Introduction to Bible Interpretation

Structure of the Bible

Old Testament New Testament

Law/Torah Gospels
Genesis - Deuteronomy Matthew - John
Historical Historical
Joshua - Esther Acts
Wisdom Epistles
Job - Song of Solomon Pauline: Romans - Philemon
Prophets General: Hebrews - Jude
Major: Isaiah - Daniel Prophecy
Minor: Hosea - Malachi Revelation

Apocrypha
The Catholic Church has an additional 11 books, known as the Apocrypha
Canonized by Catholic Church in 1546
Was a reaction to growing support for the Protestant Reformation

Translations
Issues with translations
1. We don't have the original manuscripts
2. We do have thousands of copies of the originals
3. The texts are not exactly the same

Types of translations
1. word-for-word (literal)
the good: less “interpretation” by translators
the bad: can be difficult to read because it doesn't flow naturally, or it may use
uncommon or outdated words (e.g., “propitiation” in NASB; “suffer little
children” in KJV)
2. thought-for-thought (dynamic-equivalent)
the good: more readable and understandable
the bad: they often remove or add important words for the sake of readability

Diagram courtesy of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

Genesis 4:1
• “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, 'I have gotten a man
with the help of the LORD.'” (ESV)
• “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave
birth to Cain, she said, 'With the LORD’s help, I have produced a man!'” (NLT)

Romans 8:36
• “As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to
be slaughtered.'” (ESV)
• “As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered.'” (NIV)

Heb 12:1
• 1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne
of God.” (ESV)
• 1 As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of
everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run
with determination the race that lies before us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom
our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the
contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of
dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne. (GNT)

The King James tradition

• The KJV was published in 1611.
• As the most famous English translation, its language has, in many places, shaped how English-
speaking Christians understand the Bible.
◦ The brother of Jesus was actually named Jacob, but the KJV translators translated it as
James in honor of King James.
• Unfortunately, it does have problems—although they're not fatal.
◦ It is based on the Textus Receptus, which is a Greek Bible developed by Erasmus in 1516
from a handful of older texts. But none of those texts were older than A.D. 1000. Today, we
have the Dead Sea Scrolls and many other ancient manuscripts. The Dead Sea Scrolls are as
old as 200 B.C. And the oldest New Testament fragment is estimated to be from about A.D.
125.
◦ It is known Erasmus added the Trinity to 1 Jn 5:7-8 to the third edition of his TR because the
Catholic Church demanded it. No ancient Greek text has the Trinity in those verses.
◦ Because of problems in translating, and because the KJV translators wanted a poetic Bible,
they mistranslated Ps 23:4.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...” (KJV).
And because that verse is so famous, almost all modern translations have kept it...even
though it's now known to be wrong.
“Even when I go through the darkest valley...” (HCSB).
The good news
Christians today can have confidence that the Bible we read is true to the original Word of God.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls verify that the Old Testament we have is true to what existed at the
time of Jesus.
• There are now thousands of known ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, so the
modern

The availability of ancient manuscripts for various documents

Illustration courtesy of Captiol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

Christians are still left with the task of reading and interpreting the Bible. We are blessed with so much
theological material: numerous good Bible translations, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, etc. But, the
availability of those resources also gives us little excuse for not being good stewards of the Word God
has given to us.

Keep up with the study at: http://kbcstudies.blogspot.com