Hermeneutics of the New Testament

Front matter

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Preface

Whether a work on New Testament Hermeneutics, such as I here offer to the scientific public., is, after so many performances of this kind, a desideratum, and whether this work corresponds to the desideratum and to the cherished expectations, others will decide. After what has been accomplished in this department since Ernesti, by Keil, Dopke, Pareau, Klausen, Lutz, Schleiermacher (ed. Liicke), Liicke himself, Davidson, and Wilke, — not to speak of Olshausen and R. Stier — a work like mine might in fact be designated as something superfluous. It might even be shown that on the principles and the methods of biblical exegesis perfect unanimity has long prevailed among all respectable interpreters.

On the other hand, I will not refer to the unnumbered differences in the conception of many passages ; for despite all that the best hermeneutics may ever accomplish, men will never come to perfect certainty and unanimity ; but I will point to the great questions still continually in dispute, whether the so-called theological or the grammatico- historical interpretation should have the precedence in the exegetical profix)

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cedure, whether in the exegetical procedure a definite theory on Scripture should or should not be made the basis.

As regards the literature in this field of inquiry, the treatises of Schleiermacher and Lutz, as is well-known, are opera posthuma, and the excellent men, if they had wished to commit these works to publicity, would have found many things to be filed down, some to be expressed more clearly and unambiguously. Nevertheless, the hermeneutical writings of these two men have their great value ; that of Schleiermacher is full of genial thoughts and brilliant aperqus, as is everything that proceeded from this great theologian ; that of Lutz, my never-to-be-forgotten teacher, is distinguished for philological accuracy, theological depth, and practical substantiality. 1 But as the former is defective in accurate proofs and in substantiality, so the latter — apart from the faultiness of form — bears in itself the coloring of its time, inasmuch as it could have regard only to the phenomena of the first four decades of the present century. The same may be said of Liicke's Hermeneutik, which took a decidedly anti-rationalistic attitude without being able to have regard to the opposite errors that have since come forward. 2 With Klausen the history of hermeneutics takes up so much space, that hermeneutics itself can be treated only in a sketchy

1 It gives me pleasure to have found in Diestel (Gesch. des A.T., 632) a full recognition of the work of my honored teacher.

2 This latter Liicke did accomplish to some extent at a later period in his Christmas Programme of 1853.

PREFACE. XI

and formal way. Finally, with reference to the two works of Wilke (" Neutestamentliche Ehetorik " and " Hermeneutik des Nenen Testamentes "), it may be said that they are both noted for rich materials and great rigor; yet the "Rhetoric" suffers from an almost hair-splitting subtlety, and the " Hermeneutics " in its doctrinal part lacks substantiality, and has entered too little upon fundamental questions.

Attempting, as I now do, to supply the defects mentioned, and to obviate the errors and distortions that have appeared in this department, especially in more recent times, and which even now lay claim to a sort of monopoly, I owe the reader an account of the principles that have guided me. The history of Scripture interpretation from the beginning down to the present day teaches that all differences in the treatment of Scripture have proceeded from different views of Scripture itself, and that these may be reduced to two fundamental aspects — the dogmatic and the historical. Proceeding now as, according to my firm conviction, we must proceed from the historical aspect, and hence regarding exegesis as in the first instance a historicalscience, we do not wish to be understood as implying that in the Scriptures we have to do merely with the opinions of the Hebrews and of the early Christians, but that the eternal and saving truth itself, appearing as it does in national, temporal, and individual forms, has a, history, and that the revelation from which the Scriptures sprung, as well as the Scriptures themselves,

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in their totality as in their individual parts, are a historical fact. To understand this fact, to think himself into the same, renouncing all traditional or subjective prepossessions, is the interpreter's task, and to make this task plain in its various aspects -was my endeavor. But if the various methods of interpretation may be referred to the various views of Scripture, these views themselves rest — as I am convinced — on the difference of opinion on the question : how the religious interest is to be related to the scientific work of the interpreter. Hence, on the one hand the demand that the Scriptures be regarded as a holy book, 1 to the neglect of the historical realities that yet meet the interpreter at every step ; on the other hand, the demand that the latter moment should constitute the interpreter's essential work, and that the religious contents should either be entirely neglected or be brought forward as a mere idea of the time. It seemed justifiable to me, therefore, to devote a section to the fundamental question as to the relation of the religious to the scientific in the treatment of Scripture.

But if, now, a hermeneutical treatise resting on this principal point of view is to be fruitful, it must not move on the field of mere theory, nor bring mere abstract recepta to the treatment of this or that critical or exegetical difficulty, but it must be as substantial as possible, and this not only through collecta on the linguistic usage of the different New Testament authors,

1 Gotterfullt — God-filled, through and through divine. — Tr.

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* such as have been made with approximate completeness by Wilke, but also and chiefly through practical attention to the application of the most important exegetical rules. These examples could have been multiplied, but I refrained from adding to them not merely with a view not to allow my book to swell to too great a bulk, but also in order to leave room for the young exegetes to apply the hermeneutical principles independently to other passages.

The design to make my text-book useful even for beginners in exegesis necessitated the introduction of much that is self-intelligible to more practised theologians, and to those that have made a specialty of this department. In general to students and to practical clergymen it offers much, as I hqpej that they can use, but to professional theologians very little. For the former, therefore, is my book chiefly intended.

I regret that Weiffenbach's " Zukunftsgedanke Jesu," Gebhardfs " Lehrbegriff der Apokalypse," Hausrath's, continuation of his New Testament History under the title " Die Zeit der Martyrer und das nachapostolische Zeitalter," as well as Binwris " L' Antichrist," came too late to be of service in the preparation of this work. I shall be criticised, moreover, for having made so little special reference to the literature of my subject ; but it will at least be found that the clumsiness, which would thus have arisen, has been avoided.

Defects and imperfections, doubtless, adhere to my work, — such as I myself recognize, but cannot now

Contents

Introduction, . 1

Part I. — The General Principles of Hermenewtics, 5

1. The Office of the Interpreter in General, .... 6

2. The Right View of Scripture, 12

3. The Interpretation of Scripture in General, and of the

New Testament in Particular, 28

a) History of Scripture interpretation in connection with the present idea of Scripture, 29 P) Results from the history of exegesis for the nature and the principles of Scripture interpretation, . . . .83 Review of the various exegetical

methods, 83

The right exegetical stand-point, . 90 The exegetical statement, . .100

Part II— The Single Operations of the Scripture Interpreter, 104

1. The Criticism of the Text, 104

2. The Grammatical Explanation, 124

A. The Linguistic Character of the New Testament, . 124

a) The character of the New Testament language

in general, 124

6) The linguistic peculiarities of the various New

Testament writers, 132

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2. The Grammatical Explanation — continued.

B. Helps to the Explanation,

a) The internal helps, • •

a) The connection, ....

y3) The parallel passages,

Old Testament citations, . 6) The external helps, ....

a) General helps, ....

fi) Special helps,

C. The Exegetical Judgment, .... 8. The Logical Explanation,

a) Explanation of the connection of the single thoughts among themselves,

The rhetorical, ....

The dialectic, ....

Conjunctions, ....

Participial relations, , V) Ascertaining the course of thought of an entire section, ......

c) Discovery of the intention and the fundamental thought of a section, ....

a) Discovery of the fundamental thought of a parable, .....

j$) Intention of other doctrinal sections, •y) Intention of prophetical sections, .

4. The Keal-explanation,

a) The physical and the geographical, 6) The historical and the chronological, c) The influence of the ideal on the historical,

a) Influence of the religious popular spirit on

the historical representation, . . 298 f$) Influence of the individual spirit of the

author on the historical representation, 308

CONTENTS. ^TU

5. The ascertaining of the Object and the Intention of an

entire Writing, 810

a) The intention of doctrinal writings, . .312

V) The intention of historical writings, . . 323

c) The intention of the Apocalypse, . . . 330

Fart III. — The Religious Understanding, • • 389

1. The Religious Interest as motive to Scripture Study, . 341

The religious interest, . . . 341

The laic understanding, . . . 345

Motive to Scripture study, . . 346

2. . The Relation of the Religious Interest to the Exegetical

3. The Theological Understanding (as product of Religious

Interest and Scientific Labor), 360

a) The theological understanding proper, . . 3C0

b) The impartation of the theological understand-

ing to others, 370

Scientific, 370

Conclusion, 376

Appendix. — A Summary of the Leading Peculiarities of New Testament Greek Grammar, from Notes of Dr. J. A.

Broadus, 378

Index of Scripture Passages treated of, 383