FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

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FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE STUDY

• More on Interpretation

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A Guide to Five Key Interpretive Questions

• While there are other kinds of interpretive
  questions, these five will go a long way in
  covering major considerations of the biblical
  text.
• When you are asked in syllabus assignments to
  give a minimum number of interpretive questions,
  all of these questions should clearly fall into
  one of the five categories.
• If a question does not fit very well, you should
  rethink your question.

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A Guide to Five Key Interpretive Questions

• The questions are
• What does the term, the structural relation, the
  genre/literary form, etc MEAN?
• WHY did the action or event occur?
• WHY does the author include the term, the
  structural relation, the literary form, the
  literary unit, or atmosphere where he does?
• WHY is the statement true or necessary?
• What are the IMPLICATIONS of the observation(s),
  or of any firm answers to the above questions

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The A question

• The A question is one of definition.
• It is not to be confused with a question of
  "significance," which is a broader question.
• For instance, in Mark 218 "they came" could
  refer to the disciples of John and the Pharisees,
  to the Pharisees only, or to an unidentified
  group of people.
• So we ask the A question, what does "they" mean
  in Mark's text?

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The A question

• The A question of definition can refer to other
  objects of observation.
• For example, in Mark 31-6 Jesus looks at his
  opponents with "anger" and they plan to kill him.
  We observe an atmosphere of emotional distance
  and rejection.
• Asking ourselves the meaning of this atmosphere
  helps us to get deeper into the emotional
  dynamics.

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The B and C Why Questions

• Three of the listed interpretive questions (B, C,
  D) fall within the "rational" category. These
  are the "why" questions.
• It is up to the interpreter to decide when and
  which of these rational questions to use.
• The B question pertains to "historical"
  perspective.
• The C question pertains to the authorial level.

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The D Question

• This question will not be asked so often in study
  of narrative literature as it will in more
  didactic material, for example Proverbs or
  Galatians.
• The D question is used with statements or facts
  that are presented as unqualifiedly and
  universally "true" or "necessary."
• The biblical author (or speaker) is clearly
  asserting something to be categorically true or
  necessary.

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The D Question

• In Mark 210f., Jesus' interaction with the
  scribes, evidence is offered that "the Son of
  Man" has authority on earth to forgive sins.
• Implicit within the statement is Jesus' assertion
  that the Son of Man in fact has this authority.
• We may then ask why it is true that the Son of
  Man does have this authority.

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The D Question

• In Mark 25 Jesus' words to the paralytic are
  Son, your sins are forgiven.
• In this case the D question does not fit so
  well, because there were certain factors in this
  particular instance which precipitated Jesus'
  pronouncement of forgiveness.
• To repeat, one should always ponder first whether
  it is really a B or C question that is being
  asked.

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The E Question of Implication

• This can be confused with the A ("meaning")
  question, if we are careless.
• It normally should be preceded by A, B, or C
  questions, whichever seem appropriate.
• In fact it leads to application, but is not
  itself a question of application. (If we make
  this distinction, we do not ask "What is the
  implication for today?")

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The E Question of Implication

• In asking the question of implication, we should
  still have in mind the historical setting of the
  passage concerned.
• But implication considerations often begin to
  lift the text from its setting and help us to
  identify underlying principles which transcend
  the historical context.
• In this way the E question often serves as a
  bridge into application.

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The Order of Interpretive Questions

• One should not mechanically go through each of
  the five questions each time an observation is
  made.
• There will be times when the question of
  definition is more important than at other times.
  
• Likewise it may be more important to focus on the
  "B" question than on the "C" question at other
  times, and vice versa.

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Formulating Interpretive Questions

• Remember to base your questions squarely upon
• your observations and to indicate the kind of
• question you are asking.
• Observation
• In Mark 25-6 you may observe that a
  cause-effect relation exists between Jesus
  "seeing the faith" of those with the paralytic
  and Jesus pronouncing the paralytic forgiven of
  his sins.
• Question
• Why did Jesus respond to the faith' of the
  people in this way?" (B)

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Certainty within the Interpretative Process

• It is a simplistic mentality that tends to give
  equal weight to all conclusions derived from
  Bible study.
• As we build upon our observations, we venture
  more into the subjective areas. It is here that
  we must distinguish between what is highly
  probable by way of interpretation, what is
  likely, what is possible, and what is more
  speculative.
• A very basic consideration in the interpretive
  process concerns the goal or locus of
  interpretation.
• Beware of the temptation of jumping from
  observation to application.