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, as originally delivered to mankind, is the inerrant and eternal 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.

4. G-d’s Word, like His nature, is eternal and unchangeable. G-d has said what He means and means what He has said.

Therefore, all confusion, misunderstanding, and apparent contradictions in the Bible are either the result of human misunderstanding, or of inaccurate translation or 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 mechanical obedience to the Torah without a complete heart commitment to its Author. In his particular case, his riches were more important to him than was a whole-hearted commitment to a relationship with G-d.

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 Yeshua.

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. He does, however, require a whole-hearted commitment to their relationship with Him as their Father.

The secondary application of Matthew 19 is that all people must be very careful to let nothing stand between them and whole hearted 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 Believer (2 Timothy 3:16), but not all Scripture is about the Believer.

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 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 you must do, 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 taken 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. I’ll wait here till you get back.)

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. When reading at the beginning or end of an artificial chapter division, be sure to include the material immediately preceding and following the text being considered.

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

a. His earthly Kingdom has not yet been established, and Yochanan (John), the last of the Shliachim to die (circa 90 C.E.) has been dead for nearly 2000 years. Did Yeshua lie?

b. Ignoring the artificial boundary between chapters 16 and 17, we see that in the actual context of the passage Kefa (Peter), Ya'akov (James), and Yochanan (John) saw Yeshua in His full Kingdom glory only six days later on the mount of the transfiguration.

c. Kefa 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 Yeshua haMashiach, the 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 concise “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

Part of the process of properly interpreting the Scriptures in their historical content is to understand that G-d did not reveal everything that He wanted man to know about Him all at once. Although Adam and Eve walked with Him in Eden, it is highly unlikely that they would know that He would become the Sacrifice for their sin. When He called Avraham out of Ur, even when He had lunch with him by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18), Avraham probably had no inkling of the symbolism that would be provided by the Tabernacle hundreds of years later.

The Prophets knew that G-d would send His promised Messiah, but they were probably very confused about how Messiah ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah, could also be Messiah ben David, the Reigning Messiah.

Please see A Refutation of Dispensational Theology for a more complete treatment of this concept.

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, or eras, of human history, and the level of previous revelation known to those to whom the text in question was originally delivered.

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 Apostolic Writings (so-called “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 eras into which we can conveniently divide the level of revelation which G-d has provided to mankind 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. Begins with the giving of the Torah at Sinai and ends with the Judgment of the Nations (Matthew 25:31,32).

6. “Grace” [so-called]. Begins with the Resurrection of Yeshua and ends with the translation of the Elect (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Considered by most protestant Bible interpreters to be a unique dispensation inserted into the midst of the Period 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).

The time periods that are defined above as “dispensations” are no more than convenient “mile markers” on the road of history to remind us of what G-d had revealed to man up to that time. As we study the Scriptures, it is important to realize which time period we are reading about, and understand that the books in the Bible are not in chronological order. For example, the book of Job was probably the first book in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures) to be written. It is believed that Job was a contemporary of Avraham (ca. 2100 BCE) who lived approximately 635 years before G-d gave the Torah at Sinai and two millennia before Yeshua came.

Job said, “But I know that my Redeemer lives, that in the end he will rise on the dust; so that after my skin has been thus destroyed, then even without my flesh, I will see G-d. I will see him for myself, my eyes, not someone else’s, will behold him” (Job 19:25-27). Even though Job believed in an eternal G-d and in his own resurrection, we must not make the mistake of assuming that he knew anything at all about the Torah or the death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua.

What we find when we study the Scriptures and pay attention to the historical context, we find a progressive revelation, in which G-d reveals Himself to mankind a little at a time,

If we neglect this essential interpretive principle, we forget extremely important facts, like the fact that Avraham, Yitz'chak, and Ya'akov knew nothing about the Torah, or we believe that Jews before [or even after] Calvary were “saved” by obeying the “Law.” We also arrive at very erroneous conclusions like thinking that “Paul and Silas went around planting churches” or that when Jews become completed in their Messiah they become “Christians” and stop being Jews.

By neglecting the historical context of the Apostolic Scriptures, we wind up with such ridiculous assumptions as: “Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to church every Sunday,” and “the Fourth Commandment has been repealed and the Sabbath has moved to ‘The Lord’s Day’ on Sunday.” We fail to realize that the Shliachim (Apostles) who wrote the “New Testament” knew nothing at all of the “Church.”

In fact, the “Church” as we know it did not come into existence in the first century, the second century, or even the third century of the Common Era. In approximately 311 CE (which would be the fourth century), Emperor Constantine created a new Roman state religion by modifying the Roman version of the Babylon Mystery Religion, dressing it up with “Bible words,” and changing the names of the pantheon of “gods” and “goddesses” to the names of prominent first-century Messianic Believers, particularly the Apostles [MORE], and called it “the Church” or “Christianity.” Up until that event, Judaism (which included Messianic Judaism, which was called “the Way,” as a sub-set, or sect of Judaism) was one of the many “authorized” religions of the Roman Empire.

“Wait a minute!" someone is saying. My Bible says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26, NIV).

That is exactly part of the problem that arises when we ignore the historical context. If we understand that the writers of the Apostolic Scriptures spoke Hebrew and/or Aramaic, and that the original autographs were penned in their native Hebrew (or Aramaic) and then later translated into Greek for transmission to the Gentile and Hellenized (Greek-speaking) Jewish believers in the Diaspora, then we can figure out how the word “Christians” wound up in the book of Acts. The word “Christ” is derived from the Greek word Christos, which means “anointed.” The Hebrew word for “anointed” is Mashiach, or Messiah. So what Luke actually wrote is that “it was in Antioch that the talmidim for the first time were called ‘Messianic.’” That sentence was then translated literally into Greek, and since before that time there was no concept of (or Greek word for) Messianic, the Greek-speaking translators had to “coin” a completely new Greek word that could convey the meaning of the Hebrew word for “Messianic.” To the root word Christos they added the suffix “ianous.” The original intended readers would have had no problem at all understanding what Luke meant by the newly-coined Greek term for “Messianic.” Centuries later, the Greek word Xristianouvß (Christianous) was simply transliterated into English and wound up as “Christians” (Acts 11:26). It would be grossly unfair to call this a “translation error,” but for us to think that the first-, second-, and third-century Messianic believers thought of or referred to themselves as “Christians” would be totally anachronistic.

Of course, the same would apply to the word “Christian” in Acts 26:28 and 1Peter 4:16.

Important Doctrines Concerning the Bible

Inspiration

The Bible is the literal written Word of G-d, absolutely accurate as originally received, 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 Hebrew Scriptures (so-called “Old Testament” and the Apostolic Writings (so-called “New Testament”) 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, the Holy Spirit of G-d (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 Ruach haKodesh (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 Ruach haKodesh 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 Ruach haKodesh 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. It is, however, necessary for us to interpret using vocabulary as near as possible to the original.

Their content and transmission to us has been controlled and protected by G-d. They are to be interpreted under the enlightenment of Ruach haKodesh and understood in their natural, historical, grammatical, and intended sense, and are to be accepted as the full and final authority over the Believer’s 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 Ruach haKodesh 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 the Believer’s 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 literal accuracy of the creation account 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. While there is ample and reliable evidence to prove genetic variation within the individual species, 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” or Historical Era

In His progressive revelation, G-d has entrusted man with varying responsibilities in successive periods, historical eras, or so-called “dispensations.” These eras are periods of time in which G-d has progressively revealed his intent to mankind, and in which the utter failure of humanity is consistently seen. Although these eras 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, in that the interpreter must always take into consideration the level of previous revelation that had been received by the original readers to which the text in question was directed.

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 through time to the Cross, with total and absolute faith in the work that haMelech Yeshua haMashiach (King Jesus the Messiah) completed there, plus nothing else.