This is a procedure based on one I got from my New Testament Professor Dr. Donald Cook at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary many years ago. It has met the tests of time for me.
A Suggested Procedure for Biblical Interpretation
I. Come to a general understanding of the document (book) as a whole (“Introduction”):
Settle if possible, the questions of authorship, intended audience, date and historical/sociological setting, and purpose of writing (“Introduction”). Who wrote (or whose witness stands behind) the document? To whom was the document written? To what situation was it addressed? What do the answers to those questions suggest about the purposes and intentions of the writer(s)?
II. Establish the best text (“Textual Criticism”) of the passage
A. Use the original languages, if you have expertise in them (Greek. Hebrew, or Aramaic), along with text, and critical apparatus, if possible, if you have knowledge of how to use them. AND/OR:
B. Use and compare various modern English translations, including marginal references to varying texts and translations, based on recommendations of trained ministers and teachers whom you trust. Then:
C. Determine if there are significant variant readings (“marginal readings”) from the original language texts or the early versions that you should consider or reject? Does the text raise any problems in translation into English? And:
D. By comparison of various modern translations, commentary notes, etc., attempt to determine the most accurate rendering: Are these words the best translation of what the original writer was trying to say? Then:
E. Make or choose a translation that best reflects your understanding of the writer’s words. Two considerations are important in judging the merits of a translation:
1. How accurate is it in translating the original Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic text?
2. Is it easy to read and understand in contemporary English?
F. Remember: modern translations are usually based on more ancient, and therefore, generally, “better,” manuscripts of the original Greek and Hebrew texts. Compare several translations before forming an opinion. No one translation is the best in every case, or even most of the time. Each translation must pass these tests for each passage under consideration.
III. Study the text linguistically: What do these words mean?:
A. Lexical (word) Study: Identify the key words and phrases in the passage.
1. Attempt to get behind the English words to the Greek and Hebrew words they represent, using a concordance, Bible dictionary, or theological wordbook of the Bible, and your own expertise, if you have it, with the Biblical languages themselves.
2. Examine especially the structure and history of heavily loaded theological terms and the way they are used in other Biblical passages.
B. Grammatical research and study of grammatical and syntactical relationships:
1. Examine the structure of the sentences. How are the words connected grammatically in the sentence and in the paragraph to which they belong?
2. Allow the passage to say what it says. Give preference, not to the most obscure interpretation, but to the one that is clearest and most evident.
C. Each kind of literature should be understood in the light of its own literary style—prose, poetry, narrative, etc. Metaphorical and symbolic expressions and language must be recognized as such. Shall we understand the text literally or figuratively or poetically?
IV. Analyze the structure of the passage (“literary criticism”):
A. The literary structure:
1. Is the passage a unity?
2. Is there a break (or breaks) in the reading?
3. Is there any indication of the use of prior sources by the writer or any indication that more than one writer’s work may be present?
B. The logical or ideological structure:
1. Is there a sequence of ideas present?
2. Is that sequence progressive?
3. Is there a logical or rational relationship of ideas in the passage?
4. Are there conflicting ideas that could imply that more than one writer's work may be present?
C. Especially Important: Examine the relationship of the passage(s) under consideration to the document as a whole (“context”). How does the argument in this section fit into the arguments presented by the whole book?
V. Study the literary form(s) of the material in the passage (“form criticism”):
A. What is the literary type? Poetry? Prose? Parable? Apocalyptic? Miracle-story? Letter? A combination?
B. Is the passage written in the first person? Third person? Or does it switch from one to another?
C. Study the history of the transmission of the material:
1. Can you determine if the message/content was presented orally at first, then only later set down in writing, as was the case with most of the prophetic sayings and the sayings of Jesus? OR,
2. If the material was written out from the beginning, as seems to have been the case in apocalyptic writings like Daniel and the Revelation, and the New Testament letters?
3. Have there been later additions and interpretations added in the process of transmission to the original material?
4. Compare and contrast parallel accounts of the same saying or event, as in the Gospels and the Pentateuch and the Books of Kings and Chronicles, and some prophetic writings. Attempt to determine which version is closest to the original, what portions were added or deleted, and why. Did one writer add interpretive ideas to the original words, to address a new situation? Or, Did one writer delete or attempt to correct words that would have seemed confusing or even erroneous to the readers/hearers in his audience? What clues in the text support one view or the other?
D. Attempt to determine the original life situation(s) (“Sitz-im-Leben”) out of which the passage arose:
1. Is it “polemical”--arising out of controversy (e.g. with the Scribes and Pharisees, etc.)?
2. Is it “paranetic”--related to exhortation to duty?
3. Is it “kerygmatic”—pertaining to confession and proclamation of one's faith?
4. Is it “sacramental”—pertaining to the celebration of the Lord's Supper, Baptism, or similar such “sacramental” acts?
5. Is it “liturgical”—pertaining to general worship practices?
6. Is it “didactic”—pertaining to teaching of converts and church members in the “basics” of the faith, or in general moral duties.
VI. Study the religious background of the passage under consideration:
A. Note Old Testament quotations or allusions in New Testament passages—is the source the Hebrew Old Testament or the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew text, or from some text tradition that is independent of those? Is it a direct quotation, a paraphrase, a simple reference or allusion, or what?
B. Are there quotations or allusions based on other literature—the Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) writings, Jewish Rabbinic writings, apocryphal and pseudepigraphical works of the inter-Biblical period, other ancient Near Eastern literature, etc.
VII. Study the historical and cultural setting of the passage:
Interpret the passage in the light of its historical/cultural/ political/sociological setting (“context”)—the customs, thought-forms, political and military circumstances, etc., of the time. Find out about archaeological or historical findings related to the situation. Check materials in Bible dictionaries, Bible atlases, and commentaries. Make use of up-to-date resources—both books and periodicals.
VIII. Interpretation and exposition:
A. At this point proceed to interpret the theological/religious meaning of the passage for the original writer and recipients: Just what did the Biblical writer intend to convey?
B. Ask yourself: “What must the truth be, and have been, if it appeared like this to people who lived and thought like that?”
C. Examine your own faith presuppositions about the subjects considered in the passage. Does the text support those presuppositions? Does it challenge them in any way? Does it contradict them? How do you respond to what you find?
D. It is only when you have arrived at the answer to those questions, in light of all that has gone on before, that you are prepared to apply the meaning to contemporary life situations and ask:
What validity or relevance, if any, do these words have for me/us and my/our faith and practice today?
What now must I/we believe?
What now should I/we do?
How, then, shall I/we act and live?
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