How to Interpret Scripture

1.) What do the people who speak the original language of the Bible say that the word means?

2.) What does the context of the verse in which the word is found show it to mean? Specifically, what verses preceded and followed the verse and what was the social context in which it was spoken. Who were the listeners/readers?

3.) What does your culture say it means? Throw that out! In order to understand what a word means in the original language you must throw out what your culture and tradition teach you and go strictly by the culture and tradition of the Bible. There is a grand error that can occur when you allow your culture to interject itself into your understanding of scripture. Your culture will cause you to redefine words in the Bible based o­n your culture's interpretation of a verse. Do not allow that to happen or you will be defining the word by your interpretation of the verse instead of defining the meaning of the verse based o­n the original meaning of the words.

4.) Are there nearly identical verses where an exchange of just o­ne or two words would shed light o­n the meaning of the verse and thereby shed light on the meaning of the word?

5.) Are there synonyms that are used in the same context as the word that shed light on the meaning of the verse and thereby the meaning of the word?

A note concerning "original language." The New Testament that we have today comes from Greek manuscripts however most of the characters who spoke as well as those who were spoken to were Hebrews. Because of this we must actually go to the Hebrew meaning of words when translating to English from Greek. In other words, we must go to the Hebrew synonym for the Greek word used and then translate that Hebrew synonym into English. Whether Jesus spoke in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Greek, it is clear that whatever language He used, the Hebrew listener would understand the words in the context of the Hebrew Torah (The Old Testament) which in fact was the o­nly scripture at the time of Jesus. o­nly in cases where the Greek was idiosyncratic to the time, region, and culture of the Greeks or Romans would this not be the case.

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