Misinterpretation is far too common among students of the Bible. How can this be avoided?
Applying the following simple interpretive principles will help you guard against interpreting the Bible incorrectly.
1. Base Your Interpretation on the Author’s Original Intent
Many times people will base interpretation on popular accord, gut feelings, powerful or persuasive arguments, or even what other respected teachers and scholars have taught. However, interpretation must be based on the author’s intended meaning, not the reader's opinion or anyone else’s. The context the author wrote in, as well as the history, grammar, culture, literary form, and conventions the author was working in must be considered. It has been some 2000 years since many of those authors documented God’s Word, and their world was very different than ours! One of the great leaders of the Reformation in Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli says interpreting without considering what the author intended is like “breaking off a flower from its roots.” To understand the importance of context in interpretation, consider the sentence, “It was a ball.” What exactly does this phrase mean? The answer depends on the context! Consider the following: In each sentence above, “ball” means something different. Context is necessary to determine the true meaning. Try to guard against interpreting a text in isolation from the context it was written in. You will find it helpful when interpreting Scripture to give the most weight to the nearest context. Some good questions to help you discover cultural and historical context may include: • What were the times like when this passage was written? • What was the attitude toward Christianity when this was written? • When is this taking place? • What else was taking place in the world at this time? • What did the specific passage mean to the people to whom it was spoken or written? • What were some of the social and political influences on the writer and on those to whom he was writing?
2. Read and Interpret the Bible Literally
In addition to interpreting Scripture based on the author’s original intent, hold to the normal literal meaning of the text. Constantly searching for some deeper spiritual meaning is guaranteed to take you off-track. There are of course are spiritual aspects to many passages; however, the authors normally make this clear. “If the literal meaning of any word or expression makes good sense in its connections, it is literal; but if the literal meaning does not make good sense, it is figurative. Since the literal is the most usual signification of a word, and, therefore, occurs much more frequently than the figurative, any term should be regarded as literal until there is good reason for a different understanding.” – Clinton Lockhart, Principles of Interpretation 40 The best argument for taking the Bible literally is because Jesus Himself did. When the Scribes and Pharisees demanded Jesus perform a sign to prove who He said he was, Jesus referred to a familiar text in the Hebrew Scriptures that those Scribes and Pharisees knew well: “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” – Matthew 12:39-40 Did Jesus use this example of Jonah allegorically? Absolutely not! He referred to Jonah's literal time in the belly of the great fish to foretell how long He would be in the grave. Jesus interpreted the Scriptures literally. And so should we.
3. Compare Scripture with Scripture
Warren Wiersbe writes, “We must never divorce one part of Scripture from another, but we must always “compare spiritual things with spiritual.’” This means interpretation of a passage should never be done in isolation to the rest of the Bible. At the very minimum, examine the paragraph in which the passage is embedded. Then read the passage within the context of the chapter, and then in light of the book as a whole. Cross-reference other passages that may shed light on the one you are studying. This is crucial to understanding the correct meaning of a passage. Why? Evangelical pastor and author Rick Warren gives this reason: “The Bible is its own best commentary. Scripture interprets Scripture. Practice this principle by getting a Bible with cross-references in the margin. By looking up other cross references, you’ll get a much bigger and clearer picture of what God has said in all of his Word, not just that one context.” – Rick Warren Scripture never contradicts itself. If your interpretation differs from truth found in another passage, you can be sure you have arrived at an inaccurate understanding. Though your interpretation may be wrong, God's interpretation never is...He always agrees with Himself! One piece of Scripture may be the “key” that unlocks another piece of Scripture: “Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture. The locks of Scripture are only to be opened with the keys of Scripture; and there is no lock in the whole Bible, which God meant us to open, without a key to fit it somewhere in the Bible, and we are to search for it until we find it.” – C. H. Spurgeon
4. Seek External Resources
Once you’ve looked at the context the author wrote in and compared Scripture with Scripture, you can then move on to seek the interpretation of learned theologians. The first tool every student of the Bible should obtain is a good study Bible with notes that explain historical and cultural background information. These will prove invaluable in the interpretive process. Second, he or she should have access to a variety of evangelical commentaries. In this day, there are many wonderful commentaries that can be easily accessed on the Internet. Concordances, expository dictionaries, and encyclopedias may also be helpful in your studies. Concordances are alphabetical lists of biblical words that reference everywhere these words occur in specific translations of the Bible. Expository dictionaries proved more holistic definitions, names and verse references for biblical words. Biblical encyclopedias contain articles and definitions for words and terms in the Bible and also include historical context and verse references. Each of these will be a valuable resource.
5. Identify Figures of Speech and Parables in Historical Context
Though we are to interpret Scripture from a literal perspective, the Bible is also full of metaphorical language, figures of speech and stories. When it is clear the author is using one of these literary techniques, interpret what appears to be metaphorical against historical data to see if the meaning was different in the time it was written. Figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, hyperbole and personification increase the power of a word or the force of an expression. Look at Isaiah 55:12b that reads, “The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Mountains do not shout, and trees do not clap! This is called personification—when physical, inanimate objects are given human characteristics to bring attention to the point being made. Or take for example the metaphorical story of the vine and the branches in John 15. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) version says that God “takes away” any branch that does not bear fruit in John 15:2. In English, it would seem that God is removing branches. However, in the original Greek the word for “takes away” is meno that describes the ‘lifting’ of a branch away from the ground. Agricultural practices in the ancient Middle East involved placing a vine in a position where it would receive more sun and thrive better. Insight like this is critical to correct interpretation. “God spoke to us that we might know truth. Therefore, take the Word of God at face value–in its natural, normal sense. Look first for the clear teaching of Scripture, not a hidden meaning. Understand and recognize figures of speech and interpret them accordingly.” – Kay Arthur, How to Study Your Bible 33 Don’t settle for a figure of speech unless it is clearly indicated as such. Words or phrases should be understood in a literal sense unless the resulting sense involves either a contradiction or absurdity. Figures of speech and parables will be discussed further in Appendix E: Basic Grammar.
6. Identify Timeless Principles
You’ll also want to look for clues to the timelessness of a given statement that might be expressing an enduring theological principle. God is the same God today that He was back when the Bible’s authors penned their work. Sometimes Scripture defines God’s responses to specific behavior going on in the past, but it may also reveal something about God’s character that will never change. The psalmist wrote, “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2) and the writer of Hebrews said Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). God never changes, and He is everlasting. So is His Word! For example, God continually reprimanded Israel for the nation’s disobedience and worship of other gods. Eventually, God disciplined Israel by allowing other
