Hermeneutics

Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

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Hermeneutics
RELATED TOPICS	Exegesis Genre History of Hermeneutics - Apostolic Hermeneutics
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation theory. Hermeneutics in the traditional and Christian sense refers to the use of interpretation of texts in the Bible.

Hermeneutics involves establishing important principles for understanding the Bible, and then interpreting it so its message is made clear to the reader or listener. It involves exegesis, which is the process of examining what the actual biblical text meant to the author and its original intended audience. It also involves contextualization or application of the meaning of the text in a contemporary context.

Taken together, both exegesis and contextualization are what comprises hermeneutics.

The goal in applying the principles of hermeneutics is to "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15) striving to accurately discern the meaning of the text.

Important Considerations

There are a number of factors that need to be considered when interpreting the Bible. Understanding how these factors combine with accepting the Bible as God's word is an important challenge for each Christian.

Yourself - The Interpreter

No person interprets in a vacuum. It is important for the interpreter to consider how his culture and up-bringing influences his interpretation. Although it is impossible to completely remove personal bias and cultural understanding, recognizing it as a factor in interpretation is extremely helpful.

The Author's Purpose and His Original Audience

Understanding that the author wrote the text for certain purposes is very helpful. For example, realising that one reason the apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew was to show his Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah helps shed light on why Matthew so often makes reference to the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.

Time

Not only is there a gap of at least 1,900 years between the original author of a book and the person reading and interpreting the Bible today, but there was often a gap between when the author wrote the book and the events he described. For example, the apostle John wrote his account of Jesus' life decades after Jesus' ministry, death and resurrection. Other authors wrote about events they did not witness, such as Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts after speaking to eye-witnesses. Much of the Old Testament authors wrote about events that happened generations earlier.

Culture

The Bible tells the history of a people over many centuries. Their culture changed and developed with time and in many ways is very different from the cultures of Christians today. Understanding the cultural contexts and meaning of customs can be very helpful in better interpreting the intended message.

Language

The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew and partially in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Naturally it is a complex task to translate these ancient languages in modern day languages. This is especially the case with words that have ambigious or unclear meanings.

Furthermore, when the gospels quote the words of Jesus, it must be remembered that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic, yet the gospel writers wrote in Greek, and so these are translations of Jesus' words by men for whom Greek was not their mother tongue.

History of Hermeneuetics

Hermeneutic Examples found in the Gospels

An example of hermeneutics can be found in John, 2:19-20:

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”

But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.

Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

We see above that the author of the Gospel provides the interpretation...the one the disciples later understood to be the meaning.

Also found in the Gospel of John, also in Chapter 2, is the use of the Greek word "γύναι" or "gynai", which is pronounced "yee-neh". At the time of the gospels, the term was a term of respect to women, much like the words "honorable madam". With this explanation of Ancient Greek and the cultural use of certain words as acts of respect to others, the following passage is easier to interpret:

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,

and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”[1]

Apostolic Hermeneutics - The Apostles Interpretation of the Old Testament

The way in which the apostles understood and interpreted the Old Testament showed many similarities to contemporary Jewish hermeneutics, but also marked differences. Examination of the apostles' usage of the Old Testament reveals a Christological approach to understanding it, that is, they saw the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture.

Hermeneutics, Psychology, and Christianity

Hermeneutics can create a bridge between psychology and Christianity in that hermeneutics started largely on the issue of interpreting religious text and yet is a function of how the mind works at interpreting a certain text. The terms "hermeneutics" is a word in the American Psychology Association (APA) Dictionary of Psychology.[2]

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Links

• Basic Rules for New Testament Exegesis
• Wikipedia - Biblical hermeneutics

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References

[1]https://www.oodegr.com/english/protestantism/gynai.htm [2]https://dictionary.apa.org/hermeneutics