Interpreting the Bible for all its worth follows certain rules. Let’s learn together how to get the most out of it.

Let’s begin.

I.. Context Is King

A.. Grammar and syntax

Those two terms bring us down to the basic elements of scriptural language.

The Bible is written mainly in two languages (Hebrew and Greek), plus a few sections in a third one (Aramaic). God used ordinary human languages to communicate to us. We need to read them in their normal sense as the words come at us one at a time. This is where grammar and syntax (sentence structure) and original meaning can guide us.

Fortunately, if you do not understand the original languages, then many published translations can take you indirectly back to the original languages, certainly adequately enough for pastors and teachers to teach Scriptures. Combined, the translations coming out of reputable publishing companies and done by a team of scholars are accurate to the original languages.

B.. The immediate context

So many confusing interpretations can be avoided if we read each verse in its context, that is, in light of the surrounding verses. One example is Matthew 7:1-5. One verse says not to judge. If we stop there, then it seems Jesus is teaching us not to evaluate anyone. A teacher cannot test her students, and a manager cannot correct an employee. However, the rest of the verses go on to say that after we take the beam out of our own eye (note the hyperbolic, metaphorical language), then we can take the speck out our brother’s eye. So the passage is actually teaching us to first examine our own life; then we can help someone else in need, without a superior, judgmental attitude.

C.. The Scriptural context

This involves looking at the entire chapter, or even the whole book. Daniel is prophetic and apocalyptic in some places, yet the kings in his book are literal. Their dreams use commonly known images (feet of clay or iron, or a leopard or bear), but we have to be judicious in our interpretation of the book. The context of the chapters, plus the entire book, can help us to interpret each passage. Then, what does the rest of Scripture say on the topic?

Scripture must interpret Scripture. The interpretation that there is a literal thousand year reign of Christ is found only in a few verses in the Revelation, the most symbolic book in the Bible (see the genre of Scripture, below). The Gospels, Acts, and epistles are silent about a literal millennium. Therefore this doctrine is on thin ice. Don’t be dogmatic about it.

D.. The historical-cultural context

The OT was written in the ancient Near East, and the NT was written in the Roman empire. For the OT, we can see how the Babylonians lived; then we can understand Daniel. The kingship of Cyrus is the background to Ezra and Nehemiah.

For the NT, the four Gospels and many chapters in Acts are written in a Jewish context, specifically in Israel and Jerusalem. Jesus spoke to the religious leaders of his day, and two Roman rulers during his trial. The apostles defied the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem. Paul preached in synagogues and sometimes addressed Roman rulers, in Israel, but also in the provinces, and in Rome itself. The epistles reflect a larger context that Israel and Jerusalem.

These various contexts can also determine our interpretation. Another obvious example: we should not expect the Bible to mention cars or airplanes. We should expect it, however, to mention chariots and wagons and carts and horses, particularly in the history books. Don’t unfairly impose modern things on the Bible..

Next, it is a good idea to ask how the original audience would understand the verses. For example, any interpretation that leaps over and ignores the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 in their original context is moving too fast. It is better to ask how they would have understood the signs and symbols in the book. However, we must not over-emphasize the cultural-historical context and let it run over the plain meaning of the text.

II. Understanding the Book in Your Hands

A.. Progressive revelation

This is another interpretive key to address the differences in the books, from Genesis to Revelation. Sometimes the progress is seen within the same book. One example comes from the Torah. In the last chapter of the book of Numbers, Mr. Zelophehad had four daughters but no son before he died. If nearest relatives inherit the deceased father’s land, where does this leave the girls, if they marry outside of their local clan? Moses asked God about this, and God said the girls have a strong point. They are to marry within their own tribal clan, so every Israelite can keep the patrimony within the clan (Num. 36).

In effect, the Old is authoritative and inerrant, but it is also incomplete. This incompleteness is especially true of the Torah. We must not apply its civil laws (e.g. capital crimes for private sins or various religious taxes or bigamy or slavery) to modern society, as some teach. Nor should we apply its ancient “science” to our world, like its cosmology or global geography. The Old must have the New to clarify it.

This table provides only a few examples of progressive revelations, among many, in relationships, rituals, moral laws, outreach, and punishments:

Examples of Progressive Revelations
	Earlier	Later
1	Jesus says he is called to go to Israel (Matt. 10:5)	Jesus spoke the Great Commission to go into all the world (Matt. 28:19)
2	Take nothing on your mission journey (Luke 9:3)	Now they can take those things (Luke 22:36)
3	God made a covenant of circumcision with Abraham (Gen. 17:10)	Circumcision is no longer done (Gal. 5:2)
4	Eye for eye (Exod. 21:24)	Turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:38-39)
5	They must keep the Sabbath (Exod. 20:8)	The Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath. It is optional. (Matt. 12:8)
6	Moses put a veil over his face  (Exod. 34:33)	Believers are are going with ever-increasing glory without a veil (2 Cor. 3:18)
7	Aaron offer a bull on Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:6)	Jesus did not need to sacrifice for himself. He then sacrificed for other people’s sins, once and for all  (Heb. 7:27)
8	The glory cloud covered the tent of meeting and filled the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34)	God’s Spirit dwells in the church, the temple (1 Cor. 3:16)
9	Easy divorce with a certificate of divorce (Deut. 24:1)	Jesus tightens up divorce and openly disagrees with Moses (Matt. 19:7-8)

The OT needs the NT to clarify the it. However, some liberal Christians believe that even the NT needs an update too. One example is same-sex marriage. The prohibitions against it in Romans 1, to cite that one section, needs to be improved. But this quest for updates and novel interpretations is dangerous. For us, as we will see in the next post on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, the whole Bible is inerrant and authoritative, but only the NT authors can add and improve on the Old. We do not have their authority, and our ideas of improving things are not inerrant, particularly “improving” on the NT. No. The NT is the final word because God appointed the apostolic generation to set the church’s theological and moral DNA, so to speak.

B.. Keep the plain truths the main truths.

A huge number of distractions keep the church misinformed and non-informed about the central doctrines of the Bible, like salvation, redemption, holiness, righteousness, reconciliation, mercy, praise, wisdom, and so on. Instead, certain teachers obsess over things like the Jewish calendar or the year, like 5786. These teachers tell us that we have to combine or subtract the four digits and reshape them in other ways to reach certain interpretations.

Another example: the shape of Hebrew letters, which, these teachers claim, has secret significance. These teachers assert that when these letters are placed next to each other, they tell a story. However, the true experts in Hebrew tell us that this is nonsense. The Hebrew letters have ceased being pictographs for many centuries.

Novelty and peripheral issues are fatal to growth in Christ, growth that should be rooted in the clear teachings of Scripture. We must set all the wildness aside and interpret Scripture more calmly. Most of the church and all of humanity do not understand the basic themes and truths of Scripture, so let’s focus on them, keeping the plain truths the main truths, and the main truths at the forefront of our sermons.

Let’s not get distracted with obscure ideas and novel and weird interpretations.

C.. Clarity of Scripture

As noted in Part One, the Bible is not always clear in everything, and some parts are clearer or more opaque than others. This is why we need commentaries and study Bibles. However, the verses that lead to salvation are plainly known to the simplest reader. The Ten Commandments are clear, and they are designed to be followed without confusion. Two of them: “You shall not commit adultery.” “You shall not steal” (Exod. 20:14-15). They also point out our sins, so that we may call out to God for our salvation and forgiveness of sins.

D. Exegesis v. eisegesis

Exegesis means to lead something out of a text (ex- = “out of”). Eisegesis means to lead something into a text (eis- = “into”). The first method is better because it honors the other above points. We let the text speak to us on its own terms. Eisegesis is deficient because the interpreter inserts his own system and conclusion into the text. It is a sure thing that when someone comes at the text with a complicated system, he will use eisegesis at times.

One example: In Revelation 4:1 a voice invites John to come up to heaven through an open door. Interpreters who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture say that this is the rapture of the church because it must not be on earth when God pours out his wrath on unredeemed humanity in subsequent chapters.

III.. Genres

A.. Brief intro.

Genre means “type” or “kind” of writing. Many genres are embedded in the Bible. Here are a few samples.

B.. Literal or plain interpretations in literal genres

These are further examples of the clarity of Scripture. When you read a narrative like Genesis 12-50 or the rest of the Torah or the history books, it is best to take the verses literally. Abraham literally married Sarai (Sarah) as his first wife, and then he had two secondary wives, Hagar and Keturah. God literally promised him the land of Canaan. Abraham really did go into Egypt. The Ten Commandments should be obeyed, as written. The sacrifices and sexual prohibitions in Leviticus are literal. Elijah and Elisha really did perform their miracles. David killed Goliath. King Solomon literally built and dedicated the temple.

In the NT literalism also applies in the right genre. Jesus performed his miracles literally, and so did the apostolic community in Acts. Jesus’s teaching should be obeyed, as written in his sermons. The epistles are to be taken literally.

C.. Poetic or metaphorical

However, numerous passages are not literal and are not even intended to be interpreted literally.  Psalm 23 describes God as a shepherd. This is a (beautiful) figure of speech. God is a shepherd, and he guides David to peaceful pastures and still water. The context teaches us that this is poetic imagery. A shepherd guides, and so does God. A shepherd cares for his sheep, and so also God cares for his people. The sheep must follow their shepherd, and David should follow God.

When God is said to have hands or eyes, this is called anthropomorphism (the long word means “human form”), but God is Spirit, so he cannot literally have those human appendages. The Bible is written in languages and imagery that humans can understand. This is called accommodation.

Even in the NT, some passages are not literal. One example is that a thousand years are as a day in God’s sight, and a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). So a thousand years just means a long time (see Ps. 90:4).

The parables of Jesus have literal elements in them (wheat, seeds, a sower, soils, weeds, sheep, shepherds, watchmen, common laborers, coins, harvesting, lights, and so on), but the moral and spiritual meaning is drawn from those literal, physical elements.

D.. Prophetic and apocalyptic genres

In the OT some passages tell us that God split the earth in two or the stars fell from the sky, or the sun went black, when he judged nation-states, like Babylon or Edom. These cosmic disasters did not happen literally, or else molten magma would have dripped out of the earth, and even one star, like the sun, would have consumed the earth without landing on it.

Another example of the prophetic and apocalyptic genre is the Revelation, which is modeled on OT apocalyptic and prophetic writings. John himself says that this is his genre in Rev. 1:1-2. In those verses he says that the imagery signifies signs. So one must be very discerning in sorting out the literal and symbolic. Once John is invited up into a heavenly realm, the imagery becomes symbolic. Signs signify … what?

The example I wrote about above is the literal interpretation of a thousand-year reign of Christ, a literal millennium. Be careful about this interpretation, for the Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible. The four Gospels and Acts and epistles are silent about a literal millennium, and some passages teach against it, as it is popularly taught by Bible prophecy teachers today.

E.. Reports

Sometimes the Bible does not endorse an activity because it is sinful. The Bible merely reports what happened.

One example

One, Jephthah made a rash vow that said he would sacrifice the first thing coming out of his house. Since houses were designed with a courtyard in the center which contained animals, he may have thought a farm animal would come out. But it was his daughter. He regretted his rash vow but went through with it (Judges 11:29-40). However, Jephthah was ignorant of the law which would have permitted him to redeem his daughter (Lev. 27:1-8). He did not have to sacrifice her, after all.

RELATED

1 The Canon and Sufficiency of the Bible

3 The New Testament Interprets the Old Testament

In Part Three I will write my reflections and provide a link to the bibliography.

LONGER POST

Sec. 2, 1 Bibliology, Doctrine of the Bible: The Basics

REFERENCES

Works Cited