 |  |
Observing grammatical sense will also take note of idioms, that is, terms of phrase
peculiar to a language. For instance "the breaking of bread" is a Jewish idiom for eating
a meal. The flat round Jewish loaves were not cut, but broken before they could be eaten,
hence the expression came to mean the partaking of any meal. To restrict it to the
"Lord's Supper", as some do, is erroneous and fails to recognize this idiom. When the
Lord Jesus fed the four thousand He broke bread (Mark 8: 6-9), and the disciples
distributed it; so also after His resurrection (Luke 24: 30) He broke bread and joined in
a meal with the eleven. In neither case was He celebrating what afterwards was known
as the Lord's Supper. Likewise in Acts 2: 44-46, the apostles' doctrine included having
all things common or shared, and this included their possessions, goods and meals:
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from
house to house, did eat their meat (food) with gladness and singleness of heart/"
Here "breaking bread" is explained as "eating their food" and does not refer to taking
communion in the modern sense of the phrase; those who insist on this fail to recognize
a common Jewish idiom and read into the passage what is not there.
The Principle of Contextual Interpretation.
The Bible is not a collection of verses put together without any relation to one another.
Something goes before every verse and something follows it. If we recognize the flow of
thought leading to a passage and away from it, we can know with some certainty the flow
thought within it. This should be obvious, but it is surprising how often the obvious is
missed in Biblical interpretation. Had this principle been put into practice consistently,
many false doctrines and sects could never have arisen. One writer puts it this way:
"To interpret without regard to the context is to interpret at random; to interpret
contrary to the context is to teach falsehood for truth" (Companion to the Bible.
Barrows).
It is always dangerous to separate a verse from its context. The practice of putting
texts on calendars and making wall texts, and collecting favourite texts together, though
often attractive, can be misleading, for the all-important context is missing.
Figures of Speech.
There is scarcely a subject of more importance to the earnest seeker after truth than
that of figures of speech. Figures of speech wrongly handled, or a failure to recognize
them in the Scriptures can lead to doctrinal aberrations and error. They have been used in
speech and writing from time immemorial. Writing or speech without figures would be
very prosaic and dull. Figurative language is used to make these vivid and interesting.
They are a departure from the fixed laws of grammar to arrest attention and emphasize,
being true to feeling, if not to fact. It is most important to note that behind them is always
literality. If this was not so, we could never understand them. If someone states "the
ground is dry", this is a plain statement of fact. If, however, he says "the ground is
thirsty", a figure of speech is employed, because it is impossible actually for the inert
ground to experience feeling. But how much more arresting is the latter statement!