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Clarke, Adam "Clarke's Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes" Volume 5 (Matthew-Acts) (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1832) Dods, Marcus "The Gospel of St. John: The Expositor's Greek Testament" Volume 1, Section 2 (John) (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1897)
Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction: Paul does not say that God has prepared them for destruction. Those vessels do an adequate job on their own. 7. ( Romans 9:25-26) The prophet Hosea (in Hosea 2:23 and 1:10) declares God’s right to choose, calling those who previously were not called His people.
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- What Is Hermeneutics?
- Why Is Biblical Hermeneutics Important?
- 4 Eras of Biblical Hermeneutics
- 5 Key Components of Biblical Hermeneutics
- Interpreting Biblical Genres
- More Related Resources
- Hermeneutics: A Lifetime of Study
Hermeneutics is any effort to interpret the meaning of communication, particularly communication that is being interpreted in a different cultural context. In the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, Bernard C. Lategan says about hermeneutics: “Although language presupposes shared conventions between persons, the unique experience of the individual cannot...
The church today faces many important issues as technological innovation transforms everything from communications to family structures to social relationships. We need the wisdom from God himself to properly engage and understand the world we live in. Yet the primary way we learn what God has to say is the Bible—a book written between 2,000 to 3,5...
Biblical EraPatristic EraMedieval EraReformation Era1. Context
As you try to interpret the meaning of the text, start by considering its context. Usually interpreters consider two aspects of context. First, you have the historical context. You want to ask the question, “What did the text mean in its original situation?” Commentaries (or even book summaries at the beginning of a study Bible) can help shed light on the historical situation. Bible dictionaries with articles on specific biblical books can also help. In The Hermeneutical Spiral, Grant Osborne...
2. Grammar
Next, it’s important to consider the basic laws of language. Although knowing the original languages helps considerably with this step, students without that background can still benefit from looking at how the biblical writers structured their sentences. Commentaries will help you understand the grammar, but you don’t want to depend upon the exegesis of others. Comparing multiple Bible versions with varying translation strategies will help to make sure you aren’t leveraging a particular comm...
3. Semantics
Word studies have become one of the most popular lay exegetical activities in recent years. One reason is that digital tools make word studies really easy. In The Hermeneutical Spiral, Osborne notes that semantics (determining word meanings) is a relatively young field in biblical studies. It dates back to the 19th century and didn’t move to the forefront until the 1950s. Again, original language background (along with an expanding original language vocabulary) helps with semantics but many o...
The 66 books of the Bible are hardly monolithic and can’t be interpreted as if they are. While general hermeneutic principles apply throughout the Bible, specific strategies help us better interpret each genre of Scripture. Below are some of the unique strategies to use while interpreting various biblical genres. These strategies aren’t exhaustive,...
Jesus shows up in the Bible long before you get to the Gospels. Discover how to see the work and person of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Learn how to do a word study and other essentials of biblical Greek study in The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Biblical Greek, a free guide by Dr. Mark Ward.
Discover tools for reading the Bible more effectively.
Faithful students of the Bible will spend their lives learning to interpret God’s Word more faithfully. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” Every single time you open your Bible, you are interpreting the text, either effectively or ineffectively. The principles above will help, b...
The thinking of our age says that our body must tell the will what to do; but the Bible says that our will must bring the body as a living sacrifice to God. The body is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.
Bible notes refer to personal annotations, reflections, and observations made by individuals while studying or reading the Bible. These notes serve as a record of insights, questions, and interpretations that arise during the study process.
