Hermeneutics Man shall not live by bread alone

Hermeneutics “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” Matt. 4: 4

Four Basic Gaps • The Linguistic (language) Gap • The Cultural (lifestyle) Gap • The Geographical (location or topography {maps, charts}) Gap • The Historical (past events) Gap

The Linguistic Gap • God spoke words (thoughts or ideas) • The Bible was written in 3 different languages • Hebrew, Aramaic (Chaldee) and Greek • Is anyone among us skilled in these languages?

Example • Matthew 22: 32 • Jesus defended life after death • I am the God of Abraham • Not I was the God of Abraham • Am, Was, and Is are small words capable of changing the entire context of a sentence.

Three (3) basic considerations • Vocabulary • Grammar • Genre (type or style of language used)

Vocabulary • Definition: a sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individuals, or work or in a field of knowledge. • There are four essential elements • Etymology (history), comparative study, cultural meaning and the cognate (equivalent) of the words being studied.

Etymology • The history of the word • Where did it come from? • Why and how was the word created? • The meaning of a word is influenced by it origin. • Hermeneutical tools are very important

Comparative Study • Studying words within Scripture. • The same word at each occurrence. (OT & NT) • The meaning may vary from verse to verse, chapter to chapter and book to book. • Do not assume anything

Cultural Meaning • A word’s use and meaning in a specific era of time • The word conversation means for us today, to talk. • For the Greeks, it can mean behavior. • A word today considered to mean infidelity. • The same word meant moral impurity in the broadest of terms.

Cognate languages • The study of equivalent words in related languages. • All languages can be closely related to other languages. • Most of the English words evolved from other languages.

Grammar • A failure to understand interpret Biblical grammar can lead to misinterpretations. • Past, present, future, verb, noun, adjective, singular and plural

Grammar and Languages • Analytic language is a language where the order of words determine the meaning or role of each word (English & Hebrew) • Synthetic language is a language where the ending determines the words meanings (Greek & Spanish)

Genre • • • The type or style of language 3 elements of Genre Literary style Literary expression Figures of speech

Definitions • Literary style: historical, poetical or prophetical • Literary expression: parables, allegories or riddles • Figures of Speech: comparing one thing with another thing which has a familiar meaning to the reader (metaphor- drowning in money)