul’s day and age.
Evaluation: What does this mean in today’s culture?
This is the issue of whether the Scripture applies directly to us in our day and age, or was it limited to the culture that it was originally written for.
This is answered in one of two ways. The verse applies directly to our culture, or it’s reapplied due to cultural differences. The majority of the NT is applicable to 21st-century culture. If you love God, then you must obey His commandments (John 14:15) regardless of where or when you live. This truth transcends any culture for all time.
However, there are times where a biblical lesson is directed so specifically to a particular culture (ancient world) that another culture can’t comprehend it. Back to our example, our culture generally doesn’t sacrifice meat to idols, and so the meaning of 1 Corinthians 8 might be lost. What then do we do to evaluate and provide application for us?
“Cultural expression” is a statement understood only within a specific cultural context. “Eternal principle” is used to govern the world and has universality regardless of culture. “I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.” (1 Corinthians 8:13), is a cultural expression in that it is understood only for those cultures where idols are offered meat. “God is love” (1 John 4:8) is an eternal principle due to it being applicable to all cultures.
Importantly though, we need to understand that all cultural expressions in Scripture are the result of an eternal principle. And while a cultural expression can’t be directly carried over to other cultures, its eternal principle that undergirds it can. We can’t ignore those cultural verses just because they’re cultural.
Two implications come from this. If there’s a cultural statement, then there has to be a principle that gave rise to it. But if no principle is found, then what was first thought to be cultural is in fact an eternal principle. If in interpreting you’re not sure whether a statement is cultural, wouldn’t it be smarter and safer to view the statement as eternal, or else ignore a command of God?
We also have to remember that as we see a passage set in a culture, that interpreters are also controlled and influenced by their culture. There are many people today that don’t believe in the accounts found in the Bible regarding miracles. For example, there are scholars that argue miracles were integral to a first-century culture and were accepted by people in Jesus’ time. But this is the 21st century and in this culture people don’t believe in miracles. Let’s recognize that these scholars’ and their views on the impossibility of supernatural events are influenced by their culture which is very materialistic and science-oriented. We can’t let our view of The Bible be overruled by our own cultural influence.
Application: How can I apply this to my life?
Okay, up to now what we’ve discussed regarding interpreting has been for the most part academic. But it is critical that we acknowledge that the whole purpose of studying The Bible is a godly life. We don’t complete our study until we put into practice that which we’ve learned. So, the academic and practical are inextricably tied into the Bible’s message. Many people find the academic dimension as boring/trivial. Other people reject the application seeing it as unnecessary. Both are wrong. We as the interpreter must maintain the balance between these approaches. At times in the study of Scripture it’s important to emphasize the academic when a passage is hard to understand, or emphasize the application when the relevance of a verse is confusing. However, we should never include one of these approaches to the exclusion of the other.
6. Interpreting is a two-step process. As we’ve discussed we first discover what it meant in the time of the author. Then we have to discover its message for us today, in this time and this culture. Observation and interpretation apply here to the first step; then evaluation and application apply to the second step. Why are these important? First, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the original audience if we want to understand its message properly. Second, these steps force us to understand meaning before we apply it to our lives. Third, the two steps separate us from the text, helping prevent eisegesis, since it separates what the text says from how it affects us today.
GBU – Hebrews 4:12
