THE TASK OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION

A Book Summary Submitted to Oluwasogo Adegoke Ph.D

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course

By

GABRIEL FOLAYINKA OKENIYI

MARCH 2024
BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY

BOOK TITLE: The Task of Bible Interpretation

AUTHOR: Emiola Nihinlola

PLACE OF PUBLICATION: Ogbomoso

PUBLISHER: Hirise Publishers

YEAR: 2019

PAGE: 128

SUMMARY

Chapter One introduces the book. In this chapter, Nihinlola explicates that the Bible is

not an ordinary book, it is the Word of God; although written by human writers, God,

the Holy Spirit is the author. Just like every author has a purpose in mind, the overall

purpose of the Bible is to portray God’s plan of redemption for mankind in Jesus

Christ. For this overarching purpose to be achieved, it is inherent for Bible

interpreters to be aware that there are important and specific guiding principles which

must be followed if the scriptures will be rightly understood. Lack of cognizance of

these principles leads to what the author called “private interpretation”, a term which

explains the act of giving portions of the scriptures subjective meanings.

The purpose of the book, The Task of Bible Interpretation is to guide on how to

interpret the Bible. Why do we need to interpret the Bible? Two reasons are stated: to

know what the Bible means and to understand it.

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In the concluding part of the chapter, allusions were made to the book of Nehemiah

8:8 and Acts 8:30,31a. The former highlights three steps to understanding the Bible –

reading the law, making it clear and giving the meaning or sense while the latter

highlights the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, a story that models preaching

and teaching as means of interpreting the Word of God.

Chapter two focuses on the necessary requirements for the interpreter of the Word of

God which Nihinlola refers to as a Spiritual book. The spiritual life of the interpreter

is important in understanding the message (1 Cor. 2:14).

Five basic requirements are posited for the interpreter of the Bible which are:

experience of regeneration, dependence on the Holy Spirit, open-mindedness,

diligence and prayer. The experience of regeneration, because it brings the indwelling

of the Spirit which helps the interpreter to live a new life; dependence on the Holy

Spirit, because He is a teacher (John 14:26); open-mindedness, in order to prevent

against reading one’s presuppositions into the scriptures; diligence, because studying

the Bible to discover truth is hardwork; and finally, prayer, because Biblical

interpretation as a spiritual exercise requires dependence upon God completely

through prayerful meditation.

Chapter three surveys the historical development of biblical hermeneutics before,

during and after the Reformation. During the Pre-Reformation era, allegorical, literal,

historical and analogical were some of the approaches to Biblical interpretation. Some

of the scholars that led these approaches are Thomas Aquinas and Clement of

Alexandria. The concept of Sensus Plenior (fuller sense) was popular at the time too.

The Reformation period brought about some significant development to Biblical

Hermeneutics which are: humanist interpretation, Christological exegesis and clarity

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of scripture. Martin Luther, John Knox, Ulrich Zwingli and other contemporary

reformers took their stands across these three developments. One general contribution

of Reformation to Biblical interpretation is that all Christians were encouraged to read

and interpret the Bible.

In chapter four, Nihinlola suggested some tools that could help the interpreter in the

task of Biblical interpretation. Some of these tools include Bible Texts (different

versions), Study Bible, Concordance, Bible Dictionary/Encyclopedia, Theological

Dictionary, Hymn Books, Bible Commentary, etc.

Having uncovered some tools of Bible interpretation, Nihinlola in chapter five

highlights seven guiding principles of Bible interpretation: Historical Principle which

suggests that the history, customs, circumstances and thought forms of writers of the

Bible must be borne in mind; Grammatical Principle which focuses on the etymology

of words, punctuation, tenses, verbs, idioms, etc; Literal Principle which is more of a

sandwich of the former two principles; Christo-Centric Principle which upholds the

centrality of Christ in the scriptures; Contextual Principle which states that scriptures

should be interpreted in context; Harmonization Principle which holds that individual

passages of Scripture are to be interpreted in the light of the whole Bible; and lastly,

the Theological Principle which is the study of Bible topics or major subjects and

doctrines.

Chapter Six marks the shift in the trajectory of the book from principles to the “how”

of Bible interpretation with special consideration to figurative Bible texts. Before

dealing with a figurative text, Nihinlola warns that the general purpose of figurative

language in scripture is to illuminate and describe and not necessarily to serve as basis

for teaching or doctrine. He further cautions that no interpreter of the Word of God

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should claim to be infallible; it is wrong to speak with a tone of finality in

interpretation of the Word of God.

About six types of figurative Bible texts are considered in this chapter, these are:

Parables, allegory, prophecy, apocalypse, symbols and types. A Parable is “an

extended metaphor or simile which compared a religious truth with a common

experience or circumstance in life.” As a rule, a parable generally has one point and it

is not necessary to try to find a special meaning in every detail of the parable. Similar

to a parable is Allegory; however, an allegory may establish several points by virtue

of the meaningfulness of the several details that comprise the story.

On the next hand is prophecy which is the Word of God concerning the present and

future. 2 Peter 1:20-21 establishes that all scriptures are prophetic. To interpret

prophecies, one must pay attention to what scholars refer to as the “gap principle” or

the “law of double reference.” This principle highlights immediate and later fulfilment

of prophecies. Analogous to the prophecy is another type of figurative texts known as

Apocalypse. Apocalyptic writings in the Bible can be found in Ezekiel, Zechariah, 1

& 2 Thessalonians and 1 & 2 Peter. Apocalyptic writings involve the use of symbols

and codes. To correctly interpret these, one must seek for the knowledge of these

symbols at the time and place of the writing. To conclude on apocalypse, Nihinlola

warns that it should not be interpreted arbitrarily and that Bible commentaries will be

most useful.

The last two are Symbols and Type. Nihinlola stresses that Symbolism is not the same

as spiritualizing scriptures; the text or context will provide the meaning of the

symbols. A type is a symbol that is substituted by reality at a future time.

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Chapter Seven is concerned with biblical criticism. This chapter introduces the reader

to modern biblical critical methods which include Textual Criticism, Source

Criticism, Form Criticism, Historical Criticism and Redaction Criticism. Biblical

Criticism helps us to analyze, assess, interpret, understand and better appreciate the

Word of God.

Chapter Eight concentrates on interpretation of different genres of the scriptures or

what can be referred to as Bible Literary Forms. In the Old Testament, there are

Narratives, Law, Poetry and Wisdom Literature. Different kinds of Old Testament

narratives are reports, heroic narratives, comedy, and speeches. To interpret Old

Testament narrative, distinction should be made between the narrative itself and the

lessons. The Law, on the other hand is not judicial but instructional and for proper

interpretation, Nihinlola asserts that an Old Testament law is applicable today if it is

fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is also important to take note of the fact that the Law in Old

Testament refers to four major collections of law which are the Covenant Code, the

Deuteronomy Code, the Holiness Code and the Priestly Code.

The other two genres accustomed to the Old Testament are Poetry and Wisdom

Literature. Poetry is found especially in Psalms; Nihinlola prescribes that the

knowledge of the historical context of a poem will inform its interpretation. He further

suggest that poems in the Old Testament should be interpreted as complete units.

Wisdom literature on the same vein is projected largely by Solomon who authored

larger parts of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the book of Job. Wisdom literature are

probable truths that apply most but not all the time.

Nihinlola concludes in chapter nine of the book by highlighting Ezra as a model for us

to search for the truth of the scriptures. This searching for the truth is needed for

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practical Christian living. Like Ezra, we should be committed to the studying of

God’s Word, observing its precepts, and teaching others.