Investigating Scripture

One of the most important elements of interpreting Scripture properly is investigation. In investigation, we do our best to leave our modern world behind and focus on what God and the human authors intended for their original audiences to understand. We call this “original meaning.”

In general, biblical interpreters distinguish two ways of investigating Scripture: “exegesis,” which means to pull out or derive meaning from a text; and “eisegesis,” which means to read meaning into a passage. Scientifically oriented biblical interpreters work very hard to avoid eisegesis, employing principles of interpretation that they believe will ensure them of exegetical, not eisegetical, understandings of Scripture. In this view, investigation largely amounts to using scientific methods or principles of interpretation that help us discern the actual original meaning — not just someone’s opinion or agenda. This kind of investigation is important, but it hardly covers everything.

Yes, we must focus our investigation so that it doesn’t venture into speculation or error, but for proper investigation, we must also pay attention to the concepts God and his inspired authors intended to communicate to their original audiences. We should ask certain conceptual questions that aren’t commonly addressed in scientific hermeneutics, like, “How does this text reveal the author’s experience of God?” and, “How does this passage indicate ways the author intended for his audience to experience God?”

In addition, our investigation should also focus on the behavioral dimensions of Scripture’s original meaning. Human behavior either furthers or hinders our ability to come into the special presence of God. For this reason, as the biblical authors wrote, they also revealed how their actions and the actions of their audiences affected their experience of God’s nearness.

Finally, our investigation should also draw out the emotional dimensions of original meaning as they relate to the nearness of God. Although scientific interpretation often overlooks this, the biblical authors often expressed their own emotions and sought to impact the emotions of their original audiences. The joys, doubts, sorrows, and fears of the biblical authors and their audiences appear at every turn. So, our investigation should never ignore these emotions and the ways the biblical authors and their audiences expressed their experiences of the presence of God.

Investigating Scripture is far more than just avoiding eisegesis while interpreting Scripture’s original meaning. It’s also grounding our interpretations in the truth God revealed through the concepts, behaviors and emotions of the authors and their original audiences.