interpretation

Unintelligible utterances required the gift [[➝ gifts]] of interpretation (1 Cor. 12:10); and translation from one language to another was a kind of interpretation (Ezra 4:7; Acts 9:36; Heb. 7:2). The interpretation of the OT by Jesus followed rules prescribed by distinguished rabbis such as Hillel. Christian scholars in the 2nd and 3rd cents. CE in Alexandria used the method of allegory as a means of acceptable biblical interpretation. In Antioch preference was given to the literal meaning of scripture but the method of typology was employed by John Chrysostom and others. During the Middle Ages the interpretation of the Bible was increasingly brought into the service of doctrine and at the Reformation Luther and Calvin used the Bible to develop their characteristic theological views, but without allegorical exegesis. Modern interpreters of the Bible use all the resources of criticism [[➝ criticism, biblical]]; the guiding principle is a determination first to elucidate what the text precisely says.