Other Related Pages
Observation: Paragraph Titles, Charting, Background, Style, Structure, Integration of Style & Structure, Conjunctions, Structural Laws, Analytical Diagram & Observation Chart, Word Studies, Figures of Speech, Parallelisms
Interpretation: History, Interpretative Phrases
INTERPRETATIVE PHRASES
Theory: The theory behind interpretative phrases is that the writers of Scripture wrote in such a way that every book, every section of a book, and every paragraph in a section can be described by a statement. Here are examples provided by Scripture, Itself:
Purpose Statement for a Book-John 20:30-31: "(30) Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; (31) but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." Verse 31 states the purposes of the whole Gospel.
Purpose Statement for a Paragraph-1 John 5:13: "(13) These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Song of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life." This verse appears at the end of a paragraph, verses 10-13, and specifies the purpose of the paragraph.
Preparation of an Interpretative Phrase: The chart that follows provides information on how interpretative phrases are prepared and validated. The possible purposes are elaborated in paragraph III. Examples follow in paragraph IV.
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- Doctrinal purposes concern only the transfer of knowledge from the mind of the author to the mind of the original readers.
“to teach” -- Ephesians 2:1-10: to teach/the Ephesian believers/that God positioned them with Christ to display His grace
- Apologetic purposes denote that there is an emphasis on the validity of an idea rather than just on the transfer of knowledge. This is a defense against false doctrine.
“to prove” -- Matthew 1:1-17: to prove/to first century Jews/that Jesus was qualified to be the Messiah because He is the product of a Messianic lineage characterized by mercy
- Performance purposes are utilized when influencing the course of the original readers’ lives.
- Showing Approval: “to commend” -- Revelation 2:2-3: to commend/the Ephesian believers/because they have remained uninfluenced by false teachers
- Showing Disapproval:
- “to warn” -- Revelation 3:18: to warn/the Laodiceans/so that they may receive Christ’s righteousness
- “to condemn” -- judgmental -- Amos 2:9-16: to condemn/the nation of Israel/by causing them to be helpless before their enemies because they exhibited no respect for God after He had continually delivered them from their enemies
- Neutral:
- “to exhort” -- standard advanced through reasoning but does not issue command -- Ephesians 4:1-16: to exhort/the Ephesian believers/to maintain the unity of the universal church by exercising their gifts in love under the supervision of Christ
- “to command” -- conformity to a standard is ordered -- Ephesians 5:1-6: to command/the Ephesian believers/to become imitators of God by walking in love and by avoiding any hint of evil
- Literary purposes describe processes that support the purpose of the book in a secondary sense.
- “to identify” -- Ephesians 1:1a: to identify/for the Ephesian believers/the apostle Paul as the originator of the letter to establish its authority
- “to inform” -- 1 Peter 5:13: to inform/Jewish Christians/that Peter’s associates send their greetings
- “to illustrate” -- 2 Corinthians 1:8-11: to illustrate/for the Corinthian believers/by showing that Paul received comfort while being afflicted by the Corinthian’s prayers and God’s intercession so that his trust would be in God
- Logical: Ephesians
- Coming
- Coming
© 2005, Ken Bowles - January 16, 2005, Edition
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