Principles of Hermeneutics

“Biblical hermeneutics”is the study about how to study, understand, and interpret the Bible. Biblical hermeneutics is a very important topic for every Christian. The way a person understands Scripture will ultimately affect every aspect of his or her Christian life. Biblical hermeneutics describes the principles for properly interpreting the Bible. The method taught in this workbook for interpreting Bible texts was derived from these principles. The following is a brief summary of the general principles of classical biblical hermeneutics, which have been used for centuries to interpret the Bible. These principles are based on what the Bible says about itself, what it says about understanding the Scriptures, and how Bible texts interpret other Bible texts.

1. Use the Bible to determine the meaning of Bible texts instead of relying on other sources to interpret the Bible.

All Scripture is from God and inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20–21). God is good, pure, holy, perfect, faithful, never changes, does not contradict Himself, never makes mistakes, never sins, and cannot lie (Leviticus 19:2; Numbers 23:19; Deuteronomy 7:9–10; 32:4; Psalms 19:9; Isaiah 49:7; Malachi 3:6; Matthew 5:48; Mark 10:17–18; Romans 3:3–4; 15:8; 1 Corinthians 1:9, 17–20; 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:18; 5:21; Titus 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 4:15; 6:17–18; 7:26–28; 13:8; Revelation 1:5; 3:7, 14). Because God has the characteristics just mentioned, His communication must also have the same characteristics. Consequently, all Scripture is from God, authoritative, reliable, without error, always true, and without contradictions (2 Samuel 22:31; Psalms 12:6; 18:30; 19:7–9; 119:128, 140, 143; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:17–18; John 10:35; 2 Corinthians 1:17–20; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 6:17–18; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:20–21).

We must ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to correctly understand the meaning of Bible texts (1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16). There is a curse against changing the meaning of God’s revealed truth in the Bible (Revelation 22:18–19). Many factors influence the way people understand Bible texts. However, we should seek to understand every Bible text according to the intent of the author in its context and in keeping with the teaching of the entire Bible.

All Scripture is from God, always true, always reliable, authoritative, and without error. By contrast, all people, other than Jesus, and all human organizations sin and make mistakes (Romans 3:9–23). So their teachings may not always be trustworthy. In the same way, spirits and angels are not always trustworthy, because not all spirits and angels are from God (2 Corinthians 11:13–15; Galatians 1:8–9; 1 Thessalonians 5:20–22; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–3; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; 2 Peter 2:4–16; 1 John 4:1; Jude 5–7). There are many false teachers (2 Corinthians 12:13; Titus 1:10–11; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1), and humans frequently misunderstand spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 1:18–3:3; 2 Timothy 3:13–17). Since only the Bible and the Holy Trinity are completely reliable and without error, we should not give any doctrine, human, organization, or any other source more authority than the Bible to tell us the right way to think about what God has said in Scripture. The teaching of the whole Bible is the ultimate authority for determining the meaning of every Bible text. Because God does not contradict Himself and has revealed His truth in the Scriptures, any teaching from any other book or source that contradicts anything the Bible teaches is not from God. Therefore, we should not base our ultimate interpretation of Bible texts on any doctrine, human opinion, organization, or any source other than the Bible.

2. Interpret the passage in its immediate context before referring to other passages, such as cross-references and supporting verses.

Cross-references may be used to help interpret the meaning of words, phrases, sentences and ideas. However, the exact meaning of a text (word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, etc.) depends on its own context.

3. Interpret each passage according to its ordinary meaning in its entire context.

Determine the meaning of the text according to the ordinary meaning of the words, phrases, and sentences in keeping with the larger context of the grammar, language, thematic structure, type of literature, style, purpose, historical setting, culture, and customs of the author. The more completely the entire context is considered, the more accurate the interpretation is likely to be. The author’s intended meaning of a passage is more important than the literal meaning of the words (Romans 7:6).

4. The most accurate way to understand a text is according to its grammar and structure.

Usually a sentence conveys a single thought or idea. The meaning of a word depends on how it is used in the sentence and in the larger context. A word rarely means the same thing every place in the Bible. Use the whole grammatical unit (book, topic, paragraph, and sentence) in its context to understand the meaning of its individual parts (sentence, phrase, and word).

5. Interpret the passage according to the overall teaching of the book and the whole Bible.

Because all Scripture is from God and because of His character (see the first principle), all Scripture is from God, authoritative, reliable, without error, always true, and without contradictions (2 Samuel 22:31; Psalms 12:6; 18:30; 19:7–9; 119:128, 140, 143; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:17–18; John 10:35; 2 Corinthians 1:17–20; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 6:17–18; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:20–21). Therefore, no properly interpreted Bible text will contradict the teaching of the whole Bible. And all Bible texts are true and without error when they are interpreted according to the intent of the author in the context of the overall message.

6. If two or more texts appear to contradict each other, look for an interpretation that permits each text to remain faithful to its meaning in its own context without contradicting the other texts.

Since the Bible is true, without error, and does not contradict itself (see principle five), there is a unified system of truth in the Bible. All parts of the Bible will be in harmony if our study is adequate.

7. Use the clear teaching texts of the New Testament to interpret all other kinds of Bible texts.

This principle summarizes the following principles of classical biblical hermeneutics, which are helpful for harmonizing the teachings of the Bible and selecting the best interpretation for texts that are not easy to understand.

•     Use the clear texts to interpret the less clear.

•     Use the teaching texts to interpret all other kinds of texts (such as poetry, historical and descriptive texts, prophesy, etc.), because teaching texts in the Bible often interpret other Bible texts and teaching texts are clearer and easier to understand than other kinds of texts.

•     Do not base any teaching on an unclear text or on only one text.

•     Revealed truth is progressive from Genesis to Revelation. God revealed more truth as time went on, but His recorded revelation was completed with the Book of Revelation. There is a curse against adding to or subtracting from the meaning of God’s truth in the Bible (Revelation 22:18–19).

•     Use the New Testament to interpret Old Testament texts and not the reverse, because:

1.   Revealed truth is progressive from Genesis to Revelation. God revealed more truth as time went on.

2.   The Old Testament authors knowledge of God, His plans, and His purposes were limited, because they did not have as much Scripture available to them as the New Testament authors did. The New Testament authors were familiar with the entire Old Testament. In addition, the New Testament authors knew Jesus personally when He lived on earth, saw Jesus after His death and resurrection, or were closely associated with those who did (Matthew 10:2–3; Mark 6:3; John 21:24–25; Acts 9:1–19; 12:11–12, 25; 16:1–11; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11; Galatians 1:11–2:10, 20; 2 Timothy 4:11; 1 John 1:1–4; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:16–18; Jude 1). So God’s revelation to the New Testament authors was more complete than it was to the Old Testament authors (Hebrews 1:1–4; 2:1–4; 11:39–40; 1 Peter 1:10–12; 2 Peter 1:16–21; 1 John 1:1–4).

3.   The life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, changed the way the New Testament authors had previously understood and interpreted the Old Testament. New Testament texts frequently interpret Old Testament texts. The reverse never occurs in the Bible.

The above principles of classical biblical hermeneutics can help us reach the two primary goals of biblical hermeneutics, which are:

•     To determine what the authors intended each text to communicate to the first readers.

•     To harmonize our understanding of each text with the teachings of the rest of the Bible so they do not contradict each other.

The following two questions also help us reach the two primary goals of biblical hermeneutics.

•     What did the author intend to communicate to the first readers? The first four principles help us answer this question and reach the first goal of biblical hermeneutics.

•     How should we understand each text in light of the clear teaching of the entire Bible and especially that of the New Testament? The last three principles help us properly answer this question and reach the second goal of biblical hermeneutics.

Abbreviated List Of The Principles Of Classical Biblical Hermeneutics

The following is an abbreviated list of the principles of classical biblical hermeneutics for ease in memorization and use.

1.   Use the Bible to determine the meaning of Bible texts instead of relying on other sources to interpret the Bible.

2.   Interpret the passage in its immediate context before referring to other passages.

3.   Understand a passage according to its ordinary meaning in its entire context.

4.   The most accurate way to understand a text is according to its grammar and structure.

5.   Interpret the passage according to the overall teaching of the book and the whole Bible.

6.   If two or more texts appear to contradict each other, look for an interpretation that permits each text to remain faithful to its meaning in its own context without contradicting the other texts.

7.   Use the clear teaching texts of the New Testament to interpret all other kinds of Bible texts. Do not base any teaching on an unclear text or on only one text.^[1]