BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS
[I understand that some people do not like Wikipedia. This article is a simple summary of
an important and complex topic. Because of space constraints, I have edited/excerpted
and thus omitted important information and links from the original article. Please feel
free to add other information, links and commentary. Good Bible Study begins with good
Hermeneutics. -- Digital_Angel_316]
see the full article here: Biblical hermeneutics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning
the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics which involves
the study of principles for the text and includes all forms of communication: verbal and nonverbal.
Contents
* 1 Tanakh commentaries
* 2 Talmudical Hermeneutics
* 3 Christian biblical hermeneutics
o 3.1 Theological hermeneutics as traditional Christian Biblical exegesis
* 4 Techniques of hermeneutics
o 4.1 Roman Catholic principles of hermeneutics
o 4.2 Trajectory hermeneutics
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
Tanakh commentaries
The article on Jewish commentaries on the Bible discusses hermeneutics on the Bible
from a Jewish point of view. This article discusses Jewish bible commentaries from the
ancient Targums to classical Rabbinic literature, the midrash literature, the classical
medieval commentators, and modern day commentaries.
Talmudical Hermeneutics
Talmudical Hermeneutics (Hebrew: approximately, מידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן
refers to Jewish methods for the investigation and determination of the meaning of the
Hebrew Bible, as well as rules by which Jewish law could be established. One well-known
summary of these principles appears in the Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael.
The methods by which the Talmud explores the meaning of scripture include
* Grammar and exegesis
* The interpretation of certain words and letters and apparently superfluous and/or
missing words or letters, and prefixes and suffixes
* The interpretation of those letters which, in certain words, are provided with points
* The interpretation of the letters in a word according to their numerical value (see
Gemaṭria)
* The interpretation of a word by dividing it into two or more words (see Noṭariḳon)
* The interpretation of a word according to its consonantal form or according to its
vocalization
* The interpretation of a word by transposing its letters or by changing its vowels
* The logical deduction of a halakah from a Scriptural text or from another law
The rabbis of the Talmud considered themselves to be the receivers and transmitters
of an oral law as to the meaning of the scriptures. They considered this oral tradition
to set forth the precise, original meanings of the words, revealed at the same time
and by the same means as the original scriptures themselves.
Christian biblical hermeneutics
Until the Enlightenment, Biblical hermeneutics was usually seen as a form of special
hermeneutics (like legal hermeneutics); the status of Holy Scripture was thought to
necessitate a particular form of understanding and interpretation.
In the nineteenth century it became increasingly common to read Scripture just like
any other writing, although the different interpretations were often disputed. Friedrich
Schleiermacher argued against a distinction between "general" and "special"
hermeneutics, and for a general theory of hermeneutics applicable to all texts,
including the Bible. Various methods of higher criticism sought to understand the
Bible purely as a human, historical document.
The concept of hermeneutics has acquired at least two different but related meanings
which are in use today. Firstly, in the older sense, Biblical hermeneutics may be
understood as the theological principles of exegesis which is often virtually synonymous
with 'principles of biblical interpretation' or methodology of Biblical exegesis.
Secondly, the more recent development is to understand the term 'Biblical hermeneutics'
as the broader philosophy and linguistic underpinnings of interpretation. The question
is posed: "How is understanding possible?" The rationale of this approach is that,
while Scripture is 'more than just an ordinary text', it is in the first instance 'text',
which human beings try to understand; in this sense, the principles of understanding
any text apply to the Bible as well (regardless of whatever other specifically theological
principles that are considered in addition to that).
In this second sense, all aspects of philosophical and linguistic hermeneutics are
considered to be applicable to the Biblical texts as well.
Theological hermeneutics as traditional Christian Biblical exegesis
This form of theological hermeneutics in the mainstream Protestant tradition considers
Christian Biblical hermeneutics in the tradition of explication of the text, or exegesis, to
deal with various principles that can be applied to the study of Scripture. If the canon of
Scripture is considered as an organic whole, rather than an accumulation of disparate
individual texts written and edited in the course of history, then any interpretation that
contradicts any other part of scripture is not considered to be sound. Biblical
hermeneutics differs from hermeneutics and within traditional Protestant theology, there
are a variety of interpretive formulae. Such formulae are generally not mutually
exclusive, and interpreters may adhere to several of these approaches at once. These
formulae include:
Theological Group of Principles:
* The Election Principle
* The Historical-grammatical principle based on historical, socio-political, . .
geographical, cultural and linguistic / grammatical context
* The Dispensation Principle or The Chronometrical Principle: "During different
periods of time, God has chosen to deal in a particular way with man in respect to
sin and man's responsibility."
* The Covenantal Principle: "We differentiate between the various contracts that God
has made with his people; specifically their provisions, their parties and their
purposes."
* The Ethnic Division Principle: "The word of truth is rightly divided in relation to the
three classes which it treats, i.e. Jews, Gentiles and the Church."
* The Breach Principle: Interpretation of a certain verse or passage in Scripture is
aided by a consideration of certain breaches, either breaches of promise or
breaches of time.
* The Christo-Centric Principle: "The mind of deity is eternally centered in Christ. All
angelic thought and ministry are centered in Christ. All Satanic hatred and subtlety
are centered at Christ. All human hopes are, and human occupations should be,
centered in Christ. The whole material universe in creation is centered in Christ. The
entire written word is centered in Christ."
* The Moral Principle
* The Discriminational Principle: "We should divide the word of truth so as to make a
distinction where God makes a difference."
* The Predictive Principle
* The Application Principle: "An application of truth may be made only after the
correct interpretation has been made"
* The Principle of Human Willingness in Illumination
* The Context Principle: "God gives light upon a subject through either near or
remote passages bearing upon the same subject."
Sub-divided Context/Mention Principles:
* The First Mention Principle: "God indicates in the first mention of a subject the truth
with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God."
* The Progressive Mention Principle: "God makes the revelation of any given truth
increasingly clear as the word proceeds to its consummation."
* The Comparative Mention Principle
* The Full Mention Principle or The Complete Mention Principle: "God declares his full mind
upon any subject vital to our spiritual life."
* The Agreement Principle: "The truthfulness and faithfulness of God become the
guarantee that he will not set forth any passage in his word that contradicts any other
passage."
* The Direct Statement Principle: "God says what he means and means what he says."
* The Gap Principle: "God, in the Jewish Scriptures, ignores certain periods of time, leaping
over them without comment."
* The Threefold Principle: "The word of God sets forth the truths of salvation in a
three-fold way: past - justification; present -sanctification/transformation; future -
glorification/consummation."
* The Repetition Principle: "God repeats some truth or subject already given,
generally with the addition of details not before given."
* The Synthetic Principle
* The Principle of Illustrative Mention
* The Double Reference Principle
Figures of Speech Group of Principles:
* The Numerical Principle
* The Symbolic Principle
* The Typical Principle: "Certain people, events, objects and rituals found in the Old
Testament may serve as object lessons and pictures by which God teaches us of his grace
and saving power."
* The Parabolic Principle
* The Allegorical Principle
Techniques of hermeneutics
In the interpretation of a text, hermeneutics considers the original medium as well as
what language says, supposes, doesn't say, and implies. The process consists of several
steps for best attaining the Scriptural author's intended meaning(s).
1. Lexical-syntactical analysis: This step looks at the words used and the way the words
are used. Different order of the sentence, the punctuation, the tense of the verse are all
aspects that are looked at in the lexical syntactical method. Here, lexicons and grammar
aids can help in extracting meaning from the text.
2. Historical/cultural analysis: The history and culture surrounding the authors is
important to understand to aid in interpretation. For instance, understanding the Jewish
sects of the Palestine and the government that ruled Palestine in New Testament times
increases understanding of Scripture. And, understanding the connotations of positions
such as the High Priest and that of the tax collector helps us know what others thought of
the people holding these positions.
3. Contextual analysis: A verse out of context can often be taken to mean something
completely different from the intention. This method focuses on the importance of
looking at the context of a verse in its chapter, book and even biblical context.
4. Theological analysis: It is often said that a single verse usually doesn't make a
theology. This is because Scripture often touches on issues in several books. For
instance, gifts of the Spirit are spoken about in Romans, Ephesians and 1 Corinthians.
To take a verse from Corinthians without taking into account other passages that deal
with the same topic can cause a poor interpretation.
5. Special literary analysis: There are several special literary aspects to look at, but the
overarching theme is that each genre of Scripture has a different set of rules that applies
to it. Of the genres found in Scripture, there are: narratives, histories, prophecies,
apocalyptic writings, poetry, psalms and letters. In these, there are differing levels of
allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes and literal language. For instance, the
apocalyptic writings and poetry have more figurative and allegorical language than does
the narrative or historical writing. These must be addressed, and the genre recognized to
gain a full understanding of the intended meaning.
Howard Hendricks, longtime professor of hermeneutics at Dallas Theological Seminary,
set out the method of observing the text, interpreting the text, applying the text in his
book, Living By the Book. Other major Christian teachers, such as Chuck Swindoll, who
wrote the foreword, Kay Arthur and David Jeremiah have based their hermeneutics on
the principles Howard teaches.
David L. Barr states there are three obstacles that stand in the way of correctly
interpreting the biblical writings: 1) We speak a different language, 2) We live
approximately two millennia later, and 3) We bring different significantly different
[literary] expectations to the text.
Roman Catholic principles of hermeneutics (see article)
The Catholic Encyclopedia lists a number of principles guiding Roman Catholic
hermeneutics in the article on Exegesis: * Historico-grammatical interpretation , *
Catholic interpretation - , * Reverence - , * Inerrancy - , * Patristics -
Trajectory hermeneutics (see article)
Trajectory hermeneutics or redemptive-movement hermeneutics is a hermeneutical
approach that seeks to locate varying 'voices' in the text and to view this voice as a
progressive trajectory through history (or at least through the Biblical witness); often a
trajectory that progresses through to the present day. The contemporary reader of
Scripture is in some way envisaged by the Biblical text as standing in continuity with a
developing theme therein. The reader, then, is left to discern this trajectory and
appropriate it accordingly. [good example in article left out of this post].
See also (These are clickable Links Below):
External links (These are clickable Links Below):
* Biblical Interpretation and Application Reading Room. Extensive online resources for
contemporary biblical hermeneutics (Tyndale Seminary)
*Issues in Hermeneutics by Prof. Herman C. Hanko
*Bibliology and Hermeneutics Course featuring audio and video resources from an
Evangelical perspective
*Basic Rules for New Testament Exegesis
*Rev.Dr. Jose Puthenveed ,"Psybible Interpretation of The Bible Passages through tools
of Psychology " A Website Interpreting Biblical passages ( Sunday Homlies) using
Psychlogy and Biblical scholarship, Website
*BiblicalStudies.org.uk Offers detailed bibliographies and numerous scholarly articles on
various aspects of biblical hermeneutics.
*Hermeneutics - A Guide To Basic Bible Interpretation, By Darryl M. Erkel (Evangelical)
[I understand that some people do not like Wikipedia. This article is a simple summary of
an important and complex topic. Because of space constraints, I have edited/excerpted
and thus omitted important information and links from the original article. Please feel
free to add other information, links and commentary. Good Bible Study begins with good
Hermeneutics. -- Digital_Angel_316]
see the full article here: Biblical hermeneutics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning
the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics which involves
the study of principles for the text and includes all forms of communication: verbal and nonverbal.
Contents
* 1 Tanakh commentaries
* 2 Talmudical Hermeneutics
* 3 Christian biblical hermeneutics
o 3.1 Theological hermeneutics as traditional Christian Biblical exegesis
* 4 Techniques of hermeneutics
o 4.1 Roman Catholic principles of hermeneutics
o 4.2 Trajectory hermeneutics
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
Tanakh commentaries
The article on Jewish commentaries on the Bible discusses hermeneutics on the Bible
from a Jewish point of view. This article discusses Jewish bible commentaries from the
ancient Targums to classical Rabbinic literature, the midrash literature, the classical
medieval commentators, and modern day commentaries.
Talmudical Hermeneutics
Talmudical Hermeneutics (Hebrew: approximately, מידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן
refers to Jewish methods for the investigation and determination of the meaning of the
Hebrew Bible, as well as rules by which Jewish law could be established. One well-known
summary of these principles appears in the Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael.
The methods by which the Talmud explores the meaning of scripture include
* Grammar and exegesis
* The interpretation of certain words and letters and apparently superfluous and/or
missing words or letters, and prefixes and suffixes
* The interpretation of those letters which, in certain words, are provided with points
* The interpretation of the letters in a word according to their numerical value (see
Gemaṭria)
* The interpretation of a word by dividing it into two or more words (see Noṭariḳon)
* The interpretation of a word according to its consonantal form or according to its
vocalization
* The interpretation of a word by transposing its letters or by changing its vowels
* The logical deduction of a halakah from a Scriptural text or from another law
The rabbis of the Talmud considered themselves to be the receivers and transmitters
of an oral law as to the meaning of the scriptures. They considered this oral tradition
to set forth the precise, original meanings of the words, revealed at the same time
and by the same means as the original scriptures themselves.
Christian biblical hermeneutics
Until the Enlightenment, Biblical hermeneutics was usually seen as a form of special
hermeneutics (like legal hermeneutics); the status of Holy Scripture was thought to
necessitate a particular form of understanding and interpretation.
In the nineteenth century it became increasingly common to read Scripture just like
any other writing, although the different interpretations were often disputed. Friedrich
Schleiermacher argued against a distinction between "general" and "special"
hermeneutics, and for a general theory of hermeneutics applicable to all texts,
including the Bible. Various methods of higher criticism sought to understand the
Bible purely as a human, historical document.
The concept of hermeneutics has acquired at least two different but related meanings
which are in use today. Firstly, in the older sense, Biblical hermeneutics may be
understood as the theological principles of exegesis which is often virtually synonymous
with 'principles of biblical interpretation' or methodology of Biblical exegesis.
Secondly, the more recent development is to understand the term 'Biblical hermeneutics'
as the broader philosophy and linguistic underpinnings of interpretation. The question
is posed: "How is understanding possible?" The rationale of this approach is that,
while Scripture is 'more than just an ordinary text', it is in the first instance 'text',
which human beings try to understand; in this sense, the principles of understanding
any text apply to the Bible as well (regardless of whatever other specifically theological
principles that are considered in addition to that).
In this second sense, all aspects of philosophical and linguistic hermeneutics are
considered to be applicable to the Biblical texts as well.
Theological hermeneutics as traditional Christian Biblical exegesis
This form of theological hermeneutics in the mainstream Protestant tradition considers
Christian Biblical hermeneutics in the tradition of explication of the text, or exegesis, to
deal with various principles that can be applied to the study of Scripture. If the canon of
Scripture is considered as an organic whole, rather than an accumulation of disparate
individual texts written and edited in the course of history, then any interpretation that
contradicts any other part of scripture is not considered to be sound. Biblical
hermeneutics differs from hermeneutics and within traditional Protestant theology, there
are a variety of interpretive formulae. Such formulae are generally not mutually
exclusive, and interpreters may adhere to several of these approaches at once. These
formulae include:
Theological Group of Principles:
* The Election Principle
* The Historical-grammatical principle based on historical, socio-political, . .
geographical, cultural and linguistic / grammatical context
* The Dispensation Principle or The Chronometrical Principle: "During different
periods of time, God has chosen to deal in a particular way with man in respect to
sin and man's responsibility."
* The Covenantal Principle: "We differentiate between the various contracts that God
has made with his people; specifically their provisions, their parties and their
purposes."
* The Ethnic Division Principle: "The word of truth is rightly divided in relation to the
three classes which it treats, i.e. Jews, Gentiles and the Church."
* The Breach Principle: Interpretation of a certain verse or passage in Scripture is
aided by a consideration of certain breaches, either breaches of promise or
breaches of time.
* The Christo-Centric Principle: "The mind of deity is eternally centered in Christ. All
angelic thought and ministry are centered in Christ. All Satanic hatred and subtlety
are centered at Christ. All human hopes are, and human occupations should be,
centered in Christ. The whole material universe in creation is centered in Christ. The
entire written word is centered in Christ."
* The Moral Principle
* The Discriminational Principle: "We should divide the word of truth so as to make a
distinction where God makes a difference."
* The Predictive Principle
* The Application Principle: "An application of truth may be made only after the
correct interpretation has been made"
* The Principle of Human Willingness in Illumination
* The Context Principle: "God gives light upon a subject through either near or
remote passages bearing upon the same subject."
Sub-divided Context/Mention Principles:
* The First Mention Principle: "God indicates in the first mention of a subject the truth
with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God."
* The Progressive Mention Principle: "God makes the revelation of any given truth
increasingly clear as the word proceeds to its consummation."
* The Comparative Mention Principle
* The Full Mention Principle or The Complete Mention Principle: "God declares his full mind
upon any subject vital to our spiritual life."
* The Agreement Principle: "The truthfulness and faithfulness of God become the
guarantee that he will not set forth any passage in his word that contradicts any other
passage."
* The Direct Statement Principle: "God says what he means and means what he says."
* The Gap Principle: "God, in the Jewish Scriptures, ignores certain periods of time, leaping
over them without comment."
* The Threefold Principle: "The word of God sets forth the truths of salvation in a
three-fold way: past - justification; present -sanctification/transformation; future -
glorification/consummation."
* The Repetition Principle: "God repeats some truth or subject already given,
generally with the addition of details not before given."
* The Synthetic Principle
* The Principle of Illustrative Mention
* The Double Reference Principle
Figures of Speech Group of Principles:
* The Numerical Principle
* The Symbolic Principle
* The Typical Principle: "Certain people, events, objects and rituals found in the Old
Testament may serve as object lessons and pictures by which God teaches us of his grace
and saving power."
* The Parabolic Principle
* The Allegorical Principle
Techniques of hermeneutics
In the interpretation of a text, hermeneutics considers the original medium as well as
what language says, supposes, doesn't say, and implies. The process consists of several
steps for best attaining the Scriptural author's intended meaning(s).
1. Lexical-syntactical analysis: This step looks at the words used and the way the words
are used. Different order of the sentence, the punctuation, the tense of the verse are all
aspects that are looked at in the lexical syntactical method. Here, lexicons and grammar
aids can help in extracting meaning from the text.
2. Historical/cultural analysis: The history and culture surrounding the authors is
important to understand to aid in interpretation. For instance, understanding the Jewish
sects of the Palestine and the government that ruled Palestine in New Testament times
increases understanding of Scripture. And, understanding the connotations of positions
such as the High Priest and that of the tax collector helps us know what others thought of
the people holding these positions.
3. Contextual analysis: A verse out of context can often be taken to mean something
completely different from the intention. This method focuses on the importance of
looking at the context of a verse in its chapter, book and even biblical context.
4. Theological analysis: It is often said that a single verse usually doesn't make a
theology. This is because Scripture often touches on issues in several books. For
instance, gifts of the Spirit are spoken about in Romans, Ephesians and 1 Corinthians.
To take a verse from Corinthians without taking into account other passages that deal
with the same topic can cause a poor interpretation.
5. Special literary analysis: There are several special literary aspects to look at, but the
overarching theme is that each genre of Scripture has a different set of rules that applies
to it. Of the genres found in Scripture, there are: narratives, histories, prophecies,
apocalyptic writings, poetry, psalms and letters. In these, there are differing levels of
allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes and literal language. For instance, the
apocalyptic writings and poetry have more figurative and allegorical language than does
the narrative or historical writing. These must be addressed, and the genre recognized to
gain a full understanding of the intended meaning.
Howard Hendricks, longtime professor of hermeneutics at Dallas Theological Seminary,
set out the method of observing the text, interpreting the text, applying the text in his
book, Living By the Book. Other major Christian teachers, such as Chuck Swindoll, who
wrote the foreword, Kay Arthur and David Jeremiah have based their hermeneutics on
the principles Howard teaches.
David L. Barr states there are three obstacles that stand in the way of correctly
interpreting the biblical writings: 1) We speak a different language, 2) We live
approximately two millennia later, and 3) We bring different significantly different
[literary] expectations to the text.
Roman Catholic principles of hermeneutics (see article)
The Catholic Encyclopedia lists a number of principles guiding Roman Catholic
hermeneutics in the article on Exegesis: * Historico-grammatical interpretation , *
Catholic interpretation - , * Reverence - , * Inerrancy - , * Patristics -
Trajectory hermeneutics (see article)
Trajectory hermeneutics or redemptive-movement hermeneutics is a hermeneutical
approach that seeks to locate varying 'voices' in the text and to view this voice as a
progressive trajectory through history (or at least through the Biblical witness); often a
trajectory that progresses through to the present day. The contemporary reader of
Scripture is in some way envisaged by the Biblical text as standing in continuity with a
developing theme therein. The reader, then, is left to discern this trajectory and
appropriate it accordingly. [good example in article left out of this post].
See also (These are clickable Links Below):
- Allegorical interpretation
- Apologetics
- Biblical law in Christianity
- Biblical literalism
- Biblical studies
- Deconstruction-and-religion
- Exegesis
- Formulary controversy concerning Jansenius' Augustinus in the 17th century
- Gemaṭria
- Hermeneutics
- Historical-grammatical method
- Literary criticism
- Literary theory
- Noṭariḳon
- Patternism
- Postmodern Christianity
- Principles of interpretation
- Qur'anic hermeneutics
- Summary of Christian eschatological differences
- Syncretism
- Table of books of Judeo-Christian Scripture
- Talmudical Hermeneutics
External links (These are clickable Links Below):
* Biblical Interpretation and Application Reading Room. Extensive online resources for
contemporary biblical hermeneutics (Tyndale Seminary)
*Issues in Hermeneutics by Prof. Herman C. Hanko
*Bibliology and Hermeneutics Course featuring audio and video resources from an
Evangelical perspective
*Basic Rules for New Testament Exegesis
*Rev.Dr. Jose Puthenveed ,"Psybible Interpretation of The Bible Passages through tools
of Psychology " A Website Interpreting Biblical passages ( Sunday Homlies) using
Psychlogy and Biblical scholarship, Website
*BiblicalStudies.org.uk Offers detailed bibliographies and numerous scholarly articles on
various aspects of biblical hermeneutics.
*Hermeneutics - A Guide To Basic Bible Interpretation, By Darryl M. Erkel (Evangelical)
