Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

• Cross-reference aids focus on the relationship of various texts and passages which share a common topic or thematic center in biblical exegesis (e.g., topical Bibles, cross-reference Bibles, and topical guides and concordances). While these help us associate texts together on a given subject, we must be careful not to make contextual errors as we connect verses, and always be mindful that editors may make associations which are neither legitimate nor defensible. • Certain tools provide background into the history, culture, social customs, peoples, and physical environment of the biblical world, and these include Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, Bible atlases and handbooks, and works dealing with biblical history and customs. These tools can provide an amazing amount of information on the world of the text, but must be carefully read to distinguish historical data with interpretation on the validity of the text itself. • Other tools are especially useful to obtain background information on the author, date, and circumstances on the book, and certain uses of special language in interpretation and exegesis (symbol, metaphor, figurative language, etc.). These tools include Bible handbooks, study Bibles, and guides to biblical imagery. We ought to be careful in weighing the views contained in such resources as expressions of the commentators own views and not the text itself . • Commentaries are aids to help interpret the meaning of a particular book of Scripture from the vantage point of a pastor, scholar, or biblical interpreter. There are four major kinds of commentaries as aids to our study: devotional, doctrinal, exegetical, and homiletical (i.e., aids specifically designed for preachers and teachers to deliver sermons and prepare Bible lessons). While commentaries can enhance greatly our knowledge of the text, they ought never be substituted for our own firsthand study of the text itself. • We rightly use these basic and additional tools when we use them to help us bridge the gap between the two worlds: the world of the text and our contemporary world. No explanation or speculation from any interpreter should be accepted that denies or contradicts the testimony of the Scriptures themselves. Nothing in any tool is to be accepted that is found to contradict the plain confession of the Scriptures about the person of Christ and his work of redemption through the cross.

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