Deep Dive into Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr. - The History of Interpretation

The history of biblical interpretation serves three primary purposes: it introduces key issues pertinent to the interpretive process, sensitizes readers to the opportunities and pitfalls of contextualizing ancient teachings, and cultivates an attitude of humility in approaching complex scriptural study.

In the late intertestamental era, Jewish interpretation intensified due to the cultural crisis posed by Roman and Hellenistic domination. Hellenistic Judaism, exemplified by Philo, employed an allegorical method rooted in Platonic philosophy, holding that Scripture possessed both a literal "body" and a more important spiritual "soul." Meanwhile, Rabbinic Judaism developed distinct interpretive categories, distinguishing between legal regulations (Halakah) and narrative edification (Haggadah), and the Qumran community utilized the pesher method to contemporize prophecy and claim fulfillment in their contemporary events.

Until the Reformation, church tradition held virtually the same doctrinal authority as the Bible, shaping interpretation through methods like the Alexandrian school’s allegorical approach. Scholars like Origen taught a threefold meaning (literal, moral, spiritual), which was later expanded in the Middle Ages to the four traditional senses (literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical). Influential figures like Augustine, however, stressed that the goal of all interpretation must be to foster love for God and others, emphasizing the importance of the literal or historical meaning.

The Reformation shattered the dominance of tradition when Martin Luther established the foundational premise of sola scriptura (Scripture alone), affirming that only the Bible holds divine authority. Luther and John Calvin rejected the subjective nature of allegory in favor of the historical sense, discerned by applying ordinary rules of grammar within the original context. This focus on the literal text was bolstered by Desiderius Erasmus’s publication of the Greek New Testament, which exposed translation errors in the authoritative Latin Vulgate.

In the modern era, the rise of the historical-critical method shifted the focus. Guided by naturalism and rationalism, this approach treated the Bible as secular literature, excluding the supernatural and elevating human reason to discover the historical and literary sources lurking behind the text.

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