Facts
about the Bible
Lesson
VI
Divine
Interpretation II
May 3,
2009
Text Ezra 7:10
A Few General Principles of
Interpretation
I Grammatical sense
Nothing in writing can be correctly
interpreted without considering the grammatical setting.
Illustrate- in English take the word
“sow”
2
Peter 2:22 the dog and the sow
Matthew
6:26 the fowls of the air sow not
Illustrate – the word “star”
Job
9:7 commandeth
the sun …sealeth up the stars
Job
38:7 morning stars sang--- sons of God
shouted
In English, punctuation is also
important
The Board says the teacher is
foolish.
“The Board”, says the teacher, “is
foolish”
Moving one letter can make a
difference.
The teacher wrote “God is no where” The student wrote ..”God is now here”
II To study the
context is the golden rule of interpretation
“Consider that which goeth before and followeth after”
2
Chronicles 7:14 does not belong to us
1
Corinthians 15:20-23 Christ is the first fruits
Philippians
4:19 notice verse 18
1 Corinthians
16:14 again , notice verse 13
John
12:32-33 verse 33 interprets verse 32
III Another rule-
Compare Scripture with Scripture
2 Peter 1:20 no scripture is of private interpretation
1`
Corinthians 2:13 compare spiritual things with spiritual
2 Timothy 3:16 all Scripture is profitable for doctrine
Matthew
4:4-7 written- written again
Do not build a doctrine on one
passage of Scripture alone
“We
receive God’s interpretation of Scripture by comparing Scripture with
Scripture. Every passage must be considered
in the light of the context and relative Scriptures on the same subject or
topic”
“Every
doctrine of Scripture has its “norm” or “headquarters”, that is, some place in
Scripture devoted to it and making it clear.”
Illustrations:
1 Corinthians 13 is the norm of the doctrine of love
1
Corinthians 15 is the norm of the
doctrine of resurrection
Hebrew
11 is the norm of the doctrine of faith