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L EHRE UNO WEHRE
MAGAZIN · FUER E v.-LuTH. HOMILETIK
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY· THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
Vol. XIX August, 1948 No.8
CONTENTS Page
The Universal Priesthood and the Pastor. R. R. Caemmerer .. _ .... _. 561
Is Doctrinal Unity a Luxury? Th. Engelder ....... _ .. _._. ___ ...... _ ... _ .. ___ . 583
&says in Hermeneutics. M. H_ Franzmann .... __ . _____ ......... _. __ . ___ ._._ .. ___ .. 595
With Reference to the Formula of Absolution. W_ G. Polack-. ___ 606
The Nassau Pericopes .. -.. ___ ... __ .. __ ... _._._ .... _. ___ .. _._. __ _____ ._. ___ . __ ._._ .. __ 610
Miscellanea ._. __ . __________ . ________ . ___ ._. _______ __ . ___ . ____________________ . _____ . _____ _ G18
Theological Observer __ __ _________________ _____ __ .. __ . _. __ .. ___ ._. ___ ... ___ ._._ .... ____ ._ ... __ ._ 631
Book Review _ __ . _____ ._._ .. ___ ._. ___ ...... _._. __ . ____ ._. ___ . ___ . __ . __ ._. __ . _______ 633
Ein Prediger muss nlcht allein wei-
den. also dass er die Schafe unter-
weise, wle sle rechte ChrIsten sollen
sein, son dern auch daneben den Woel-
fen wehren., dass sie die Schafe n1cht
angrelfen und mit falscher Lehre ver-
fuehren und Irrtum elnfuehren.
Luther
Es ist kein Ding, das die Leute
mehr bei der Klrche behaelt denn
die gute P redlgt. - Apologie, Arl. 24
If the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to
the battle? -1 Cor. 14:8
Pu1.lIished by
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
CONCORDIA PUBLISIDNG HOUSE, St. Louis 18, Mo.
pBIN'DD IN C'. s. A.
Essays in Hermeneutics
By M. H. FRANZMANN
NOTE. - This and the succeeding articles are designed to serve as
guidelines for the writer's course in Hermeneutics at Concordia Sem-
inary. They are to be viewed, therefore, merely as a summation of
time-honored and time-tested hermeneutical materials. They are, of
course, to be supplemented by lectures and by practice. I should like
to express especial indebtedness to L. Fuerbringer's Theological Her-
meneutics, Terry's Biblical Hermeneutics, and Torm's Hermeneutik des
Neuen Testaments. My debt to Luther is so great and so obvious in
what follows that it need hardly receive special notice. Since these ar-
ticles are to be the first steps toward a textbook on Hermeneutics, it was
thought that they might interest a wider circle and might benefit from
the suggestions and criticisms of our brethren, which are herewith in-
vited.
INTRODUCTORY
Hermeneutics is that branch of theology which sets forth
the principles that are to guide us in the interpretation of
Scripture; in other words, it is the theory of exegesis, or in-
terpretation.
For the Lutheran theologian hermeneutical questions are
anything but academic questions. Our life as Christians and
as a Church depends on the Word; and since the Word is the
ultimate authority, the Church of the sola Scriptura dare not
be indifferent to the manner of its interpretation. "We be-
lieve, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard ac-
cording to which all dogmas together with all teachers should
be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic
Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament alone, as it is
written Ps. 119: 105: 'Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and
a Light unto my path.' And St. Paul: 'Though an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you, let him be accursed.'
Gal. 1: 8." As long as these solemn and stately words of the
Formula of Concord are taken seriously in the Lutheran
Church, there should be little need to vindicate the place of
Hermeneutics in the theological curriculum.
In thus asserting the sole authority and power of Scrip-
ture, our Confessions are but reverting to the convictions of
the Church catholic, which confesses in the Nicene Creed:
"And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life,
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the
Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spake by
the Prophets." And the Confessions are also speaking the
[595]
596 ESSAYS IN HERMENEUTICS
distinct accents of Luther, whose utterances on the sole au-
thority and sole power of the Word are a veritable fiorilegium
of fresh and bracing theological thought on this point. For
him the Word and the Word alone is the place where, and the
means by which, man meets God: "W 0 Gottes Wort nicht ist,
wohnt Gott nicht, man baue ihm ein Haus, so gross man
wolle." Man cannot see Him outside the Word: "Gottes
Wort muss uns zu Huelfe kommen, um Gatt recht zu treffen,
dass man ihn hoeren, sehen, greifen, fassen und erkennen
moege." "Allein durch das Wort kann Gatt ergriffen werden;
stellt man sich recht zum Worte, dass man es liebt, und
meint es von Herzen, so wird Gatt auch geliebt." Without
the Word there is no road to heaven; to essay to establish
a private road thither is insolence: "Es soIl sich niemand unter-
stehen, mit Gott zu handeln ohne das Wort, oder sich einen
sonderlichen Weg gen Himmel zu bauen." For there and only
there, in God's Word, is Christ to be found: "Gatt hat uns
kein ander Mittel gegeben als sein goettliches Wort, darin
man aHein Christum hoert." By it and it alone is the Holy
Spirit given: "Gatt will den Heiligen Geist geben durch das
Wort; ohne das Wort will er es nicht tun." Over against the
claim of this Word neither the "harlot Reason" nor "experi-
ence" has any claim whatsoever; that is the will of the Holy
Ghost who by that Word does His work: "Der Heilige Geist
will die Wahrheit so angebunden haben, dass man Vernunft
und aIle eigene Gedanken und Fuehlen hintenansetze und
allein an dem Worte hange." There is indeed no choice:
"Das Wort Gottes reisst uns von allen Dingen, das nicht Gott
ist." There is the same sharp either-or here as in all God's
dealings with man: "Wenn bei uns Gottes Wort nicht ist, so
sind wir im Reiche des Teufels und sind junge Teufel und
Teufelskinder. Also sagt der Herr Christus auch zu Petro,
da er widerriet, dass er nicht in Judaeam ziehen sollte: Hin-
dere mich nicht, du Teufel. Aber wer Gottes Wort hat, der
ist ein junger Gatt."
"Wer Gottes Wort hat, der ist ein junger Gott." The
Church that has the Word is impregnable; the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And 'it is the sole business of
Hermeneutics to see to it that we really have the Word that
spells our life. Positively, Hermeneutics is to lead us into
Scripture in such a way that its perpetually fresh and in-
ESSAYS IN HERMENEUTICS 597
finite life may be constantly open to us and in progressive
abundance be ours. (Luther: Dass man das Wort studiert
und lernt, soIl nicht allein ein oder zwei Jahre waehren, denn
es ist Gottes Wort, welches unendlich. ist.") Negatively,
Hermeneutics can provide a defense against the two gravest
dangers that ever threaten the Church of the Word: satiety
and the perversion of Scripture. Satiety can arise when
Exegesis is permitted to degenerate into a sort of Dogmatics
in reverse, a procedure that does disservice to both Dogmatics
and to Exegesis; for the pleasant and salubrious pools of Sys-
tematic Theology cease to be so when they cease to be fed by
the living waters of Exegesis. A sound Hermeneutics can
provide defense against the wresting of Scripture, too, against'
error and falsification; for it can make us critical of men's
interpretations of Scripture and will constantly drive us back
into Scripture and so place us, again and again, under the
influence of the Spirit, who leads into all truth. If this be
deemed a high claim for a humble subbranch of theology, it
should be remembered. that the claim is made only on the
basis of the fact that a sound Hermeneutics keeps us with,
and so under, the Word. It is hard not to quote Luther
again: "Der Herr haelt dich mit seiner Hand, so lange du sein
Wort hast." And: "Gott kann und will Geduld mit uns haben,
wenn wir am Worte festhalten."
THE NATURE OF SCRIPTURE
It is, or should be, a truism that the principles governing
the interpretation of a document ought to be derived from,
and in keeping with, the nature of that document; that, for
instance, poetry be interpreted as poetry with due regard for
the nature and conventions of that literary genus; that a
novel be interpreted as a novel and not as a chronicle or a
tract for the times. Accordingly, the principles that are to
guide us in the interpretation of Scripture must be derived
from the nature of Scripture itself. 2 Pet. 1: 21 may serve to
indicate the nature of the documents that are the object of
Biblical interpretation: "Holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost." In Scripture God is speaking by
men, has spoken by men, "at sundry times and in divers man-
ners ... in times past." The oracles of God are not a book
fallen from heaven; rather, God spoke through men at a
598 ESSAYS IN HERMENEUTICS
certain time, in a certain place, and in certain language. "Men
spake" - that is one aspect of Scripture, the aspect that it
shares with every other document ever written. The other
aspect lies in the fact that here God spoke through men, and
in this aspect Scripture is unique. We have in Scripture God
speaking once, at a certain point in history, by men; and God
speaking once and for all. We might, then, picture the inter-
preter approaching the sacred text through three concentric
circles: the circle of language, the circle of history, and the
circle of theology, or of Scripture. The first two of these
circles are a recognition of the fact that in Scripture God spoke
once in the tongues of men at a certain point in history. The
third circle is a recognition of the fact that in thus speaking
God has spoken once and for all; that Scripture is a unity by
virtue of the one Spirit that inspired all the books of the canon.
It is a recognition also of the implications of Scripture for us,
of the fact that Scripture is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man
of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works." That these three circles are distinct in analysis only
and must inevitably interlink and interlock in practice should
be understood at the outset and will become more obvious as
we proceed.
I. THE CIRCLE OF LANGUAGE
Wiewohl das Evangelium durch den Heiligen Geist gekommen ist
und taeglich kommt, so ist es doch durch das Mittel der Sprachen
gekommen, muss auch dadurch behalten werden. - Luther.
It was Matthew Arnold, I believe, who said that a man
who knows only his Bible will not even know that well.
There is a modicum of truth in that, especially in so far as it
applies to the language of the New Testament. The cry of the
practical-minded for an exclusive concentration on the Greek
of the New Testament, to the exclusion of the "heathen," may
be prompted by zeal for God, but it can hardly be called a
zeal according to knowledge. The long way round is the
shortest way home, here as so often. One does not learn
the full potentialities of a language from one book; and with-
out a feeling for the potentialities of a language, its tones and
overtones, the one book is not fully grasped either; the mind's
hold remains slippery and partial. Our fathers builded wisely
when they designed a broad base of secular Greek, upon which
to rear the tower of specialized knowledge of New Testament
ESSAYS IN HERMENEUTICS 599
Greek; we shall do well to think long and hard before sub-
stituting a six-easy-lessons procedure for their four hard years.
Within the circle of language, we may treat, first, words
in isolation (etymology and usage), and then words in rela-
tion to one another (grammar, context, figurative language).
ETYMOLOGY
As regards etymology, we shall do well to remember that
it is, in most cases, an excellent starting point in the study
of a word, but usually no more than that. Exegesis of the
word-picture variety usually sins in the direction of over-
reliance on etymology. How insufficient etymology alone
is for the interpretation of a word may be seen in the case
of words with no recorded usage, where there is nothing but
etymology to go by, words like EJUouawc:; in the Fourth Petition
of the Lord's Prayer, where etymology alone has led to such
Babelish confusion of interpretation as "daily," "supersubstan-
tial," "of tomorrow," "necessary," "of the future," and "of the
future kingdom." In the case of hapax legomena and of newly
formed compounds (e. g., {}EoIlU'Ia%l'oc:;, 1 Thess. 4: 9) etymology
renders a substantive service. But commonly it is useful
chiefly as fixing the concrete sensuous basis upon which usage
has built the structure of actual meaning and connotation
(e. g., a'UvaVl'LAa[.t~aVEl'aL, Rom. 8: 26; note that the usage as
observed in Luke 10: 40 is the more helpful). We dare not
forget that the vast majority of the New Testament words have
behind them hundreds of years of history, especially the
epoch-making history of God's inscripturated revelation of
Himself (LXX), the incarnation of the Son of God, and the
coming of the Holy Ghost.
USAGE
In regard to usage, it is important to be clear on the na-
ture of New Testament Greek. It is, first of all, non-literary
Greek, the spoken language of the people. That does not
mean that it is vulgar (in the derogatory sense) or illiterate
Greek; it does mean that "the Holy Ghost spoke that language
in which the largest possible number of people could under-
stand Him" (Moulton). And it means that the documents of
non-literary Greek, the papyri, ostraka, and inscriptions, are
invaluable for establishing the connotations that New Testa-
ment words had for their first readers; that books like Moul-
600 ESSAYS IN HERMENEUTICS
ton and Milligan's Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illus-
trated from the Papyri and Deissmann's Light from the An-
cient East, as well as dictionaries like Bauer's, which take
cognizance of non-literary usage, should be on the shelves of
every New Testament exegete. There can never again be talk
of a Biblical Greek in the old sense, or of a "language of the
Holy Ghost."
But that is not the whole story. There is also the ever-
present possibility of Sem:itic influence. The authors of the
New Testament were, with one exception, bilingual and prob-
ably thought in Aramaic. And the influence of the Septuagint,
all-pervasive and incalculable, must always be reckoned with.
Especially in religious and ethical concepts the Greek Old
Testament is the immediate and living background to the New
Testament vocabulary.
The context, especially the immediate context, will also
play an important role in the determination of usage. Any
great new event brings with it new words and fills old words
with new meanings (one need but think of the effect of
two world wars and of atomic fission on our present-day
vocabulary), and the event that marked the turning point
of the world's history was no exception. And so, in the last
analysis, the whole of the New Testament must help deter-
mine the meaning of its parts; this is the so-called Herme-
neutical Circle, the working from the part to the whole and
back again from the whole to the part. Practically, this
points to the importance of having a wide knowledge of the
whole Bible, especially the Greek Bible of both Testaments:
for the 'interpretation of any part of it; and it underlines the
value of the concordance, which enables us to focus and bring
to bear that knowledge without undue consumption of time
or the danger of omitting anything essential.
Usage works in various ways. As we trace the develop-
ment of meaning, we note that in New Testament usage some
words deepen in meaning; for example, the Greek ElQYjvYJ has,
by way of the Septuagint, taken on the richer and more in-
clusive sense of the Hebrew shalom. Other words are re-
valuated, as the word xO