The word hermeneutics is drawn from a Greek word meaning “to interpret” or “to explain.” Different variations of this word occur in the New Testament — for example, when the Scripture authors give us the meaning of a word from another language (Matt. 1:23; Mark 5:41). Another important instance is what Jesus did when he expounded or interpreted the Old Testament to His disciples and showed them how all things in the Bible pointed to Himself (Luke 24:27).

Hermeneutics then simply means the art of interpreting the Word of God, explaining it accurately and helpfully in our own language. For that matter, all documents, both modern or ancient, need to be interpreted in order to detect the proper meaning of the authors. We need to be sure that our interpretation of Scripture is faithful and that we are not knowingly or unknowingly distorting the meaning of the Bible.

A Faithful Guide⤒🔗

When we travel unknown territory, we greatly benefit from a guide, especially if the area is treacherous. Our guide needs to be faithful, for someone who is ignorant, deluded, or malicious will only harm us.

While reading the scroll of Isaiah in a chariot back to his home country, the Ethiopian official expressed what many of us have thought: How can I understand this book, unless someone guide me? (see Acts 8:31). On that occasion, Philip was the best guide he could have had, for he “began at the same place and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Many have wondered what it would have been like to have heard Christ speaking on the road to Emmaus, opening the Scriptures to His two confused disciples, or later that day, when He opened the understanding of the ten disciples present “that they might understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Hermeneutics is no substitute for the Holy Spirit, for He alone guides into all truth (John 16:13); however, we may know that He will guide the church to a scriptural hermeneutic and through a scriptural hermeneutic until the end of time.

Different Times←⤒🔗

As times passes, things that used to be understood more easily need to be explained. After the exile, people could not understand the books of Moses as easily because not only had the language changed but other changes had come in during the people’s time in Babylon (see e.g., Neh. 13:24). So during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Levites had to help explain the law to the people; the mere reading of it was not enough. We read in Nehemiah 8 that the Levites “gave the sense, and caused them to understand” the Scripture (v. 8). They must have explained the language and other difficulties. They would have also applied the laws to their times, and through this process helped the people to understand what the laws of Moses really meant.

Not only passage of time, but a different geography, different customs, and different worldviews all can cause difficulties to understand the meaning of the Bible. When God confused the tongues of people at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11), people couldn’t understand each other, and this curse is still present today, though thankfully there are many helps to overcome these difficulties. There are dic­tionaries and commentaries that can help us, and especially in our day with technology, so many things that used to be very difficult or expensive are now at our fingertips. However, we need to make sure that what others are teaching us is right.

Deeper Reason←⤒🔗

There is a deeper reason why we need hermeneutics, and it has to do with our fall into sin. Before the fall, we could commune with our Maker and we were perfect in knowl­edge, righteousness, and holiness. Though we were still only creatures and God was infinitely above us, we had everything we needed to understand what God chose to reveal to us. However, since the fall, our mind is darkened and there are great barriers in understanding what God says in His Word. A greater problem is our refusal to obey God’s revealed will, but even if we wanted to obey, we still would have a lot of darkness in our minds.

Sin keeps us from understanding each other even in human relationships. We read people wrongly, even people we love and care about; how much more will we misunderstand God, who is so infinitely beyond us. Just this fact alone should cause us to humble ourselves and realize that even the godly can interpret things wrongly. No wonder that James warns us not to take on the office of a teacher too easily, because we are liable not only to err ourselves, but also cause others to go astray (James 3:1). On the other hand, how thankful you should be with a faithful minister or elders, faithful teachers and parents, whom God can use to help us.

Great Value←⤒🔗

Everyone should be concerned that they have a right way of interpreting the Bible. Especially in our day when false teaching is so easily accessible, we need all the right help we can get to arm ourselves. Let me point to four areas hermeneutics can greatly help us.

1. Knowing Truth: It is the truth that sets free (John 8:32). The Bible is the only way we will know the truth. If we don’t know the truth, for instance, about creation or redemption, we are in great trouble. If we don’t understand the nature of sin and how the cross sets us free from the curse of sin, we will continue in bondage. If we don’t know God’s call for us on the earth, we will not reflect what God calls us to reflect in our world.
2. Proclaiming Christ: The Word of God needs to be brought everywhere — to our families, our friends, our neighbors, and the uttermost part of the earth. However, if we don’t understand the Word of God, our call to others will be unintelligible and fall short of what Christ has commissioned us to do (Matt. 28:18-20).
3. Practicing Godliness: The Bible contains a lot of teaching about how we are to live before God in our families, our workplaces, and so on. The Bible tells us a lot about how to resist temptation and endure through testing. If we don’t understand how God calls us to live, we will be falling into all kinds of snares Satan sets for us.
4. Avoiding Error: The Bible warns very often against false teaching. If we are not armed with the truth, we will fall into error and even promote it to others. A mistaken hermeneutic may produce gross theological and moral errors, so we should diligently ensure that we are approaching the Bible rightly, as God has outlined for us in His Word (2 Cor. 4:2; 2 Pet. 3:16).

Brilliant Light←⤒🔗

In some of his last written words, the apostle Peter revealed his concern that the early Christians and those who followed them would hold fast to the Scriptures. He announced a very important approach to hermeneutics: “No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Pet. 1:20). The key phrase is “private interpretation.” None of us can go off on our own and make Scripture say what it doesn’t say. Wilhelmus à Brakel wrote: “Private interpretation is to assign a meaning to a text which is foreign to Scripture, is not extracted from Scripture, and is the product and conclusion of a person’s own intellect.”

In other words: We either echo the Word of God itself, closely and carefully, or we are on shaky ground. This is why hermeneutics matters. We need a thoroughly scrip­tural hermeneutic, or we will walk in darkness without any light. In the context of this teaching, Peter tells us that he himself witnessed the radiant glory of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, but what we have in the Scriptures is an even greater privilege (2 Pet. 1:19).

To view the Word of God then the right way is hugely important. Otherwise we cloud the light, so to speak. For example, when people tell us, as many do, that the Scriptures contain myths, they are seeking to lead us astray (2 Pet. 1:16). Those whose hermeneutics allows for these things, or even promote them, are unscriptural and should be rejected. Calvin wrote on this passage: “Except thou art resolved willfully to cast thyself into a labyrinth, espe­cially beware of departing even in the least thing from the rule and direction of the word.” In other words, scriptural hermeneutics will help us mine the truth, not make it up.