BI 505 HERMENEUTICS

CLASS NOTES

Dr. Josiah Grauman

The Master's Seminary

With thanks to Brad Klassen and Abner Chou

 CONTENT
HERMENEUTICS...................................................................................................................................................1
B. Introduction................................................................................................................................................1
TO. Definitions.....................................................................................................................................................1
B. The need.....................................................................................................................................................2
C. What is Scripture?......................................................................................................................................3
D. Who can correctly interpret Scripture?......................................................................................................4
E. Who defines our hermeneutics?.................................................................................................................5
F. Hermeneutics and the exegetical process..................................................................................................6
11. The context................................................................................................................................................7
A. The definition of context...........................................................................................................................7
B. The importance of context.........................................................................................................................8
C. Context analysis.........................................................................................................................................9
III. The observation.......................................................................................................................................16
A. Introduction..............................................................................................................................................16
B. Spend time reading the text.....................................................................................................................17
C. Ask questions to the text..........................................................................................................................17
D. Observe the grammar...............................................................................................................................18
E. Summarize conclusions...........................................................................................................................20
F. Latest tips.................................................................................................................................................20
G. Compare translations...............................................................................................................................27
IV. The interpretation.....................................................................................................................................25
A. What interpretation seeks.........................................................................................................................25
B. Original implications...............................................................................................................................30
C. How to differentiate between interpretation and application...................................................................30
D. Summary........................................................................................................................................................31
V. Special Hermeneutics – The Old Testament..................................................................................................32
A. We must believe that the Old Testament is understandable without the New Testament.......................32
B. We must understand the nature and conditionality of covenants............................................................32
C. We must understand the purpose of theocracy........................................................................................33
E. We must understand the literary genres...................................................................................................34
F. How to “find” Christ in the Old Testament?..................................................................................................36
VI. Special Hermeneutics – The New Testament................................................................................................38
TO. The Gospels.................................................................................................................................................38

a) The study of the principles used to interpret the Bible

Luther's Works, 8:146.

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 1. The definition of some terms

a) Hermeneutics

b) Inspiration

(1) From the authors

(2) From the text itself

c) Revelation

(1) General

(2) Special

d) Lightning

e) Sense

(1) The author determines the meaning

(2) The two authors present a common sense, not two contrary senses.

f) Meaning

g) Implication

(1) Implications for the original audience

(2) Implications for today's audience

h) Interpretation

i) Exegesis

j) Application

k) Exposure

3. Literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutics

a) Literal

b) Historical

c) Grammar

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B. The need

1. God us to interpret His word correctly, 2Ti 2:15.

2. Hermeneutics changes the way we understand and the Bible, James 1:21-
22.

3. We are distanced from the text

a) Language

b) Culture

c) Geography

d) History

4. Misinterpreting Scripture leads to destruction, 2 Pet 3:14-18.

5. Man brings his presuppositions to the text because he wants to be the judge

6. Man tends to distort Scripture

a) The hermeneutics of reason, Gen 2:1-2

b) The hermeneutics of experience, 1 Jn 4:19; cf. 1Co 14:27-28

c) The hermeneutics of tradition, Mt 15:9

d) The hermeneutics of theology

e) Postmodern hermeneutics
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 f) Allegorical hermeneutics

Martin Luther: “It is the historical sense alone that supplements sound and true doctrine.” He
wrote that “we must strive…to find a single, simple, true, and grammatical sense of the words of
the text” and asserted that “only the single, proper, and original sense—the sense as it was written
—makes good theologians. “So the words [of the Spirit] cannot have more than one and simple
meaning1.” Finally, he adds, “we must always remain in the simple, pure and natural sense of
words, which agrees with the rules of grammar and the normal use of language, just as God created
it in man” (own translation).2
C. What is Scripture?

1. Scripture is the only authority

2. Scripture is completely sufficient, 2 Pet 1:3

3. Scripture is inspired by God, 2Ti 3:16; 2P 1:21

The Bible was written by men, in their own words, but they were guided by the Holy Spirit in such a
way that the words they wrote were the words of God; as if God Himself had written them with His
finger.

a) Do not emphasize divine nature to the point of denying the human.

b) Do not emphasize human nature to the point of denying the divine.

4. Scripture is alive and current, Heb 4:12; 12:25; Isa 66:2

1 Some examples in English would be: Jim Rosscup, Commentaries for Biblical Expositors (Kress Christian Publications, 2003);
Tremper Longman III, Old Testament Commentary Survey, 5th edition (2013); D.A. Carson New Testament Commentary Survey, 7th
edition (2013); or websites such as http://www.challies.com/recommendations/commentaries
2 This step already becomes interpretation. I included it here because Duvall and Hays incorporate word studies into their section on
context.
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 5. Scripture is powerful to save and sanctify, 2 Tim 3:15-17

6. Scripture is inerrant and infallible

D. Who can correctly interpret Scripture?

1. The believer whom the Holy Spirit is enlightening, 1Co 2:14-16, cp. Ps 119:18.

Note: Enlightenment is not revelation, ch. Jn 14:26

2. He who seeks to understand and apply the text

a) Understanding is more than an affirmation , Pr 1:7.

b) Understanding requires faith, Heb 11:6; Eph 2:8; 2Ti 3:15-17, cf. Ro 10:14.

c) Understanding requires work, 1Ti 5:17.

d) Understanding requires prayer, Ps 119, Eph 1:16-18

e) Faith produces that produces understanding, James 2:18-20; Ps 111:10; Heb 5:14.

E. Who defines our hermeneutics?

1. Does God use a grammatical, historical, literal hermeneutic when interpreting His word? Yes, I interpreted
prior revelation in accordance with the original meaning of the text.

a) Jehovah proves that he is the only true God since he is the only one who can predict the future, Is
42:8-9, 43:10-11, 44:6-8; the 'gods' are not divine, since they are mute and blind, Is 41:21-23; 44:9,
12, 16-18.

b) If Jehovah's predictions were not fulfilled in the normal way that the original audience would have
expected, Jehovah would have failed the test and by His own definition is an idol not worthy of
worship, Is 44:24, 26-28, cp. Jer 29:10 and Ezra 1:1-3.

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2. Did the Old Testament authors use our hermeneutics? Yes, they interpreted prior revelation according to
the original meaning of the text, interacting with it as inerrant and authoritative.

a) The duration of a prophecy, Jer 29:10, cp. Dan 9:2, Ezra 1:1-3

b) The name of a king, 1 Kings 13:1-5, cp. 2 Kings 23:15-16

c) The extension of the creation week, Gen 1, ch. Exo 20:11

d) The historicity of an atrocity, Deut 28:57, ch. 2 Kings 6:28-29

e) The route of an exodus, Exo 14:21, cp. Isa 63:12

3. Did the New Testament authors use our hermeneutics? Yes, they interpreted prior revelation according to
the original meaning of the text, interacting with it as inerrant and authoritative.

a) He of a verb, Exo 3:6, cp. Mt 22:32

b) The person of a pronoun, Ps 110:1, cf. Mt 22:44

c) The number of a noun, Gen 12:7, cf. Gal 3:16

d) He from a journey, Zech 9:9, ch. Mt 21:5

e) The place of a city, Mi 5:2, cp. Mt 2:6

f) The historicity of a person, Gen 2:20, ch. Luke 3:38

g) The genuineness of an event, Gen 6-9, ch. 2 Pet 3:6

4. Why does the New Testament sometimes seem to take the Old Testament out of context?

First, we must state that, as we have already seen, it is normal for the NT to interpret the OT in an
obviously literal way. When it comes to the person of Christ, for various reasons we tend to ignore the
canonical context of the OT passage that the NT cites (see II.C.3 “Canonical Context” below).

5. The circular reasoning of defining our hermeneutics from the Bible proves its veracity

To say that we must interpret the Bible to find out how God wants us to interpret it is by definition circular
logic. However, since the Bible is the only revelation God has given us, the fact that He assumes we can
interpret it proves that we should read it by the same rules we use for any other writing, with the addition
of viewing it as our inerrant authority.

F. Hermeneutics and the exegetical process

Pray for enlightenment and sanctification

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1. Translate the text

2. Set the text

3. Read about the historical context

4. Observe the text

5. Analyze the sentences (syntax)

6. Study words (morphologically and lexically)

7. Compare translations

8. Confirm with comments

9. Solve problems in text and context

10. Writing the exegetical proposition (with outline)

Hermeneutics does not deal with the development of the exegetical process, but with its reason. We are
interested in knowing why we study the way we study and what rules govern that study. Hermeneutics,
then, deals with the theory of why and how to do exegesis.

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11. The context

A. The definition of context

What surrounds What does What did the How

E
my text inside my text say? IT author want should what the
and outside the to author wrote affect my life
book? communicat
?

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 The word “context” is composed of two Latin words: con (with) and textus (fabric). The original idea of
context is about the environment within which the text is woven. Generally, context is divided into two
distinct dimensions: historical context and literary context.

1. Historical Context – Historical context refers to the environment of the author and his audience—their
world. Historical context is the unwritten context within which the text is woven. This dimension includes:

• Language

• Geography

• Culture

• History

2. Literary context – Literary context refers to the literary environment within which the text is woven. This
dimension includes:

• Canonical context – The place of the biblical book within the rest of the Bible

• Distant Context – The Place of the Section Within the Entire Biblical Book

• Immediate context – The place of the section among the paragraphs around it

Canonical context Distant context Immediate context

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B. The importance of context

“A text without its context is a pretext”

1. Examples of the “power” of context

a) "A chip off the old block"

b) “What Milanese, you didn't have any steaks, I thought you had already eaten us”

2. Examples of ignorance of context

a) “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” Mt 3:11

b) “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” Mt
6:33

c) “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I,” Mt 18:20

d) "Christ is all, and in all," Col 3:11

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 a “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews,” 1Co 9:20
n

C. Context analysis

It is understood in the study of the context that it is preferable to start with the context most distant
from the text, and gradually get closer to it. Remember that we study the context because we want to
identify the author's intention in each passage, and the more we can put ourselves in the shoes of the
author and his audience, the easier it will be to understand his intention.

1. Preliminary stage: Read the biblical book and collect resources

a) Read the biblical book

In order not to bring man's presuppositions into the text, it is necessary to read the biblical book first.

b) Find out what resources are available

(1) Choose a couple of reliable commentaries and study their bibliographies

(2) Search for resources that feature “annotated bibliographies”3

(3) Research resources available in Spanish in each area of the study context
(a) Panoramas of the (e) Biblical Atlases
Bible, or the Old CommentBlicaPortazaz
OLD TESTAMENT
OVERVIEW

and New
Testament

3 Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 88, own translation.

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 (b) Introductions to (f) Books about the
the Old and New customs and habits
Testament of biblical times

(c) Bible (g) The introduction of

dictionaries HOLMANI the book into a
and Bible llustrated
BibleDicti study Bible
encyclopedia onary
s

(h) The introduction of

(d) Stories from the the book in a
Old and New commentary
Testament (Or a
particular
section)

2. Step 1: Study the historical context

Consider the following questions, not as an exhaustive overview of the entire historical context, but as an
introduction.

Many of these questions about historical context are answered by other sections of the biblical text. For
example, Acts provides a lot of historical context for Paul's letter to the Philippians. It is necessary to know
this information, since the authors assume that we know the biblical text (see the following point:
canonical context).

However, is it necessary to know the historical context provided by extra-biblical sources to correctly
interpret the Bible? Is the anointing of the Spirit not enough (1 John 2:27)?

a) Who wrote the book?

Do we know anything else about the author? For example, knowing the biography of Paul helps us a lot
to interpret the book of Philemon.

b) Who are you writing to?

Do you know anything about the audience? Your commitment to God? Your relationship with the
author? For example, knowing that those born in Philippi enjoyed Roman citizenship may help us identify
the intent behind Phil 3:20.

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c) When was the book written? And when do the events you describe occur?

Sometimes the book describes events almost simultaneously with the writing, but sometimes not. For
example, there were about 60 years between the events of John's gospel and its writing. Another
example would be Genesis, where there were thousands of years between the events it describes and its
writing. So, we must understand well the chronology of the events and the writing to study the historical
context of the two contexts.

For example, knowing that Kings was written during the Babylonian exile while Chronicles was written
over a hundred years later when Israel was returning to the land helps us greatly to understand the
purpose of the books.

d) Where is the author and his audience located?

For example, the fact that Jeremiah speaks to the Jews in Jerusalem, while Ezekiel speaks during the
same time to the Jews in Babylon helps us greatly to understand the books.

e) What moved the author to write?

If the book tells us something about the purpose of the book, it is easy (Something we will see in the
distant context). But sometimes the historical context helps us identify something of the author's
motivation. For example, Hebrews is said to have been written in 68-69 AD, as a final exhortation to
abandon Judaism. History tells us that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. after a conflict that lasted a
couple of years.

f) What surrounds the writing of the book?

• Political context: What were the local, national, and international forces affecting events and
audiences? Consider the importance of the political context for the book of Daniel.

• Economic context: What did people live on? How did they buy and sell? With money, gold, or sheep?
Consider the book of Job.

• Religious context: What did people believe? Where did he worship? How did he worship? Consider
the book of Judges.

• Judicial context: What were the laws of the day? Who should people obey? Consider the book of
Ezra.

• Agricultural context: How did they cultivate the land? What products did they grow? Consider the
parables of Jesus, in particular the parable of the sower.

• Architectural context: What were the buildings like? How were they transported? Consider Paul's
missionary journeys.

• Domestic context: What were families like? Were there house slaves? Who received guests at
home? Consider 2 and 3 John.

• Geographic context: What was the topography like? Were the trips easy or difficult? What was the
weather like? Consider the book of Joshua and the truth that the Canaanites did not expect the
crossing of the Jordan River.

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 • Military Context: Who Were the Strongest Nations? Were there any conflicts while writing the
book? How did it influence people's daily lives? Consider the book of Kings.

• Social context: Were there certain people who did not associate with other people? How did you
greet each other? Were there different kinds of people? Consider the book of Acts.

3. Step 2: Meditate in the canonical context

a) Recognize that revelation came progressively

(1) The truth did not change

• The Old Testament gives us a perfect and current picture of God's character, Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8.

• If God hated sin and sinners yesterday, His perspective has not changed, Ps 5:5; Is 63:16.

(2) The truth grew

We must study all truth because our sanctification depends on our seeing the image of God, Gen
5:1-3; 2Co 3:18; 1Jn 3:2.

(3) Example: How were they saved during the Old Covenant?

• By law? No.

• Believing Romans 10:9-10? Neither.

• Answer: By faith in the divine promises they had, Ro 3:25.

• Examples: Adam, Gen 3:15-16, 20-21; Abraham, Gen 15:6; Rom 4:2-3, 9-12

b) Consider what the author should have known because of prior revelation

• Do not judge Abraham for not knowing that the Gentiles were to be grafted into the people of God,
since it was not revealed in his time, Eph 3:5-6

• Judge those who did not hope for the Messiah, since they should have been waiting, 1 Sam 2:10.

c) Meditate on the intertextuality between the book and the previous revelation

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 (1) The authors assume that we know prior to revelation

• Matthew 4:17 with Daniel 2:44

• Exodus 2:3 with Genesis 6:14

• 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10 with Zephaniah 1.

(2) The authors assume that we know the immediate, distant, and canonical context of the passage they
cite.

• Psalm 19:7-11; 119:13

• Acts 2:16-21, ch. Joel 2:28-32

• Matthew 2:15, ch. Hosea 11:1 with Exodus 4:22

• 1 Corinthians 10:4, cf. Exodus 17:6; Psalm 78:20, 35; Exodus 23:20 with Exodus 3:2-6 and Isaiah
28:16.

• Hebrews 4:1-7, ch. Psalm 95; Genesis 2:2; Numbers, Joshua

• Ezra 1:1, ch. 2 Chr 36:21; Jeremiah 25:11-12; Isaiah 44:28

• Romans 9:26-29, ch. Isaiah 10:22; Hosea 1:10, Isaiah 1:9

4. Step 3: Thinking about the distant context

a) What is the purpose of the book?

(1) Sometimes the purpose of the book is mentioned , Lk 1:1-4; Jn 20:30

31; 1 Jn 5:13; 1 Tim 3:14-15; Jude 3.

(2) Sometimes the purpose of the book is seen in a key verse or saying, Judges 21:25; 4:22

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 (3) Sometimes the purpose of the book is identified through some , Phil
4:18

(4) Sometimes the purpose of the book is seen by the topics covered, Col 2:6-8

Read and reread the book until you identify the purpose of the book. The purpose of the book is the
message that connects the entire book and explains why the author wrote it.

b) What is the structure of the book?

We must read and reread the book to find how the author develops the purpose. The book outline
identifies how the author develops that purpose and also helps us locate ourselves in the flow of the
book's argument. Since the goal of the exegete is to find the author's intention, this point is extremely
important. Why does the author say this here or how does it serve his overall purpose?

(1) In the epistles, sometimes the outline of the book is identified by looking for some transition of logic
Justification by faith Justification by faith
Justification by faith
defended theologically (Gal practically defended (Gal 5-
personally defended (Gal 1-2)
3-4) 6)

Purpose of Galatians: To defend the gospel of justification by faith alone

(2) In a narrative, the outline of the book is sometimes identified by looking for some transition of
geography, chronology, history, or character.

The United Kingdom: The divided kingdom: The surviving kingdom:

The Failure of Solomon’s Reign 1 The Failure of All Kings 1 Kings The failure of the kings of Judah 2
Kings 1:1–11:43 12:1–2 Kings 17:41 Kings 18:1–25:30

Purpose of Kings: To show that the failures of Israel's kings led the nation into exile.

c) Where does my passage fit in the rest of the book?

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5. Step 4: Identify the immediate context

The purpose of the book describes the singular idea that runs through the entire book.

The outline of the book shows how particular movements develop this purpose.

The detailed outline of the book shows how each part of the book develops the purpose.

The immediate context is made up of the previous and subsequent ideas of the text we are studying. We
look for the individual ideas that make up the points of the outline. Generally, this is the paragraph before
and after our text.

It is necessary to note that the division of paragraphs is the work of man, and is not original to the biblical
text. So, although paragraph divisions help us a lot, we should not rely on them as something inspired. In
fact, even the division of chapters and verses is an addition to the original text. There are times when they
do not divide the text in the best place (For example, Ephesians 5:21 belongs in the previous paragraph
and Colossians 4:1 also belongs in the previous paragraph).

The most important thing is to continuously read the text, to place the text within its context. Some
scholars claim that we should not begin studying the text until after reading the entire book a minimum of
30 times. This will surely avoid many mistakes.

6. An example of how to put together the context of a passage, 2 Kings 22:1-7.

a) Identify he contexthistorical

b) Identifyhe contextcanonical

c) Identify he contextfar

d) Identify he contextimmediate

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III. The observation

One of the most important rules of hermeneutics is that we should not interpret the text until we have
observed the text. Let us be quick to examine everything the text says before interpreting what it means. This
rule is necessary because of our laziness and our tendency to determine what we want the text to say instead
of observing what it actually says.

The observation process can be compared to accounting work. If one sees a spreadsheet that presents a
company's complex budget, it would be very risky and dangerous to interpret the data and make financial
forecasts before looking at all the data on the sheet. This is the work of observation. We want to examine
every paragraph, every sentence, every phrase, every word, and every morpheme. Only after knowing well
what the text says can we interpret its meaning.

A. Introduction

1. Prerequisites

a) Commit to accuracy

b) Commit to perseverance

c) Committing to dependence, Ps 119:18

2. Try not to reach interpretive conclusions yet

One question that helps us discern whether we have moved on to interpretation is to determine
whether our “observation” might be debated or controversial. If another Christian might disagree with
your “observation,” it is likely an interpretation, not an observation.

For example, if I say, “In Revelation 20:4-5, John describes the physical resurrection of believers before
the millennium and the physical resurrection of the wicked after the millennium,” some brothers would
disagree with me (Amillennialists believe that the first resurrection is spiritual, while the second
resurrection is physical). That's why I know my observation is an interpretation. It would be better to
observe: “The life they receive in verse 4 and the life they receive in verse 5 are grammatically parallel.”

3. Avoid consulting other human sources

4. Make comments on the original text as soon as possible.

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B. Spend time reading the text

1. Read with prayer

2. Read with

3. Read with curiosity

C. Ask questions to the text

The author's intention is the gold we seek; curiosity is the tool with which we mine it.

1. Ask questions to the text

a) Who?

Who are the characters or groups that the text presents? How do they describe themselves? What
does the text say about them?

b) That?

What happens in the text? What is described? What is emphasized? What is praised or condemned?
Is there anything unusual, or common? What is being stated? What did the author want his audience
to believe? What did the author want his audience to do?

c) Where?

What places do you identify with? Where are the characters in the passage? Where do they come
from? Where are they going? Where is the author located? Where is the audience? How do you
describe these places?

d) When?

When did the events that the text describes occur? When was the text written? How do these
events relate to other events before or after them?

e) Because?

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 Why did what happened happen? Why was what was said said? (This question is extremely
important in the search for intention, but it is the one that leads us most to interpretation, so it is
necessary to understand that the observation of “why” only occurs when the text mentions a reason
explicitly. If it is not explicit, it is necessary to compile possible answers to the “why” question.

f) As?

What was the means by which this was accomplished? Who is responsible?

2. Compile possible answers

If the text answers the question explicitly, we already have an observation. If the text doesn't answer
it explicitly, it's often helpful to think of possible answers. If there are several ways the question can
be answered, we make a list of possible options. This will make our interpretation easier, since it will
only be a matter of choosing one.

D. Observe the grammar

1. Analyze the structure of the text (logical analysis)

a) Divide the sentences in the text

b) Determine the relationship between a sentence and the previous one (If there are several options,
mention interpretive options)

c) Show the parallelism or subordination of the sentence with indentation

d) Example from Colossians 1:15-20

2. Analyze the grammar of the text (syntactic analysis)

a) Determine the grammatical category of each word

Examples of grammatical categories: Subject, verb, direct object, indirect object, pronoun,
adjective, adverb, demonstrative, relative, preposition, conjunctions, articles, etc.

b) Show the grammatical category of each word with lines

c) Example from 1 John 1:1-2

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 d) Think about the grammatical function of each word in the sentence

3. Analyze the morphological meaning of words

A grammar helps us understand what morphemes mean.

a) Verbs can have person, number, gender, tense, mode, voice, etc.

b) Nouns can have case, number, gender, etc.

c) Example with verbs from Acts 14:10

d) Example with nouns from Ephesians 2:8

4. Analyze the lexical meaning of words

Although we must understand the meaning of each word, there are certain words that the text gives
greater importance. When we look at keywords, we need to study them more precisely.

a) Identify the lexical meaning of the word - Dictionaries help us understand the possible meanings of
a word (semantic range)

b) Identify the common meaning of the word - Concordances help us understand the probable
meanings of a word (common usage)

c) Identify the contextual meaning of the word - The context helps us understand the precise
meaning (exact4 meaning)

d) Avoid falling into fallacies that go against the nature of language (we must treat biblical words as
human words)

E. Summarize conclusions

1. Create a list of objective observations

4 Luther's Works, 7:650.

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 2. Create a list of interpretive questions
F. Latest tips

1. Look for all the possibilities

2. Search not to see what is not in the text

3. Search to switch between general observations and specific observations

4. Look for as much as possible

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 G. Compare translations

ORIGINAL PARAPHRASED
TRANSLITERATION INTERLINEAR
FORMAL EQUIVALENCE DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE

ORIGINAL PHRASE BY PHRASE CONCEPT BY CONCEPT WRITTEN IN A POPULAR

LETTER BY LETTER VERBATIM
LANGUAGES LANGUAGE
-King James Version
-BHS -New International -God Speaks Today
-Transliteration -Interlinear -The Bible of the
-Nestle-Aland Version -Bible in simple language.
Americas
LITERAL: PARAPHRASED
LANGUAGES:
-Translation with a focus -Rewritten with a focus on
-Translation with a focus
-Write the original lyrics -Translation of words on the original words the current recipient in plain
on the meaning of the
with Spanish letters separately, without themselves. language.
original words. -
the result making Transmitter/Receiver
sense. -Original issuer -Current receiver
Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ Kai jo logos sarks And the word flesh And the Word became And the Word became He who is the Word was like
ἐγένετο egeneto came to be flesh human one of us

Another difference that distinguishes the biblical versions has to do with textual criticism (the study of different manuscripts). The Reina Valera was
translated from a critical manuscript called the Textus Receptus (a compilation of Greek manuscripts dating to the Middle Ages), while newer
versions, such as the New International Version, use more modern compilations based on thousands of manuscripts found in recent centuries, some
dating to the early centuries.

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IV. The interpretation

The goal of interpretation is to know the text so deeply that we can recreate the author's ideas and
emotions in our minds.

A. What interpretation seeks

1. Interpretation seeks the original meaning of the text, not its current implications, cp. 2Ti 3:16-17.

a) What does Exodus 20:14 mean?

b) ThatmeansPs 137:9?

c) That means 1Co 16:13?

d) That means 1Co 11:5-6?

Our task in exegesis is not to try to transport the Bible to our time, but to transport ourselves to the
time of the Bible, John MacArthur

2. Interpretation seeks what the author intended to communicate, not the meaning that the text or the
reader determines.

a) The Bible places the meaning with the author, Dt 29:29; Acts 8:34; Eph 3:4; 2 Tim 2:7

b) Catholics say that the text determines the meaning, as opposed to the author. That's because they
believe
that the author did not understand everything he wrote. They teach that each text presents a
human meaning, and another divine meaning, the sensus plenior.

c) Postmodernists say that the author cannot determine the meaning because it is not present, and
because each reader brings different presuppositions to the text.

3. Interpretation seeks to identify a singular meaning, not several meanings.

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 Example: "The Lord is near," Phil 4:5

a) The intention of the human author is not different from the intention of the divine author, 1 Pet
1:10-12; Rom 10:16; Acts 28:25; James 4:5

b) Searching for other hidden meanings insults the incarnation, Jn 1:18.

c) The Bible rejects Gnosticism, ch. Col 2, 1Jn 2.

d) The word is near us, Ro 10:6-8.

e) A clarification: an original category can be translated into several modern ideas (For example, the
English verb 'to be' is translated as ser or estar).

4. Interpretation seeks to understand the literal meaning of the text.

a) What does literal mean?

The literal sense is the common, or normal, sense—the way the original audience was intended to
understand the text, which includes figures of speech.

(1) The literal meaning of a word

The literal meaning of a word out of context would be the most common meaning of the word.
That is, the first option that the dictionary presents. For example, the literal meaning of the word
“shepherd” would be the person who cares for sheep.

It is impossible to always understand individual words literally because that meaning ignores the
semantic range of the words—words have more than one meaning depending on their context. For
example, it would be absurd to understand Hebrews 13:7, “remember your shepherds,” as a call to
remember those who had the profession of caring for sheep.

So if one applies the term literal to an individual word, a literal hermeneutics would have to refer
to the desire to prioritize the literal sense, not that we should always interpret words according to
their most common sense. In other words, we should start with the literal meaning, and only look
for an alternative if it is absurd to take it literally, and it is clearer to take it symbolically.

For example, Jesus says: “this is my body” (Mat 26:26).

(2) The literal meaning of the phrases

The “literal” meaning best applies to the word in its context, that is, considering the entire sentence.
If we ask ourselves, what is the common meaning of this phrase, we can now include the influence of

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 context, sayings, culture, etc.

For example, Jesus says: “this is my body” (Mat 26:26), “you are the salt of the earth” (Mat 5:13),
“like father, like son.”

b) Literal includes an understanding of figures of speech

St. Augustine, although he interpreted the Bible with much symbolism, understood the
hermeneutical rules correctly: “A knowledge of figures of speech is necessary to resolve the
ambiguities of the Bible, because when the sense based on the literal interpretation of the words is
absurd we must investigate whether the passage we cannot understand is perhaps expressed by
means of a figure of speech .” 5

(1) Simile – A comparison using the word “like.”

(a) Christ comes as a thief in the aspect emphasized in the context, Rev 16:15.

(b) Paul cared for the Thessalonians as a nurse cares for her own children, 1 Thess 2:7.

(2) Metaphor – A comparison without the word “like.”

(a) “You are the salt of the earth,” Mt 5:13

(b) “What is your life? It is indeed a mist,” James 4:14

(c) “the tongue is a fire,” James 3:6

(3) Personification – Attributing a human characteristic to a thing/animal.

“All the trees of the field will clap their hands,” Is 55:12

(4) Anthropomorphism – Attributing a human characteristic to God.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”, Heb 10:31, cf. Jn 4:24

(5) Anthropopathism - Attributing a human emotion to God.

“the Lord repented,” Gen 6:6, cf. Num 23:19

5 Martin Luther, “On the Bondage of the Will,” in Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation, translated and edited by E. Gordon
Rupp and Philip S Watson, LCC XVII (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1969), 221.

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 (6) Euphemism – Replacing one offensive word with another.

(a) “Adam knew his wife Eve,” Gen 4:1

(b) “those who sleep,” 1 Thess 4:13, 18

(7) Hyperbole – An intentional exaggeration for emphasis.

“Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him,” Mt 3:5

(8) Rhetorical question

“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel…?”, Mark 4:21, cp. Mt 27:46

(9) Idiomatic phrases, irony, metonymy, etc.

(10) Abstract: Symbols illustrate a truth within a in particular.

(a) "Christ is a lion," Rev 5:5

(b) What did the original audience think of the symbol?

(c) We should not assume that the symbol is always applied equally in the Bible, 1P 5:8.

5. Interpretation seeks to understand the grammatical meaning of the text

We interpret the text considering everything we learned when we looked at the grammar of the passage.

a) Consider the syntax of the text

b) Consider the lexical meaning of words

c) Consider the morphology of words

6. Interpretation seeks to understand the meaning of the text according to its historical context.

We interpret the text considering everything we learned when we studied the context of the passage.

7. We seek to interpret the text in light of the principle of analogy of faith.

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 The principle of analogy of faith refers to the truth that a text, properly interpreted, will never contradict
what another text, properly interpreted, affirms. The Bible cannot contradict itself (John 10:35; 17:17; 2
Tim 3:16), however, it is important to maintain a balance in our concept of the analogy of faith for the
following reasons:

a) There is a distinction between a contradiction and a that we sometimes ignore,

Dt 29:29. Many times we solve Instead of assuming that the text means what
it says,
which says, James 2:24; Heb 2:18.

b) We may have misinterpreted text that we think contradicts our text. If one text seems to contradict
another text, we are wrong, not the Bible, 2 Cor 5:20-6:2 with Eph 1:4-6; Rom 9:11-23.

c) Example of how to apply the analogy of faith with James 2:24 in light of Romans 3:28.

(1) Study the word δικαιόω (justify) in the dictionary to find possible meanings.

(2) Study similar usages in the NT to find probable meanings, Luke 7:29, 35, 10:29.

(3) Study the context to find the precise meaning.

James 2:21 quotes Gen 22, justified means

James 2:23 quotes Gen 15

8. Interpretation seeks to understand the text according to historical theology

We must not rely on tradition on the same level as Scripture (Mt 15:9). However, we do not want to
invent doctrine either, since our duty is to receive and pass on the tradition we received from the
apostles, 2 Tim 2:2; 2 Thes 2:15.

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 9. Interpretation seeks to understand the text according to the literary genre

Special hermeneutics deals with this topic. We apply the same rules of hermeneutics to the entire Bible,
but there are certain specific clues that help us understand different literary genres. For example, poetry
is marked by certain characteristics that we do not observe in narrative, and vice versa.

Summary of meaning: How did the original author intend his audience to understand what he wrote?
B. Original implications

1. There were implications even in the original context of the writing.

What the author wrote to his audience had certain implications. For example, when Paul said, “Do not
get drunk with wine,” if he later came to Ephesus to find that all the Ephesians were drunk, he would not
have accepted the excuse that they got drunk with beer, not wine. On the contrary, Paul would have
rightly exhorted them for disobeying the clear implication of his command.

2. There is a difference between the original implications and the current applications.

In the same way, if someone today takes drugs, we would exhort the person for disobeying what Paul
commanded in Ephesians 5:18. But it is necessary to maintain a distinction between the original
implications and the current application because there are other verses where the original implications
are very different from the application in our day. For example, the mandate to put blue stripes on the
edges of cloaks.

C. How to differentiate between interpretation and application

1. The essence of application: See any differences between the original audience and ourselves, remove
anything that is not applicable, and apply the eternal principles to ourselves.

2. An example of how to differentiate between interpretation and application: Ps 51:11

a) Original meaning

(1) What is the context?

(a) Canonical: What was the role of the Spirit? Num 11:25, 24:2; Jdg 14:6, cf. Jn 14:17

(b) Canonical: Could God take away the Holy Spirit from David? 1S 16:14-19

(c) Far: Why did God not want sacrifices from David? Ps 51:1, ch. Ps 51:16
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 (d) Prompt: What was David asking for, then? Ps 51:13, 19

(2) Observations on Psalm 51:11

(3) Interpretation: Why did David write, then?

b) What are the differences today?

(1) Every Christian has the Spirit and cannot be , Ro 8:9; Eph 1:13-14.

(2) If a shepherd does what David did, he is of the ministry, 1Ti 3, Tit 1.

c) Current applications

Anything reprehensible in a leader's life should produce David's prayer.

D. Summary

In interpretation, we seek to identify the author’s mind through what he wrote—something made possible
by the gift of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:14-16). However, since it is easy to make mistakes, it is worth repeating
three important concepts, as a review:

1. The author of Scripture is God, but normally (outside of cases where He dictated a message to a prophet)
He wrote through the will of a man. In any case, there is a singular intention of the two authors.

2. The only way to identify the author's intention is through the words he wrote. When we recreate the
mind of the author—his emotions, intention, purpose, etc.—we must use as our only source the words he
wrote. We should not invent or imagine anything if the author did not communicate it through his words.

3. We must understand the author's words in their common, or literal, sense. This is the normal way we
communicate as humans. So, instead of trying to define our hermeneutics on the basis of a couple of
complex prophecies (as is done with the concept of sensus plenior), we should read the Bible according
to its ordinary sense.

V. Special Hermeneutics – The Old Testament

A. We must believe that the Old Testament is understandable without the New Testament.

1. Should we start with chapter 1 or chapter 40? Some say we must start with the NT to properly
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 understand the OT.

a) A correct interpretation of the OT was possible, Lk 24:25-27; 44-46

b) If we start in the middle, it can be a subjective way of interpreting the Old Testament.

c) Our understanding of the relationship between Israel and the church does not change the meaning of
the OT, cf. Eph 3:5-6, although it can enrich it. For example, seeing the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 does
not change its meaning, but it does help us appreciate it.

B. We must understand the nature and conditionality of covenants

1. The Noetic Covenant, Gen 8:21-22

2. The Abrahamic Covenant, Gen 15:17-18

3. The Mosaic Covenant, Ex 19:5-6

4. The Davidic Covenant, 1Ch 17:11-14, cp. Jer 33:20-21

5. The New Covenant, Jer 31:31

C. We must understand the purpose of theocracy

1. Israel was to execute Jehovah's judgment

a) Israel: Should to the nations, 1S 15:3, ch. Gen 15:16.

b) Church: We must to every human institution, 1P 2:12-13, cp. Ro 13:1; 2Th 1:5-6.

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 2. Israel was to show the power of Jehovah

a) Israel: God showed His power by choosing the most holy people , Dt 7:7; Judg 7:2.

b) Church: God chooses us for the same reason , 1Co 1:26-29.

3. Israel was to serve as an example of Jehovah's presence

a) Israel: God promised to bless Israel , Dt 15:4-5; 28; Mal 3:10-12.

• Obey = Physical/spiritual prosperity

• Disobey = Physical/spiritual calamity

b) Church: God does not promise to bless us , Jn 15:20, 16:32; 2Ti 3:12; He 11:33
39.

• Obey = Possibly suffer here and prosper there

• Disobey = Possibly prosper here and suffer there

4. Israel was to function as the Lord's mouthpiece

a) Israel: God called Israel to bring the nations into the , Ps 67; Jos 2:9-11; Jon
1:2.

b) Church: God calls us to the same, Mt 28:18-20.

D. We must understand the day of Jehovah and the messianic kingdom

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E. We must understand the literary genres

1. The prophecy

a) What are the prophetic parts of the Bible?

b) The prophecy contains many symbols

c) Prophecy presents exhortation and prediction

d) The prophecy did not come on a calendar

(1) Isaiah 61:1-2 describes 'the coming' of Christ.

(2) Luke 4:18-19 shows that they are two different comings.

(3) Isaiah sees the future as if it were a chain .

(4) Example: Jesus says that the Jews should have understood His two comings, but not when, Luke
24:25-27, cf. 1P 1:11.

e) We must maintain a hierarchy between exegesis and systematization.

2. The narrative

a) What are the narrative parts of the Bible?

b) Narrative is not normative; it is descriptive, not prescriptive.

(1) Not to say: Daniel prayed three times a day towards Jerusalem, then, we .

(2) Should Abraham have married several wives?

(3) Should Joseph have to his brothers?

(4) Should Rahab have lied?

(5) Extra: Should we duplicate everything Jesus and the apostles did?

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c) The hero of the narrative is not the human protagonist

d) Example: Luke says he wrote Acts to confirm doctrine, not to create it, Lk 1:4, cp. Acts 1:1.

3. The proverb

The proverb is a comparison that demonstrates a principle within the Mosaic covenant. By definition,
they are not current absolute promises. Some examples of proverbs that are taught today as if they
were promises are:

a) Pr 10:1-4, ch. Job 42:7

b) Pr 26:1-5, ch. 1P 2:17

c) Pr 22:6, ch. Heb 6:4-6

4. Poetry

Semitic poetry rhymes with . Some examples of categories of parallelism are:

a) Synonymous parallelism, Ps 19:1

b) Parallelism antithesis, Pr 10:1

c) Emblematic parallelism, Ps 22:12-13, 16

d) Chiasmus, Flm 5; Isa 6:10; Jon 1:3

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F. How to “find” Christ in the Old Testament?

Christ asserts that the original OT audience must have seen what the OT revealed about Him. So, we do
not have to insert Christ into the OT, abusing our hermeneutics, because He is already there, Lk 24:25-27.

So why do New Testament authors seem to insert Christ where he isn't?

1. Because they quote a passage not only to interpret it, but for other reasons as well.

a) John 3:14, ch. Numbers 21:9

b) Hebrews 3:8-19, ch. Psalm 95:7-11

c) Luke 20:34-38, ch. Exodus 3:6 with Genesis

2. Because they understood what the entire Bible tells us about the Messiah

a) Genesis 3:15; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 49:9-10, with Numbers 24:7-9 and Hosea 1:11; 11:1-11;
Deuteronomy 18:18-19; 2 Samuel 7:12-13 with Jer 30:9, Eze 34:23, Hosea 3:5; Psalm 2; 110; Isaiah 53;
Zechariah 14:4, etc.

b) Acts 2:27-31, ch. Psalm 16:8-11, also see Mt 27:35; 39; 43; 46; Heb 2:12, with Psalm 22

3. Because they were adding new truths to previous revelation

a) Matthew 5:17 – New revelation cannot contradict old revelation

Does not the New Covenant invalidate and contradict the Old Covenant?

b) Ephesians 3:3-6 – New revelation can be added to old revelation, cp. Eph 5:32

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VI. Special Hermeneutics – The New Testament

TO. The Gospels

1. The new 'testament' does not begin at Matthew 1:1.

2. The supposed 'problem' of the synoptics, Mt 5:3 with Lk 6:20.

a) He probably said the two phrases on two separate occasions.

b) Culture did not quote words/numbers .

c) The "quotes" (There are no quotes in Greek/Hebrew) are not complete or chronological, Lk 23:47
with Mr 15:39.

d) It is not known with certainty who spoke in every circumstance.

3. Parables – Primarily one point.

a) Luke 10:30-37 answers the question of vs. 29, which arose from vs. 25, "By doing what shall I inherit
eternal life?"

b) We must not bring out doctrine that is not there.

4. Was the kingdom near or has it already come (Mat 4:17)?

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B. Facts
1. It narrates a transition of time.

a) What would have happened to the Ethiopian if he had died before hearing the new message?

b) These transitional events are not normative, Acts 8:12, 16; Acts 19:1-3 cf. Ro 8:9.

2. Narrates a message transition.

a) The transition to 34:34, 40:1-38. it was the same, Lev 16; Heb 9:7, cf. Ex
19:9, ch.

b) God only authenticated the messengers of the new message with , 2Co 12:12;
Eph 2:20; Heb 2:3-4.

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C. The epistles

These are the sections most comparable to us, but still, they do not always apply directly. It would be good
to remember the following principles:

1. The apostles and their delegates enjoyed a higher authority than a pastor, Titus 1:5

2. The culture of the first century was different from ours, Rom 16:16

3. The context of the instructions is always important

a) 1 Thess 5:19-22

b) Eph 1:12-13

c) 1 Cor 14:2; 21

D. Balancing the relationship between wills

1. Who is the Israel of the New Testament?

a) Some say the church is the new Israel.

(1) Rom 9:6

(2) Gal 6:16

(3) Gal 3:28-29

(4) Eph 3:6

(5) 1P 2:9

b) These texts seem to teach that 1) there is a distinction between redeemed Israel and national Israel,
not that Gentile Christians are Israelites, and 2) we are now joint heirs of Israel's promises.

c) The New Testament never annuls the promises that God gave to Israel, but rather reaffirms them.

39 | The hermene ethics

 (1) Rom 5-8

(2) Rom 9:6; 11:1-10

(3) Rom 11:11-15

(4) Rom 11:23-29

2. How can it be fulfilled in us and in them?

a) The literal meaning of the word 'fulfill' in Greek is , and not always
means to fully realize, Luke 2:40; Eph 1:23, 3:19, 4:10, 5:18.

(1) God gave the new covenant to Israel and there are elements of the promise that have not been
fulfilled, Jer 31:31-40; Ez 36:26-36.

(2) The church has received some blessings of the new covenant to provoke Israel to jealousy, Ro 11:-
1112; 1Co 11:25.

(3) Israel will be saved after the day of the Lord, Ro 11:11, 15, 23, 25-29, cp. Zech 14:1-5, Mt 24:21.

(4) One day, all believers will enjoy all the blessings, Rom.

b) An illustration: The father and his sons

3. So, there are two peoples of God? No. Christ has only one wife.

4. Rejoice in what we have in 'our' testament, 2P 1:3; Jn 16:7

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AND. Apocalypse is prophecy

Revelation is prophecy, comparable to the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel; not an “apocalyptic” genre
distinct from the other prophets.

1. The language is similar, Eze 1:4 with Rev 4:1

2. The content of the visions is similar, Isa 6:2 with Rev 4:8

3. The symbols used are similar, Dan 7:7 with Rev 5:6

4. Apocalypse is never presented as anything other than a prophecy

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VII. Application

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror. For he considers himself, and goes
away, and then forgets what he was like, James 1:22–24.

Interpretation is completely distinct from application, however, application is completely inseparable from
interpretation. This is because once we have interpreted the meaning of the text, that meaning demands our
application.

A. Application is required

1. Dt 6:1-9

2. Mt 28:18-20

B. Application is implicit in every text

1. John 14:6

2. 1 John 1:9

C. Difference between application and implication

D. The elements of the application

1. Current - The application corresponds to the reader's life, and is as vivid today as it was when it was
written, Heb 4:12, cf. 12:25.

2. Contextual - Take into account any differences in culture/time/covenant/etc. that the context
indicates.

a) Gen 9:6

b) Ex 21:22-24

c) 1Ti 2:9-14

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 3. Grounded – It is closely linked to a principle of the text.

4. Varied - There are multiple applications for every biblical truth.

to) Col 3:17

b) 1 Thess 5:17, ch. Neh 1:5-11, 2:4-5

5. Consistent - The rules of our hermeneutics must be applied invariably to every passage.

• Not saying: The blessings are for me (Jer 29:11), the curses were for Israel (Jer 4:7), cp. Dt
28.

Application Summary: We must identify any differences present between our situation and the original,
then extract all the eternal principles, both positive and negative, and apply them.

E. The practice of application

1. Extract a principle from the text

• Is there truth about God? (Own theology, Christology, Pneumatology)
• Is there truth about other doctrines?
o Bibliology
or Angelology
or Anthropology
or Hamartiology
or Soteriology
or Ecclesiology
or Eschatology
• Are there mandates?
• Are there any promises?
• Are there good examples to follow, or bad examples to avoid?
• Is there an error that we should reject?
• Etc.
2. Taking care between good applications and necessary applications

1 John 3:11 says to “love one another.” A good application might be if a Christian feels the desire to
go on a mission trip to serve his brothers in Haiti. However, this is a nice app, not a necessary app. If

43 | The hermene ethics

 another Christian decides not to go to Haiti, it would not necessarily be a sin.

A necessary application would be when there is a brother in your own congregation who does not
have money to buy bread, he is hungry, you see him in need and you have the means to help him, but
you close your heart and do nothing.

F. Two examples of how to differentiate between interpretation and application

1. Ps 137:9

a) Original meaning

b) Current application

2. Col 2:16

a) Original meaning

b) Current application

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1. Why don't we study and apply the text to our lives?

1. Why don't we study the meaning of the Bible well?

2. Why don't we study the application of the Bible well?

2. Exhibition and application

1. Explain a complete hermeneutics in our teachings.

2. Demand more implications than specific applications

3. Emphasize all of God's counsel.

4. To present the word of God expositionally, 1Co 1:22-23, 2:1-5; 2Ti 4:3.

5. Understanding how to contend without being contentious, Jude 3; 2Ti 2:24

a) for the gospel against dogs, Phil 3:2.

b) to those who believe in sound doctrine, Phil 1:15-18, 3:15.

c) Be humble, patient and loving, 1P 5:5; 2Ti 4:2; Eph 4:15; 2Ti 2:25.

d) Teach more positively than negatively.

6. Exalt the authority of the Word in the way we teach.

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