Daniel.... study question i need help with

[cymba22]

I'm not sure if this is in the right place but i have an essay to do...and even though i can answer it...i'm not sure where to start or what order to put things in(and i really hope this doesn't class as cheating).

The question is:-

Discribe the difficulties involoved in interpritation and to what extent do these problems remain for contemporary scholars and bible readers.

Now i can think of the difficulties...or some...but what order do i put them in and where do i start...i can more or less work out the second part of the question

please help.

thank you in advance

[Ovedya]

I don't have a lot of time to get into detail, but here are a few thoughts:

1) Cultural context.

2) Grammatical context

3) Historical context.

[cymba22]

bounce

[Guest JDJ]

It is wrecking havoc and Im in a discussion with Jews on it at this very moment. It is true the translations are off a little. Purchase a Hebrew and Greek concordance if you have the funds. This will help you greatly. Be careful on who you listen to though, trust God He will lead you as He promised. Be patient.

[Adstar]

I'm not sure if this is in the right place but i have an essay to do...and even though i can answer it...i'm not sure where to start or what order to put things in(and i really hope this doesn't class as cheating).

The question is:-

Discribe the difficulties involoved in interpritation and to what extent do these problems remain for contemporary scholars and bible readers.

Now i can think of the difficulties...or some...but what order do i put them in and where do i start...i can more or less work out the second part of the question

please help.

thank you in advance

This may not be the answer you looking for but here goes.

Difficulties come from not being given the true interpretation from God. Difficulties come from humans trying to interpret the Word of God from their own understanding. Difficulties come from people placing faith in the vain thinking of theologians who try to put God into a box of their own making.

These difficulties have existed for a very long time. But i am sure your teacher was not looking for this kind of answer to the question he/she gave you.

All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[Guest JDJ]

Most excellent, adstar.

[Dad Ernie]

Greetings Cymba,

The question is:-

Discribe the difficulties involoved in interpritation and to what extent do these problems remain for contemporary scholars and bible readers.

Now i can think of the difficulties...or some...but what order do i put them in and where do i start...i can more or less work out the second part of the question

May I ask if this essay is for a religious institute or a secular institute? If you attempt to use "spiritual" words, i.e. scripture, in a secular institute you will be laughed at because it takes being "spiritual to understand the spiritual". I think James answers it best:

James 1:5-7 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

My own personal experience with acquiring "wisdom" came when I was quite young in the Lord and began to have some "trying" times for which I turned to the Lord to ask for "wisdom" about. I was quite diligent about this, but God just kept revealing more to me of Jesus. I kept going back to Him to find out WHEN He was going to reveal "wisdom" to me to deal with the current trials. After much consternation, believing during that time that God wasn't hearing me, it suddenly struck me as I kept reading the scriptures over and over. Christ IS OUR WISDOM. He also gave us the Holy Spirit to "reveal all things to us".

Now, granted one must have a good and valid "hermeneutic", such as has already been discussed, but often enough it takes reading and rereading and comparing scripture with scripture and prayer, and putting those things we are being taught into our daily actions so as to remake the "old man" into the "new man" which is the image of Christ.

The inherant problem with "hermeneutics" is that no one can seem to agree on what all it entails. My own "hermeneutic" goes something like this, but may not be all inclusive:

1) 2) 3) CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT

These three are the MOST important part of a good hermeneutic. Problems arise when scripture is taking out of context, or not compared with similar scriptures or the original languages are overlooked.

4) Looking first to the "literal" aspect of the scriptures, unless such are clearly in the categories of "parables, symbols, anthropomorphisms, hyperbole et al."

Problems arise from not following this and that is why we have "full preterism, partial preterism, amillinealism, post-millinealism, liberalism, et al."

5) Ensure you have the "correct" definitions of words and phrases, which most often can be obtain by looking at the original languages, but might also be uncovered by "comparing scripture with scripture".

I have found that "word" studies/searches are very helpful to get a more well rounded "picture" of the meaning of various words/phrases such as "Kingdom of God", "repentance", "Lamb's Book of Life", et al. Problems quickly arise when say we speak the word "temple". In the NT, there are two Greek words interpreted "temple". The first is "Hieron", which is the physical temple of which Solomon's temple was the first. Then there is the word "Naos", which Christ uses to refer to His own body, it is used to refer to the church as a whole, it is used to refer to individual believers, and it is used as the "temple" which is in heaven.

The "hieron" is all the physical structures of the ancient temple, whereas the "naos" is inclusive of only the altar or holy place and the Holy of Holies. As you can see much confusion can arise out not making the appropriate distinguishment.

6) A valid and very helpful "tool" to use in understanding "prophetic scripture" is to understand "types and shadows". These are real life events and stories that infer a deeper meaning especially when viewed in their future fuller revelation. For instance a "type" of Christ might be seen in Moses, perhaps even Joseph or King David. Christ being the antitype. Problems arise when "types" are taken TOOOOO literally, or a type is drawn from a "figure" that does not have an appropriate relation to the supposed "antitype".

I suppose I could add a few things more, but this would provide a beginning student of the Word with a fairly good "hermeneutic".

Of course, it need not be said that prayer and diligently seeking God is above all these things for ONLY the "spiritual can understand and interpret the spiritual".

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[cymba22]

Thank you for all your replies...

dad...its for a theological semanary ...so i wont be lauged at...but the question is in referance to daniel specifically...however your advice and one or 2 of the ohters will come in handy as overviews that i can use...all the advise given is valid to me and appreciated and i will be taking in what has been said...thank you all so much

[ajesuschrist_mathetes]

I am again trying to study Daniel's 70 weeks-<Daniel 9:22-27>. I have heard that this and especially <Daniel 9: 27>, the 70th week, have the most commentaries of any Scripture.

I do not have the background to know when conversative/evangelical/fundamentalist scholars started teaching that these weeks are weeks of years, and therefore 490 years, and that they prophecy to the very day when Jesus Christ started his public 3 1/2 year ministry. I just went thru <2 Chronicles 34:1-36:23> and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, as scholars debate the "when" the 70 weeks started. I am using "The Daniel Papers", a booklet available from Radio Bible Class [www.rbc.org] as one of my study references again.

I had asked on another board some months back that if this was understood by scholars, then why didn't the New Testament use this chronological dating to give a fulfillment of Jesus Christ being the Messiah? No one had an answer. From my simple-minded ignorance, it would certainly seem like the apostle Paul would have known the book of Daniel backwards and forwards as well as secular history much better than us, and therefore he would have used this to help prove to the Gentiles that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But no.

Those espousing the pretribulation rapture [or even the midtribulation] of The Church teach that Daniel's 70th week is still future. <Daniel 9:27>. That 7 years of tribulation awaits the world. The Great Tribulation.

[AllforJesustheLord]

I am again trying to study Daniel's 70 weeks-<Daniel 9:22-27>. I have heard that this and especially <Daniel 9: 27>, the 70th week, have the most commentaries of any Scripture.

I do not have the background to know when conversative/evangelical/fundamentalist scholars started teaching that these weeks are weeks of years, and therefore 490 years, and that they prophecy to the very day when Jesus Christ started his public 3 1/2 year ministry. I just went thru <2 Chronicles 34:1-36:23> and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, as scholars debate the "when" the 70 weeks started. I am using "The Daniel Papers", a booklet available from Radio Bible Class [www.rbc.org] as one of my study references again.

I had asked on another board some months back that if this was understood by scholars, then why didn't the New Testament use this chronological dating to give a fulfillment of Jesus Christ being the Messiah? No one had an answer. From my simple-minded ignorance, it would certainly seem like the apostle Paul would have known the book of Daniel backwards and forwards as well as secular history much better than us, and therefore he would have used this to help prove to the Gentiles that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But no.

Those espousing the pretribulation rapture [or even the midtribulation] of The Church teach that Daniel's 70th week is still future. <Daniel 9:27>. That 7 years of tribulation awaits the world. The Great Tribulation.

I think if you look up the word weeks, in a concordance you would find, years, and weeks as a meaning. So both can be true.