Guiding question: Which passage?
1. Selection of a text
Selection of a text for in-depth study is somewhat arbitrary. Reasons of selecting a particular text are not limited to the following.
The following classifications of texts may be helpful in selecting a passage for in-depth study.
2. Resolve any Text Critical Issues
Guiding Question: What does the text say?
Two methods for establishing the text are textual criticism and translation comparison. For interpreters who are adept at working with biblical languages and are familiar with textual critical methods, a study of textual variants is best. For interpreters unfamiliar with biblical languages and/or text critical methods, translation comparison will produce workable results.
A. Text Critical Analysis[2]
B. Translation Comparison
Translation comparison allows the interpreter to identify potential textual and interpretive issues for further study.
Textual Base |
NASB |
NET |
TNIV |
Message |
|
Summary of Translation Methods[3]
Formal Equivalence |
Mediating |
Functional or Dynamic Equivalence |
|
Goal |
Comprehension |
Clarity |
Naturalness |
Examples |
KJV, NKJV, NASU, NRSV, RSV, ESV |
NIV, TNIV, NAB, NJB, HCSB, NET |
NLT, NCV, GNT, GW, GNT, CEV |
Strengths |
Helps to capture metaphors, verbal allusions, and ambiguities |
Achieves both accuracy and clarity |
Greatest comprehension. Communicates the message clearly and naturally |
Weaknesses |
Can result in awkward English, obscurity, and inaccuracy. Comprehension test often fails. |
More interpretation, so greater margin for interpretive error. Sometimes uses unnatural English. |
Even more interpretation, so greater margin for interpretive error. Sometimes loses nuances of meaning in pursuit of simplicity and clarity. |
[1] Walter C. Kaiser, Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, and Manfred T. Brauch. Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 27-9.
[2] Ellis Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994); Harold J. Greenlee, The Text of the New Testament from Manuscript to Modern Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008).
[3] Gordon D. Fee and Mark L. Strauss, How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 26-34.
Guiding Question: How does the meaning of the text correlate with the rest of the Bible?
1. What did the text mean to the original audience?
Summarize the meaning of the text for the original audience in a paragraph or two.
2. Consult the Biblical Map
a. Examine all relevant cross references. If this part of step four does not apply to the selected passage, move on the next part.
b. Examine all relevant parallel passages (e.g. Kings and Chronicles, Gospels, Pauline Letters). If this part of step four does not apply to the selected passage, move on the next part.
c. New Testament use of an Old Testament Passage [1]
How does tan examination of cross references, parallel passages, or use of other Scripture passages in the selected passage help to understand the meaning of the passage for the original audience?
3. Commentary Comparison
a. Interact with no less than one of the types of commentaries: critical, exegetical/homiletical, and devotional.
4. Incorporate any additional essential insights gleaned from the commentaries that you did not already uncover in your own work.
Guiding Question: How does the Bible communicate as literature?
Three features of genre that should be taken into consideration:
a. Determine then define the literary genre of the book.
b.Determine then define the literary genre of the selected passage.
2. Apply interpretive principles appropriate for each respective genre.[2]
3. Observe the Text
A. Sentence analysis
a. Relevance of the observations for determining the meaning of the passage. Repetition does not always point to relevance. Sometimes the relevant items are mentioned only once in a passage.
b. Relevance for application? How does repetition of items contribute to understanding the author’s intent and any action to be taken by the audience?
c. Key words or concepts for further study
B. Paragraph Analysis
C. Determine the major themes in the book in which the selected passage appears.
D. Discourse and Literary Analyses
Observe the passage at the discourse level. Using three or more detailed outlines of the book, look for connections to other paragraphs and episodes, shifts in the story/pivots, interchange between scenes or characters, chiasm, inclusion, etc. You may choose an existing outline, modify an existing outline, or compose an outline of the book for further study. Answer the following:
E. Evaluate the placement of the selected passage in its immediate and larger contexts within the book in a 2-4 sentence paragraph.
4. Provide a synthesis of the meaning of the text for the biblical audience using past tense verbs and refer to the biblical audience.
[1] David E. Aune, The New Testament in Its literary Environment. Wayne Meeks, ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1987), 32-6.
[2] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All its Worth, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014). William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, revised and updated edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers).
Guiding Question: What is/are the theological principle(s) in this text?
1. Theological Principle
a. Identify/determine the broader theological principle(s) – the main theological point – reflected in the text. Interact appropriate sources to clarify any theological questions.
b. Write out the theological principle(s) in one or two sentences using present-tense verbs.
c. Provide a rationale or justification for the theological principle(s) by testing them using the criteria for formulating the theological principle. [1]
2. Revise the theological principle(s) if necessary.
Guiding Question: What did the text mean to the biblical audience?
Exegesis must precede application because: [1]
1. Research the general historical-cultural setting (external context) of the selected passage.
Guiding Question: What is the relationship between the text and the world from which it emerged? Research the following:
2. Research the immediate background of the book
Provide a synthesis of the meaning of the text for the biblical audience using past tense verbs and refer to the biblical audience.
Guiding Question: How should congregations and/or individual Christians live out the theological principle(s)?
There will be numerous possibilities for application of a theological principle. To explore the range of possibilities, ask yourself, “What does this principle, this truth, look like in my (our) world?” application of the theological principle(s) allows the interpreter to move beyond the science of interpretation to the art of interpretation - to use one’s creativity in applying a principle.
1. Common Pitfalls in Application [1]
a. Neglect of any context.
b. Interpreting the passage in light of the rest of the Testament (i.e., Old or New Testaments) in which it appears, while failing to take into account the full historical and literary contexts.
c. Correctly interpreting the passage in light of its literary and historical contexts but bringing its principles to bear on modern circumstances in which they do not apply.
2. A Method for Bringing the Bible into Our World [2]
a. Determine the original application(s) intended by the passage.
b. Evaluate the level of specificity of those applications in their original historical situations. If the original applications are transferable across time and space to other audiences, apply them in culturally appropriate ways. To evaluate the accuracy of perceived cross-cultural principles apply the following criteria. [3]
c. If the original applications are not transferable, identify one or more broader cross-cultural principles that specific elements of the text reflect.
d. Find appropriate applications for today that implement those principles. [4]
Complete the following chart:
Principle: | |
Situation in ancient setting: | Situation in contemporary setting: |
|
|
e. List the principle or principles from the selected Passage in the space provided above.
f. In the left column, list situations reflected in the selected passage.
g. In the right column, list parallel situations in a contemporary setting.
h. Show how the principle works in the contemporary setting.
By creatively applying the truth of Scripture to contemporary settings, believers demonstrate the reality and relevance of the Christian faith in daily life.