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Basic principles of hermeneutics
The document outlines the basic principles of hermeneutics, emphasizing the importance of correctly interpreting biblical texts through exegesis, which involves drawing out meaning, as opposed to eisogesis, where personal interpretations are imposed on the text. It discusses essential elements for interpretation, including the human, literary, and divine factors, advocating for a comprehensive approach that considers context and the entire Bible. Additionally, it highlights the literal-grammatical-historical method and practical applications for understanding scripture.
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Basic principles of hermeneutics
- 1. Basic Principles of Hermeneutics CorrectlyDividing the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15) Marie Notcheva Heritage Bible Chapel, Princeton MA Oct. 2015
- 2. Hermeneutics (hermeneuo) • Comesfrom Hermes, the mythical Greek god who was messenger/herald of other gods – also the interpreter of their messages • Paul exhorts believers (2 Tim. 2:15) to “exert yourself” or “make every effort to” (‘spoudazo’) “cut the Word exactly/straightly” (‘orthotomeo’)
- 4. What is ‘exegesis’? •‘Exegeomai’ – the actual practice or application of hermeneutical principles to biblical passages • The word literally means “to lead out” • The exegete is “drawing” a writer’s thoughts out of his writing • A working definition: Exegesis involves the use of every piece of relevant knowledge and every available help to bring out the Holy Spirit’s meaning and intention in a biblical writing.
- 5. What is ‘eisogesis’? •The opposite of ‘exegesis’ – reading one’s own meaning into the text • For example: disregarding moral law as obsolete because it doesn’t ‘fit’ one’s idea of how Christianity should look • Spiritualizing narratives – going beyond plain reading of literal passages to make allegories; metaphors that don’t exist • Hollywood movies about the Bible – putting words into Biblical figures’ mouths to serve an agenda
- 6. Interpretation Involves 3Elements: • The HUMAN Element 1) Must be saved (Romans 8:8; Matt. 13:12-15) 2) Mature enough to understand and use Scripture properly with the Spirit’s help )Hebrews 5:11-6:1; 1 Peter 2:2-3; John 16:12; 2 Peter 3:15-16) 3) Must never interpret the Scriptures through experience; but must interpret experience through Scripture
- 7. • The LITERARYElement 1) The entire Bible must be used; not limited to a few favorite verses 2) We must consider all aspects of language – grammar; genre; intent (telos or purpose); exegesis; context 3) We hold to the inerrancy of the Bible - The DIVINE Element The Holy Spirit inspired and is the final interpreter of Scripture (2 Peter 1:19- 21)
- 8. How do Istart? • Identify the kind of literature that the text is for insight into its meaning. Narrative – Prophecy – Poetry – History – Gospel – Epistle • Consider the context of the passage for a better understanding of its meaning. Historical – Social – Political – Religious etc.
- 9.
- 10. The Literal Principle •Much of what is written in the Bible is written in normal, non- metaphorical language. • Should be understood as it is written – a narrative. • No obvious figures of speech or idioms are used; the words simply mean what they say. • Narratives not “spiritualized”
- 11. Misreading Poetry (mis-applyingLiteral Principle)
- 12. The Historical Principle •Specific cultural events, people or situations that are assumed in the text • Added insight into the historical significance helps us understand text • Eg, inheritance rights in OT; understanding religious groups (Pharisees; Sadducees; Zealots) in NT
- 13. The Grammatical Principle •Study of syntax, or how the words “relate” to one another • Often the writer’s main idea is contained in a key verb • Pastors prepare sermons by discerning grammatical construction • Strong’s, Vine’s, Blueletterbible.org great tools – have original Greek/Hebrew terms
- 14. The Synthetic Principle •Scripture interprets Scripture • Be careful about basing a doctrine on only one verse • Scripture harmonizes (use cross-references in study Bibles) • “Contradictions” usually due to context and/or historical factors (ie genealogies)
- 15. The Practical Principle •What was the ‘telic’ purpose of the text? • What is the personal application? • How does the passage convict, instruct, encourage, exhort, transform us? • Hebrews 4:12/James 1:23-24
Editor's Notes
- #2 Hermeneutics is the SCIENCE OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. We have the Bible in our own language – it is not up to the clergy to interpret it subjectively and tell us what it means; we’re to be Bereans and search the Scriptures ourselves.
- #5 Calvin: (1st great interpreter of the Protestant Church): It is the first business of an interpreter to let the author say what he does instead of attributing to him what we think he ought to say”. In other words, one must come to the well with an empty bucket – leaving pre-conceived biases or presuppositions aside. In preaching, expository preaching like Pastor Tim does – going methodically through verses, pulling the meaning out and showing how it fits in the passage as a whole – that is exegesis in preaching. The other type would be “topical”, where many different parts of Scripture on a given topic – such as love; hospitality – might be pulled together to demonstrate a common theme running through Scripture.
- #6 Spiritualizing text – John Macarthur conference example – Luke 10 – not allegory of Old Covenant/New Covenant “No one has ever read Luke 10 that way” Noah; Moses (New 10 Commandments movie); Mary, Mother of Jesus
- #8 Illumination of truth and sanctification, which are works of the Holy Spirit, are in harmony with human interpretative efforts. All 3 elements must be kept in sync.
- #9 Bible scholars call this the genre of the text – we’re all familiar with literary genre from middle school English class. In the Bible, we have lots of different genres. Sometimes they overlap. The different kinds of literature present their message in different styles and structures to get their meaning across to the reader. Now, the variety on forms can become a complicated study – Bible scholars will go beyond these basic forms to ‘subforms’ with subtle differences, but even without knowing these technical distinctions, the reader can still recognize the text’s form and how it affects the meaning.
- #10 We view Scripture through a “Literal-Historical” lens where the text is primarily narrative. The Orthodox Church uses primarily a spiritual, allegorizing hermeneutic. Literal - means that we take the words for what they mean in their normal, or plain sense. This means that we start out by taking the words in their most normal meaning. If I say My house is red, you will understand what I mean. There would be no question about it. However, if I say Listen to this parable about the Homeowner, or used comparative words like the word like as in like a roaring lion, you would understand that my words might not be meant to be taken literally, but possibly figuratively. Grammatical - means we follow the grammatical rules of literature; Historical - means we seek to determine the historical background and context before rendering an interpretation.
- #11 Much of what is written in the Bible is written in normal, non-metaphorical language. No obvious figures of speech or idioms are used; the words simply mean what they say. Conversely, when ‘the trees clap their hands’ in Isaiah 55:12 and ‘the earth is glad’ with the ‘distant shores rejoicing’ in Psalm 97:1, we instantly recognize it as anthropomorphism. Jesus’ command to cut off the hand that leads one to sin is an obvious case of hyperbole; He also routinely employed metaphor (as when He referred to Himself as the door and as the bread of life). God’s anguished accusations against Israel allegorize the nation as a prostitute. The parables of Jesus are readily understood as such – simply hypothetical stories told to make a spiritual point. There are many such figures of speech used in Scripture, but where none is apparent in the text, we just assume literal, straight-forward language.
- #12 This is an example of applying the wrong hermeneutic to a passage of Scripture. Poetry, allegory, prophecy, etc. can not be “taken literally”. The skeptic’s question “Do you take the Bible literally?” – How do we answer that? The Bible is all INSPIRED and INFALLIBLE, but we take the “Literal narratives” literally; the poetry as poetry; the symbolism as symbolism; the parables as parables; and so on.
- #13 The second principle to keep in mind is the Historical Principle. This refers to the many terms and descriptions that would have meant something specific to certain people at a certain time, and the writer (or speaker) took this for granted when addressing given audiences. For example, the Samaritan protagonist of Jesus’ parable in Luke 10 would have had special poignancy to a first-century Jew. Hated because of their “mongrel” religion (a blend of Judaism and paganism incorporated during the Assyrian exile), Samaritans were so reviled by the Jews that they would not touch or associate with them for fear of becoming ceremonially unclean. Likewise, the Lord’s comparing the Pharisees to ‘whitewashed tombs’ (Matt. 23:27) was in reference to the custom of painting graves white in order to make them stand out (and prevent observant Jews from inadvertently breaking the Levitical prohibition on touching a tomb or corpse). Confusing MORAL LAW with ritual/purity Law given in Leviticus (ie claiming the verses stating homosexuality is an abomination are equal to the ones about shellfish and is mixing wool and linen) shows a misunderstanding of the Historical Principle, as well as Synthetic (Paul also wrote much about sexual sin; is in agreement with OT). Any First Century Jew or Jewish Christian would have understood the different Mosaic Laws’ purpose. There are thousands of such nuggets in Scripture, where although the intended meaning is self-evident from the passage, an added insight into the historical significance sheds additional light. Note, for instance, the detail given to inheritance rights in the Pentateuch. This indicates how closely guarded property was in clan-based agrarian society, and how codified the law needed to be (especially where there was no male heir, as in the case of Zelophehad’s daughters in Numbers 27 and 36). Even without knowledge of ancient Near Eastern property laws, we may still appreciate the passage for the care and concern God evidences for His children and His desire for justice in all personal matters. At the same time, considering that the Bible covers 4,000 years of history and mentions many cultures, learning to apply the Historical Principle will help us gain additional understanding of the text.
- #14 The third principle a student of the Word needs to consider is the Grammatical Principle. This is the study of syntax, or how the words “relate” to one another. Studying the structure of language is not only useful for learning a foreign language (remember sentence diagramming?), it is indispensable for Bible scholars. Of course, most of us will never need to go as deeply as a seminarian into deconstructing the Hebrew and Greek etymology, but often the writer’s main idea is contained in a key verb. Modifiers in the passage support what is being conveyed, and understanding the entire sentence structure in context helps prevent eisogesis (reading one’s own interpretation into the passage). The Grammatical Principle is at the heart of expository preaching, as pastors prepare sermons by discerning grammatical construction and exegeting difficult passages verse by verse (and clause by clause). “HELPMEET” is NOT a word!! It was a noun (‘help’) and adjective (‘meet’ = ‘suitable’ in Middle English) that KJV people made into a word Jehovah Witnesses have changed entire doctrines/removed the Deity of Christ by playing fast and loose with a few words in Scripture!! Blueletterbible.com and Strong’s Concordance – give example of “agapeo/phileo” in John 21
- #15 The fourth principle to consider when reading the Bible is the Synthetic Principle. Simply put, we must always interpret Scripture in light of other Scripture. The Reformers put it this way: “Scriptura Intra Pratatum” – Scripture is it’s own interpreter. Any given doctrine will have support elsewhere in Scripture, as God never contradicts Himself. As a pastor I know once used to warn his congregation, “Be careful of basing a doctrine on one verse.” Most of us would grasp by what we call ‘common sense’ that Mark 16:18 is not encouraging us to go out and pick up deadly snakes or drink strychnine: “they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” First, by applying the Literal Principal, we can take the Lord’s statement at face value. It does not appear metaphorical or a case of hyperbole from context. Next, the Historical Principal doesn’t lend us any new information – poison in the first century was still deadly; vipers still bit people and they died. Also, the same principle must be applied evenly throughout the whole passage – which also talks about laying hands on the sick for their recovery. While we are certainly to pray for the sick, Christians still sicken and die. Grammatically, the Lord is speaking futuristically – He is prophecying that certain miraculous signs (which are for the benefit of unbelievers, 1 Cor. 14:22); would follow believers in the Early Church. Now we come to the Synthetic Principle – is there any other passage in Scripture that would seem to advocate picking up snakes or drinking poison? No. The verse stands as a literal and true statement, (we know of one instance, from Acts 28:5, where Paul was spared by God when a viper attached itself to his hand), but nowhere does the Bible indicate that this is normative in the lives of all believers. There is no harmony with other passages; no new doctrine can be formed or inferred from Scripture about the Christian’s immunity to poisonous snakes. Where the Bible seems to have contradictions, it is because either we are interpreting the passage incorrectly, or we are not looking at it in context. A general rule for understanding the context of a given reference is to look at the verses immediately preceding and following it. Usually, cross-references are given in the margins of Bibles, which may refer the reader either to individual words or to similar teachings and statements elsewhere in the Bible. One “contradiction” to which many skeptics point in an attempt to discredit the Bible is the apparent dichotomy between Jesus’ teaching to “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, given in all three Synoptic Gospels, and the Levitical penal code that demanded “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20). The claim is that Christ represented a more ‘evolved’, kinder, gentler religion than the so-called “God of the Old Testament”. In reality, this is a false dichotomy. First, we know that the Triune God is immutable (unchanging) and He describes Himself as all-loving, compassionate, forgiving and gracious throughout the Old Testament. Second, Christ was actually quoting Leviticus 19:18 when He admonished His followers to love their neighbors as themselves. This was the entire spirit of the law from God’s Sinai covenant with the Israelites. Third, the “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” expression was a measure to prevent excesses in retributive justice. The context was judicial – penalty was to be appropriate to the nature of the crime; it was never intended as a rationale for personal vengeance. Studying out difficult passages keeping the Synthetic Principle in mind will help us see how they complement each other, even if at first glance they seem at odds.
- #16 The last principle in the hermeneutic process is the Practical Principle. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the question “What does this verse mean to me?”, it is only relevant after looking at the passage in its original context and applying all four of the previous principles. The reason for this is self-evident: we don’t want to be putting our own interpretations or twists on Scriptures and miss the full meaning. Worse, cults have been started by misconstruing key doctrines and reading one’s own agenda into given passages. The Word of God has an objective, intrinsic meaning which is not open to subjective interpretation (which is why studying and rightly dividing it is so important). However, this does not mean that God doesn’t offer us a very personal application of specific passages to our lives. Of course He does, and this is the area of our study where the Holy Spirit “quickens” the words on the page to our spirits. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” It has the power not only to inform, but also to convict, instruct, encourage, exhort and ultimately transform our lives.