INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
1. The term _Hermeneutics_ (Greek, _hermeneuo_, _to interpret_) is
commonly employed to denote the _principles of scriptural
interpretation_. The Greek word _exegesis_--that is,
_exposition_--denotes the actual _work of interpretation_. Hermeneutics
is, therefore, the _science_ of interpretation; Exegesis, the
_application_ of this science to the word of God. The hermeneutical
writer lays down general principles of interpretation; the exegetical
writer uses these principles in the exposition of Scripture. The terms
_epexegesis_ and _epexegetical_ are used by expositors in a special
sense to denote something explanatory of the immediate context.
2. The expositor's _office_ is, to ascertain and unfold the true meaning
of the inspired writers, without adding to it, subtracting from it, or
changing it in any way. Here we may draw an instructive parallel between
his work and that of the textual critic. The textual critic aims to
give, not what some one might think the inspired penman should have
written, but what he actually did write. So the true expositor, taking
the very words of Scripture, seeks not to force upon them a meaning in
harmony with his preconceived opinions, but to take from them the very
ideas which the writer intended to express. It is pertinent, therefore,
to consider at the outset the qualifications which belong to the
biblical interpreter. These include high moral and intellectual
qualities, as well as varied and extensive acquirements.
3. Foremost among the qualities that belong to the interpreter is a
_supreme regard for truth_. A general conviction and acknowledgment of
the duty of truthfulness will not be sufficient to guard him against all
the seductive influences that beset his path. Though he may be a sincere
Christian, he will still be in danger of being misled by the power of
preconceived opinions and party connections. He will need a constant and
vivid apprehension of the sacredness of all truth, more especially of
scriptural truth, which God has revealed for the sanctification and
salvation of men. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
These words of the Saviour he will do well to ponder night and day, till
they become a part of his spiritual life; and to remember always that,
if such be the divine origin and high office of scriptural truth, God
will not hold guiltless any who tamper with it in the interest of
preconceived human opinions, thus substituting the folly of man for the
wisdom of God.
4. The interpreter further needs a _sound judgment_, combined with the
power of _vivid conception_. These two qualities are named together,
because they mutually supplement each other. A large part of the Bible
is occupied with description. Here the interpreter needs the power of
conception, that he may bring before his mind a vivid picture of the
scenes described, with the relations of their several parts to each
other. Another large part of the Bible contains the language of poetry
and impassioned feeling. In the interpretation of this, the faculty of
conception is especially necessary, that we may place ourselves as fully
as possible in the circumstances of the writers, and form a true idea of
the emotions which filled their minds and gave form and complexion to
their utterances. Pure cold logic, with the addition of any amount of
human learning, will not enable us to comprehend and expound aright the
forty-second Psalm. By the power of imagination, we must go with the
poet, in his exile from the sanctuary at Jerusalem, across the Jordan to
the land of the Hermonites; must see his distressed and forsaken
condition; must hear the bitter taunts of his enemies; must witness the
inward tempest of his feelings--a continual conflict between nature and
faith--before we can have a true understanding of his words. The same
might be said of innumerable other passages of Scripture.
But this power of vivid conception, when not held in check by a _sound
judgment_, will lead the expositor of Scripture into the wildest
vagaries of fancy. Disregarding the plainest rules of interpretation, he
will cover up the obvious sense of Scripture with a mass of allegorical
expositions, under color of educing from the words of inspiration a
higher and more edifying meaning. That high natural endowments, united
with varied and solid learning and indefatigable zeal for the gospel, do
not of themselves constitute a safeguard against this error, we learn
from the example of Origen and many others. Not content to let the
simple narratives of Scripture speak for themselves and convey their
proper lessons of instruction, these allegorical expositors force upon
them a higher spiritual sense. In so doing, they unsettle the very
principles by which the spiritual doctrines of Scripture are
established.
Origen, for example, in commenting on the meeting between Abraham's
servant and Rebecca at the well in Haran, says: "Rebecca came every day
to the wells. Therefore she could be found by Abraham's servant, and
joined in marriage with Isaac." Thus he gives the literal meaning of
this transaction. But he then goes on to show, among other things, that
Rebecca represents the human soul, which Christ wishes to betroth to
himself, while Abraham's servant is "the prophetic word, which unless
you first receive, you cannot be married to Christ." See in Davidson's
Sacred Hermeneutics, pp. 103, 104.
5. Another indispensable qualification of scriptural interpretation is
_sympathy with divine truth_; in other words, that harmony of spirit
with the truths of revelation which comes from a hearty reception of
them, and a subjection of the whole life, inward and outward, to their
control. "If any man," said our Saviour, "will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself." John 7:17. In these words our Lord proposed to the unbelieving
Jews the true remedy for their ignorance and error respecting his person
and office, which had their ground not in the want of evidence, but in
their perverse and guilty rejection of evidence. Their moral state was
one of habitual rebellion against the truth of God; and they could not,
therefore, have sympathy with the Saviour's doctrine. They hated the
light, and would not come to the light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20. What they needed was not more light, but that obedient spirit
which loves the light, and allows it to shine through the soul. The man
who would be a successful interpreter of God's word must begin where the
Saviour directed these Jews to begin. So far as he knows the truth, he
must give it a hearty reception not in theory alone, but in daily
practice. Then he will be prepared to make further progress in the
knowledge of it, and to unfold its heavenly treasures to his fellow-men.
But if he comes to the study of God's word with a heart habitually at
variance with its holy precepts, and an understanding darkened by the
power of sinful affections, no amount of scholarship or critical
sagacity will avail to make him a true expositor of its contents. Having
no sympathy with the great foundation doctrines of the gospel, but
regarding them with positive aversion, he will neither be able to
apprehend them in their true light, nor to explain them aright to his
fellow-men. In the work of interpretation, a good heart--good in the
scriptural sense--is not less important than a clear understanding and
well-furnished mind.
6. How extensive and varied should be the _acquirements_ of the able
interpreter will be manifest to any one who considers the extent and
variety of the fields of knowledge covered by the Holy Scriptures.
The _languages_ in which they are written are no longer spoken. The
knowledge of them, like that of all dead languages, is locked up in
books--grammars, lexicons, ancient versions, and various subsidiary
helps--and can be mastered only by severe and protracted study. It is
not indeed necessary that the great body of Christians, or even all
preachers of the gospel, should be able to read the Bible in the
original languages. But it is a principle of Protestantism, the
soundness of which has been confirmed by the experience of centuries,
that there should always be in the churches a body of men able to go
behind the current versions of Scripture to the original tongues from
which these versions were executed. The commentator, at least, must not
take his expositions at second hand; and a healthy tone of feeling in
regard to the sacredness and supreme authority of the inspired word will
always demand that there should be a goodly number of scholars scattered
through the churches who can judge from the primitive sources of the
correctness of his interpretations.
The Scriptures are crowded with references to the cities, mountains,
plains, deserts, rivers, and seas of Palestine and the surrounding
regions; to their climate, soil, animals, and plants; to their
agricultural products and mineral treasures; to the course of travel and
commerce between the different nations; in a word, to those numerous
particulars which come under the head of _geography_ and _natural
history_. The extended investigations of modern times in these
departments of knowledge have shed a great light over the pages of
inspiration, which no expositor who is worthy of the name will venture
to neglect.
And if one collect and illustrate the various allusions of Scripture to
the manners and customs of the ancient Hebrews, to their civil
institutions and their religious rites and ceremonies, he will compose a
volume on _biblical antiquities_.
The connection, moreover, which the covenant people had with the
surrounding nations, especially the great monarchies which successively
held sway over the civilized world--Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Greece,
Rome--requires an extended knowledge of _ancient history_, and, as
inseparably connected with this, of _ancient chronology_. Biblical
chronology constitutes, indeed, a science of itself, embracing some very
perplexed and difficult questions, the solution of which has an
important bearing upon the passages of Scripture to which they have
reference.
7. We do not affirm that all the above-named qualifications are
necessary to a saving knowledge of God's word. Its great essential
doctrines and precepts are so plain that the unlettered reader, who
brings to the work an honest heart, cannot fail to understand them. In
this respect God has made the vision so plain "that he may run that
readeth it;" and the road to heaven so direct that "the wayfaring men,
though fools, shall not err therein." But the interpreter of Scripture
is expected to unfold the meaning of the difficult passages also, as far
as human investigation will enable him to do so. They are a part of "all
Scripture given by inspiration of God," which the apostle affirms to be
"profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness." He should spare no effort, therefore, to ascertain
their exact sense, and to expound this sense to others with all possible
fidelity and clearness.
8. There is a _human_ and a _divine_ side to biblical interpretation--a
human side, because the Scriptures address men in human language, and
according to human modes of thinking and speaking; a divine side,
because they contain a true revelation from God to men, and differ in
this respect from all other writings. The neglect of the human side
leads to visionary schemes of interpretation, in which the writer's
fancy is substituted for the sober rules of criticism, and the word of
God accommodated to his preconceived opinions. The rejection, open or
covert, of the divine side, manifests itself in a cold, skeptical
criticism, which denies or explains away all that is supernatural in the
Bible; which, instead of seeking to discover and unfold that unity of
plan and harmony of parts which belong to every work of God, delights
rather in exaggerating the supposed inconsistencies and contradictions
of the sacred writers, and in arraying one part of Scripture against
another; and which, having no faith itself in the Bible as containing a
revelation from God, infuses doubts respecting its divine origin into
the mind of the reader. It is only by keeping steadily in view these two
sides of revelation, which mutually supplement each other, that we can
attain to a true knowledge of the inspired word.
FIRST DIVISION.
INTERPRETATION VIEWED ON THE HUMAN SIDE.
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