Product Description

The authors of this book have combined years of expertise and devotion to Scripture to provide a truly unique volume that sets forth concise, logical, practical guidelines for discovering the truth in God's Word.  Ten years after its initial publication, the authors now have thoroughly updated it in light of the latest scholarship.

"This is a remarkably comprehensive study of the whole area of biblical interpretation.  Thoroughly evangelical, it also interacts with nonevangelical interpretational stances.  No other volume available on biblical interpretation does so much so well."- Douglas Stuart, Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

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A helpful introduction to biblical interpretation        Rating:

Brief Overview: The book "Introduction to Biblical Interpretation" written by, William Klein, Craig Bloomberg and Robert Hubbard, Jr. seeks to introduce the reader with the task of bridging the gap of complexity that the bible accords, to understand its message and suggest helpful methods for the reader in the field of biblical interpretation. The book is divided into five parts. Part one deals with the task of defining hermeneutics, and in that process details the historical development of hermeneutics and the canonization of the bible. The next part takes a look at the interpreter's role with particular emphasis on how one can affect the message. Part three introduces the reader to the literature of the bible, issues dealing with literary, cultural and historical issues and proposing ways to getting meaning when one understands them. In part four, the authors introduce the various genres in the bible coupled with methods in reading and understanding them. The final part thus covers the area of application of the biblical text and how one can do this. The authors have also compiled and suggested important books to aid the reader in the task of biblical interpretation.

Review: Hermeneutics is a field that can be daunting at times because of its largely technical vocabulary and principles that it uses to interpret and understand the text. Unfamiliarity with the subject and the terms can erode concentration as well as wane interest in the perspective student. That is why I think "Introduction To Biblical Interpretation" written by a collaboration of three prominent scholars; William W. Klein, Craig L. Bloomberg, Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., have done a wonderful task to bridge the complexities of the subject in an understandable manner.

Another strength of the book lies in how the authors divide parts of the book systematically but also noting that each part or chapter can be studied alone with slight "overlap and repetition." This actually helps readers remember previous chapters and gives a sense of coherence when one reads it from cover to cover. The author's coverage of the historical development of interpretation over the years was vastly helpful namely to illustrate the strenuous task earlier generations of biblical interpreters took to work out methods of interpretation to understand as well as apply the text in their era and context. There is also a chapter on recent developments in hermeneutics which further enhances the scope of the book in its outlook.

There is also great stress on context, historical and cultural background as well as the mention of the varying genres in the bible. Space is also given to countless examples to how all this things work out. The reader is thus not left alone on the dark with just methods but examples in how they are used. The only negative remark that can be mentioned, all be it a minor issue, is on the last part on application where it seems like the authors hurried through the process of assembling it. But overall, "Introduction To Biblical Interpretation", does more than introduces the reader to the world of interpretation but in one book holds a wealth of resources.

Advanced Graduate Level Work on Hermeneutics        Rating:

Klein, et al's Introduction to Bibilical Interpretation is a wonderful book that does exactly what it was designed to do - provide the best possible education experience on Biblical interpretation and hermeneutics for advanced Bible students. And when I say advanced, I am referring to students who are in seminary and studying for a Master's degree in Theological Studies, Biblical Studies, or Apologetics.

This is how I was introduced to this text. It was one of my main textbooks in a high level (700 level) graduate course at a big evangelical seminary. The book is awesome, but sometimes is it just hard to read because there is just so much information the human mind can handle and comprehend at one time. In other words, this book is written at an advanced level. Just to give you an idea of the level of scholarship that supports this text, in the second chapter about the History of Interpretation, there were 160 footnoted references pointing to external sources, more information, or information that just had to be followed up on by the reader in order to get a full understanding of what was being introduced in the book.

Don't misunderstand me, this book is the best, but it assumes it's audience is an audience composed of advanced bible readers, and advanced students of the Scriptures. That's is not to say anybody can't buy this book and read and understand it. But unless you are used to reading scholarly journals, you are not going to be reading this book like a novel and be done with it in a weekend. If you do get it, you will definitely have in your hands one of the best books on Biblical Interpretation and Hermeneutics that has ever been published.

A great resource!        Rating:

This is an invaluable comprehensive resource for any serious student of the Bible who needs practical guidance in interpreting the Bible correctly. The three authors are Seminary professors who share their expertise on hermeneutics and affirm their position that a biblical text has one meaning that is discovered by using the historical/grammatical/semantical approach of interpretation. One must also consider the literary, cultural, and social issues of the text. Understanding a text in its context is also vitally important. The authors also explore other traditional and modern interpretative methods that reflect current biblical scholarship. Lastly, the authors discuss our role as interpreters and what we bring to a biblical text, i.e. preunderstandings, life experiences, etc. This is a great resource!

Biblical Interpretation        Rating:

Very thorough and easily understood. I use this as a course textbook. Best feature is the presentation of opposing viewpoints.

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