A Boy and His Bible

At the outset, we must recognize that the goal of proper interpretation is to arrive at the author’s original and intended meaning as written in the text of Scripture. This is often called authorial intent. This goal of discovering authorial intent stands opposed to the reader-response theory (mentioned above) in which it is maintained that meaning may be created through the subjective and personal reactions of the reader. This is not to deny the multifaceted nature of the application of Scripture to our personal life. While there may be many applications of Scripture, it must firmly be held that there is one true interpretation of it. It is the goal of the student of Scripture to discover that interpretation through the means God has provided.

A significant passage that drives home the necessity of properly interpreting Scripture is 2 Pet 3:15–18, which reads as follows:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:15–18 ESV)

We can make several important observations from this passage:

1. Some things in Scripture are hard to understand (v.16). This implies that work and careful study may be required to come to a proper understanding of certain passages.
2. The ignorant and unstable twist (from strebloō, “to distort a statement so that a false meaning results”[1]) both Paul’s letters and the rest of Scripture to their own destruction (v.16). First, this implies that there is a correct and persistent meaning which Paul intended, but some will misinterpret it. That there is a correct meaning militates against the idea that there are multiple meanings to a passage. Rather, there is a single meaning which is determined by the author himself. Further, it is persistent in that Paul’s meaning was assumed to be the same when he wrote it as when Peter, sometime later, wrote his epistle even in the midst of progressive revelation. In other words, the meaning of Scripture does not change because of changing circumstances, readers, or amount of revelation. Second, it implies that the consequences of such a misinterpretation are grave.
3. Believers should be informed about this ahead of time (v. 17). Christians should not be unaware of the ways that people misinterpret the Scriptures.
4. Believers should take care (middle voice – reflexive idea, i.e., “keep careful watch of yourself,” “guard yourself closely”) not to be carried away by twisted error (v. 17). This implies the ability to identify error and avoid it. We can know the meaning of Scripture and we can know when someone is misinterpreting it. More than that, it is our moral obligation to do so. We must not be swept into the persuasion that says, “There are so many interpretations, can anyone really be sure that he has the right one?” Every believer must have his mind trained by the Scripture such that he can spot error and avoid it.
5. Being carried away by error results in the loss of stability (v. 17).
6. Instead of being carried away by error, believers must grow (or increase) in grace and knowledge (v. 18). This implies activity rather than passivity on the part of the believer.
7. Finally, the ultimate end of proper interpretation is to honor and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (v. 18).

As Christians, it is our solemn responsibility to interpret the Word of God correctly. Paul tells Timothy to be a workman approved by God “rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were constantly guilty of misinterpreting the Old Testament. Many of Jesus’ interactions with them involved correcting them and revealing to them the true interpretation of it (e.g., Matt 19:3-8). In 2 Peter 3:15-18, we see that there are right and wrong interpretations of Scripture. We also see that the misinterpretation described was a twisting of what Paul had written in his letters. This indicates that the correct interpretation was in fact what the author (Paul, in this case) originally intended and wrote. Though it may be difficult to understand and may require diligent work and study, it must be our goal to discover the authorial intent as it is written in the text of Scripture.

[1] Στρεβλόω, BDAG.