IntroductionIntroduction

to to

The Tools and Technology The Tools and Technology

OfOf

Understanding the Bible!Understanding the Bible!

THE NEED FOR AN INTERPRETER:THE NEED FOR AN INTERPRETER: Acts 8: 30 – 35

“Do you understand what you are reading?

“How can I, unless someone explains in to me.”

PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE IS NOT A PRIVATE MATTER: PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE IS NOT A PRIVATE MATTER: 2 Pt 1:20

“Above all you must understand that no prophecy of the Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.”

DIFFICULT PASSAGES HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED TO AVOID DISTORTION:DIFFICULT PASSAGES HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED TO AVOID DISTORTION: 2 Pt. 3:16

“He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking to them in these matters.

His letters contains some things THAT ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND, which

ignorant & unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their

own destruction.”

•35. What is the literal sense of a passage is not always as obvious in the speeches and writings of the ancient authors of the East, as it is in the works of our own time. For what they wished to express is not to be determined by the rules of grammar and philology alone, nor solely by the context; the interpreter must, as it were, go back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and with the aid of history, archaeology, ethnology, and other sciences, accurately determine what modes of writing, so to speak, the authors of that ancient period would be likely to use, and in fact did use.

•36. For the ancient peoples of the East, in order to express their ideas, did not always employ those forms or kinds of speech which we use today; but rather those used by the men of their times and countries. What those exactly were the commentator cannot determine as it were in advance, but only after a careful examination of the ancient literature of the East. The investigation, carried out, on this point, during the past forty or fifty years with greater care and diligence than ever before, has more clearly shown what forms of expression were used in those far off times, whether in poetic description or in the formulation of laws and rules of life or in recording the facts and events of history. The same inquiry has also shown the special preeminence of the people of Israel among all the other ancient nations of the East in their mode of compiling history, both by reason of its antiquity and by reasons of the faithful record of the events; qualities which may well be attributed to the gift of divine inspiration and to the peculiar religious purpose of biblical history.

HERMENEUTICS

The art and science of interpretation.

COMPONENTS OF HERMENEUTICS

1. WORLD OF THE TEXT

(The content itself of the issue, the object of analysis. Consider the elements that

surround the issue, facts and figures, and the data that make up the issue, the manner of

presentation.)

World of the TEXTWorld of the TEXT

FORM CRITICISM:FORM CRITICISM:

It is necessary to determine its literary type or genre. It is necessary to determine its literary type or genre.

NARRATIVE CRITICISM:Delivers the biblical message in the form of

story with a plot – beginning, conflict, climax, and ending.

LITERARY OR PHILOLOGICAL CRITICISM:LITERARY OR PHILOLOGICAL CRITICISM:

(philo=love, logos=word)(philo=love, logos=word)

Study the original languages used in the Bible, covering Study the original languages used in the Bible, covering vocabularies, grammatical style, and the comparative vocabularies, grammatical style, and the comparative usage of a word in parallel passages, or how the same usage of a word in parallel passages, or how the same word is used in other books of the Bible. word is used in other books of the Bible.

Example:Example:

NT: IPSISSIMA VERBA - Actual word spoken by JesusNT: IPSISSIMA VERBA - Actual word spoken by Jesus

2. WORLD BEHIND THE TEXT

(Look at the background of the issue, the factors that contributed why the issue is like that. Consider the culture, situation, setting, people involved, intentions and prevailing ideology)

World of the AUTHORWorld of the AUTHORworld behind the textworld behind the text

TEXTUAL CRITICISM:TEXTUAL CRITICISM:

It recovers or reconstructs the original composition of texts vis-à-vis the volume of It recovers or reconstructs the original composition of texts vis-à-vis the volume of divergent copies or versionsdivergent copies or versions

Examples: Examples:

Kng Dvd klld tht wckd prsn, th Phlstn Glth.Kng Dvd klld tht wckd prsn, th Phlstn Glth.

Kng Dvd klld th mn. (Should we read “man” or “men”?)Kng Dvd klld th mn. (Should we read “man” or “men”?)

Kng Dvd lvd. (Should we read “loved” or “lived”?)Kng Dvd lvd. (Should we read “loved” or “lived”?)

HISTORICAL CRITICISM:HISTORICAL CRITICISM:• Studies the biblical text in the light of its historical and cultural context.Studies the biblical text in the light of its historical and cultural context.

• Involved in determining the author, date, audience & purpose of a given Involved in determining the author, date, audience & purpose of a given

biblical book (source, form, redaction).biblical book (source, form, redaction).

SOURCE CRITICISM:

Establish the sources which a given biblical writer may have used in compiling his work.

Example: OT: Pentateuch-JEDP Traditions, NT: Gospels-Quelle

REDACTION CRITICISM:

The study of how the text was edited and how it developed according to the final editor’s point of view.

3. WORLD BEFORE THE TEXT

(The application and significance today. What are the possible effects of the issue to us, to the contemporary or even the future. In what way we can relate to the issue?)

FEMINIST CRITICISM:FEMINIST CRITICISM:

Involves a reading of the text in, writing of an analysis, Involves a reading of the text in, writing of an analysis, or reconstructing of history in the light of or reconstructing of history in the light of oppressive structures of patriarchal society.oppressive structures of patriarchal society.

World of the READERWorld of the READERworld b4 d txtworld b4 d txt

Gender Inclusiveness:Gender Inclusiveness:

•1985 New Jerusalem Bible

•1986 New American Bible NT

•1989 Revised English Bible

•1990 New Revised Standard Version

There should be a symbiotic relationship between Diachronic and Synchronic Reading.

1.3. Exegesis. Greek – exegeisthai, = to “draw out.” It is a method of drawing out:

The original intention of the writer;

The intended meaning for the readers whom the text was originally addressed.

This method employs several approaches which we generally call Biblical Criticism. These tools explain the text by establishing it in its “real world.”

The symbiotic relationship between Exegesis and Hermeneutics.

Examples:

Holocaust in Moses’ times (Lev 1:2-9) Jesus calms the storm (Mt 8:18)

Exegesis is not complete without its derived meaning interpreted and applied to real life of the reader.

Hermeneutics would be a very tough job without first re-discovering the ‘world of the past’ because there is always the danger of ‘missing the point’ and the real meaning.

Between the two extremes poles, other methods employ various techniques and processes to extract explanations and meanings from biblical texts.

1.3.1. Diachronic Reading (Greek – kronos = “through time”) studies the:

Historical development or historicity of texts;

E.g., Is it original or an interpolation? Has the text been edited?

Cultural milieu where the text originated;

E.g. Hebrew culture is colored by a deep sense of covenant with Yahweh (Ex 24).

Traditions across the passage of time;

E.g. Ritualistic worship (Ex 24:6-11) offerings (Lev 1:2-9)

Basically, the “world behind the text.”

1.3.2. Synchronic Reading (Greek – “with time”) studies and analyzes the:

Final form of the text as it appears to us, the readers.

Language, composition, and the narrative structure of the text without particular interest to its historical background such as the life situation by the time the text was written.

E.g. What is the plot of the story? Is there a narrative theme?

Capacity for persuasion of the text. [E. Bragado & A. Monera, 1997: 32]

Etymology in Greek:Etymology in Greek:

exex = out of, = out of, agoago = to lead, = to lead, sissis = a process = a process

Exegesis is a process of Exegesis is a process of “leading, drawing out”“leading, drawing out” the meaning the meaning from a textfrom a text

Etymology in Greek:Etymology in Greek:

eis = into, eis = into, agoago = to lead, = to lead, sissis = a process = a process

The process of The process of leading one’s own meaningleading one’s own meaning into the text. into the text.

AUTHOR AUTHOR

TEXTTEXT

SENDERSENDER

MESSAGE SENTMESSAGE SENT

READERREADER

RECEIVERRECEIVER

Meaning of the text fully grasped is

Meaning of the text fully grasped is

fully actualized in the lives of fully actualized in the lives of

readers who appropriate it. readers who appropriate it.

To be intellectually enlightened…

Personal Personal Conversion…Conversion…

Tools for Biblical Tools for Biblical InterpretationInterpretation

Mythological Approach

Fundamentalist Approach

The Bible is a book of stories. Literalist

Diachronic Reading

Synchronic Reading

Eisegesis

Historico-critical Method

final form of the text

historicity, cultural milieu, traditions

putting your meaning into the text

drawing the meaning out of the text

Exegesis

ancient record of events

(XL) (XR)