Scriptures: Nothing Like "My Interpretation"

First and foremost, there’s nothing wrong with the word interpretation. Interpretation is a real discipline, going back centuries, aimed at figuring out what the original writers meant and translating that meaning forward to readers today. There’s a delicate balance and very fine line here in what I’m trying to get at, so please bear with me while I try to lay it out clearly.

A Word in a Time of Rapid Change

We’re in an era of unprecedented, rapid change. I see it, and I know you’ve seen it. Language experts around the world are saying the same thing, that language has been shifting at an accelerated rate over the last five to ten years. Words are getting redefined almost daily, euphemisms are replacing traditional terms, and political parties are also adding to this by reframing narratives. Meanings are shifting faster than our dictionaries can keep up with.

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the word

discernment

has been getting redefined in real time, plucked out of its spiritual context and repurposed for politics, media, and casual conversation. It’s a word that once held deep meaning in my faith but now holds diluted meaning. I’m seeing something strange happen with the word interpretation now, too.

In my day-to-day life, I realized I don’t actually think with that term in my head when it comes to Bible study or belief. It’s not an option my mind reaches for, the way it seems to be for a lot of people these days. When it comes to Scripture, I see one thing: what does Scripture say? I do not see my interpretation of Scripture.

To me, Scripture is Scripture, a vast majority of it blunt, direct, and hard to misread. Even the metaphorical, narrative, or poetic parts are making a point that’s hard to miss, even if it takes some sorting out to see exactly what. Take the locusts in

Revelation 9, for example; they could represent several different things or be a literal type of insect. Either way, one thing is clear from the text. They’re creepy, painful, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of God.

The Difference Between Two Kinds

Now, logically, I know what I believe is technically considered an interpretation of Scripture, so this isn’t about rejecting interpretation itself. Because Scripture itself makes room for two kinds:

hermeneia

, tied to tongues and prophecy, and

diermeneuo

, the kind Jesus practiced in

Luke 24

, explaining what the text actually says.

That’s the interpretation I do not argue with. What I’m pushing back on is a third, unofficial kind that’s crept into conversations, the one that’s slowly turning into an excuse word. I often hear people say “well, my interpretation” or “my translation” tells them this or that, and what follows is often off base.

“My interpretation” is starting to mean one of two things now. Sometimes it’s defiant in a way. “What I want the Bible to say, and I don’t care what you or God thinks.” Other times it’s just simple avoidance. “I’m not going to do the work to actually understand it; I’ll just go with the reading I already agree with.”

Both are still replacing the real question, “What does the Bible say?” That’s the line I’m drawing here.

When Human Words Become the Final Authority

Here’s the same fine line from another angle. I agree that interpretation has its place, but ask yourself, how many translations and commentaries absolutely agree on all of Scripture?

None of them do, and that’s exactly the point. Humanity is fallible; God is not. What I’m pushing back on is a person falling back on human translations, interpretations, and commentaries as if they were the absolute, final authority.

Every translation into English, or any language for that matter, is going to make a few missteps, because translation is always an act of approximation, and no rendering into another language can capture the original perfectly. Those original languages were selected by God for a reason. So when someone says “my translation says” or “my interpretation,” it can ever so subtly take Scripture out of God’s hands and place it into human hands, turning God’s word into a focus on people’s words instead. That is a mighty fine line, and an easy one to cross.

The good news is that we, especially in this day and age, have been given the ability to go straight to the original languages and study them. If a word or phrase in a verse is confusing, go to the concordance, because that word will be shown everywhere else it’s used in the Bible, helping you understand the full, 4D complexity of what it means. There’s no excuse not to search it out rather than resting on a single translated word. Study it.

The Bible is the most cross-referenced collection of books we will ever encounter, and that’s not an accident. That web of cross-references is built in on purpose; it’s there to help us understand a word or phrase by seeing everywhere else it’s used.

And a word on commentaries specifically. People write commentaries. I know people personally who treat the commentary section as the final authority and sometimes as their only reading. Don’t get me wrong, they can be helpful, but more often than not I find they can and do add to the problem. If the commentary section is all a person relies on, it’s one of the easiest ways to be led astray.

What Does Scripture Say?

We are to study, read, and hear what Scripture says, and honestly, I just wanted to try to point out that this is now becoming a thing I am seeing everywhere, and we need to be very careful. Our thoughts should always be “What does Scripture say?” not “What is my interpretation?”

That frame of mind takes Scripture out from under God’s authority and places it under the authority of man. I really hope this makes sense; it took me forever to try to figure out just how to word this.

Disclaimer: Written by a human who wisely used spell check.

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