`TEN KEY CONCEPTS OF HERMENEUTICS

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The Bible is God’s communication to us. Certain principles of interpretation must be used in all communication so the receiver will receive the message as the sender intended. “Hermeneutics” is the term used for the principles of interpretation when they are applied to Scripture.

The first step in understanding a passage is to comprehend it as did those who first received it. The first nine items listed below help us to do this. Once this is done, we must then, using principle number ten, apply that meaning of scripture to our lives as God intended.

1. CONDITIONS

Knowing the general circumstances which surround the writer and receiver of the passage will often shed light on its meaning.

A. Situation---What can we learn about the lives of those involved in the writing and receiving of

passage? Were they jailed, slaves, or free? Had some event just occurred that would color the passage? (Psalm 51. This is a psalm written after David admitted his sin with Bathsheba and in this confession of wrong is expressing his deep regret.)

B. History—Is there a historical setting into which the passage fits? (Daniel 5 is a passage about

Belshazzar. Historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon both comment on the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians.)

C. Geography—Are there details about the rivers, mountains, climate, or vegetation that help us

understand? (Knowing something about the terrain of Mt. Carmel, its location overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the location of the Brook Kishon, and the position of the Valley of Jezreel and the desert to which Elijah goes all help us comprehend this story.)

D. Archaeology—What discoveries in archaeology would shed light on the people or the places

mentioned in the passage? (The discoveries from Sennacherib in his palace reliefs and on a cylinder containing his records help us to learn much that corresponds with and elaborates on the Bible record of 2 Kings 17 and 18.)

C. Culture—Are there cultural practices and traditions that form a backdrop for the passage?

(Knowing something of the culture of Egypt, about their gods, and about the lives of their

Pharoahs help us understand the story of Moses.)

2. GENRE

Each passage in the Bible is written as some type of literature. Sometimes the same book may shift

from one type to another. Each type has particular qualities that can help the interpreter understand it. We do not, for example, put ourselves in the same frame of mind when we read a psalm (which is poetry) and when we read law. Knowing certain poetic qualities which psalms have, for example, can help us in understanding them. This does not mean that some types are taken seriously while others are taken lightly. It only means that we need to recognize that types of literature the Holy Spirit chose to use is part of the message he is communicating to us.

A. Narrative/history (Judges, Ruth, Acts)

B. Epistle (Jeremiah 29:1-32 and Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, etc.)

C. Proverb (Proverbs)

D. Poetry (Psalms)

E. Prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Minor Prophets and Revelation)

F. Law (Leviticus)

G. Parable

H. Apocalyptic (Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24, and Revelation)

3. CONTEXT

Every phase is part of the verse it is in. Every verse is part of a paragraph and every paragraph part of a chapter. Each chapter is part of a whole book and a whole book is part of the whole Bible. The study of any passage, then, must involve seeing the words studied as part of both the immediate and the fuller context.

A. Theme of entire book and the relationship of this book to the entire Bible. (The book of

Obadiah must be understood in connection with the Old Testament stories of Jacob and Esau,

Israel and Edom. It also deals with the survival of Israel to carry out God’s ultimate plan.)

B. The part this passage plays in the entire book of which it is a part.

C. What immediately precedes and follows the section being studied.

D. Theme of the section being studied.

E. Elements of the section being studied.

4. SPEAKER/AUDIENCE

Knowing who says something and to whom it is said is a very large factor in understanding. Is a

command, for example, for a particular person, for people of a past age, or for us today? Is something

an inspired statement or an inspired report of what an uninspired person said?

A. In looking at the speaker, ask is the speaker God, Satan, an inspired writer speaking for God,

inspired writer speaking for himself; or an inspired writer quoting from uninspired person.

(In the book of Job, one must know whether the speaker is Job, Job’s wife, one of Job’s friends, or God. This makes a large difference in interpreting the meaning for us. As another case, who is speaking in Malachi 1:1-5?)

B. In looking at the audience, ask is the audience a group of Christians, a group of non-Christians,

Jews, Gentiles, or an individual. What is the time, location, and situation of people addressed?

(Knowing the audience intended to receive the book of Ezekiel were there the Jewish exiles in Babylon helps us to understand passages about the return and the rebuilding of the temple starting in Ezekiel 36.)

5. WORD MEANING

Learning the meaning of individual words both in English and in the original language is a very

important aspect of Bible study. With a belief in verbal inspiration or scripture comes both the opportunity and the responsibility of interpreting the exact words the Spirit has used.

A. Meaning of the word in the original language. (“Hades” means unseen.)

B. Meaning of the word in English.

C. Use of the word in the passage.

D. Grammatical form of the word. (The meaning and form of Elohim in Genesis 1:1 and the use of the plural pronouns in Genesis 1:27.)

6. SYNTAX

While the study of individual words is important, a word’s full meaning is not seen without looking at the other words with which it is connected. How is it used with other words in a phrase, clause, or sentence? What light do other parts of the sentence shed on its meaning? With what conjunctions is a clause introduced?

A. Connectives (“After” in Daniel 9:26).

B. Pronouns (What is the antecedent of “he” in Daniel 9:27?)

C. Phrases/clauses.

D. Sentences.

7. FIGURES

The Bible is a book which deals with reality—it is not myth or folklore. But, like all language, the Bible does make use of figurative language to express real ideas. It is important, therefore, for the interpreter to understand figures and to know how to draw meaning from them. Some of the more common figures of speech used in the Bible are listed below.

A. Simile (Psalm 1:3—like a tree)

B. Metaphor (Psalm 23—“The Lord is my shepherd”)

C. Allegory (The Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. Galatians 4:24ff has an allegory

based Sarah and Hagar.)

D. Metonymy (“The eyes of the Lord” for His ability to see and His “ears” for his ability

to hear” (Psalm 34:15.)

E. Hyperbole (Gen. 22:17—as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore)

F. Apostrophe (“Does not wisdom call” Proverbs 8:1.)

G. Personification (The mountains in Ezekiel 36:1.)

H. Type – Anti-type (The flood is typical of baptism, 1 Peter 3:21.)

8. THEOLOGY

The Bible is sixty-six smaller books, but these are connected and present a single message to which each contributes. Basically the Bible is a revelation from God, about God, and about our relationship to Him. No passage can be understood well without knowing its relationship to the story of how God created us, how humans fell from their relationship to God, and how God has planned and provided for us to return to fellowship with Him.

A. With which covenant is the passage involved?

B. What is the connection of the teaching in this passage to other passages with a similar teaching? (Isa. 7:14)

C. What is the relationship of the teaching of this passage to the central Bible theme? (Gen. 3:15)

9. OTHER PASSAGES

To help us understand His will, God has given the essential teaching of scripture in more than one passage. Often, one passage will be illuminated by studying another passage that bears on the same point or describes the same event.

A. What are parallel passages that cover the same statement or same event? (2 Kings 18 and 19 with

2 Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 36-37)

B. What are passages with similar content? (Psalm 32 and 51; 2 Sam. 7:11-14 and Psalm 89 and Acts 2:29-31)

C. What are passages that help define or expand on the content of this passage? Genesis 3:15 with

Heb. 2:14; John 12:31-33; Col. 2:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 1:18; Gal. 4:4)

10. APPLICATIONS

The first nine principles help us understand what a passage meant to those first receiving it. The last one asks the question, “How does God want us to apply this passage to those of our time and place and circumstances?” The answer may be there is no direct application because the passage is such a particular message for those of old. On the other hand, it may be a direct command which God intended for us in our time. We make application through finding what commands are for us, what God intended us to learn by example, and by understanding an implication in a passage from which God expected us to draw a conclusion.

A. Is there, in this passage, a command directed to us? If so, what is the level of specificity of this

command? Is it more general, leaving details to us or is it more specific, narrowing what is left to us? (Heb. 8:4 says that Christ could not be a priest after Aaron because the commandment about priests in Exodus 28:1 specifies Levites)

B. Is there, in this passage, an example from which God intended us to get instruction? (Ex.

32:4; Lev. 10:1-5)

C. Is there, in this passage, an implication from which God expected us to infer a conclusion for

our use? (Psalm 95:11)

D. Is there, in this passage, a general lesson which God is using to encourage, instruct, or warn

us? (Daniel 1 about Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s food)