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Part 2: Interpretation | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 Timothy 2:15 |
1. THE PURPOSE OF INTERPRETATION
The purpose of interpretation is to discover the original meaning intended by the author. First find out what all of Scripture has to say, what the author intended to say and then form your conclusions and applications based on this.
2. FOUNDATIONS OF INTERPRETATION
Biblical interpretation isn's easy. As the Westminster Confession reads, "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all." Charles Spurgeon said that when he faced Scriptures he couldn't understand, he had to simply kneel down and worship God. However, "Everything essential to salvation and Christian living is clearly revealed in Scripture." Our purpose today is to give you an overview of four foundational principles of interpretation in order to rightly divide the word of truth(2 Timothy 2:15).
A. LET SCRIPTURE INTERPRET SCRIPTURE: The Bible cannot contradict itself. One passage does not disagree with another passage. When getting meaning from Scripture, it must be consistent with all other teachings in the Bible. Because the Bible's author is God, His message is in complete harmony and agreement with itself.
B. INTERPRET THE BIBLE LITERALLY: The simple, plain and obvious interpretation is almost always the right one. The authors of Scripture weren't trying to confuse their readers with hard-to-understand explanations. Interpret historical events as historical events, symbols as symbols, parables as parables, and so forth.
C. INTERPRET THE BIBLE GRAMMATICALLY: The words of Scripture are to be interpreted normally, according to ordinary rules of grammar. This means: (1) Each word has only one literal meaning when spoken in a sentence. (2) A word's meaning is tied to the sentence by rules of grammar. (3) The meaning of the word must come from its context.
D. INTERPRET THE BIBLE IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING: The Bible was written almost 2000 years ago. It's a historical record of events that really happened, not mythology created in someone's imagination. The more we learn the author's setting, lifestyle and culture, the more accurate our interpretation of his words will be.
3. THE QUESTIONS OF INTERPRETATION
In observation we asked detective-like questions (who, what, when, where, how & why) to find out the background information of the text. Now in Interpretation we will take out our magnifying glass and look at the details in words, phrases and statements to find the author's intended meaning of the passage.
A. MEANING: What is the meaning of this word, this phrase, or statement? How can this word be defined or explained? Is there a deeper meaning in the word, phrase or idea than you saw when you read it for the first time?
B. SIGNIFICANCE:What is the importance of this key word, phrase or statement in the passage? What's the significance of some of the literary patterns, such as comparisons, contrasts, illustrations, repetitions, structure of passage?
C. IMPLICATION: Is this word, phrase or sentence teaching something directly or indirectly? What is implied by the use of this term or phrase; question, an illustration, etc.?
D. RELATIONSHIP:What is the relationship of words to other words? One part of a verse to another part? Verses to verses? Paragraphs with paragraphs? Chapters with chapters? Relationship of the beginning and end of a chapter or section?
4. THE ANSWERS FOR INTERPRETATION
Let's look at five basic principles that will help you unlock the author's intended meaning of the Biblical text. They all start with the letter "C"
A. CONTENT:Never begin by looking at someone else's comments on the passage. If you had only this passage and nothing else, what would you see as it's meaning? Why? Briefly write that idea down along with the reason(s) you think this way.
B. CONTEXT:Based on the other verses and chapters around this verse what does this word, phrase, or thought mean? Is there any place else in this book where it is talked about? Write down any additional information you find along with the reference.
C. COMPARISON: Based on all of Scripture what does this word, this phrase, this thought mean? The greatest interpreter of Scripture is Scripture itself.
D. COMMENTARIES: Study tools such as Bible commentaries and other reference books about the Bible are also helpful. However, use these sources with discernment. Even though they are written by godly men, they are still written by men - and men make mistakes.
E. CONCLUSIONS: Having consulted all necessary resources to help you in your interpretation, now write down your final conclusions. Be sure to include how this passage can be applied in people's lives (including your's) today. We will look more at application in our next time together.
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by Steve Nicholes
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