Principle 22

HERMENEUTICS

PRINCIPLE 22

Know the Different Types of Literature

Most people spend a large portion their day reading different things. On any given day, one might read emails, texts, websites, books, letters, instructions, official documents… the list could go on. Other categories of literature include poetry, prose, and fiction. In a similar way, there are different types of literature in the Bible, and these different classifications affect our interpretation.

Imagine how you would interpret a love letter in contrast to a medical document. The language in a love letter tends to be highly figurative and not technically detailed. You might read in a letter that someone had “soft eyes” or a “big heart,” but your interpretations of these descriptions differently would be different if you read them in a doctor’s report! Likewise, knowing the type of literature we’re reading in the Bible will help us in our interpretation.

Historical Narrative

Historical narrative is the record of what took place in history. It uses ordinary language or prose; it doesn’t use highly figurative language or poetry.

Genesis

The book of Genesis is historical narrative, including the creation account in Genesis 1-2. This is significant for the proper interpretation of the passage. Some people don’t take the creation account literally, claiming that Genesis 1-2 is a Hebrew poem and should be interpreted symbolically. This view is incorrect because Genesis 1-2 is not a Hebrew poem. It’s historical narrative. Hebrew poetry has a distinctive structure which we’ll discuss later. The first two chapters of Genesis are the same literary style as the rest of the book, and they should be interpreted similarly.

Jonah

Except for chapter 2, the book of Jonah is historical narrative, not a biblical parable. Chapter two is poetry; it contains Jonah’s reflections while he was in the stomach of the big fish. Even in his poem we can see that Jonah was going through a real experience. The story of Jonah and the big fish is not fiction.

Apocalyptic Literature

Apocalyptic literature is prophetic revelation in vision form. The Bible contains visions of the future, inspired by God. This kind of literature is not always easy to interpret, because a vision can be highly symbolic. In addition, apocalyptic literature is difficult to interpret because it deals with the future. It’s obviously easier to interpret prophecy that’s already been fulfilled!

Revelation 16

The vision of Revelation 16 describes angels pouring out bowls of judgment on the earth. These bowls are probably symbolic because it seems highly unlikely that angels will literally carry around huge bowls full of judgment to pour out on the earth. However, other things in Revelation 16 (such as the people, the springs of water, the sun, and the Euphrates River) should be taken literally. When interpreting apocalyptic literature, it can be challenging to distinguish between what’s literal and what’s symbolic.

Apocalyptic literature is found in several places in the Bible: Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Revelation.

Zechariah 5

This chapter records two visions given to the prophet Zechariah: the vision of the flying scroll, and the vision of the woman in a basket. How should we interpret the symbolism in these visions?

In the first vision, a flying scroll flew into certain homes and utterly destroyed them. In the second vision, Zechariah saw something even more extraordinary: a woman sitting inside a flying basket with a lead cover. Two other women with large wings came and whisked the basket away to a foreign land.

We’re given some insight into the interpretation of these visions from the angel who spoke with Zechariah. The main theme is the judgment and removal of sin and wickedness. In the first vision, the thief and the liar are judged. In the second vision, the woman called “Wickedness” is removed. The details of the visions accentuate the main point. The large flying scroll containing the Law of God—which entered and destroyed the house of every sinner—emphasizes the judgment of God that will be sweeping and complete. No secret sin or evil practiced behind closed doors will be left unjudged. Imagine that scroll flying through your neighborhood today. How many “hidden” sins would come under judgment? Believers can be thankful that all our sins have already been judged and forgiven in Christ!

In the second vision, the woman called “Wickedness” being forcibly held in the basket by a heavy weight indicates that evil is limited and under the control of God. It’s encouraging to know that God has a rein on evil now, before it’s completely removed. The removal of wickedness to a pre-planned place in the land of Shinar emphasizes that there’s a designated time and place in God’s plan for the removal and judgment of evil. Organized rebellion by man against God began at the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar (Genesis 11) — and man’s wickedness will come full cycle for judgment after running its destructive course through history.

Follow this general rule when interpreting apocalyptic literature: if the items make sense when taken in a literal way, then interpret the items literally. If they don’t make sense when interpreted literally, then look for a symbolic meaning from the surrounding context and similar symbols in the rest of the Bible.

Prophecy

We’ve already discussed prophecy in this course on hermeneutics. Remember that apocalyptic literature and Old Testament types are two sub-categories of prophecy. Here are a couple guidelines to keep in mind when interpreting any biblical prophecy.

GUIDELINE 1

The church does not appear in Old Testament prophecy, except in types.

Look at the following illustration regarding the fulfillment of prophecy:

Have you ever viewed the Rocky Mountains of Colorado as you’re approaching them from a long distance away? All the mountains almost seem like they’re painted on a flat board — like a single line of mountains silhouetted on the distant horizon. You can’t see the foothills, valleys, and other terrain until you actually get up close and into the mountains.

Now think of the mountains as biblical prophecy, with the Old Testament prophet standing far away on the plains looking toward the mountains. From a distance, all that the prophet can see is the mountain peaks fused together, appearing to be one straight line. The foothills represent prophecies that have been fulfilled since the prophet’s time. The high peaks are prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. The prophet didn’t distinguish between the foothills and the high peaks of prophecy because it was all future to him, and thus the prophet didn’t see the church age. It was hidden from his view between the mountain ranges. The church appears only in types in the Old Testament.

Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:17-21

Luke 4 records the Lord Jesus reading from the messianic passage of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth. The Lord read from the scroll of Isaiah and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Notice that He had stopped the Isaiah quote in mid-sentence. He read about the acceptable year of the Lord, but did not add “and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.” Jesus didn’t finish quoting Isaiah’s prophecy, because the day of vengeance is still in the future. The acceptable year of the Lord would be like the prophetic foothills in our diagram above. These prophecies were fulfilled at the first coming of Christ. When the Lord returns to this earth in judgment, He’ll fulfill the “day of vengeance,” which is the “high peaks” of Isaiah’s prophecy.

The Old Testament prophets saw both the first and second comings of Christ like mountain peaks fused together. The church was hidden from their sight between the peaks. In fact, the church isn’t mentioned in the Bible until Matthew 16, where the Lord said, “I will build My church” (emphasis added). So the Old Testament prophets didn’t see the church in their prophecies, and they didn’t distinguish between the first and second comings of Christ. When the Messiah came, He and His kingdom were rejected. Therefore, the church was established and revealed for the first time. The unfulfilled kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament await the return of Christ for their fulfillment.

Types of the Church 

The Church is only seen in the Old Testament in “types.” Remember the definition of a type? It’s an Old Testament person, place, event, or other item that illustrates a New Testament truth. Adam, the first man, is a type of Christ: the Man from heaven. Eve, the bride of Adam, would be a type of the church: the bride of Christ. Remember that Adam was put to sleep so Eve could be formed. In the same way, Christ was put to death and His bride, the church, was formed.

In Genesis 22, Isaac is a type of Christ in His death and resurrection (Hebrews 11:19). Rebekah, the bride of Isaac, is therefore a type of the church, the bride of the resurrected Christ. In Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant (a type of the Holy Spirit) was sent out to a foreign land to get a bride for Isaac. Rebekah was found and she responded in faith (Genesis 24:58). This is a beautiful picture of the church being called out of this world to come to Christ by faith.

GUIDELINE 2

Prophecy is fulfilled in different ways.

A. Complete Fulfillment

1 Kings 13:1-2 and 2 Kings 23:15-16

First Kings 13 contains a prophecy about Jeroboam I, the wicked king of Israel who set up golden calf idols in Dan and Bethel. A prophet made a specific prediction about the future of the idolatrous altar in Bethel. About three hundred years after the prophecy was made, there was a revival under king Josiah (2 Kings 23). Josiah burned bones on the altar and destroyed it, exactly as was predicted. This is an example of complete fulfillment. There’s nothing left to be fulfilled; this prophecy was predicted and has been completely fulfilled.

B. Partial Fulfillment . . .

Isaiah 61:1-2

In other passages, some parts have already been fulfilled, while other parts await future fulfillment. Isaiah 61, which we studied earlier, would be an example of partial fulfillment. Part of the prophecy was fulfilled at the first coming of Christ, and part awaits future fulfillment at His second coming.

Micah 5:2-4

This well-known messianic prophecy was partially fulfilled when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But the end of verse 3 and verse 4 await future fulfillment when the Lord returns. On our mountain peak diagram, Micah 5:2 was fulfilled at Christ’s first coming (in the foothills), but verse 4 will be fulfilled in the end times (the mountain peaks).

C. Typical Fulfillment . . .

Isaiah 7:13-14 and Matthew 1:23

This well-known messianic prophecy concerns the virgin birth of Jesus. This prophecy was fulfilled in type form in Isaiah’s day. God gave King Ahaz a sign that Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel would not threaten Judah anymore (verse 16). The prophecy referred to a virgin, whom Isaiah later took as his wife. A child was born and, before he was grown, Syria and Israel were taken captive by the Assyrian empire. Isaiah’s wife was thus a type of the Virgin Mary, who miraculously conceived the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this prophecy about our Lord’s birth was typically fulfilled during the life of Isaiah.

Poetry

The Bible contains large sections of poetry, especially in the Old Testament. In fact, one entire division of the Hebrew Old Testament is called the Books of Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Hebrew poetry has two primary characteristics:

• Figurative language

• Parallel structure

The figurative language in Hebrew poetry is usually easy to interpret. We’ll discuss figures of speech in more depth in our next principle, but here’s one example for now.

Song of Solomon 4 and 7

When Solomon described his bride, he used highly figurative language, which is easily recognizable. Here are some excerpts from his description, “You have dove’s eyes behind your veil . . . your hair is like a flock of goats . . . your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep . . . your lips are like a strand of scarlet.” When you read that do you think of something that looks like this?

Of course not! We understand that this language is to be taken figuratively since it’s a Hebrew poem.

Another characteristic of Hebrew poetry is its structure, which is called Hebrew parallelism. In parallelism, the thought in one line of the poem is followed by a parallel thought in the next line. We could say that in Hebrew poetry, the thoughts rhyme rather than the words. Here’s a brief and simplified list of the different basic types of Hebrew parallelism.

1. Synonymous Parallelism Characteristic: Repetition of the same or similar thought — Examples: Psalm 19:2; Psalm 24:1; Psalm 25:4

2. Antithetic Parallelism Characteristic: Contrasting or opposite thoughts — Examples: Psalm 1:6; Psalm 18:27

3. Emblematic Parallelism Characteristic: Use of word pictures to illustrate thought — Examples: Psalm 42:1; Proverbs 25:25

4. Synthetic Parallelism Characteristic: One thought adds to, builds upon, or completes another thought — Examples: Psalm 1:1; Psalm 23:1-3; Proverbs 15:17

Letters

The New Testament Epistles are 1st century letters. Knowing the format of a letter can help us with the interpretation. Suppose, for example, you picked up two pieces of paper. One said, “Dear Sam,” and the other said, “Dear Sir.” You would immediately recognize that both were letters. You would also know that the “Sam” letter was a personal letter, and the “Sir” letter was a business letter. These are the customary formats for letters today.

In the 1st century, there was also a standard format for letters. They began with a salutation and greeting. The salutation included the name of the writer (and possible associates) and the names of the recipients. The salutation was followed by a greeting, as in 2 Timothy 1:1-2 and Philippians 1:1-2. Normally the letter would next include a section of thanksgiving (2 Timothy 1:3-7 and Philippians 1:3-11).

Most of Paul’s letters follow this typical format for 1st century letters: salutation, greeting, and thanksgiving. So letters that don’t follow this format are worth noting. The letter to the Galatians, for example, does not include a section of thanksgiving (Galatians 1:1-7). This is an indication that Paul wanted to get right to the point of the letter. Paul was very concerned because the Galatians were distorting the gospel by teaching that keeping the Mosaic Law was an essential element of salvation. In Paul’s letters where he addressed serious doctrinal error (Galatians, 1 Timothy, and Titus), he omitted the thanksgiving section. Knowing about the literary style of biblical letters helps us notice this hermeneutical point.

Wisdom Literature

Wisdom literature contains practical, down-to-earth advice from God. It’s wisdom for living. The book of Proverbs is the primary example of wisdom literature in the Bible. Other examples include Job, Ecclesiastes, and James. When interpreting wisdom literature such as Proverbs, it’s important to remember that proverbs are general truths stated in general terms. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) is a general truth stated in general terms. The Book of Proverbs isn’t a random collection of popular statements, such as, “April showers bring May flowers.” And they’re not precepts, or truths stated in absolute terms. Truth stated in proverb form is not interpreted in the same way as truth stated in precept form.

The statement, “A man and woman should be married before starting a family,” is truth stated in precept form. There are to be no exceptions. The statement, “Christian marriages result in better home and family life,” is truth in proverb form. Yes, there are Christians that don’t have good marriages, but that doesn’t make this proverb untrue. It’s a general truth stated in general terms, and exceptions don’t make a proverb false.

Proverbs 18:22

Does this proverb mean you must be married to find favor with God? No. Does this proverb mean that all men have wonderful marriages? No. We must remember that this is a proverb, and it’s generally true that a man who finds the right woman and marries her is blessed.

Proverbs 22:6

Many Christian parents see Proverbs 22:6 as a wonderful promise that their sons and daughters will turn out to be model Christians as the grow up. Some parents are disappointed and even bitter toward God when their children turn out to be anything but model Christians. Commentators give many explanations for the “exceptions” to this proverb. They say, perhaps the child is going through a rebellious teenage stage, but “when he is old” he will turn out well, or perhaps the parents did not “train up” the child properly. The best solution to the problem of these “exceptions” is that this is a general truth stated in general terms. Normally, the disciplined efforts of parents are going to be rewarded with the salvation and spiritual well-being of their children.

Parables

The final type of biblical literature we will study is parables. When interpreting parables, you can go to two extremes: either reading too much meaning into the details of the parable, or failing to see the meaning that God intended for the details. Remember that parables are verbal pictures. We should focus on the main point that the Artist, the Lord Himself, wanted to convey. Any details of the parable should support this main point.

Matthew 25:1-13

The main point of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins is to be on the alert for the Lord’s return (verse 13). The meaningful details of this parable, which are not just background, should support the main point — and they do. For example, Christ’s imminent return for the church was lost for many centuries (all the virgins fell asleep), but has now been recovered and is being proclaimed by evangelicals. This fact may indeed constitute a detail of this parable and help us to interpret it. However, if someone wrongly interpreted the parable to teach that a believer can lose his or her salvation because of verse 8: “Our lamps are going out,” then the interpreter has strayed from the main point of the parable — and that contradicts other clear Scripture.