Category Archives: Hermeneutics

Information on the KJV

We will start off Bible Study 2013 with some basic facts about the Bible, its organization and statistical data. According to Statistics Brain, the following stats about the Scripture are supplied:

  • There are over 6 billion bibles printed today.Spine of a Bible
  • There are 788,258 words in the Bible. As a side note, my Accordance bible software lists 790,868 words in the KJV.
  • There are 31,102 verses (31,218 in Accordance) in the Bible.
  • There are 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament). An easy way to remember this statistic is to count the number of letters in old and testament as well as in new and testament. Old equals 3, testament equals 9 and if you join those side by side you get 39 which is the number of books in the Old Testament. If you do the same with New Testament, you get the same 3 and 9, but this time multiply the two numbers for a sum of 27, which is the number of New Testament books.
  • The shortest chapter is Psalms 117 and the longest is Psalms 119.
  • The total chapters are 1,189.

Desiderius Erasmus produced one of the first Greek New Testaments in the modern era (1516) and titled it Novum Instrumentum omen, diligent ab Erasmo Roterodamo recognitum & emendatum… With a clever play on words, Erasmus decided to name his Greek New Testament the New Instrument, citing that a written testament is called an instrument. His view was not popular, and was later changed back to New Testament.1 He was a very controversial Dutch scholar, and priest during his day. He decided to use slightly differing words in his translation from the Greek into Latin, the common spoke tongue of the day. For instance, St. John’s gospel begins ‘In principio erat verbum…‘ in the Vulgate, but Erasmus chose to use ‘In principio erat sermo…‘ in his translation. Both mean word, and are translated from the Greek logos, but verbum is a grammatical entity while sermo is that entity being spoken.2  While this might seem trivial to us now, it held major theological connotations to theological concepts in Erasmus’s day.

Martin Luther, a German priest, first broke completely with the Catholic church in 1520. Having used Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum, he determined to teach his doctrine of justification by faith alone.  In 1521 he was excommunicated and went into hiding in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach in Thuringia. There he was said to have translated the New Testament into modern German.3

The first “Authorized or King James” version of the bible was printed by Christopher Barker who had an exclusive patent to print it given by Queen Elizabeth. This first edition was printed in 1611. In 1623 monopolies were abolished in England, which eventually opened up the printing of the KJV to others, most notably Oxford and Cambridge. Cambridge took advantage of this first in 1628 printing its first New Testament. The first Oxford Bible was printed in Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford in 1675.4

Robert (Stevens) Stefanus and Theodore Beza separately revised Erasmus’s original Greek text and Beza published his edition in 1565. A later edition of Beza’s work, the 1598 edition as well as the 1550 and 1551 editions of Stephanus’s were used by the editors of the 1611 Authorized or King James Version. Later, in 1624, the Elzevir brothers published their revision of the Greek text at Leyden and in his preface to the 1637 edition said “Textum ergo babes, nunc ab omnibus receptum…” meaning the text received by all denominations, branches, peoples, languages, etc… thus the received  text or Textus Receptus was coined.5

Thus a brief introduction to the birth of the King James Version of the Bible. This version has been the most popular and most widely read and memorized version of the Holy Scriptures, and is the version I will be quoting from during the remainder of the Bible study.

Understanding Gods WordOur method of interpreting the Bible is defined by Bernard, in Understanding God’s Word: An Apostolic Aproach to Interpretting The Bible, and  as such, is quoted here: “… to identify and examine their presuppositions and to approach the Bible with an attitude of learning.”6  This is the way I will be approaching our Bible study. In scholarly circles, this method is known as the hermeneutical spiral. It boils down to this: 1. Start with an assumption. 2. Read the text. 3. Adjust our assumptions. 4. Re-read the text. 5. Adjust our assumptions. We continue like this until it is no longer possible to adjust our assumptions (theology) without going outside of the spiraling inward towards the truth that we’ve already done. In this manner, we zero-in on the true meaning of the Scriptures.

Our next lesson will begin with an overview of the Old Testament, and then we will eventually get into each book of the Bible as we study the Scriptures.
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1. De Hamel, Christopher. Bibles of the Protestant Reformation. The Book. A History of the Bible. Chapter 9, p 225. Phaidon Press Limited, 2001.

2. De Hamel, Christopher. Bibles of the Protestant Reformation. The Book. A History of the Bible. Chapter 9, p 226. Phaidon Press Limited, 2001.

3. De Hamel, Christopher. Bibles of the Protestant Reformation. The Book. A History of the Bible. Chapter 9, p 228. Phaidon Press Limited, 2001.

4. De Hamel, Christopher. The English and American Bible Industry. The Book. A History of the Bible. Chapter 10, p 248. Phaidon Press Limited, 2001.

5. Trinitarian Bible Society. Preface. H KAINH ΔIAΘHKH.  7.5M/06/05 The Bath Press, Bath. Tyndale House, Dorset Road, London, England.

6. Bernard, David. Principles of interpretation 1. Understanding God’s Word: An Apostolic Approach to Interpretting the Bible. Chapter 2, p 38. Word Aflame Press, 2005.

Eschatological Jesus or Non-Eschatological Jesus

While reading Four Portraits, One Jesus some time ago, I read the arguments for and against an eschatological kingdom as preached by Jesus.  The author breaks this down into five portraits of Jesus as painted by various scholars. These are:

  1. Cynic-like philosopher (proponents, most of the Jesus Seminar).
  2. Spirit-endowed holy man.
  3. A social revolutionary
  4. An eschatological prophet
  5. Messiah

The cynic-like philosopher portrays Jesus as a poet-peasant who challenged the social conventions of His day. The largest advocate of this theory is the Jesus Seminar.

The spirit filled holy man theory states Jesus was able to perform extraordinary things due to His close intimacy with God. The biggest proponent today is Geza Vermes who wrote the book Jesus the Jew.

Jesus as a social revolutionary is a modern conception which describes Jesus as a revolutionary seeking the violent overthrow of the Roman rule of Israel. They view Jesus as a grass roots sort of person trying to over throw oppressive Roman rule. Richard Horsley‘s Jesus and the Spiral of Violence describes this view.

One of the more widely held views today is the portrait of Jesus as an eschatological prophet heralding the coming end of the world. J. Weiss was a founding father of this view of Jesus.

Messiah views Jesus as a man who came to fulfill a specific task i.e. the redemption of man.

Which view do you hold?  I’ll be examining each view more completely in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!

Source:

Definitions taken from Four Portraits, One Jesus by Mark L. Strauss copyright 2007 published by Zondervan Press

Michael S. Heiser’s latest post

 

I follow Michael S. Heiser’s blog, The Naked Bible.  He was a professor and now works for the Bible software company, Logos Bible Software. In his blog, he mentions a few quotes from various readers of his who responded to a poll about the inspiration of the Scriptures.  He follows with some general comments and a rant (his words) about bible teachers and Sunday School teachers.  Below you will find a direct quote from the article in question.

 

This sort of thing is why it’s so irritating to encounter, within the Church, the idea that since the Bible is for everyone, anyone can teach the Bible … if they are led by the Lord, have a desire, feel called, yadda yadda yadda. Amen. World without end.

Sorry — but no, they can’t, nor should they. All Bible teaching is not equal, nor is sincerity a qualification. And an opinion popping into your head isn’t the prompting of the Holy Spirit. If it was, Paul wouldn’t have told believers to handle the Scriptures carefully or hold up diligence in searching them as a model (2 Tim 2:15; Acts 17:11). He’d have told them to “feel” their theology (how contemporary is that). We have too much Bible Buddhism in the Church. Churches would be much better off if bad or inept Bible teachers (even of children) were told to find some other ministry and then barred from doing it again until they prove they actually know something. But this really isn’t realistic when so many are so poorly taught in the first place. And to suggest this is to invite the charge of elitism. It’s not elitism; it’s an attempt to rescue people from the sort of struggle that this commenter is enduring.

While I understand his thought process, and I, being more of an academic mindset as well can sympathize with his plight, I must disagree.  In Isaiah, the Scripture says “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  A Bible teacher can be any who are mature and no longer feeding on the milk of the Word, but rather are capable and mature and can eat the meat of the Word.  In the second epistle to Timothy, Paul exhorts the church to have faithful men teach the doctrine that Paul preached to others also.

While I do agree with Dr. Heiser that there are many bad teachers out there spewing forth false doctrine, we should be careful to not cross the line by stating only those who are seminary trained with a doctorate in theology should teach Sunday School! Dr. Heiser did not state this in his article, of course, but it does leave one with the impression that this is what is implied.

There are plenty of Scriptures which profess the anti-Christ spirit and false doctrine that will be taught, even in Paul’s day.  A Bible teacher must be faithful to the Word, have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, and pray with anointing and power.

Bible Study

Studying the Bible is exhorted in the scripture as good for doctrine, reproof and correction to make one wise and to help us know God. There are various ways to accomplish Bible study. I’d like to introduce one such method.

Take a book of the bible and break it into portions which can then be studied in a one hour time frame. Ask the who, what, when, where and why of the text.

Bible study includes the following questions among others:

  • Who is this section talking to?
  • What is the main point of the text?
  • Where was it written?
  • Where was the intended audience living at the time?
  • When was it written?
  • Why is this relevent today?
Look at key words in each verse.  If you had to take two words out of a verse to summarize the verse, which two would you pick to represent the whole?  Once you’ve identified those two words, look them up in Strong’s concordance and then compare the definitions of the Hebrew or Greek word from various sources such as: Genesius’s Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament or from Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.

Rewrite the verse using the information you’ve found on the two key words.  Compare the translation to others such as the New King James Version, King James Version or English Standard Version.

Meditate on these things

 

We are exhorted in scripture to meditate on three things listed in the following pericope of scripture.

1 Tim 4.6   If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. 7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. 11 These things command and teach. 12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

In verse 13 we see three items that the young Timothy was instructed to “give attendance to” by the Apostle Paul. In fact he later tells Timothy to “meditate upon these things” and “give himself wholly to them”. What are these three things

  1. Reading
  2. Exhortation
  3. Doctrine

So what are we to take from this instruction? What are we to gain in the 21st century and apply to our lives as Christians? Here is what I believe. Of course you may have differing thoughts on these verses, and if so, please comment on them below!

Reading
Angnosis, the act of reading. It is really difficult to understand the bible without reading it. Reading implies more than a casual glance. Paul told Timothy to study to show himself approved unto God. Active reading implies taking notes. Writing thoughts or ideas down in the margin of the bible, or perhaps in a journal or notebook of some kind. I personally do both. I like to highlight portions of scripture and jot notes down in my Classic Note Bible from Anchor Bible Concepts. This allows me to quickly recognize key concepts and triggers my memory when I do my devotional reading. I also use journals like the ones sold by Mead. In the journal, I write down verses and other commentary I find helpful in the exegesis of the selected text. I write these notes down and then I go into my Wiki and enter the notes under the appropriate header. I find wikis to be the easiest way to link not only subjects to different scriptures, but also scriptures to scriptures. Any way you do it, though, remember reading in the Greek text implies active reading.

Exhortation
Paraklesis is the act of comforting, consolation, and giving solace. As a young minister, Timothy was instructed by Paul as well as encouraged by Paul to creating an atmosphere of peace and comfort for those under his care. We as Christians need to take up the gospel message to a hurting world and offer them the peace that comes in knowing Jesus Christ as our savior and our comforter in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Doctrine
Didaskalia is instruction, learning, and teaching. Whenever the scriptures command a believer to do or act upon something, it is our obligation as slaves [1 COR 6.20] to his purpose to do it. As Christians it is also our responsibility to search the scripture diligently to ensure that the doctrine we are receiving is of God [found in His Word] and if we are in the position of being a teacher that we teach only that which is acceptable in the sight of God. In order to accomplish both of these things you must study the scriptures, and by that I mean the Old and New Testament cannon that is accepted by most protestant churches today. I think there is some value in reading apocryphal texts, as well as commentaries, but you must not let anything written in those to conflict with the teachings found in the bible. Do not build teaching [doctrine] on extra-biblical sources of information.

As you can tell, there is a lot to be gained in meditating upon these things. The Greek word for meditate is meletao which means to ‘revolve in the mind’. This means thinking or taking note of these things on a continuing basis.

Biblical Interpretation

Biblical interpretation is something that most Christians today do not concern themselves with, yet most should in order to fully grasp the meaning of scriptures. Hermeneutics, the science of interpretation, can be confusing to most people, but in reality, if you have the Spirit of Christ in you, then the most influential factor is already taken care of. Anyone who denies the infallibility of Scripture does not have the Spirit of Christ within them.

Romans Chapter 8, starting with verse 12 reads as such: 12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

With this being stated, it is imperative for every believing Christian to keep Biblical interpretation at the fore-front of their minds while reading the scripture. Remember to ask the five W’s of who, where, when, why and what every time you study the scriptures and reflect of God’s words.

Hermeneutical Decaying Spiral

With the current state of the blogosphere, and the internet in general, hermeneutics have decayed to an almost frivolous place. Everyone seems to be a biblical expert and posts from such a self-important viewpoint.

I am not a biblical expert, nor even a theologian. I have no formal education in either theology or bibliology. Now that I have stated this up front, I will continue with some observations I’ve made over the last two years while communicating on various forums and blogs.

There are a lot of self important people. I cannot count the number of times I have come across people who view themselves as experts in biblical exegesis. Interpretation seems to come as divine inspiration from God to these people. Unfortunately half the time they are clueless on the subject they are talking about. Now, let me caveat that by saying I do believe the Holy Spirit guides us into truth today, the same as occurred 2000 plus years ago. I just wish some of these people would do a little more research before declaring that a doctrine they have “discovered” is from God, and salvational in importance.

Secondly, many people seem to feel courtesy is out the window when communicating on the world wide web. They are right, you are wrong, and you should place truth and fact in the closet and blindly accept them as a prophet of God.

Lastly, hermeneutics, the art of interpreting language, has decayed from a practice of intelligent discovery to that of clothesline gossip and pandering nonsense.

If you are interested in hermeneutics, check out En Epheso.