HERMENEUTICS WK 2
INTRODUCTORY
ARTICLE
• interpres “go-between, agent, interpreter”
• interpretari “expound, explain, interpret”
• hermeneuo “to explain, interpret, speak
plainly, to be a spokesman for”
Introductory article
• You are the agent that explains what the
Bible text means!
Bridge THE GAPS
• History
• Culture
• Grammar/Literature
THE HISTORICAL GAP
• “You have to pay attention to
the cultural and historical
context—to the factors that
led to the writing of the
passage, the influences they
had on the text, and what
happened as a result of the
message.”
-Hendricks, Howard
The Historical gap
• Example: Psalm 24
• What in the world is this talking about?
THE HISTORICAL GAP
• “Life up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in,
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!”
THE CULTURAL GAP
• Example:
Jesus
Washes the Disciple’s Feet (John 13:1-20)
The grammatical/literary
gap
• Understanding the language, grammar, and
literature is key to understanding the text.
• Example (Language): Genesis 1:1
• Example (Grammar): Hebrews 12:1-2
• Example (Literature): Psalm 18:1-2
THE FIRST GOAL OF
BIBLE STUDY
• The first goal of studying the Bible is to determine
the divinely inspired message as it was
intended to be understood by the original
audience who received it.
• We do not make the truth; the Bible is the truth
and we are simply seeking to understand it.
• “The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness;
one is not trying to discover what no one else has
ever seen before.” –Gordon Fee
The Second goal of Bible
study
• The second goal of studying the Bible is to
apply the truths and principles to the
Christian’s life.
• John 13:17
• James 2:22-25
• Knowledge without transformation is
useless.
WARNING!
• Interpretation should always precede
application.
• Incorrect interpretation leads to incorrect
application.
• Example: Matthew 7:1
“Judge not, that you be not judged.”
The Divine Human
Combo
• Spirit – Hard Work = Subjectivism/Mysticism
• Hard Work – Spirit = Man’s Wisdom
• Spirit + Hard Work = Understanding!
TAKING VERSEs OUT
OF CONTEXT
• POINT: Context determines meaning of verses
• Example: Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered in my
name, there am I among them.”
TAKING VERSEs OUT
OF CONTEXT
• Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens
me.”
When impossible situations occur, I can rely on
Christ’s strength and He will see me through.
IN OR OUT OF CONTEXT?
TAKING VERSEs OUT
OF CONTEXT
• 1 Corinthians 13:11
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Describes our present understanding of spiritual
things compared to our future understanding in
heaven.
IN OR OUT OF CONTEXT?
TAKING VERSEs OUT
OF CONTEXT
• Luke 7:47
“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are
forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven
little, loves little.”
Those who have sinned more in their life end up loving
Jesus more than those who have sinned less.
IN OR OUT OF CONTEXT?
TAKING words OUT OF
CONTEXT
• POINT: Context determines meaning of words.
• Example: Colossians 1:15
“He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation.”
TAKING words OUT OF
CONTEXT
• John 12:32
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all people to myself.”
If we “life up” Christ and ascribe glory to Him, the
power of Christ is released to transform the
hearts of those listening and they are drawn to
Him.
IN OR OUT OF CONTEXT?
TAKING WORDS OUT
OF CONTEXT
• Philippians 3:13
“Forgetting what lies behind and straining
forward to what lies ahead.”
We are to not let what is “behind,” our past, hold
us back from moving forward in our Christian
life.
IN OR OUT OF CONTEXT?
PROOF-TEXTING
• Proof-texting is taking verses out of context in
support of a theological position, or stringing
verses together to make a point without
studying the context of those verses.
• Just lazy systematic theology!
Wrongly determining word
meanings
• EXAMPLE: Overemphasizing subtle points of
vocabulary
– John 21:15-17
– agapao vs. phileo
• POINT: Words sometimes have synonymous
ideas.
Wrongly determining word
meanings
• EXAMPLE: Determining meaning apart
from context.
– monogenes = begotten; unique, one of a kind
– John 3:16
– Hebrews 11:17
• POINT: Context determines the meaning
of words.
Wrongly determining word
meanings
• EXAMPLE: Limiting meaning to one definition.
– sodzo = to save; to rescue; to deliver; to preserve
– Sometimes means salvation, other times not.
– 1 Timothy 2:15
“Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they
continue in faith and love and holiness, with selfcontrol.”
• POINT: Words have a range of meanings.
•
READING ENGLISH
MEANINGS INTO GREEK
WORDS
EXAMPLE: Romans 1:16
• dunamis = dynamite?
• Actually means “innate ability or power”
• EXAMPLE: 2 Corinthians 9:7
• hilaron = hilarious?
• Actually means “happy, glad or cheerful state of mind”
• POINT: Just because we got our English word
from a Greek word does not make the meaning
the same.
Dangers associated with
studying historical/cultural
background
• #1 Watch out for inaccurate background
information.
– Matthew 19:24
– “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the
kingdom of God.”
– Eye of a needle?
Dangers associated with
studying historical/cultural
background
• #2 Be careful to not elevate the
background of the text above the meaning
of the text.
– Matthew 14:22-33
Dangers associated with
studying historical/cultural
background
• #3 Do not let yourself slowly evolve into nothing
more than a walking database of ancient facts.
• We study the historical-cultural context not as an
end in itself, but as a tool to help us grasp and
apply the meaning of the biblical text.
QUIZ QUESTIONS
• List the 3 Gaps to Bridge
• Give the First and Second Goal of Bible
Study
• Explain the Divine Human Combination
In or out?
• John 14:6
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
• Jesus was not making claims about one religion being
better than all other religions. That completely misses
the point, the depth, and the truth. Rather, he was
telling those who were following him that his way is the
way to the depth of reality. This kind of life Jesus was
living, perfectly and completely in connection and
cooperation with God, is the best possible way for a
person to live. It is how things are.