Table of Contents
Biblical Interpretation? Everyone who reads the bible is an interpreter, but no reader of the bible interprets the bible from a neutral posture. Regardless of one’s racial, ethnic, gender, generational, social, or intellectual postures, every bible reader brings baggage to the text. This baggage can either help or hinder one’s ability to arrive at what the biblical authors intended and how the readers/hearers should apply the text in their modern context.
Recognizing that everyone who reads the bible is a biased reader is helpful when talking about biblical interpretation. Often, you’ll hear people say, “There are so many interpretations of the Bible, how do you know whose interpretation is right?” Or you’ll hear, “Oh that’s just your own interpretation,” if you have a different opinion than someone about what the Bible teaches.
The fact is there is only one interpretation that is correct: Scripture’s interpretation, that is, the meaning intended by the author who first wrote that portion of Scripture. Therefore, determining what that author was saying with a particular passage is vital to understanding what God wants you and me to hear and to know. Even when one can rightly understand the author’s intent, one hasn’t understood it apart from the influence of their cultural context. The Bible, is the history’s most published, studied, translated and quoted book, is also its most misused and misinterpreted book.
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Cults and false religions use it to their own ends and others simply misinterpret it. That this occurs so often leads many to assume the Bible has no clear meaning. This is a false assumption. That any given passage is misunderstood, purposely or otherwise, does not demonstrate that the author of the passage had no clear meaning in mind. Nor does it justify that the readers cannot discern this meaning. Let’s look at common errors in Biblical interpretation and how to avoid them.
Ignoring the Immediate Context
No one likes to be taken out of context, not even one person. Have you ever noticed how many politicians, movie stars, or professional athletes, when they are trying to get off the hook for saying something foolish, will claim, “I was taken out of context?” That is how obviously important context is when it comes to determining meaning. We all know this. It is basic to human communication.
But how many times have you seen someone read or claim a verse without any regard for its context? One of the most common examples is reciting Matthew 18:20, “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them,” to invoke the Lord’s presence during a prayer meeting. The context tells us that this statement of Jesus is a promise of His authoritative presence in the midst of the Church discipline process. Another example is, Jeremiah 29:11 is frequently quoted in Christian circles. We engrave it on necklaces, hang it in our homes, and write it in graduation cards.
It says this, “For I know the plans I have for you’, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” It’s a great verse. We use it often to give each other hope and comfort. But if we studied the context of that verse, we would find that it has a different meaning than we might think at first. The historical context and the text surrounding this verse tell us that it is part of a letter that Jeremiah the prophet wrote to the Jewish exiles that had been taken as captives to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. God’s people had not obeyed or followed his law, but instead had scorned His warnings and continued in their sins. In accordance with the covenant He had made with Israel way back in the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 28-30), God cursed them for their disobedience.
By rejecting Him, the Israelites had chosen punishment. God had prophesied this over and over again, giving them chance after chance to repent. But when they persisted in sin, he allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to take them into slavery. This letter is written to a group of those slaves, specifically those taken from Jerusalem. In it, God promises the richness and hope of the future, where He would deliver them from captivity and bring them back to the Promised Land. When we rip words out of context and claim them as though God must be beholden to them simply because He said them, we are treating the Bible like a magic book.
Ignoring the Historical and Cultural Context
Sometimes, we forget that the Bible was originally written to an audience very different than ourselves. For example, the New Testament was written to a first century Greco-Roman audience in the Greek language. We are separated from those people by geographical, cultural, technological, and chronological distance. Those are significant hurdles to overcome. And yet, some people read the Bible as if it were originally addressed directly to them. An example of the importance of historical context can be found in the story of Jesus as he met the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Historically the Jews had developed a hatred for the Samaritans who were a mixed race of Jews and non-Jews.
The Samaritans had withdrawn from the worship of God in Jerusalem and established their own worship at Mt. Gerizim. As a result of these events, many Jews would have nothing at all to do with Samaritans. It is helpful to know this when we read of Jesus, as a Jew, reaching out in love to the Samaritan woman at the well, and eventually going into her village to minister to a multitude from this outcast group. One truth learned is that Jesus’ love is for all groups of people. Another example is, Paul’s admonition to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” should not be woodenly read as cookbook instructions to twenty-first century local church greeters. The principle of offering a warm greeting no doubt applies, but the holy kiss command was written to a people used to greeting one another in that way.
Ignoring the Biblical Theological Context
The Scriptures are not a collection of divine sayings that can be randomly chosen and applied. Rather, the Bible tells the story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation. The story progresses as God does different things with different people. Major categorical changes occurred when God introduced different covenants. Between the Old Testament biblical audience and Christian readers today lies a change in covenant. We as New Testament believers are under the new covenant, and we approach God through the sacrifice of Christ.
The Old Testament people, however, were under the old covenant, and for them the law was central. In other words, the theological situation for the two groups is different. Ignoring the biblical-theological context is akin to taking a US History book and looking for guidance from the colonial structure on how to obey traffic laws today. When God told His exiled Old Covenant people, “Seek the welfare of the city,” in Jeremiah 29:7, there was more going on than the giving of instructions to New Covenant churches on how to serve local communities.
When Christ commanded discipleship from his followers, as he also does today, it is helpful to understand the broad theological context in which he utters that command. It is helpful to know how God’s work today relates to what he has done before and will do in the future. We saw that discipleship, as God’s plan for the church, is the way he has ordained to bring the blessing promised to Abraham to the world. He has given us a permanent king in the Lord Jesus who has bestowed on us the Spirit.
Through the Spirit we are transformed into the image of Christ, grow in our commitment to personal discipleship, and are empowered to love, serve, and disciple others; even the nations. Thus, understanding the broad theological context will strengthen your personal commitment to discipleship and discipling others. You will go forth in humble confidence, knowing you are right in the middle of God’s will and plan for your life and the world.
Ignoring how Words Work
Words have meanings, not meaning. But a word has a singular meaning in context, when it is used in a sentence. Occasionally, if a person is clever, a speaker will intend multiple meanings by a singular word in a sentence. When that happens, we call it a pun. The biblical writers were very clever, and like the rest of us, when they used a word in a sentence, they intended one meaning for that word.
I have been to Bible studies where a person will say, “I looked this word up in the dictionary and I found that it could also mean __ and ___. When I plugged those meanings into the sentence, I was really blessed.” And people will look at that individual like they did something deep and spiritual, when what they actually did was irresponsible and foolish. We would never want others to do such a thing with our words. Why is it okay to treat the biblical authors and biblical Author so disrespectfully?
Ignoring Genre
Literary genre refers to the type of literature and the rules for interpreting it. There is no such thing as the “one biblical literary genre.” Instead, the Bible has a host of different literary genres, such as poetry, historical narrative, parable, prophecy, proverb, law, apocalyptic, etc. Each genre does different things and was specifically chosen by the biblical author to accomplish his intended task.
As readers, we should be used to transitioning from literary genre to literary genre seamlessly and without difficulty, because we do it often in our day-to-day lives. Which of you have ever confused a baseball box score for an editorial in the newspaper? And yet, how often do people read proverbs like they are promises or Old Testament narratives as though they are New Testament letters?
