Introduction to
Hermeneutics:
How to Interpret the Bible
Unit 1 Sections 1-3
Quick-review
slideshow
Hermeneutics –What mean?
•Greek: hermeneuo = to interpret, to translate, or
explain
•Hermeneutics is the study of principles for
interpreting the Bible.
•Two types of principles:
•1. General principles –principles and procedures
that apply to all scriptures.
•2. Specific Genres –principles specific for
interpreting poetry, prophecies, narratives,
and etc.
Twisting God’s word for self
purpose
•Joshua’s leadership transitioned to the Period of the
Judges – Judges 17: 6, “Everyone did as he saw fit in
his own eyes…”
•Examples:
1. The 12th Century Crusaders used Ps 137: 8-9, “Happy
is he who…seizes your infants and dashes them
against the stone.”
2. European colonizers used God’s order to Joshua to
kill the Canaanites and seize their lands to justify
colonization and murder of thousands of natives
worldwide
3. Nazis used Matthew 27:25 to justify slaughtering the
Why Should I Study
Hermeneutics?
1. To learn principles for interpreting
Scripture
2. To develop skills for answering
difficult questions
3. To correctly handle the Word of Truth
4. To relate biblical times to our times Visual 1
1. To learn principles for
interpreting Scripture:
•If not, chaos happens!
•One says we can eat pork, another says not
eat
•One says worship on Sunday, another says
Sabbath
•One says pray for healing, another says
healings finish-stop
•One encourages baptism of the Holy Spirit,
another says it is demonic
•One says Jesus is divine, another says Jesus
only human…
2. To develop skills for
answering difficult questions
•*I Jn 2:27, “The Holy Spirit teaches us all
things.” So why do we need teachers?
•*Matt 10:34, “Jesus did not come to bring
peace…” But the angels (Luke 2:14) said, “on
earth peace to men…whom His favor rests”?
•*Gal 3:14…Are all of Abraham’s blessings
ours?
•*Rom 7:18-19, “For I have the desire to do
what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For
what do is not the good I want to do; the
evil I do, I do not want to do…” Are we
3. To correctly handle the
Word of Truth
•How do you feel when an interpreter misquotes
you? NOT happy!
•In Mark 14:58, the religious leaders accused
Jesus of falsely stating that he would destroy
Herod’s temple and then build it up again in 3
days…sincerely spoken BUT misinterpreting what
Jesus said…
•II Peter 3:16, Peter writes about Paul’s
letters stating, “…His letters contain some
things that are hard to understand, which
ignorant and unstable people distort, as they
do other Scriptures, to their own
II Timothy 2: 15
“Do your best to present
yourself to God as approved, a
workman who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly
handles the Word of truth…”
4. To relate biblical times to
our times – Let’s look at ‘4
gaps’
1.Time gap: Almost 2,000 years from the last
writing (NT) to us
2.Culture gap: People of Biblical times had
different values, traditions, customs, and
practices than we do now. OT writers wrote
in Hebrew –from right to left, worshiped
in temples and synagogues, washed feet,
greeted each other with a kiss, and/or
sacrificed animals for cleansing of sin…we
Gaps #3 and #4
•3. Language gap: People of Bible times
spoke Hebrew, and/or Aramaic (captivity
period), and/or Greek. The Bible has parts
written in each of these languages. We need
tools to correctly translate these
languages.
•4. Historical gap: Each book was written at
a specific time in history. Sometimes God
spoke to slaves, to masters, to warriors,
or prisoners. Written to the Jews and
Gentiles (non-Jews), understanding of the
Look at Worksheet #1,
page 2 –terms:
•The Bible as the inspired Word of God:
•“All scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the
man of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.” II Tim 3:16
•Inspire = ‘to breathe into” Scriptures are God-
breathed into the biblical writers.
•Fill in the chart on your page 20…Ex 17:14; Jer
30:1-2; Ecc 12:9-10; etc…
Terms:
•Verbal: Original writings were called ‘autographs’
meaning God inspired every word in the OT & NT. He
allowed the writers to choose the words, but He
guided them to choose words He approved. Matt 5: 18,
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least
stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the
Law until everything is accomplished.”
•Plenary: “full/complete” The entire Bible/Word of God
is fully inspired as II Tim 3:16 states, “All
scripture is God-breathed…” We believe in the verbal
plenary inspiration of the Bible.
Terms:
•Revelation: Through the scriptures, God gives us the
revelation of Himself and teaches us how to relate to
Him. God reveals His person, character, will, deeds,
demands, and decrees.
•Infallible: The Bible cannot fail. Scriptures cannot
be wrong about faith and morals; it cannot deceive,
mislead, or disappoint us. Ps 19:7-9, “The laws of
the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes
of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The
commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the
eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether
Terms:
•Inerrant = without error: The Bible is not a science
book – Ecc 1: 5 describes the ‘sun rising and
setting’ –scientifically the sun does not ‘rise’
but it is a poetical/figurative description of dawn
–sunrise and dusk -sunset. Proverbs 30: 5 says,
“Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to
those who take refuge in Him.”
•Authoritative: The Bible is the highest authority on
religious matters.
•*We believe that all Scriptures are: Inspired by God
in a verbal, plenary way; the Revelation of God to
us; Infallible and Inerrant; and the Authority over
Understanding the difference between
the Inspired Record and the Words of
People
•Let’s look at Peter’s words in Matt 26:33… “Even
if all fall away, I never will!” Wrong – he
denied Jesus before the rooster crowed 3X But the
recording was correct and Matthew was inspired to
record these words as spoken…
•What was spoken by Peter was ‘wrong’ but what
Matthew recorded was right…
Unit 1, Section 2: Six
Essentials for Correctly
Interpreting the Bible
1. Accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God –II
Tim 3:16
2. Be born again – Jn 3:3 “no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again”
3. Depend on the Holy Spirit – Jn 16:13 “when the
Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth…”
(illuminate)
4. Obey what you understand –Jn 7:17 obedience
produces mature spiritual understanding
5. Have an open mind and a teachable spirit –Mark
4:9 eyes to see
6. Study to be approved by God – II Tim 2:15 “Study
Visual 2
Unit 1, Section #3
Benefits of a Study Bible
•A study Bible usually contains the following:
•an introduction for each book of the Bible
•maps
•charts
•subheadings
•references in the margins
•a concordance
•articles on key topics
•explanations of weights and measures
•comments on key verses
Visual 3
Terms:
•Translations and Paraphrases = Translations
use the oldest original language resource but
the paraphrase will ‘update’ the English
versions
•Concordances = An alphabetical listing of
every word in used in the Bible. Example:
Strongs Exhaustive Concordance
•Lexicon = Gives the meanings of words in
original Hebrew/Greek
•Dictionary & Encyclopedias = Common
dictionaries give us meanings of words in
everyday use; Bible dictionaries give us how
these words were used in Biblical times.
Terms:
•Commentaries = A systematic series of
explanations or interpretations –an
expressed opinion. It is not authoritative or
God’s Word, but it gives a scholar’s
interpretation or opinion of God’s Word.
•Matthew Henry’s; Pulpit Commentaries; and
the International Standard Commentaries are
what I use often (not limited to these…
sometimes I read up to 6 –8 different
commentaries on a single verse).
