What to do with the tough stuff

Part 1

What to do with the tough stuffBefore we begin our actual study, let’s take a look at some background material

What to do with the tough stuffBefore we begin our actual study, let’s take a look at some background material.

The Bible is not a single document.

It is actually a collection of 66 documents written by about forty different authors.

The entire corpus of the Bible was written between:Old Testament ~1,500BC to ~450BC

New Testament ~50AD to ~100AD

No author of any biblical text thought (s)he was writingthe Bible.

What to do with the tough stuffThe 39 books that make up our Old Testament

Most likely they were written between ~1500BC and ~450BC.

They were written in Hebrew and Aramaic.

They were originally written on scrolls made of papyrus or parchment.

What to do with the tough stuffThe 39 books that make up our Old Testament

Most likely they were written between ~1500BC and ~450BC.They were written in Hebrew and Aramaic.They were originally written on scrolls made of papyrus or parchment.The oldest know complete collection of all 39 “books” is the Leningrad

Codex which dates to about 1008AD.This is the Hebrew text around which all of our English translations

are based.

What to do with the tough stuffThe 39 books that make up our Old Testament

Most likely they were written between ~1500BC and ~450BC.They were written in Hebrew and Aramaic.They were originally written on scrolls made of papyrus or parchment.The oldest know complete collection of all 39 “books” is the Leningrad

Codex which dates to about 1008AD.This is the Hebrew text around which all of our English translations

are based.The discovery between 1947 and 1956 of caves in the desert regions of Israel containing hundreds of

scrolls and fragments has extended our reach back in time to the 2nd century before Christ.

What to do with the tough stuffThe Hebrew texts were very carefully copied.

Each line was numerically compared with the original MSS.

If there was a difference, the copy was destroyed.

What to do with the tough stuffAfter the conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great (c. 332BC) large number of Jews began to gather in the great cities.

Alexandria Egypt contained a large Jewish population.

As the people became more and more Hellenized (Greek) the Hebrew and Aramaic languages fell into disuse.

There was a need for the Scriptures to be translated into the common language of the people (Greek).

Legend has it that Ptolemy Philadelphus (c. 285-246BC) gathered 72 Jewish scholars and tasked them with translating the Hebrew text into Greek. It (supposedly) took them 72 days and when each translation was compared to the others, not a single discrepancy was found!

Regardless of the veracity of this legend, the Hebrew texts were rendered into Greek in about 250BC. The legend did lend its name to the translation – The Septuagint – which means seventy.

What to do with the tough stuffThe Septuagint (LXX) became the “standard” set of sacred texts for Judaism well into the second century after Christ.

It is the most commonly quoted version in the New Testament.

It was the “Bible” of Hellenistic Judaism and the early Christian Church.

What to do with the tough stuffThe 27 books of the New Testament were written between ~50 – 100AD.

Unlike their Hebrew cousins, these “books” were written on parchment leaves instead of scrolls.

Copies were made by hand (as with the Hebrew texts) but there was no systematic method for ensuring that each copy was an exact replica of the

original MSS.

What to do with the tough stuffToday, we have almost 6,000 different manuscripts or fragments of manuscripts

of the NT.

None of these are the original writings of the original authors.

When a document was produced, any copy was made by hand. This in itself introduced a number of errors.

Most of the differences in the NT MSS are minor.87% of the NT writings are beyond argument.12% contain variations.

1% contain variations that are worth talking about – mostly omission. Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 the most notable.

<1/10 of 1% of these are substantial variations that might influence the meaning of the text.

What to do with the tough stuffIn the first century, paper and ink were very expensive.

Thus, every effort was made to maximize the use of these precious resources.

Parchments were often “erased” by rubbing them with sand to remove the ink.

To minimize waste, there were no spaces between words, no punctuation, no paragraph indentions. This is called scriptio continua.

Let’s look at a very familiar passage:

INTHEBEGINNINGWASTHEWORDANDTHEWORDWASWITHGODANDTHEWO

RDWASGODHEWASWITHGODINTHEBEGINNINGTHROUGHHIMALLTHINGSWEREMADEWITHOUTHIMNOTHINGWASMADETHATHASBEENMADEINHIMWA

SLIFEANDTHATLIFEWASTHELIGHTOFMEN

What to do with the tough stuffIn the first century, paper and ink were very expensive.

Thus, every effort was made to maximize the use of these precious resources.

Parchments were often “erased” by rubbing them with sand to remove the ink.

To minimize waste, there were no spaces between words, no punctuation, no paragraph indentions. This is called scriptio continua.

Let’s look at a very familiar passage:

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD AND THE WORD WAS GOD. HE WAS WITH GOD IN THE BEGINNING. THROUGH HIM ALL THINGS WERE MADEWITHOUT HIM NOTHING WAS MADE THAT HAS BEEN MADE IN HIM WAS LIFE AND THATLIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN

Which leads us to the next issue:

Biblical InterpretationAll of us here are Bible interpreters. What we take away from our Bible reading is influenced by:

* What we read* How we read* What we do with what we read* The “baggage” we bring to the text, such as:

- Our life experiences- Our prior understandings- The culture in which we live

“If the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense”

Biblical InterpretationAs readers of English Bibles, we are really interpreters of an interpretation

Our English Bibles as translations of the Hebrew and Greek already contain a significant amount of interpretation.

Almost every edition of the English Bible is prepared by a translation committee.

Their goal is to render an English language version of the Scriptures thatconforms to the overall plan for the translation.

Most of these committees are comprised of the best OT and NT scholars.

Even with the best experts and the most reliable texts, translating onelanguage into another involves a significant amount of interpretation just in the words that are used.

The Nature of ScriptureOur Scriptures are simultaneously human and divine.

Because God has spoken in human history, the Bible has historical peculiarity.

The Nature of ScriptureOur Scriptures are simultaneously human and divine.

Because God has spoken in human history the Bible has historical peculiarity.

There is a tension that exists between the eternal relevance and the historical situation.

The Nature of ScriptureThe humanity of the Bible gives us hope:

God spoke through people.

God’s Word to us is first God’s Word to them (the original audience).

The Bible Can Never Say What the Bible Never Said

Because of the human dimension, the Bible contains almost every literary genre imaginable.

The Nature of ScriptureHistorically there have been many, many strains of Biblical interpretation.

In medieval Western Christianity, every passage was subjected to four different modes of interpretation:

1 – Literal – what the words actually said.

2 – Anagogical – the prophetic message.

3 – Allegorical - seeking to find a hidden meaning

4 – Tropological – The “moral” of the story.

Biblical ExegesisExegesis is just a fancy way (preacher talk) to say a “careful, systematic study of Scripture with the intent of discovering the ORIGINAL, INTENDED meaning.”

All of us are exegetes – many of us are even good ones.

However, there are potential problems:1 – We can be too selective – “my way or you’re headed for the smoking section.”

2 – We only consult “experts” with whom we agree – if you use commentaries, be sure to use more than one and make sure that the ones (plural) you use represent several different points of

view.

3 – Remember that commentaries, articles, etc. ARE NOT primary sources.

4 – Exegesis tends to be used only when there is a problem between what the text says and what we want to believe (modern culture).

How then do we read the Bible?Before we even approach the text we need to know:

1 – Who wrote it?

How then do we read the Bible?Before we even approach the text we need to know:

1 – Who wrote it?

2 – When was it written?

How then do we read the Bible?Before we even approach the text we need to know:

1 – Who wrote it?

2 – When was it written?

3 – To whom was it written?

How then do we read the Bible?Before we even approach the text we need to know:

1 – Who wrote it?

2 – When was it written?

3 – To whom was it written?

4 – Why was it written?

How then do we read the Bible?Before we even approach the text we need to know:

1 – Who wrote it?

2 – When was it written?

3 – To whom was it written?

4 – Why was it written?

5 – Where was it written?

How then do we read the Bible?Then be sure you understand:

1 – Historical context - what was going on in the area at the time?- what was the political climate?- what was going on in society and its relationship to the church?

2 – Literary context- What genre of literature is the passage?- How does your passage fit into the larger context of the chapter or book?

3 – Finally … what does the passage mean to us today!- We all seek the contemporary significance of what we read.- THIS IS THE LAST STEP!!!- Remember the proper understanding is usually in the original text.

What to do with the tough stuff