Dr Bryan Babacock guides you through an easy to follow process for unlocking God’s meaning for you. What does the Bible really mean and how do we know God’s truth?
Introduction
In this article we will outline my process of biblical interpretation into twelve steps. The intent is to help the reader understand how to complete the task of interpretation and identify the meaning that God desired when inspiring the original author. Before we discuss the actual method of hermeneutics, we will first unpack it’s meaning.
What is Hermeneutics?
Hermeneutics is defined as the art and science of biblical interpretation. The science of hermeneutics provides concrete methods of study that may easily be applied to any sort of literature. The art of hermeneutics requires more creativity. While the science of interpretation constrains this creativity, it must be allowed to play a significant role in the interpretive process.
In addition to art and science, which may be applied to non-Christian texts as well as to Scripture, there is also a spiritual component that, along with various other characteristics of Scripture, differentiates the practice of Christian hermeneutics from any other hermeneutic.
Hermeneutics is a transformative discipline whereby we open ourselves up to change. As William Klein states, “Any type of oral or written communication involves three expressions of meaning. (1) what the speaker or writer meant by what he or she said; (2) what the recipient actually understood by the statement; and (3) in some abstract sense, what meaning is actually encoded in the text or utterance itself.” [1]
Our methodology is designed to explore all three of these expressions of meaning with the scientific, artistic, and spiritual methodologies in mind. For the purposes of this article, our primary concern is what the biblical writer meant by what was recorded in the Bible.
The technical side is most evident in the use of the historical-grammatical approach to interpreting Scripture. This approach requires one to study words and clauses, to evaluate discourse, to delve into historical and cultural backgrounds, and to attend to genre and form.
In his 1947 book The Idea of a University, John Howard Newman states that the goal of a university education is “to open the mind, to correct it, to refine it, to enable it to know, and to digest . . . to give it application.”[2] In this spirit, we encourage that your interpretations engage with diverse viewpoints in order to develop a significant biblical research tool: the ability to engage opinions different from your own to:
- understand them intellectually,
- evaluate them critically,
- and encounter them graciously.
One of the most important lessons you can learn as an interpreter is humility. As we come to another’s work, we must recognize that they are, like us, flawed. While we recognize those flaws, we should also engage them in dialogue as we attempt to understand their positions and point of view. This sort of engagement will often help us to better understand ourselves, our beliefs, and our God.
The artistic movement of interpretation is more ambiguous than the technical side. This aspect includes the development of understanding. It will often require you to make difficult decisions about the meaning of words, the connections between phrases, and how a given passage relates to its historical-cultural background.
This artistic movement also includes the application of passages to various situations. Here you will be asked to interpret not only the biblical text, but life situations. The application of Scripture cannot be separated from the hermeneutical task. As Ernst Käsemann notes, “in the bodily obedience of the Christian, carried out as the service of God in the world of everyday, the lordship of Christ finds visible expression, and only when this visible expression takes personal shape in our lives, does the whole thing become credible as Gospel message.”[3]
Last, but certainly not least, is the spiritual movement. Allowing the Spirit to engage in the process of interpretation is an indispensable part of interpretation. It will be important for you to engage in Christian practices that will help you experience God and to pull away from your own sinful habits. You will be asked to recondition your habits in order to more effectively hear the God who speaks in and through the biblical text.
How to Analyze a Biblical Passage
The goal of building a methodology is to create “a careful system of hermeneutics [that] provides the means for the interpreter to arrive at the text’s intention, to understand what God intended to communicate through human minds and hands.”[4] To accomplish this task we need to complete several steps that help to ensure that we are minimizing our personal bias and truly exploring the meaning that God intended. The twelve steps below provide a starting point for sound biblical interpretation, and we hope that the described methodology helps you recreate the type of analysis found in this book.
Before we begin describing the methodology, let’s spend a moment on our assumptions for the process of biblical interpretation. First, “the Bible is the inspired (God-breathed) Word of God and is therefore inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient and authoritative in all the matters it addresses. The crucial job of the interpreter of Scripture is to arrive at the meaning God intended when He breathed out Scripture through the human author. The meaning is single, definite and fixed.”[5]
Second, the plain sense of Scripture is to be used when interpreting. “It is God who desired to give man his Word. He gave us his Word in order to communicate, not confound. We should seek to understand that communication plainly, for that is the normal way beings communicate.”[6] The plain sense takes into account figures of speech, poetic language, and literary form.
Third, Scripture should be used to interpret Scripture since the Bible is its own best interpreter. Any conclusion regarding the meaning of a text that contradicts another passage of the Bible is always incorrect. This is one of the reasons that the prior chapters explore the interpretive conclusions throughout the balance of the Old Testament and into the New Testament.
Fourth, God’s revelation of truth to mankind is progressive in nature. “To be able to consistently interpret plainly, it is imperative to recognize that revelation was given progressively. This means that in the process of revealing his message to humanity, God may add or even change in one era what he gave in another.”[7] The interpreter must therefore understand that historical narrative is only one part of God’s overall revelation. In determining application, one must keep in mind that revelation in the Old Testament may be changed by revelation in the New Testament.
Given the above assumptions, in the discussion below we can now provide an overview of the hermeneutic process.
Step One: Prayer
Prior to entering into a study of God’s Word, it is important to prepare yourself through prayer. The goal of biblical interpretation is to uncover God’s desired meaning and not the thoughts, biases, or desires of our own minds. The ministry of the Holy Spirit enables believers to understand the truth of the Bible (John 16:12–15, 1 Cor 2:9–16). Prayer evidences a humble and dependent reliance on God to open the interpreter’s mind, eyes, and heart to his Word. In Ps 119:18 David prays, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”[8] After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph 1:17–19). Paul is clear that divine enablement is needed to know God better. Therefore, prayer is the vital first step to any interpretation of Scripture.
Step Two: Read the Passage in Multiple Translations
This is accomplished in two ways. First, re-read the passage several times in your personal Bible. Read slowly and pay attention to punctuation, any important phrases, and repeated words. Then read the entire chapter where your passage is located. Note if any of the key phrases or repeated words from your passage are also found in the balance of the chapter. While reading the text, it is imperative that the interpreter “listens as carefully and competently as possible to the biblical witness, to use every available means to discover its truth claims by approaching the text as fairly as possible on its own terms and in view of its context.”[9]
Second, pick several other translations and note where they differ. [10] Read parallel or complementary accounts of the narrative if available. For example, some narratives in Samuel or Kings have parallel or complementary accounts in Chronicles. Note the differences and similarities between these accounts. Begin to form questions to answer in your later research. For instance, how do the differences and similarities affect the meaning of my text?
Step Three: Review the Immediate Context of the Passage
Look carefully at the preceding verses and chapters. What events have preceded the present narrative? When the original author wrote the book (or chapter), to whom was he writing? What questions were they asking him? What was he trying to tell them? For instance, the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses to a group of people who left Egypt and were about to enter Canaan—a land promised to them by God. Therefore, we need to keep in mind that the book of Genesis is an etiology explaining who the Israelites are and how they initially arrive in Egypt. Understanding the immediate context of the book often helps us better understand the passage.
In addition, we want to determine where the present narrative falls in the timeline of the entire book. Look for recurring themes. How does the present narrative fit into the structure the author used to convey his purpose? Taking time to understand the overall “plot” of the story helps us understand the “scene—”essentially, seeing the forest and not getting lost in a grove of trees.
Step Four: Analyze the Meaning of Key Words
Word studies help us to determine the original meaning of a word in its context. Word studies should be performed:
- when you don’t know or are uncertain about a word’s meaning,
- when a word is particularly significant within a given passage,
- when you need to differentiate between two or more words in a passage (e.g., synonyms),
- when you are comparing the use of a word in two particular passages,
- when you need to clarify a passage that is unclear, and
- when different translations use different words to render the meaning of a given Greek or Hebrew word.
Note words that are unclear, repeated, unique, or theological. Are there words or phrases that contain a deeper meaning or fuller sense (sensus plenior) intended by God but not intended by the human author? Word studies are completed through the use concordances and can be completed using online tools.[11] Look for how the same Hebrew word is translated in other passages. This will help you understand the range of meaning and add a depth of understanding for your translation.
Seek to understand how the word is used elsewhere in the same book, other books with the same author, the rest of Old Testament, and in the New Testament. You might consult a Bible that cross references words or phrases. Be careful to note any additional insights this review provides. Note if there are other verses in the Bible that illuminate the present verse or narrative.
Step Five: Explore the Grammar and Literary Genre
Understanding the genre of you passage is essential to understanding the meaning. If the passage is poetry, then we are likely to find vivid imagery, hyperbole, and metaphors. To take this poetic language literally would result in poor conclusions. Likewise, if the passage is narrative we need to determine whether it is a report, heroic narrative, prophet story, comedy, farewell speech, etc. Each of these have their own guidelines for grammar construction and each contains different types of information. Examine the literary components of setting, time, plot, and characterization. If this is an historical narrative, then we would want to focus on the life of the main character. We might then ask: How does the hero’s life model a relationship with God and with other people? And what aspects of the original reader’s worldview does it seek to critique or discredit? What values [does the] hero represent?
Be careful to note what the author is not saying. What details of the story have not been divulged? Why? How does the absence of certain details magnify the purpose and/or meaning of the text? Examine the perspective of the author or narrator. While the narrator is always omniscient, does he tell us everything, or must we be content with a limited knowledge of characters’ thoughts and intentions? Does the narrator move in and out of time and space, or is the plot sequential in time? What was the narrator’s intent or purpose in writing? Does the narrator insert his own observations or knowledge into the narrative?
Louis Berkhof notes that the biblical interpreter “must place himself on the standpoint of the author, and seek to enter into his very soul, until he, as it were, lives his life and thinks his thoughts. This means that he will have to guard carefully against the rather common mistake of transferring the author to the present day and making him speak the language of the twentieth century.”[12]
Once you identify the genre of the passage, do some research to understand the guidelines for writing this genre in the first millennium BC. This time will be well spent as it will help to identify what items the author meant literally and which might be figurative or poetic.
Step Six: Research the Historical Context of the Passage
Understanding the historical context of the passage is truly central to understanding each passage. As an example, Ezekiel writes during the time of the Babylonian exile. By understanding that Ezekiel (along with Isaiah and Jeremiah) lived during a time of extreme upheaval when people thought God had abandoned his people places the prophecies into perspective. Finally, Ezekiel’s message is split between the impending wrath of God on the people of Judah and the future grace of God providing restoration. Understanding the historical events surrounding the time of the writing of the books adds perspective to the interpretation.
The first step in uncovering the historical context is to look within the Bible itself to determine the historical background of the narrative. “The principal resources for the historical interpretation of Scripture are found in the Bible itself.”[13] The historical narratives are built on the foundation of the Pentateuch. “The Pentateuch contains much cultural background for the rest of the Bible.”[14] It is essential that the interpreter becomes familiar with the whole Bible. “The more you are familiar with the whole Bible, the more you will have background knowledge to help you in interpretation.”[15]
The next step is to analyze the historical, geographical, cultural, political, and religious components of the passage. Study aids such as a Bible dictionary, commentaries, cultural commentaries, and Bible atlases are helpful in this process. Questions to consider are: What is the historical context of the narrative? What geographical features exist in the narrative and how does understanding them illuminate the text? How does the culture of the ancient Near East affect my understanding of the text? “We are not to assume that what seems obvious to us as modern people is necessarily the meaning of the passage when seen in its total historical and literary context.”[16]
When analyzing the political component, “the expositor should inform himself respecting the political organization of the nations that play an important part in it. Their national history, their relations with other nations, and their political institutions should be made the object of careful study. Particular attention must be devoted to the political changes in the national life of Israel.”[17] It is also important for the interpreter to understand the present spiritual condition of Israel in the narrative. “The religious life of Israel did not always move on the same plane, was not always characterized by true spirituality. There were seasons of spiritual elevation, but these were soon followed by periods of moral and religious degradation.”[18]
Finally, we should examine the perspective of the original hearers or readers of the narrative. “An intimate knowledge of the original readers will often illumine the pages of a writing addressed to them in an unexpected and striking manner.”[19] What situation were the original hearers in? What would the narrative have meant to the original hearers or readers of the text?
Step Seven: Complete Research of Secondary Sources
Now that we understand the text in its context, we want to see what other scholars might have to add to our analysis. The study of the passage should include the review of several reputable commentaries or articles to glean additional insights into the meaning of the text. Some excellent commentary series include: Word Biblical Commentary, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, Expositors Bible Commentary, NIV Application Commentary, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Story of God Bible Commentary, and The Old Testament Library. Other excellent resources are: The Bible Knowledge Commentary, the Believer’s Bible Commentary, Anchor Bible Dictionary, and The Moody Bible Atlas. Finally, don’t forget to review some pastoral series like the MacArthur Bible Commentary and sermons by John Piper and John MacArthur.
As you explore what others write about your passage, see if they are asking the same questions you asked. Use their footnotes and endnotes to find more information. See if the theological conclusions of the pastor or commentary author agree or disagree with your faith tradition. If they are different, take the time to understand their point of view. Be sure to include some of the most insightful comments as quotes in your study. This lets your reader know what other scholars have to say and that you have done your background research!
Keep in mind that no one person has the correct interpretation of everything all the time. Consulting the interpretations of several scholars and/or pastors is advisable. Consult sources from church history. How has the narrative been interpreted traditionally throughout church history?
Step Eight: Analyze the Meaning of the Passage as Intended by the Original Author
Now it is time to bring steps 1–7 together and write a summary of the meaning of the passage. At this point in the analysis I stop and think about everything I have read and studied. Then I attempt to write a one sentence statement of the “big idea” of the passage. What is God trying to communicate to the original audience (not me—that comes later). “[A]ll the component parts of the narrative can work together to impress upon the reader a single major point. There is an overall drift or movement to a narrative, a kind of superstructure that makes the point, usually a single point.”[20]
After identifying the big idea, write a few paragraphs summarizing the historical context of the passage, the author, and overall intent of the book. The study should then dive deeper into each verse of the passage. The review of each verse in the passage should include a paraphrase, where necessary, to illuminate its meaning in modern English. The analysis should conclude with a paragraph summarizing the big idea and supporting points. Think of this phase of the analysis as the point to take all your research and create a summary of your findings.
Step Nine: Explore the Identified Meaning in the Balance of the Old Testament
Having already analyzed the immediate context of the narrative within its book, determine the larger context of the passage in its relationship to the balance of the Old Testament. How does the present narrative contribute to the overall message of the Bible? Once you have identified the big idea, review other passages that mention, illustrate, or expand upon the same theme.
Through an analysis of similar biblical passages we can better understand God’s working in the lives of his people over the course of time. We can see that God is unchanging and his message is unchanging. We are also better able to understand our initial passage through the lens of other passages. Keep asking what God is trying to communicate through these accounts.
Step Ten: Determine How This Theme Continues into the New Testament
Similar to step 9, we now turn to see if the theme of our passage is present in the New Testament. All too often Christians feel that the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament are somehow different. Or that the Old and New Testaments offer a different message. This stage of the analysis helps us demonstrate that God exists in both testaments and that his message is the same. The trajectories begun in Genesis continue through Revelation. By continuing our analysis into the New Testament, we are able to see the culmination of God’s plan in Christ. This brings the exegetical analysis to completion.
Step Eleven: Develop a Theological Interpretation
Fee observes that “God is the hero of all biblical narratives.”[21] Therefore, we now need to reflect upon the lasting takeaways from the passage within the context of the Bible. We should ask, what does the narrative reveal about God and His character or nature? To answer this question we can reflect upon the analysis illuminating facts in the passage that may have a typological significance. A type always prefigures some future reality. As such, are there events in the narrative that prefigure a future reality? We should also analyze Christological components of the narrative, if any are present. How do the events of the narrative point to the redemptive work or person of Christ?
Answering these questions allows us the opportunity to see if any universal (or theological) truths are found in our passage and confirmed in other supporting passages.
Step Twelve: Reflect upon Applications for the Modern Church
In keeping with Scripture’s own stated purpose in 2 Tim 3:16–17, how does the passage teach, rebuke, correct, or train us in righteous living? Remember that Old Testament narratives do not always teach directly. “Do not be a monkey-see-monkey-do reader of the Bible.”[22] The narratives tell a truthful story of how God acted in the lives of specific people during specific events in history. These events are unrepeatable. The interpreter should not assume that God expects us to do the same thing the Bible characters did.
When determining an application to a biblical passage, focus on what the passage teaches about the character and nature of God, since God never changes (Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8). What does this narrative teach that is truthful about God? In light of this truth about God and his nature, how should I respond to him? What does the narrative teach that is true about human nature? How has this narrative affected me personally? In light of Jas 1:22, how should I, or others, think or act differently based on the lesson of the narrative?
Long finds that “the biblical texts are more likely to yield their fruits when approached from various angles with a diversity of questions in mind.”[23] In the same way, the twelve steps noted above probe the narrative from diverse angles in order to sharpen understanding. Interpreters of the Bible set out on an amazing journey designed to understand the singular meaning God intended when he breathed out Scripture through the original human author and how that meaning applies to our modern context. With God’s help, much study of the Word, and the integration of principles of interpretation, we all should strive to be an interpreter “who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).
Conclusion: Biblical Trajectories
As students of Scripture, we need to remember that interpretation is not a task that simply seeks a destination, but it is one that follows a particular path. As interpreters, we should be enjoying the trip. At the same time, we don’t ignore the destination. We don’t blindly follow any path that happens to be in front of us.
The title of this article is “Interpretive Trajectories” rather than “Interpretive Destinations” for a reason. Interpretation is not concerned with reaching a destination with no regard to the journey it takes to get there, nor is it concerned with a journey that leads nowhere. Interpretation is concerned with purposeful, deliberate movement. It is concerned with an interpretive trajectory.
The trajectory of biblical interpretation points toward transformation. The biblical text stands as a witness calling humanity away from what it is and toward what it should be. The Bible does not ask us to leave the world behind, but to be different within it. It does not affirm us but rather challenges us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
In a process that is generally referred to as the hermeneutical spiral, interpreters read the text as they interact with the Spirit, other believers, and our life experiences. The diagrams below conceptualizes the relationship between the interpreter, the text, and the world. Though diagrams are often too simplistic, we hope that these will be useful as you think about interpretive trajectories.
The first concept is a circle. We begin by looking at the biblical text as a whole. We analyze the text and explore each part of the passage under study. After the analysis, we synthesize the pieces with a better understanding of the whole (see chart below). This creates a circle of analysis.
Our interpretation only begins with this initial circle. Grant Osborne writes that “biblical interpretation entails a ‘spiral’ from text to context, from its original meaning to its contextualization or significance for the church today. . . . A ‘spiral’ is not a closed circle but rather an open-ended movement from the horizon of the text to the horizon of the reader.”[24]
As such, our level of understanding increases with each repetition of this circle. The entry point is our preconceptions and preunderstandings of the passage and the Bible.[25] We then confront those preconceptions by examining the historical context, genre, grammar, context. Once the exegetical examination is complete we can then bring the passage back together as a whole with a deeper understanding. The spiral continues by repeating the cycle but now exploring new questions from biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics.
Osborne argues that a spiral of interpretation is needed because “the sacred author’s intended meaning is the critical starting-point, but not an end in itself. The task of hermeneutics must begin with exegesis, but is not complete until one notes the contextualization of that meaning for today.”[26]
When we approach a passage, we should find ourselves confirming, questioning, or modifying our understanding of the text. This interaction with the Bible is followed by critical reflection on the text in community (RT). Our reflection involves prayer and conversation with other believers about the passage. As we reflect critically on the text, we continue to experience God in our lives (RE) by striving to live in accordance with his word.[27]
Ultimately, we return to the passage in order to hear God’s voice again. As we visit the text this time, we have been changed by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, by our conversations with others, by our experiences, and by our reflection upon them. We approach the text with a new posture and a new outlook.
Osborne cautions that “doctrines should not be built upon a single passage, but rather should summarize all that Scripture says on that topic. If there are no clarifying passages (for example, on baptism for the dead in 1 Cor. 15:29 or a compartmentalized Hades in Luke 16:22-26), we must be careful about seeing a statement of dogma.”[28] Osborne clarifies this point even more in his section on parables: “Do not base doctrines upon the parables without checking corroborative details elsewhere. For instance, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is often taken as proof of a compartmentalized Hades. However, such a doctrine is not found in Jesus’ teaching in Luke, and indeed nowhere else in Scripture. Therefore, the setting of the parable in Hades is local color rather than dogma and cannot be pressed too far.”[29]
As we continue this sort of process throughout our lives and allow the Spirit to transform us into people who are growing in holiness:
- We will be able to hear God’s voice in the text with greater accuracy and depth.
- We will be better able to stand as witnesses to a watching world.
- We will be more sensitive to the world around us and the practices necessary to distinguish ourselves from it.
Though other “interpretive trajectories,” such as the search for truth or the defense of the faith, certainly exist, we are convinced that the transformative trajectory encompasses all others. We cannot afford to interpret Scripture without recognizing and seeking to be subject to and agents of its transformative functions of “teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).
Bibliography and Recommended Reading:
Berkhof, Louis. Priniciples of Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1950.
Duvall, J. Scott and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
Fee, Gordon D. and Stuart, Douglas. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982.
Howard, David M. An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books. Chicago: Moody, 2007.
Klein, William W., Blomberg, Craig L., Hubbard, Jr., Robert L. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004.
Long, V. Philips. The Art of Biblical History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
Osborne, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Revised and Expanded. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006.
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Chicago: Moody, 1999.
Sterrett, Norton T. How to Understand Your Bible. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1978.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics: Articles of Affirmation and Denials. International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978.
[1] William, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 8.
[2] Newman, The Idea of a University, 108.
[3] Käsemann, “Apocalyptic,” 135.
[4] Klein, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 19.
[5] The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics, 2.
[6] Ryrie, Basic Theology, 131.
[8] All translations are original unless otherwise noted.
[9] Long, The Art of Biblical History, 185.
[10] A useful online tool is found at: http://www.biblegateway.com.
[11] Online Concordance resources include: http://biblehub.com and http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/. A concordance is an index that lists the various occurrences of a given word. Be sure to use an exhaustive concordance, which lists every occurrence of a given word.
[12] Berkhof, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, 115.
[13] Ibid., 128.
[14] Sterrett, How to Understand Your Bible, 80.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Long, The Art of Biblical History, 124.
[17] Berkhof, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, 121.
[18] Ibid., 123.
[19] Ibid., 125.
[20] Fee, How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, 77.
[21] Ibid., 78.
[22] Ibid., 85.
[23] Long, The Art of Biblical History, 122.
[24] Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 6.
[25] Duvall and Hays argue that we should hold on to our preunderstandings. Duvall, Grasping God’s Word, 137–46.
[26] Ibid.
[27] The abbreviations RT and RE follow Osborne.
[28] Ibid., 11.
[29] Ibid., 249.
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