The word hermeneutics comes from a Greek root word meaning “interpreter” or “interpret.” The word originally was associated from the name Hermes, the invented Greek god who served as a messenger for the gods of Greek mythology. He was the one who transmitted and interpreted their communications to people. In Acts 14:8-12 the people of Lystra thought of Paul as Hermes because he was the main speaker when presenting the Gospel.
Hermeneutics is the science of Bible interpretation. It is a set of principles that govern how a person interprets the Bible. While there are different hermeneutical theories scholars have invented over the centuries, there is only one legitimate method that will consistently make sense of the Bible, namely the Literal-Historical-Grammatical Method.
2 Timothy 2:15 exhorts believers to, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. This passage is a motivator to handle the Scriptures correctly. To divide the Word, literally means, “to cut it straight.” Thus a believer should distinguish the literary features of the Bible and make sense of them. Handling the Word of God rightly requires a fixed determination to stay on point, to explain and apply God’s Word according to its authorial meaning and intent. When believers do this they show themselves approved to God, because they are serious about understanding what God says. They do not handle the Bible in a haphazardly fashion, but with care and precision. The process begins with understanding the historical, cultural and literary contexts the passage was written in, while paying careful attention to the grammar and syntax of each sentence. Proper hermeneutics allows God to speak through His Word what He wanted communicated in its original setting before the interpreter draws any conclusions related to his or her contemporary life.
Many people have a willy-nilly way to approach Scripture. When they are looking for “a word from the Lord,” some play a game of “Bible roulette.” They flip through the Bible at random and stop at what seems appealing to their needs. When they find a passage that seems to fit their situation, they say, “The Lord gave me a verse!” This is the worst kind of approach to interpreting the Bible because it gives no thought to the meaning of the passage. They are only concerned about what the verse means to them personally. Contrary to this, the task of Bible study is to discover what the meaning of a passage was to its original audience. Every verse has objective meaning apart from any person; it is the task of the interpreter to find out what that meaning actually is. Most of the Bible can be easily understood, even by a child (2 Timothy 3:15). However, there are passages in the Bible that can be difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16). That is why God provided preachers and teachers, so that they can make the Bible understandable (Acts 8:30-31). God gifted these people to the church to model proper hermeneutics (Ephesians 4:11-12; Nehemiah 8:8). When a believer employs proper hermeneutics they will guard themselves from reading personal opinion or a preferred theological theory into Scripture. They will be able to expose false teachings and refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9).
The ultimate goal of hermeneutics is to discover the truths, values and principles in the Bible so that the interpreter can believe correctly, live correctly and glorify God. Once a person understands what God said to the original audience, they can take those timeless principles and apply them to their lives today.
Scripture Reference
8 At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
9 This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be 1made well,
10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”
12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, bin which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.
holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
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