EXP:HERMENEUTICS

   Definition

   General hermeneutics is that set of rules employed in all materials
which stand in need of interpretation. It is used, with proper adaption
to the subject matter, in art, history, literature, archaeology and
translation. Something stands in need of interpretation when something
hinders its spontaneous understanding. To put it another way a gap
exists between the interpreter and the materials to be interpreted, and
rules must be set up to bridge this gap. In that the interpreter is
separated from his materials in time there is a historical gap; in that
his culture is different from that of his text there is a cultural gap;
in that the text is usually in a different language there is the
linguistic gap; in that the document originates in another country
there is the geographical gap and the biological gap (the flora and
fauna). In that usually a totally different attitude towards life and
the universe exists in the text it can be said that there is a
philosophical gap.

   Biblical hermenteutics is the study of those principles which
pertain to the interpretation of Holy Scripture. Here, we will briefly
consider the following hermeneutics:

   Understanding the Purpose of the Book Understanding the Historical
Background Understanding the Culture Understanding the Context
Understanding the Meaning of the Words Understanding the Parallel
Passages Understanding the Literary Styles Understanding How to Make an
Application

   PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

   There are 66 books in the Bible. Each one has a specific purpose
which relates in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Leviticus has an
entirely different purpose from say, Romans. When you read something in
Leviticus, you would not apply it in the same way as you would Romans.
Understanding the purpose of the Thessalonian letters greatly helps in
trying to understand some of Paul's comments there. Each of the four
gospels has a different purpose, which explains why they are not
identical biographical sketches.

   To aid us in understanding the purpose of a book, we use a Bible
Handbook, or a Survey of the Bible. Commentaries will also contain
information on the purpose of the book. Some Study Bibles also contain
this information.

   HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

   One of the more critical principles in understanding the Bible is to
understand the Historical Background of a passage. For instance, in
Luke 4:25-30, we find the Jews trying to throw Jesus off a cliff
because of what He said. We can only understand why they wanted to do
this by understanding the historical background of the two people Jesus
spoke of. In John 10:22, if we knew the historical background, we would
have very interesting information about why the Holy Spirit saw it as
important to add that the feast of the dedication was in winter.
Understanding the historical background of, say Ezekiel 26 in how the
prophecy against Tyre was fulfilled gives us an example of how God
intends us to interpret prophecy, and with what precision it is carried
out. In Revelation 3:18 we read of the things of which the Lord
counsels the church at Laodicea to buy of Him. If we understood the
historical background of the passage, we'd understand the irony here.

   To aid us in understanding the historical background of books and
passages in the Bible, we could look at a Bible Survey, a Bible
Handbook, or a Bible Dictionary. There are also many books available
devoted to the history of specific times during the Bible. Alfred
Edersheim is the classic work on THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESUS THE
MESSIAH. He also wrote a very interesting work on The Temple. Josephus
was a historian who wrote during the time of Jesus and discusses some
of the verbal traditions of the Jews at the time as well as a 'secular'
view of Jewish history. Charles Ludwig wrote a book on the Rulers of
New Testament Times which is quite inexpensive, very interesting, and
quite helpful. Commentaries, and some really good Study Bibles will
also contain some historical background.

   UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE

   Again, a critical subject. Not understanding the culture in a
passage sometimes may lead to a false interpretation of what is read.
In Romans 12:20, for example, if we knew the culture, or customs of the
land, we'd know that Paul is not showing us a way of "Christian
vengeance." In Matthew 13, Jesus draws heavily on the customs of the
day in giving His kingdom parables. Not understanding the customs has
lead many liberal scholars down completely false paths in trying to
understand the purpose of the church.

   To aid us in understanding the cultural background of various
passages in the Bible, we use books on manners and customs in the
Bible. Again, some commentaries may contain some of this information.

   UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT

   Misinterpreting Scripture, and wrenching things out of the text that
were never there goes on all the time. It is not difficult to pull a
Scripture out of its context, and give it a completely different
meaning. When interpreting Scripture, it is critical to keep the text
in context. By context, we mean the parts of a sentence or paragraph,
immediately next to or surrounding a passage. Some passages that seem
very difficult clear up nicely when we carefully examine the context.

   The whole prosperity doctrine and presumptuous faith movements
largely build their doctrines on taking scripture out of context and
making the Bible say things that it never said.

   There is no book really that can help us learn to study the context
of a passage. Our resources here are limited to possibly using a
commentary as a helpful guide in reinforcing, or contradicting our
interpretation.

   UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF THE WORDS

   One of the obstacles we face in understanding the text is finding
out exactly what the author meant when he wrote the words. We must not
impose our definition on the words, but find out what they meant when
they were written. This is a particularly difficult, or at least
tedious task, since this problem is compounded by understanding the
english word in our translation, understanding the Greek, Hebrew, or
Aramaic word in the original, and understanding what that word meant
when it was written. Words change in meaning even in our own
generation. Words are not static. They are constantly changing in their
use and meaning. There are many ways we can attack this problem. On the
first level, a good english dictionary should not be overlooked. You
might be surprised at how often this will serve as a valuable tool. On
the next level, it begins to get difficult if you are not familiar with
Greek or Hebrew. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance proves to be the
easiest way to do a complete, original study of a particular word.
However, this is only the beginning! In conjunction with Strong's, we
use a set of four books published by Baker Book House. These include a
Greek Concordance, a Hebrew Concordance, a Greek Lexicon, and a Hebrew
Lexicon. These books will be discussed later in this text.

   Another way to study the meaning of a word is to use a book called
Vine's Expository Dictionary. This book lists the english word, gives
the passages which are relevant and discusses the meaning of that word.
The only real shortcoming in using this approach is that it is not
exhaustive. There are words that are not discussed. However, this is an
easy short-cut if your particular word is listed.

   Other approaches are to purchase word studies. Wilson's Word Studies
are very popular. Wuest's Word Studies are also popular and inexpensive.

   UNDERSTANDING THE PARALLEL PASSAGES

   When studying the Word, one must take into consideration all the
Scriptural passages that shed light on a particular subject. Let the
Bible speak for itself. The Bible in many cases is its own best
commentary. Practice comparing Scripture with Scripture.

   Whenever you come across some new amazing discovery in the Bible
relating to a spiritual principle, there is a nice little rule of thumb
I like to use from the Bible itself. That is, 'by two or three
witnesses shall a thing be established.' What I mean here is that if
this new discovery is an important spiritual principle, I should be
able to find it reiterated somewhere else in the Bible.

   The book that really helps in this area is a good Study Bible. I
prefer to use Scofield, but there are others as well.

   UNDERSTANDING THE LITERARY STYLES

   Throughout the Bible, you will encounter various literary styles,
such as history, poetry, prophecy, proverbs, and parables. We cannot
interpret these differing styles in the same way. History passages
should be interpreted literally, while poetry passages are often
written in figurative language. The greatest help we have in these
circumstances is our common sense. We also have the context of the
passage we are dealing with. If we understand the background of what we
are reading, we should rarely have a problem with literary styles.
Being careful not to jump to conclusions will serve us well.

   Let's look at a few figures of speech used in the Bible.

   The Metaphor

   A metaphor is a figure of speech, in which a word or phrase that
ordinarily means one thing is applied to another thing, in order to
suggest a likeness between the two. Examples of metaphors are, "a
copper sky" and "a heart of stone."

   The Simile

   A simile is also a comparison between two things, like a metaphor;
only, the comparison is indicated by, "like," or "as." Examples of this
are, "a face like stone," "as hard as nails," and "his eyes were like
fire."

   The Analogy

   An analogy is a likeness in some ways between things that are
otherwise unlike. There is an analogy between the human heart and a
pump, the Lord and a shepherd, and the saints and sheep.

   The Hyperbole

   The hyperbole is an exaggerated statement, used for effect, and not
meant to be taken literally. An example is in Matthew 7, where Jesus
talks about the person looking for the specks in his brother's eye,
while having beams in his own eye.

   The Personification

   The poetic device which takes inanimate objects, and gives them
human characteristics is called a personification. An example is saying
that the mountains sing, or clap their hands.

   The Idiom

   Every language has certain peculiar phrases, which cannot be
analyzed by the usual grammatical process. Idioms are a mode of
expression that defies the rules, and depends on the society to supply
the definition. The dictionary defines idioms as, "a small group or
collection of words expressing a single notion." We often say that
"we're in a pickle," or "it's raining cats and dogs," or "he's dead
from the neck up." These are all idioms, and we depend on everyone
"getting the picture" because they live in our society.

   MAKING THE APPLICATION

   How do we apply the truths found in the Word? There are some
passages of Scripture that are obviously not to be applied in the same
way they were applied at the time of their writing. Yet, if there was
no application for us today, the passage would never have been in the
Bible for "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

   Often, in the Bible there are multiple levels of application. Let's
briefly look at a few of these levels:

   The Practical Application

   Easily seen and most obvious level of application, this is when the
bible hits you right between the eyes - "..this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love
one another, as He gave us commandment." There is no problem in
figuring out how to apply this passage. It is practical, and applicable
to our lives right now, this instant, and also next Tuesday when we are
wronged by a brother.

   The Secondary Application

   A Secondary Application is often needed when we see commandments or
teachings that primarily apply to the culture during the time of the
writing. For example, in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul instructs Christian
women to cover their heads. At that time, an uncovered female head was
either an unfaithful wife, or a prostitute. Paul was instructing the
women of the day not to exercise their freedom in this regard in
violating the standards of their culture, thus bringing a scandalous
appearance and a reproach to the Gospel.

   One of my favorite illustrations of this secondary application came
from a Christian musician who spoke during a concert. He recalled the
story of Peter walking on water. Here, there are TWO secondary
applications. We all know the story, Peter jumps out of the boat and
begins to walk on water then he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins
to sink. Our application is to keep our eyes on Jesus and not look at
our circumstances. The other application is that there were 12 people
on the boat. The only one who had enough faith to even jump out of the
boat was Peter. The application is that it is better to at least make
mistakes for the Lord than to sit in a nice comfortable "boat."

   The Prophetic Application

   In this application, we are not so much considering the end times as
much as we look at God's plan for man. There are scads of places in the
Bible where we use this application, mostly in the Old Testament. This
is easily seen in all of the laws and regulations laid out in the
Torah, or the five books of Moses. There are fantastic discoveries
awaiting you by studying each and every detail in these tedious laws.
The many sacrifices all look forward to Jesus Christ as the final,
ultimate sacrifice. Daniel's prophecies tell of the last days, Isaiah
53 tells of the coming Messiah, Ezekiel 28 tells of Satan. Almost every
chapter in the Old Testament has a prophetic application.

   The Mystical Application

   What I mean here is applying the text in order to understand the
Lord more. All over the Bible, we are commanded to know the Lord. The
Lord often says, "And they will know that I am the Lord." We can learn
of the ways in which God deals with people, points that the Lord tries
to make, get an insight into eternity, we can gain insight into
understanding how God thinks, and why He does certain things. In this
case, the question we seek to answer is, "Why did God put that there?"
One of the most dramatic and consistent insights we get from making the
Mystical application is the evidence of design in the Bible. We can see
Jesus Christ on every page. We see the fingerprint of the Holy Spirit
throughout the Bible. This strengthens your faith, and gives you a
respect for the authority of the Word in every situation.

   Contributed by The Manna System
