Essentials of Biblical Interpretation

When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions!

All Scripture is inspired by G-d and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of G-d may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

Presupposition

The Bible is the inerrant Word of G-d.

1. G-d cannot make mistakes or lie.

2. The Bible is the revealed, inspired Word of G-d.

3. Therefore, the Bible, as originally delivered to men by G-d, is absolutely without error.

Therefore, all confusion, misunderstanding, and apparent contradictions in the Bible are the result of human misunderstanding or inaccurate interpretation.

Rules of Interpretation

The Rule of Grammatical Interpretation

A. Interpret grammatically, with due regard to the

1. meaning of words,

2. form of sentences,

3. peculiarities of idioms, and

4. grammatical style (historical narrative, poetical, etc.) in the original language employed by the writer.

B. The true sense of Scripture is determined by the words

The Rule of Literal interpretation

A. Common Meaning. The words of Scripture must be taken in their common meaning unless such meaning is shown to be inconsistent with:

1. other words in the sentence,

2. the argument being presented,

3. the context of the passage under consideration, or

4. the rest of what Scripture has to say about the matter being considered.

B. Exact Meaning. Because of the inadequacy of translation, there can be no very accurate conclusions as to what a very difficult passage teaches apart from the knowledge of the original languages in which the Bible was written.

C. "If the literal sense makes good sense, then to try to make any other sense is nonsense."

The Rule of Historical Interpretation

A. Degree of Previous Revelation

1. What did the person or group to whom the passage was originally addressed know about G-d and His plan for the human race?

2. Progressive Revelation

God reveals Himself and His plan a little at a time, building "precept upon precept; precept upon precept; line upon line; line upon line; here a little, there a little." (Isaiah 28:10,13)

For example: A baby first learns to eat with its hands. When its parents teach it later to eat with a spoon, and then even later to eat with a fork, they are not contradicting themselves or anything they have previously taught; they are rather progressively teaching greater "truth."

B. Original Audience

To whom was the passage originally addressed? and why?

For example: Matthew 19:16-22 was originally addressed to the rich man who was attempting to "earn" his way to eternal life through obedience to the law without any heart commitment. In his particular case, his riches were more important to him than was obedience to Christ.

C. Dual Application

1. There are two applications for all Scripture truth.

a. Primary application is made when a Scripture is recognized as pertaining directly to those to whom it is addressed.

In Matthew 19, the primary application is that the rich young man was letting his possessions stand between him and obedience to Christ.

b. Secondary application is made when a given Scripture is recognized as not applying directly to a certain person or class of persons, but its moral and spiritual teachings are, nevertheless, appropriated by them.

Matthew 19 does not directly apply to all people, nor even necessarily to all rich people. G-d does not require a vow of poverty from His children.

The secondary application of Matthew 19 is that all people must be very careful to let nothing stand between them and heart commitment of obedience to G-d.

2. No greater theological confusion arises than when one is confused as to the primary and secondary application of a given passage of Scripture.

3. All Scripture is for the Christian (2 Timothy 3:16), but not all Scripture is about the Christian.

For example: The Biblical account of David and Bathsheba provides us with information, not specific instruction.

There once was a man who wanted to determine G-d’s will for his life, so he opened his Bible and began reading at random. He opened to Matthew 27:5 and read that Judas went and hanged himself. "Surely you don't want me to do that, Lord!" the man wailed.

He quickly turned to another random passage of Scripture, this time his eyes coming to rest on Luke 10:37, where he read, "go, and do thou likewise."

"Lord!" the man cried in anguish, "surely that can't be your will for my life!" And again he turned to another random passage, John 13:27. There he read, "What thou doest, do quickly."

While this may seem like a ridiculous illustration, this man made two of the most common errors of Biblical interpretation which, when we make them, will lead us into just as great an error in our interpretation and application of the Sacred Text.

His first and greatest error was in confusing the primary and secondary applications of the passages he was trying to interpret. Although the passages were indeed Scripture, and therefore without error, and perhaps even had some application in his life, they were not addressed to him, and therefore the primary application was not to him.

His second error (which greatly contributed to his first error) was in lifting the text out of its proper context, which brings us to the fourth rule of Biblical interpretation.

The Rule of Contextual Interpretation

"A text out of context becomes pretext."

A. Carefully examine the context of the immediate passage.

The character and scope of the truth under contemplation at any point is to be discovered, very largely, by the surrounding context.

For example: Taken out of its immediate context, Psalm 14:1 states very plainly, "... there is no G-d." (Suggestion: If you haven't committed that verse to memory, look it up. ... Yes, I mean now.)

B. Be aware of artificial chapter boundaries.

1. Chapter and verse indications were added as in index to the Scriptures centuries after the Bible was completed. They are not inspired, nor are they part of the original text.

2. Matthew 16:28 appears to read that Jesus said some of His Apostles would not die before the Kingdom was established on earth.

a. His earthly Kingdom has not yet been established, and John, the last of the Apostles to die (circa A.D. 90) has been dead for nearly 2000 years. Did Jesus lie?

b. Ignoring the artificial boundary between chapters 16 and 17, we see that in the actual context of the passage Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in His full Kingdom glory only six days later on the mount of the transfiguration.

c. Peter confirms this account in 2 Peter 1:16-21.

C. Interpret each passage within the context of the distinct message and characteristics of the book in which it appears.

1. A vital factor in any revelation is its place in a certain book, and in light of the specific message of that book.

2. Romans is about salvation, "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" [Gentile]; cf. Romans 1:16.

3. Daniel is the message that G-d is in control of all human history, including the setting up and the casting down of kings and kingdoms; cf. Daniel 4:17.

4. Each of the four Gospels presents a different aspect of the Person and work of the Yeshua haMashiach, Lord Jesus Christ.

a. Matthew - His Kingship as the promised Messiah

b. Mark - His servanthood (cp. Isaiah 53)

c. Luke - His complete humanity

d. John - His absolute Deity

D. Consider the message and purpose of the Bible as a whole.

1. It is not a treatise on natural science or history.

2. It is a totally comprehensive, plenary declaration from G-d concerning Himself and His works, especially as those works enter into the eternal welfare of man.

E. Compare Scripture with Scripture.

1. "Scripture Truth" is the consistent explanation of all that the Bible teaches in reference to the question under consideration.

2. Remember that the Bible cannot contradict itself. If the Bible appears to be contradicting itself, we have not yet arrived at the "Scripture Truth."

F. Consider everything the Bible teaches about a given theme before developing any conclusions.

1. A correct interpretation depends largely on an induction of all the Bible says on a given subject.

2. The conclusion we reach must be no less than the consensus of the full testimony of Scripture.

G. Use the proper reasoning process.

1. Deductive method - incorrect

a. Read one or two passages, develop a thesis, and reason from that thesis to your conclusion.

b. Results in doctrinal error, such as the Mormon doctrine that G-d is a resurrected, glorified man whose name is Adam and one of whose wives' name is Eve, and who has two sons named Lucifer and Jesus.

2. Inductive method - correct

a. Read everything that G-d has spoken on the subject and summarize into a doctrinal statement.

b. Results in doctrinal truth that is an accurate statement of Scripture Truth on the matter in question.

H. Avoid bringing preconceptions and personal prejudices to the interpretation of Scripture.

1. Since Scripture can be taken out of context and twisted to say anything one desires, it is too easy to distort the Scripture to make it conform to one's prejudices or preconceived notions.

2. G-d has condemned this practice and calls it "handling the word of G-d deceitfully." (2 Corinthians 4:2)

The Rule of Dispensational Interpretation

A. A principal key to determining the primary application is the recognition of the specific purpose of G-d in the then-present and succeeding ages of human history.

B. Dispensation defined

1. Translated from the Greek word "oikonomia" (from which we get the English word "economy") which means literally "the law of the house," and signifies the management of a household or of household affairs. It is translated "dispensation" only three times in the New Testament. At all other occurrences it is translated "stewardship." A closely-related form of the word is translated as "steward."

2. "Dispensation" therefore signifies:

a. A method of "management" or of dealing with His people used by G-d, and generally

b. The corresponding time period during which that method was used.

C. The commonly-accepted "dispensations" or time periods in which G-d dealt with men using different methods include the following:

1. Innocence. Ended when Adam and Eve were driven from the garden (Genesis 3:24).

2. Conscience. Ended with the flood (Genesis 7:11,12,23).

3. Human Government. Ended with the dispersion of the nations at Babel (Genesis 11:9).

4. Promise. Ended with the escape from Egypt (Exodus 14).

5. Law. Ends with the Judgment of the Nations (Matthew 25:31,32).

6. Grace. Ends with the rapture of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:17). A unique dispensation inserted into the midst of the Dispensation of Law.

7. Millennial Kingdom. Begins with the Second Advent and ends with the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth (Zechariah 14:9; Revelation 21:1,2).

Important Doctrines Concerning the Bible

Inspiration

The Bible is the literal written Word of G-d, absolutely accurate and without any form of error in relation to any subject with which it deals. The Bible was "breathed out" by G-d, who directed specially prepared men to write down what they heard from Him.

Containing both the Old and New Testaments and consisting of the sixty-six books of the [so-called] Protestant Canon, the Bible is the literal, infallible, written Word of G-d (Exodus 17:14; 24:4). It is a divine revelation, G-d-breathed through the person of the Holy Spirit, and absolutely inerrant and infallible in relation to any subject with which it deals (1 Corinthians 2:1-16).

While allowing the human authors to bring their own unique personalities and experiences with them to the task of writing His word, G-d the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) so directed the effort that those men recorded the exact message that G-d intended to be recorded, down to the very spelling of every word they recorded.

The original autographs (hand-written documents produced by the original writer) were verbally inspired (in every word, every letter, and every part of every letter) by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 30:8; 2 Timothy 3:16; Exodus 4:10-12). That verbal inspiration is extended equally and completely to every part of Scripture (plenary inspiration), and was delivered to faithful men who were specifically prepared by G-d to receive His revelation (2 Samuel 23:2; 2 Peter 1:20, 21). This was not a process of simple dictation, bur rather one of dual authorship in which the Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded G-d’s word to man (2 Peter 1:20, 21), without error in the whole or in the part (Isaiah 30:8; 40:8; Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).

They contain all that G-d intends man to know about Himself and His plan (1 Corinthians 2:16; John 15:15, 16; 16:13-15), and therefore no other religious writings, "prophecies," or other supposed revelations are to be accepted as divinely inspired or authoritative (Proverbs 30:5, 6; Jude 3, 4).

Protected Transmission

The same Holy Spirit who inspired and directed the writing of the original autographs (the hand-written original documents) has also preserved His word in such a manner that we can be sure that the Bible we have today is of the same inerrancy and authority as the actual parchments that the prophets originally wrote.

Their content and transmission to us has been controlled and protected by G-d. They are to be interpreted under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and understood in their natural, historical, grammatical, and intended sense, and are to be accepted as the full and final authority over Christian faith and conduct (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19; Matthew 5:17-19; 24:34, 35; John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 13; Hebrews 4:12).

Interpretation

The Bible can be properly interpreted only through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and is to be understood in its natural, historical, grammatical, and intended sense. It is to be accepted as the full and final authority over Christian faith and conduct.

Creation

Since the Bible is without error in any of its parts, the creation account as described in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis is to be accepted as factual, historical, and perspicuous; all things in the universe were spoken into existence from nothing by G-d in the six days of special creation described in the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis.

The creation account is to be accepted as factual, historical, and perspicuous. It is thus foundational in the understanding of every fact and phenomenon in the created universe, which is presently being sustained and ordered by G-d’s providential care. The fact that G-d currently sustains and orders the entire universe is also essential to the proper understanding of any truth. The humanist philosophy of origins and developments involving "evolution" (the natural modification of one species into another) is rejected as false, unscientific, intellectually untenable, and heretical. (Genesis 1, 2: John 1:3; Hebrews 11:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Psalm 104:30; Revelation 4:11)

Dispensations

In His progressive revelation, G-d has entrusted man with varying responsibilities in successive periods, or dispensations. These dispensations are divine testing periods in which the utter failure of humanity is consistently seen. Although these dispensations span the history of mankind, seven are the subject of extended revelation in Scripture: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace, and the age of the Kingdom that is yet to come. (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-21; 1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; 3:29; Colossians 1:25; 1 Timothy 1:4). A proper interpretation of the Sacred Text in its appropriate historical context depends upon the understanding of this principle.

However, it is of the utmost importance to clearly understand that G-d does not change — nor does He change the requirements of righteousness or salvation from time to time. Salvation always has depended, and always will depend, solely upon the completed work of the Son of G-d at Calvary. Throughout the entire history of mankind, righteousness is imputed to those who look either forward or backward to the Cross with total and absolute faith, in the work that haMelech Yeshua haMashiach (King Jesus the Messiah) completed there, plus nothing else.