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Obviously, if you’re paying attention, we have access to a lot of English translations, it’s almost embarrassing when you think about parts of the world where it’s difficult to get a Bible in print.

How many Bibles do you have? I recently reorganized my bookshelves in my basement and found that all of my Bibles would not fit on one shelf.

So, I want to say a brief word about which translations I think are most helpful, but first I want to reinforce the principle of the priority of the original languages.
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Here are the 7 basic principles of Biblical Hermeneutics (interpreting the Scriptures).

The Priority of the Original Languages: Though there are some great translations out there, none are perfect (they actually can’t be) so any decision with regard to the interpretation of the Bible has got to be with respect to the Hebrew/Aramaic (OT) and Greek (NT).

Figurative Language: Shouldn’t we take the Bible “literally”? Absolutely, we should! However, most people have not thought through what that statement means. As this blog continues I will describe 22 common figures of speech that the Bible uses to communicate to us.

Progressive Revelation: God has revealed more of Himself and His truth to His people as history has gone along. In other words, God rarely revealed all of the truth there is to know on a subject the very first time He communicated about that subject. As time went along, His people gained a fuller understanding of His truth.
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We’ve all been there, sitting in a home group Bible study, or in a Sunday School class.  The Bible is read and then the group leader says “what do you think that means?”  Then (after the dead silence of a certain amount of time) someone pipes up and has something to say…

What happens next is the most important thing.  What usually happens (at least what I’ve seen) is the teacher usually says “okay… anyone else” or maybe “good answer…” no matter what is said.  YIKES!

If we believe that a verse of scripture can mean one thing for this person and mean another thing for someone else, then there is no point in learning how to interpret the Bible because we can then make it say whatever we want.

On the other hand, if the Bible was written by real people (and it was) to real people (which is also true) then there was a REAL and objective meaning to the text.
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It’s a big word, but what does it mean? Well, when I say Hermeneutics, I’m talking about in relation to the Bible, but there is Hermeneutics in any literary enterprise.

I think a good definition is a slight variation on what I’ve heard before, so here’s my definition as to what Hermeneutics is (at least as far as Biblical Studies is concerned) “the science of the art of biblical interpretation”

Interpreting the Bible (figuring out what it means) is an art, no doubt, but there are guidelines that help us to approach this process with more objectivity and helps us to get closer to the truth.
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