Threads from Henry's Web

Tag: Bible Study Method

  • Structural Typology and the Tabernacle

    That’s a fairly pretentious title for this little essay, but in overview form, it fits. This post also represents a return, finally, to my series of posts on the book of Hebrews. I’m looking at the book topically, and using questions from my study guide to the book of Hebrews.

    On page 24, in the third lesson, I ask:

    What do each of the areas–courtyard, holy place, and holy of holies–mean (Hebrews 8:1-5; 9:1-10; Exodus 25-31; 36-40)? What is the meaning of the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat (Leviticus 16, especially verse 2)?

    impression of the tabernacle

    Now the long references from Exodus are part of the advanced reading. It can be helpful to read those passages quickly while trying to form an image in your mind of what the tabernacle would look like. Go ahead and use your imagination. One can debate minor details for many, many pages of discussion, but that is not my point in this question. I’m interested in the general structure of the tabernacle, and the lessons it has to teach.

    I have argued elsewhere (also here) that the sanctuary service was characterized by two goals that act in tension. First was the command to distinguish between the holy and the common, and the second was the command to “be holy as God is holy.” These two commands can bring on considerable tension depending on how one views them and attempts to practice them, but they have a very practical intent. There is a basic idea of teaching good basic discernment and decision making, and once those distinctions are properly drawn, bringing more and more into God’s sphere, the sphere of the holy.

    In a sense, the tabernacle itself can be used as a metaphor for building the kingdom of God. You can look at this building in a couple of different ways. First, you can look at your own life as you grow in holiness, or to phrase it better, as God takes over more and more of your life. Sanctification is a gift. You can also look at it as the growth of God’s kingdom like a mustard seed, as God’s glory and presence grows on and in his people. Make sure, however, that you don’t regard these metaphors as exclusive meanings. What I’m saying is that the tabernacle can serve as metaphors, and I believe these are valid meanings to draw from it.

    high priest

    Now if you didn’t read the two earlier posts I linked above, let me mention simply that I bracket this entire set of ideas with two scriptures: Exodus 19:6 and 2 Peter 2:9. God’s original goal for Israel was that they be a nation of priests. Now if you think about the idea of priesthood, you will probably recall that a priest acts as a intermediary between God or divine things and human beings. Thus if Israel was to be a nation of priests, for whom were they to act as intermediaries? Well, here we have that intention for Israel to be a light for the nations (see my devotional on this here) as is so eloquently and repeated expressed in Isaiah (chapters 40-66), and it’s expressed in doubtlessly very early literature. Israel as a witness to the nations and as a priesthood was not a late afterthought on God’s part.

    From a Christian perspective, there is a fulfillment of God’s desire from Exodus 19 in the priesthood of all believers, this fulfillment being expressed explicitly in 2 Peter 2:9. This bracketing makes the whole concept extremely important for Christian theology, I believe, and the view is expressed in some detail and with some force in Hebrews.

    If you read Hebrews carefully, and look at the structure of the tabernacle and its services equally carefully, I think you will come to the conclusion that much of the sanctuary service symbolizes the separation from God rather well. Starting in Exodus 19, immediately after we have the expression of God’s desire, we have the expression of fear. The people don’t want to be that close to God because they are afraid. They aren’t ready for that close of contact. In Hebrews, certainly, the tabernacle is seen as symbolizing separation, and entry into the inner veil as something that has been bought through the sacrifice of Jesus.

    This is not, however, an exclusive theme of the book of Hebrews. Jesus expresses this in his final talk to his disciples (John 15:11-17 amongst others). He has come and brought us into much more direct contact with God. That is both a tremendous blessing and a tremendous responsibility, and again these are both themes of the book of Hebrews.

    before the veil

    Thus the progressive chambers of the tabernacle are progressively more restricted in access. The people can enter the courtyard in front of the altar to offer sacrifices, but beyond that, and into the Holy Place, only the priests can go. This is symbolized further by the Israelite camp, with the priests camping closest, then the levites according to their service, and outside of that the rest of the tribes of Israel. Then finally the High Priest enters the Most Holy Place once per year for the day of atonement. On this day of repentance atonement could be made even for intentional sins. The closer to God, both the greater the glory and the danger, but also the greater the grace.

    The “hilasterion” the place of God’s presence, often known as the mercy seat, then symbolized God’s presence. But at the same time it symbolized God’s presence in a limited way, separated from his people. It was placed behind a veil, with God’s presence repesented by human light and offerings of incense in front of the veil, but demonstrated through God’s light on the other side.

    Meditating on the symbolism of this service can be very constructive. I have used it before in preaching by simply forming the general shape of the tabernacle with chairs, or even people holding ropes. Then people can walk through and ask themselves just which chamber they were most comfortable in, and then thinking about how they could move forward in their experience.

    Note: I make use of the tabernacle as a metaphor in my sermon The Sin of Getting Stuck, available in MP4 video (from a standard VHS tape) or MP3 audio.

  • Word Study Dangers: Your Dependence on Scholars

    A young man in one of my classes once told me that he didn’t want to depend on scholars. His aim in attending my class on Bible study was to know for himself.

    Now this young man has an admirable goal, provided that you use “goal” in the same sense as one uses “north star” in navigating toward the north. One will never reach Polaris, but one will continue traveling something close to north while using that star as a guide.

    The problem for the average student of the Bible is that you can’t know everything related to your study, so you will always be dependent, in some way, on the scholarship of others. For those who think that taking Greek and Hebrew removes that problem, let me tell you that it does not. After learning Biblical languages, I am still constantly depending on the work of others, and I’m much more aware of it now than I used to be. Once you get to reading the text in the original languages, for example, you then have to ask which text to read. This introduces textual criticism. While I have studied textual criticism to some extent, I am not nearly at the point where I would edit the text of a New Testament book for public use.

    The same thing is true of word studies and finding the definitions of words. If you will first accept the fact that you are going to be basing some of what you do on the work of others, it will help you more intelligently choose where to depend on someone else and where to try to do original research. You will want to consider just how objective the scholarship involved is, and how qualified you are to check the work.

    Let’s consider an example. My knowledge of textual criticism allows me to read an edition of the New Testament and understand the textual footnotes. I’m acquainted with the major manuscripts, so that when I look at a footnote I can quickly see the range of dates involved in the manuscripts, and I often know something about the specific manuscripts involved–not a massive amount, but enough to follow the note and understand in general why the editors chose the variant they did for the text. I could ask to reduce my dependence on other scholars by getting a look at a high quality photograph of each manuscript for myself, or even by trying to visit the library or museum in which the manuscript itself is kept, so I can check a reading for myself.

    But this would be a foolish thing for me to do. First, the process of transcribing a manuscript and collating it (cataloging its variants) is a substantially objective process. In a small number of cases in which letters are partial, or correctors have gotten involved, there may be a dispute, but in that case you will generally have an indication in the edition itself or in the literature. Thus I can put a good deal of trust into the data provided to me in my edition of the New Testament in Greek. Second, my qualifications for deciphering the ancient manuscripts directly are definitely not first rate. I can read such manuscripts, but I have no exprience trying to fill in gaps, or judge disputed letters based on the copyists hand, and so forth. It is therefore not a good use of my resources to go check individual manuscripts for myself.

    If you take a step back from that, and consider someone who does not know Greek or Hebrew, then you may see the need to ask, “Is it a good use of my time to do a word study?” To answer that question, let me look at some of your alternatives.

    1. Using footnotes in your translation
      Most translations provide alternate renderings of passages in footnotes when a passage is controversial. For many people, a whole new world will open up if they will simply pay attention to the footnotes. Many times users of various Bible versions complain bitterly about a particular rendering and the damage done to “the truth” (as understood by the complainer) by a lousy rendering, and how the translators should at least give the reader the option of this alternate rendering. Frequently when I check such a complaint, I find the desired rendering given in a footnote.
    2. Comparing multiple translations
      As often as I find that footnotes resolve the problem, not all translation issues are noted in every translation–far from it. Try using multiple translations. Reading your passage in several translations will take you much less time than doing a thorough word study, and may provide you with all the information you need.
    3. Use various theological wordbooks in English.
      In this case you will be dependent on scholars for providing you with the options, but commonly such wordbooks provide a variety of potential definitions. Take each option offered and try it in the context of the passage you are studying.
    4. Commentaries and/or study notes
      These often provide alternate translations and discussions of why. It is important to realize that the discussion of the reasons behind a particular option is more important than simply listing the option. Those reasons allow you to check the work that has gone before you. Does it make sense? Does the resulting translation work in the context of your passage?
    5. Learn the script of the language in question and use lexicons
      Here you will often find the specific verse you are studying with the suggested gloss or definition for your word. You can get a strong head start by listing the available definitions and some key passages from the lexicon entry, and looking those up to check and see how well they work. You will probably be amazed at how often the lexicon is right on target.
    6. Always study a passage in context
      Most errors in interpretation come from focusing too narrowly on a single verse or even phrase. If you come up with an understanding of the meaning of a particular word that contradicts the teaching of that author in the rest of his writings, you might want to reconsider. Who is more likely to have made a mistake?

    Each of these options will provide you with a substantial amount of information about a particular word or passage, and will give you many options to choose from in your study. In this way you can depend on scholars, but do so intelligently.

  • Word Study Dangers: Glosses and Definitions

    In my previous entry in this series I noted the difference between a gloss and a definition. To review:

    First, let me distinguish between a “gloss” and a “definition.” A “gloss” is a word or phrase proposed as a translation for a word in the source language. When a Greek student is taught that “pistis” means “faith” what he is learning is a “gloss.” Contrast that with the following from the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains: “that which is completely believable—‘what can be fully believed, that which is worthy of belief, believable evidence, proof” [Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (Vol. 1, Page 370). New York: United Bible societies)]. While I could complain just a bit, the latter is a definition, rather than a mere gloss.

    Two pitfalls that are related must be avoided. The first is trying to create a single definition for a word that covers the whole range of meaning of a word. Most words actually have clusters of meaning and sometimes these don’t even overlap. Native speakers naturally apply the precise definition of a word for the particular circumstances. In American English, for example, we have the word trunk, which may reference the trunk of an elephant, a trunk in which one packs clothes, the rear compartment of one’s car, the main torso of a person’s body, or the main shaft of a tree. In British English you have a boot that you put on your foot, or the boot of a car, which is the same as the American trunk. These definitions are related, but are better defined separately.

    Now imagine how silly it would sound if someone reads me a passage about a tree, and then asks what the word trunk means in that passage, and I respond by reading the full list of definitions. Obviously the person asking wants the definition of trunk as it applies to trees, and that is the only definition to provide. Yet preachers regularly read a list of definitions from Webster’s (a favorite with American prechers), and proceed as though the congregation now understands the English word.

    Let’s think about the process here. First there is a word in the source language. Translators carefully choose an English word whose meaning adequately expresses a similar meaning. The semantic range of the two words will not be equivalent, but they overlap adequately to provide a meaningul sense in the translation. Now an English speaking preacher or teaching comes along and reads the full list of definitions of the English word, each of which represents a range of meaning for that word. The result is not clarity, but rather a fog. Because the listeners have seen the dictionary consulted, they feel that they have a meaning, but were you to ask them precisely what that was, they wouldn’t know, or even worse, they might know something that was just not so.

    The second is a kind of reverse of the above. In this case the preacher or teacher announces that the Greek word that we here have translated ____ actually means . . .” and then reads a list of glosses from the concordance or from a standard Greek lexicon. Again, only one of those meanings will be the center of the range of meaning.

    I’m going to keep this entry short. Let me just conclude by restating the key factor in word studies: The result should be finding a working definition that fits precisely in the specific context.

    Next: Word Study Dangers: Your Dependence on Scholars

  • Kenny Pearce on Bible Translations

    [Gleaned from the Christian Carnival CLXI, which you should go check out.]

    Kenny Pearce has written an excellent post on Bible translations. I say “excellent” based on the obvious standard that he agrees with much of what I say! 🙂 He talks about a spectrum of translations using what he calls “a degree of literalness.”

    This is very similar to what I teach, and in fact what I demonstrate in my Bible Version Selection Tool. I think my ratings even come generally fairly close to his.

    This is recommended reading. It’s about as concise as you can get and still be accurate and practical.

  • Word Study Dangers: The Process

    Several years ago I was in an online chat on religion, and one of the other members discovered that I read Hebrew. I actually forget how he accomplished it; that wasn’t the topic and I didn’t tell him. In any case, he said, “Wow! You read Hebrew!” I acknowledged that I do. “I’ve been wanting to talk to someone who reads Hebrew,” he continued. “Tell me what Genesis 1 really says.” To his great disappointment I suggested that he read Genesis 1 in one of several English Bible versions.

    This does not mean that I believe I get no benefit from being able to read Genesis 1 in Hebrew. There is a great benefit in essentially seeing many of the possible nuances as I read, and working with the semantic ranges of the Hebrew words and particular forms. I am reminded of this benefit every time I switch from reading Hebrew to translating Hebrew into English. I may understand a passage after I have read it in Hebrew, in that I could respond quickly and accurately to questions about what it says, the particular forms involved, and so forth. But when I turn around to express that understanding in English I have to struggle. I can produce one translation, but then I read my own translation, comparing it back to the source, I will revise . . . and revise and revise, not necessarily getting better.

    In fact, I was teaching a class a couple of years ago on the book of Hebrews (note the switch to something written in Greek despite its title!). Now I have written a study guide that includes a translation, which I was using, and I commented that while “mature” was a possible reading for the Greek “teleiotes” in Hebrews 6:1, that it was a bit weak, and perhaps “perfection” would be better, though I had some concerns with the connotations of that word as well. As I was driving home, I got this tickling in my brain, so I pulled out my own study guide and checked Hebrews 6:1. Sure enough, the verse read “mature” in my own translation. I’m in the process of revising that translation for a new edition, and I know there will be many changes as I try to express the meaning more effectively.

    In general, the translation you use when you read the Bible in English will have seen much more review and revision, by a large number of scholars more qualified than I am. Each of those scholars will likely have struggled with presenting the meaning that he or she sees in the passage clearly and accurately. There’s a certain arrogance in making the assumption that one can quickly get to “what the Greek (or Hebrew) really says” in a moment off the top of one’s head, and do so more accurately than a picked committee of translators who spend months working on a single passage. This does not mean that we should not question or come to our own conclusions. It does mean, in my view, that we should question carefully and searching carefully for evidence and judging it rigorously. In addition, we should view the results with appropriate humility, expecting, accepting, and evaluting the questions or challenges of others.

    Similarly, lexicographers of ancient languages pursue evidence from many sources and work diligently to catalog, summarize, and present that information to the modern student of the language. A quick word study doesn’t produce a similar result. The word “quick” is very dangerous. But more importantly, whatever one believes one has discovered needs to be held with some humility. I cringe when a pastor or teacher, after reading an English translation says, “But what the Greek really says is . . . ” As a general rule, the meaning then provided is not what the Greek really says, but rather the meaning that best fits with the subject of the sermon.

    So with those warnings, let me look at the major steps in the process of producing a set of definitions for a word. First, let me distinguish between a “gloss” and a “definition.” A “gloss” is a word or phrase proposed as a translation for a word in the source language. When a Greek student is taught that “pistis” means “faith” what he is learning is a “gloss.” Contrast that with the following from the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains: “that which is completely believable—‘what can be fully believed, that which is worthy of belief, believable evidence, proof” [Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (Vol. 1, Page 370). New York: United Bible societies)]. While I could complain just a bit, the latter is a definition, rather than a mere gloss.

    The object of a word study is not primarily a better gloss, but a working definition. You will end up with more potential glosses than definitions, because the range of definitions of words in two different languages do not coincide precisely.

    Logically, the process is as follows:

    • Survey the appropriate literature for uses of the word
    • Categorize those usages, dividing them according to the various factors that influence meaning in a specific context, such as literary genre, historical period, syntax, language register, geographical location, and so forth.
    • Propose definitions. This will result in a different division, as some definitions are broader in range over time, geography, genre, etc. than others.
    • Group your examples under your definitions. Throughout the process be prepared to change your mind.
    • Look at external resources, such as cognate languages, ancient lexicons, translations into other languages that are more contemporary with the literature.
    • Revise, revise, revise.
    • Organize a lexical entry

    Now this process is generalized, and also sanitized. Unless you’re one of the few fortunate scholars who have an opportunity to start from scratch on a new language, such as those who work on the Ebla tablets, you will always interact with existing lexicography. This is one error that folks with limited training in a Biblical language–often between a semester and two years–regularly commit. They believe that somehow their translation or the definition that results from their word study will be better if they start with a blank slate. It is good exercise to work from scratch. As an occasional Greek teacher I not only recommend it, but require it of new Greek students. But it is part of a process of learning, and not good for the final result. When you’re going to use that definition on unsuspecting students or parishioners, check it against existing sources. That means Greek-English/Hebrew-English lexicons, theological wordbooks, and modern translations at the least, and preferably commentaries and even journal articles on the specific word. If you are going to disagree with those sources, first understand why they translated the word as they did, and be certain that you can challenge that translation successfully.

    This entry has discussed a process that is truly only accessible to someone who actually reads the source languages. As I continue I’m going to look at some specific processes involved and some of the pitfalls, and then I’m going to proceed to ways in which the wonderful resources available can be used to enhance your understanding of the Bible even if you do not read the source languages. I do not believe it is necessary to know the Biblical languages in order to do serious Bible study. It’s a big help, but much can be accomplished without it. But pretending to do something for which you do not have the skill is a very dangerous thing, and I believe that frequently happens in Bible study.

  • Word Study Dangers: Overview

    [This is the first in a short series on word studies, especially the type of study done using an English concordance keyed to the Biblical languages, such as Strong’s Concordance.]

    A few years back in the pre-blog days when most online discussions took place on various forums, someone proposed to me a new translation and interpretation of a particular verse. I don’t even recall the verse any more. What I do recall was the process of figuring out what the gentleman had done in order to produce the words he presented to me. That text was totally unlike any English translation of that verse that I knew of, and completely impossible by my reading of the Hebrew. He said he had worked on the translation using Strong’s, so I knew my starting point.

    Slowly I worked my way back through Strong’s and discovered that he had simply looked through the possible translations for each word, and then selected one that he wanted to use. He had combined those English words in the fashion of one putting together a difficult jigsaw puzzle, and then had dealt with minor issues such as verb tenses and the syntax according to the sense that he was looking for. As a result, the verse consisted of a series of words, correct in the sense that they came from a Hebrew/English dictionary, but none of which were actually possible translations in that particular context.

    He was extremely disappointed when I was not enthusiastic about his creative efforts. Surely I was not dogmatic enough to simply reject his translation out of hand! After all, it came from Strong’s, surely a standard authority on the meaning of the Hebrew text, and one used by many, many Christians! And yet I was just that dogmatic.

    Now this is not a series on the inadequacies of Strong’s as a Biblical languages resource, though it does have many such inadequacies. It provides glosses, rather than definitions, and those glosses are taken from out of date sources. Discovering the meaning of precise forms varies from extremely difficult to impossible. Nobody who was actually skilled with the languages would make use of it as a serious resource for knowledge of the source languages. There are other English concordances, keyed to other Bible versions, that are based on more accurate sources, yet they still suffer from the other inadequacies.

    The larger problem, however, is the people who try to use these concordances as a resource to study Bible words. There are things you can learn making use of such resources, but finding more accurate definitions of Bible words than those found in standard language resources is not one of those things. A student who does not understand the source languages would do better with one of the many Bible dictionaries or word books that are available.

    The problem is in the nature of word studies. Similar issues come up in discussion when one tries to define a word. There are two extremes in discussing English words. On the one hand we have those who believe words mean whatever they want them to, and on the other we have the dictionary addicts. The first group doesn’t care to use standard definitions and creates a great deal of confusion for obvious reasons. The second group looks in the dictionary, and if a word is not being used according to the particular definition (often the first one presented) found in their particular dictionary, they are annoyed. The dictionary rules.

    There is a subset of this group who are fascinated by older dictionaries. “I want a dictionary that comes from a time when words had meaning and weren’t subject to the whim of the uneducated masses,” they say. That there never was such a golden age of language doesn’t other them at all. The word should mean what their older dictionary says it means, and anyone who disagrees is just the product of a “dumbed down” educational system.

    But dictionaries are merely reporters. The writers of dictionaries do not, for the most part, create meaning, except as any other writer does. People create meaning when they make use of words to communicate. A single word doesn’t have only one meaning; generally it has many. Its meaning doesn’t generally remain unchanged over time. What lexicographers (the writers of dictionaries) do, is survey the usage of words over a wide body of literature and formulate and report appropriate definitions. Multiple definitions per word are required, because words get used in many different ways with different meanings. There are scholarly meanings, technical meanings, popular meanings, regional meanings, and so forth.

    For example, when I talk about computers I use “CPU” (central processing unit) to mean the little chip on the motherboard that does the processing. I got used to that usage years ago. Frequently these days someone will call me for service on a computer, and they will ask, “Should I just bring my CPU or do you need the monitor and keyboard as well?” This usage bugs me, even though I truly believe what I said in the last paragraph. They’re not wrong; they’re just using a quite common popular usage. Most of my readers probably find CPU used in that sense to be more appropriate than its use to refer to the chip. In terms of the way meaning develops, CPU is an acronym, yet many who use it would not know what the letters stand for. It has become a “word.” Similarly “car” can mean many things, from the part of the elevator that one actually rides in, to the car on a train, to the automobile that one drives. This is generally true of words. One determines from the context just what definition is appropriate. Our minds are wonderfully adept at figuring this out.

    Words in Hebrew and Greek are no different. The reason a concordance like Strong’s has quite a number of glosses (words of phrases provided as possible translations of a particular Greek or Hebrew word) is that those Greek and Hebrew words have many potential meanings in different contexts. You can’t simply take the list of meanings, choose one that you’d like to read in this location, and run with it. There are many factors that go into the particular choice of an English word, factors that the mind of a native speaker would process naturally and quickly.

    Some of these factors are:

    • The immediate context
      For example, you can tell what definition I’m using for “car” easily in each of the following sentences. I drove my car to work. and The locomotive was pulling 25 cars..
    • The particular form of the word
      Both Greek and Hebrew are inflected, and sometimes such inflection will result in a completely different meaning for the word. The lexical form (the one you find at the head of the dictionary entry) will be the same, but the meaning will be substantially different. If you don’t know about these different forms, you may well come up with an impossible answer.
    • The type of literature
      Words are used differently in different types of literature, and you have to be conscious of that effect. For example, priestly texts will use words about sacrifices in a much more technical way than general historical texts.
    • Syntax
      The structure of the sentence may indicate a difference in the meaning of the word. In Greek, this is a very important thing to remember about prepositions. One common mistake made by those who do not know Greek is to list the possible definitions of a preposition and then choose the one best suited to their desired translation, without considering the form of the preposition’s object. That doesn’t work in Greek!
    • Time period, particularly in Hebrew
      Meaning can vary based on when a text was written. This is generally important in translating Hebrew, though not so much for New Testament Greek because the New Testament was written over such a short period of time.
    • Peculiarities of usage by the particular author
      Just as modern writers and speakers may use words in unexpected ways, the Bible writers could do likewise.

    In my next entry I’m going to go over the process of doing a good word study, and examine the level of knowledge of the Biblical languages required to handle certain information.

  • Isaiah 27: Accomplishing Redemption

    I’ve been at this series on Isaiah 24-27 for some months now. It’s taken so long mostly because I’ve been working at it slowly as I have time, and not because my series is that in-depth. The thing that has struck me in studying the passages for this series is the richness of the material. The amount of material I find that ends up only as an entry in my notes or an underlined passage in one of my reference sources is quite astonishing. In this chapter I will cite a few translations that in themselves provide creative suggestions for translation difficulties in this passage.

    I would suggest reading this chapter in several translations and trying to follow the logic through the chapter. Very often we don’t in Isaiah, because in many of these poetic passages it is hard to make sense of what’s going on in context. But I would suggest that there is a context, that the combination of the verses and passages is not accidental, but because of the literary style of the text, and the fact that so much is written in poetry it’s simply difficult to follow that logic.

    The basic logic that I see in this text is the move from a people who are not definitely on any side. They might be faithful to their God and then again they might not. We have almost a precursor to the concept of the remnant as presented in 2nd Isaiah (chapters 40-55), in which only a small portion of the people are faithful, and the whole is to be reduced to that remnant who then bring restoration.

    This theme occurs often in apocalyptic literature. The good guys and the bad guys have to be separated and clearly distinguished. As a result it is very, very right that God destroys the bad guys, and it is also imperative that God avenge the good guys. This theme has guided my translation in a couple of places. Theology should follow translation rather than precede it, but translation is impossible without sense, and if you compare several different translations of this chapter you will see quite a difference in the sense that is portrayed. A sparse Hebrew text leaves us to fill in the holes based on our understanding, and that is not an easy task.

    Places where this passage is quoted in the New Testament are indicated by red text and allusions are indicated in blue text with the reference in {braces}.

    (1) On that day —
    YHWH will take vengeance with his sword,
    harsh, great, powerful,
    On Leviathan the slithering snake,
    On Leviathan the slimy snake.
    He will kill the sea-dragon.

    The critical thing to note about this portion of the text is that its use of Leviathan and “sea-dragon” or “sea-serpent” indicates that we’re talking in the language of creation-myth, and thus also in the language of eschatology. In scripture God’s creative power is also his authority and power to destroy and to recreate. By starting out to state that the sea-dragon will be killed on that day, the writer tells us the setting is eschatological.

    I take this indication as definitive. I believe there is enough indication that the chapter is a unity. True, it is made up of individual elements from various sources, but they have been combined into a unified whole. By opening the next section with the same phrase “on that day” the writer tells us that the pleasant vineyard and the slaying of Leviathan are tied together. This means that the vineyard, the abandoned city, and YHWH’s actions as told in verses 12 & 13 should all also have an eschatological setting.

    (2) On that day —
    “There’s a pleasant vineyard,”
    Sing for it!
    (3) “I YHWH watch over it.
    I water it as needed.
    Lest harm come to it,
    I watch it day and night.
    (4) I have no anger.
    Oh that I had thistles and thorns,
    I would come against it in battle,
    And burn it all together.
    (5) Or instead it could seize my protection,
    It could make peace with me.
    It could make peace with me!
    (6) In coming days Jacob will put down roots,
    Israel will blossom and bloom,
    And will fill the face of the earth with fruit.

    There are several questions in this passage. Are the thistles and thorns a defensive wall? Are they part of the vineyard? Is YHWH attacking the enemies of the vineyard, or is he threatening to attack the vineyard?

    In my view, the eschatological sense, and also the parallels with the vineyard of Isaiah 5 indicate that the thistles and thorns are themselves part of the vineyard. YHWH wishes that his vineyard was either one thing or another. This calls to mind Revelation 3:15, and God wishing that the people of Laodicea were either hot or cold. In this case, he wishes that he either faced thistles and thorns, against which he could vent his wrath, or that on the other hand his vineyard would make peace with him. God’s anger is spent, but he still does not have the desired result.

    Notice, on the other hand, the NCV translation of this passage:

    I am not angry.
    If anyone builds a wall of thornbushes in war,
    I will march to it and burn it.
    But if anyone comes to me for safety
    and wants to make peace with me,
    he should come and make peace with me.”

    That is taking the thornbushes in quite a different sense than I have, and I have some difficulty comprehending how “I am not angry” fits in with the rest of the passage. This is simply one of many options. The NCV translation can certainly be justified linguistically. I’m just not certain it can be fitted properly into the context. On the other hand, some might accuse me of bending the evidence in order to fit a patter with my own translation.

    Again compare the JPS Tanakh:

    There is no anger in Me:
    If one offers Me thorns and thistles,
    I will march to battle against him,
    And set all of them on fire. –Isaiah 27:4

    That’s a third option, and there are more. I’m not going to try to exhaust the options either here or in the abandoned city. There are simply too many.

    (7) Has he been struck with the same blows
    as the one who struck him?
    Has he been slain in the same way
    as the one who slew him?
    (8) With measured acts you contended as you sent her away,
    Speaking harshly like the east wind.
    (9) So in this way only will Jacob’s guilt be purged,
    In this will all the results of his sin be turned aside. {Romans 11:27b, LXX}
    When all the stones of the altar are shattered like limestone,
    When sacred poles and incense altars no longer stand.

    Reformation is the only way in which things in Judah can be made right. Forgiveness is tied to repentance, and repentance means changing one’s life. God has exercised judgment on his people. He has now exercised judgment against those who oppressed Israel. But after all has been said and done, the only thing that will result in a new people is for them to turn from their idols and to become totally God’s possession.

    (10) For the fortified city stands alone,
    An emptied pasture,
    Abandoned like the wilderness.
    Oxen graze there.
    They lie down and eat her branches.
    (11) When her cuttings are dry and break off,
    Women come and light them on fire.
    Because it is not an understanding people,
    So their maker will not have compassion,
    The one who formed them will show no mercy.

    The key issue in this passage is whether this is Jerusalem or the “other city” that stands against it, Babylon in apocalyptic imagery. I believe this is the opposing city. The dominant expression about Israel in this entire chapter is hope, though there is the desire for repentance and for them to become fully reconciled to their God. The other city is the one that will be completely destroyed. In later apocalyptic, of course, that “other” city would be portrayed receiving a much more explicit judgment.

    (12) It will happen on that day —
    YHWH will beat out the people like grain, {Matthew 3:12}
    from the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt.
    And you will be gleaned one by one, Israelites!
    (13) It will happen on that day —
    The great shofar will be blown,
    and those who are lost in the land of Asshur,
    and those who are scattered in the land of Egypt
    will come and worship YHWH,
    on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem. {Matthew 24:31}

    Verses 12 and 13 to me confirm the remainder of my interpretation of the chapter. Compare verse 12 to the preaching of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:12, separating wheat from chaff, so that the wheat can be saved and the chaff burned. Besides the scattering, however, there is an ingathering, as people are brought from all corners of the earth to return to God’s people in their home.

    As I see it, and as I have translated it, Isaiah 27 serves as a “little apocalypse” portraying the world at its end, when God is stepping in to do judgment.

  • Paraphrasing as a Study Method

    Via a link from Wayne Leman, I found this post from Greg Lamm’s blog STAYINGTHECOURSE.

    I think this is an exceptional idea to aid with serious study of a passage. It relates well to both the reading and sharing phases. Of course under sharing I would include sharing your paraphrase with others and even challenging them to try this for themselves.

    A variant on paraphrasing is praying the scriptures, putting them in your own words.

  • Gender Accurate Translation and Interpretation

    Wayne Leman has an exceptional post on women and Bible translation. We talk a great deal about gender accurate (or I still like gender-inclusive) language, but it’s men that are doing most of the talking. That’s because there are more men than women involved in translation. I’m in full agreement with what Wayne says in his post, but I want to carry things just a step further.

    First, however, I want to make sure you understand what I mean when I say I’m an egalitarian. It doesn’t mean that I believe men and women are the same. Thank God they are not! What it means is that I believe that each person should be start on a level playing field and be appreciated and used in accordance with their gifts. So how could I support putting more women on Bible translation committees any more than I could support putting more men on them? The problem is that we are human, and some of us are guys, and we may not think of all the gifts. Since I believe men and women are different, we need to go out of our way to hear what the other gender is thinking. Since translation is dominated by men, as is interpretation, we may tend not to think of the need for women’s gifts in our activity.

    There’s no big wall here. Men can have some of these gifts, just as women can have gifts we consider the province of men. My wife and I reverse some of the activities that you might expect. In the properly male dominated home the guy drives, I’ve heard. I generally let me wife drive. She likes to, I don’t. We divide financial responsibilities. But stereotypical folks do exist, I suspect. The best way to be sure is to be inclusive.

    I stated this in book on Bible translation:

    I believe that the best translation is likely to result from a committee of persons with diverse beliefs, all of whom are committed to translating without allowing those beliefs to interfere. (A bias in favor of accurate translation would be entirely appropriate, and could not be said to interfere.) Since I believe nobody is entirely free of bias, the best defense against bias is diversity. However, diversity in which one simply averages out the results of the various biases still leaves too much room for inappropriate results, so I believe the one commitment all members of a translation committee should make is to accurate translation within the context of the methodology they have chosen. (This extract from pages 39-40 can be found at the Energion Publications Announcements Blog.)

    I now believe this diversity should definitely be extended to include gender.

    But shouldn’t this be extended to interpretation? If the Bible message was presented only to men, then perhaps only men should listen and understand. But if that was not the case, perhaps we lose something by not including the voice of women in our interpretation.

    The last step of my method of interpretation is sharing. Some people wonder why I include sharing as part of the method of interpretation. There’s a level of accountability that results simply from expressing your understanding of scripture and listening to other people’s reactions to it. You can learn how you might be misunderstood. Others may point out things you had missed in studying the passage. You may learn of implications of your interpretation that you hadn’t comtemplated.

    Ideally such sharing should include the entire community so that diverse people are heard from. Not just men and women, but people of different ages, races, and cultures should be included. Many errors of Biblical interpretation might be avoided if we learned to listen to the broadest and most diverse possible community.

  • Another Set of Posts on Principles of Interpretation

    Since I responsded to a post on principles of interpretation, and Bruce Alderman also weighed in on that topic, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for more interesting discussion.

    Today I found a couple of posts by way of a trackback to my threads blog, in which the author notes that he recommends my article to stimulate thinking, even though he clearly disagrees with it. I actually can’t think of a better reason to recommend reading a post, so let me recommend a couple of his on the same basis. Well, let me add that his first principle of “context, context, context” receives my complete agreement, though I disagree on some details. At some point I hope to respond to his second post on interpretation in accordance with the gospel, but I don’t have time right now to do it justice.

    As of now, I’ll have to be satisfied with strongly recommending that you read it and think about it.

    These two articles are actually part of a broader series. The first is Part Two – The Christian WorldView – Interpreting Scripture, which contains “context, context, context”–enough to recommend it as reading, though I would differ on details about context. The second is Part Three – Interpreting Scripture – Gospel Hermeneutic. I would find a bit more to disagree on in the second, but I believe it is not unrelated to my own view in Hanging Biblical Interpretation.

    Read and enjoy!