Textbook 1-9 Flashcards
Textual criticism
Comparing various copies of a biblical text in effort to determine what was most likely the original text
John Wycliffe
First complete translation of the Bible into English. Accused of being a heretic. Died in 1384
John Purvey
Second and more improved edition of the English Bible. Dominated for two hundred years
William Tyndale
Produced English text from the Green rather than the Latin. Executed for this.
Miles Coverdale
Revised the Matthew Bible - which became the Great Bible.
The Great Bible
First English translation to be read in the Church of England and became popular with the people
King James
Authorized KJV in 1604 which was completed in 1611
Goal of KJV
Translate for use by ordinary people with enough dignity to be used in church
ASV, ESV, NLT, NIV
1901, 2001, 1996, 1973+
Formal approach
Close as possible to structure and words of the source language
Functional approach
Tries to express the meaning of the original text in today’s language
Paraphrase
Using english translation to restate or explain using different words
River
Language, customs, culture, situation, time, covenant
Steps to cross the river
- Grasp the text in their town (what the text meant to the original audience)
- Measuring the width of the river (what are the differences between the biblical audience and us?)
- Crossing the bridge (what is the theological principle in this text? (the meaning))
- Consult the biblical map (how does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?)
- Grasping the text in our town (How should we live out these theological principles today?)
How to formulate a theological principle
- Reflected in the text
- Timeless and not tied to a specific situation
- Not culturally bound
- Correspond to teaching in the rest of the Scripture
- Relevant to both biblical and contemporary audience
Things to look for in sentences
- Repetition of words
- Contrasts
- Comparisons
- Lists
- Cause and effect
- Figures of speech
- Conjunctions
- Verbs
- Pronouns
Things to look for in paragraphs
- General to specific and vice versa
- Questions and answers
- Dialogue
- Purpose/result statements
- Means
- Conditional clause
- Actions/roles of people
- Actions/roles of God
- Emotional terms
- Tone
Things to look for in discourses
- Connections between paragraphs and episodes
- Story shifts and pivots
- Interchange
- Chiasm
- Inclusio
Context’s two major forms
Literary and historical-cultural context
Historical-cultural context
Anything outside the text that will help us understand the text itself
Literary context
Context within the book (words, form, structure)
Other important things to be aware of when studying Scripture
The writer, the biblical audience
Danger of researching background
Becoming a walking database of ancient facts, losing the interpretation in the quest for information
Things to use for research
Handbooks, surveys, commentaries, context of the passage itself, atlases, dictionaries/encyclopedias, histories,
Preunderstanding
All of our preconceived notions that we bring to the text (which have been formed before we actually study the text)
Dangers of preunderstanding
Pride, ignoring things that don’t fit our agenda
Family background influences
Views on money, work, the poor, unemployed, relationships
Is preunderstanding inherently bad?
No, but it can skew our understanding of the Bible and lead us to misinterpretation
Is total objectivity our goal?
No, it is impossible. We want to approach the text through faith and in the Spirit and objectivity within the framework of beliefs
The most important principle of biblical interpretation
Context determines meaning
Genre origin
French for form or kind
Literary genre definition
Different categories of literature found in the Bible
Types of literary genres in the Bible
Narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom, gospel, history, letter, apocalyptic
Covenant of communication
Agreement between author and reader about how to communicate
Layers of surrounding context
- Passage
- Immediate context
- Rest of larger sentence
- Rest of book
- Rest of Bible
Surrounding context definition
Text that surrounds the passage being studied
Immediate context definition
Describes what immediately comes before or after the passage (highest priority)
Dangers of disregarding literary context
- Ignoring surrounding context
- Topical preaching
Steps of finding the surrounding context of any passage
- Identify how the book is divided into paragraphs or sections
- Summarize the main idea of each section
- Explain how your passage relates to the surrounding sections
Common word-study fallacies
- English only (basing study off English only, don’t understand different words for Greek or Hebrew words)
- Root (real meaning of word it found in its root)
- Time-frame (confusing the meaning of two words)
- Overload (word includes every meaning it can have when it is used)
- Word count (word must have same meaning every time it is used)
- Word as concept (once we study one word, we’ve studied the concept (e.g. Church)
- Selective evidence (only citing evidence that supports our favoured interpretation)
Guidelines to help choose words to study
- Important or crucial words in a passage
- Repeated words
- Figures of speech
- Unclear or difficult words
How to determine what words can mean
- Semantic range (finding all possible meanings of a word)
- Concordance work (using concordance to locate original Hebrew or Greek)
- Context study (look at the context of the word, find each occurrence)
Word study steps
- Choose words carefully
- Determine what the word could mean
- Decide the most likely meaning (in context)
