Messianic Jewish Hermeneutics

from Planted in the House of the Lord Revised @ 2024

by Joseph Shulam

Writing an article about something that does not exist is complex. Messianic Jewish Hermeneutics - there is no such thing. There has never been such a study in history. One can talk about the hermeneutics of the early church, Judaism in the Second Temple period, or even the Greek hermeneutics of Plato's writings. By the end of the second century CE, a Christian hermeneutic might have developed from the amalgam of the Jewish and pagan Greek cultural traditions of dealing with religious texts. However, it should be noted that, especially in the area of hermeneutics, the contribution of the Jewish tradition is significant.

Jewish tradition has become popularized in the West with such Broadway shows as Fiddler on the Roof and Yentl, which opened a window to the Jewish world of Eastern Europe pre-World War I. In the Christian West, and sometimes in Messianic Jewish circles, Jewish tradition has been identified with wearing a Kippa or eating gefilte fish. If this is all that Jewish tradition has contributed to the world, it is not beneficial. The most significant contribution of Jewish tradition to the world, however, is as the Apostle Paul said:

"Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, they were entrusted with the Scriptures of God..." (Romans 3:1-2).

The contribution of Jewish tradition to the Scriptures can be divided into two major areas: 1. the Biblical text and its direct exegesis

2. what the rabbis call davar Torah (regulation of the Torah) - i.e., all the interpretation deduced from the Scripture by logical conclusions or hermeneutical rules.

We should never forget that the Rabbis gave us the Bible (i.e., the Old Testament). Let us remember with gratitude the labors of the innumerable Jewish scholars who, as far back as the pre-Maccabean period, dedicated themselves to the Masorah, the fixation of the Biblical text with critical notes. Words, letters, dots, and marginal readings were religiously weighed and fixed by the rabbis. The whole story of fixing the Scriptural tradition can be read in the Talmudic treatise Soferim ("Scribes"), which deals with such details as the space between letters, the width and height of the scrolls, and the capital and final letters. It also speaks of the qualifications for preparing the books, their respectful handling, and their sanctity. Through the work of the rabbis, we can enter into communion with the deep piety of the Word of God. Yeshua and the Apostles would not have had Moses's books if not for the rabbis who preserved them and protected them from corruption.

Rabbinic tradition gave the Old Testament the vowel signs that made it possible to read the Bible thousands of years after it was written. Imagine a text with only consonants, without vowels in your language. How would you know their meaning if you found the letters "GD" in a book? They could mean GooD, or GoD, or GooDy, or GuaDiayo. There is no way to distinguish the true meaning except by understanding the context - which often would be difficult. Look at a sentence like, "Call no man good, for there is only one who is good...". With no vowels, the text could read that statement, "Call no man gaudy, for there is only one who is gaudy, your heavenly F a t h e r. . . " It is the Jewish tradition of the rabbis, which has determined the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and made it readable and understandable for the whole world.

The Christian Church received from the Synagogue not only the Bible's text but also its interpretation methods. The four methods of exegesis recommended by Bahya ben Asher - literal, moral, allegorical, and analogical - are the same as those Bede developed for the Church in the eighth century CE. In Hebrew, the rabbis called these four methods by the acronym Pardes: Peshat, Remez, Drasch (Remez and Drasch are the allegorical senses), and Sod (Sod is the mystical sense.)."Pardes" is an acronym in the Hebrew context, but it is also a Persian word that means The Garden of delight. It is used for Heaven in most Western languages as "Paradise."

The Jewish rabbis developed this concept that the Scriptures can be interpreted on different levels before Yeshua and gave rise to many New Testament doctrines and understandings. Teachings such as the snake in the Garden being the Devil, quoted in the book of Revelation, originate in the rabbinical interpretations based on the above four senses.

Gematria, a cipher method that enables one to interpret the meaning behind some numbers, was also well-known by the writers of the New Testament.

Here is an example of Gematria: Genesis 14:14 mentions the 318 "trained men" of Abraham; 318 is the numerical value of the name of Eliezer, Abraham's servant, mentioned in Genesis 15:2. It seems hard to believe that this is pure coincidence. The rabbis, therefore, connected the story of Genesis 14:14 with Eliezer and concluded that Eliezer was the person who trained Abraham's servants and made them like himself.

Rabbinical exegesis is often the key to Paul's exegesis. Only Paul's dependence on rabbinical tradition can explain the view that the Torah was given not by God Himself but by the angels (Gal 3:19) or the mention of the rock that followed the Israelites and gave them water in the wilderness (Corinthians 10:4).

Rabbinical tradition of biblical exegesis not only contributed to the understanding of the Bible in the past. When Christianity is healed in the future, its return to a biblical faith will be aided by rabbinical principles and attitudes toward the text. The Jewish Tradition of the rabbis and their love for God's Word is a heroic and constant song of devotion and fidelity in which both Jews and Christians can fellowship and experience God's revelation's fullness. Only around the Word of God can Jews and Christians find fellowship and communion that someday might bring salvation to both camps.

This paper does not deal with Christian hermeneutics. Consequently, I will not discuss the Second Century developments and their implications for us today. Rather, I shall attempt to propose a hermeneutic for Messianic Jews and for those who would like to discover Biblical truth.

Some basic guidelines:

1. The Bible is very ancient and should be treated as such.

2. The Bible is God's word and should be treated as such.

3. The Bible was not written in English. We need to remember that most of the time, what we study is a translation and, therefore, already an interpretation.

4. The Bible is a Jewish document and should be treated as such.

5. The Bible contains different types of literature. Each genre needs to be discerned and treated with the appropriate language tools.

6. The Bible reflects a historical reality and must be understood within that historical reality.

7. The Bible, as God's word, communicates God's will. It has a spiritual dimension that is more than words, sentences, and chapters. One needs the guidance of the Spirit of God to penetrate the words and experience the Spirit of the Word.

These guidelines are axiomatic. They ought to be rules of thumb not only for Messianic Jews but for everyone who would like to know and understand the Book of Books, or in fact, any ancient literature. In the modern West, some people have treated the Bible as an existential book of God, totally disregarding its historical or linguistic boundaries. On the other hand, some people use the Rabbinic method to justify the wildest interpretations of Scripture. Let me state my opinion: Rabbis and Jews in history have been known to be wrong at times, and any use of Rabbinic methods should be made critically and to the degree that the biblical texts demand because of the time and culture of the people who wrote them. However, on the other hand, studying the New Testament, a first-century Jewish document, and ignoring the traditions of interpretation and exegesis used at the time are missing essential background tools for a better understanding of the Word of God.

Why the seven guidelines listed above are essential for the development of a Messianic Jewish Hermeneutic:

1. They put the New Testament back into its original context. This understanding will bring people back to the realization that they are dealing with a Jewish book and with a Jewish Savior. It will also cause the student to seek the solution of textual problems in the world of Yeshua rather than in some Medieval monasteries.

2. Biblical science often takes a historical and philological approach but lacks respect for the text's inspiration. A Messianic Jewish approach ought to incorporate a solid historical and philological approach to understanding the Bible and a firm faith in its integrity and inerrancy.

3. A Messianic Jewish approach to hermeneutics should deal with the biblical text from the genre it was written. One does not deal with poetry in the same way that he deals with prose. Especially in apocalyptic literature, Christian interpreters often overlook the type and special rules for understanding this kind of literature. With a comprehensive knowledge of the Jewish world of intertestamental and first-century Judaism, it is possible to understand the intention of the text correctly.

4. The study of the Bible ought not only to be an intellectual or even a "spiritual" process. It ought to lead a person to "all good works." In Jewish terms, our effort to understand the Bible must bring us to "doing the will of our Father, who is in Heaven." Hermeneutics must be a tool for understanding and doing the Work of God among men.

Messianic Jewish hermeneutics faces a significant challenge.

The challenge is to deal with the Biblical text objectively and authentically to understand it and, simultaneously, to remove the encrusted tradition of two thousand years of interpretation in both Judaism and Christianity. The Bible has been used in traditional religious circles to substantiate the party line of religious establishments. Some traditions from the Greco-Roman world have inculcated themselves in both the Jewish and the Christian traditions of hermeneutics. Messianic Jews must at least deal with or recognize these imported traditions. However, in my opinion, Messianic Jews should work hard in order to develop a much more original and historical approach to understanding the text of the Bible.

One reason the above challenge is problematic is that the level of education and biblical expertise in the Messianic Jewish community is insufficient to meet it. Nevertheless, the insufficiency cannot be an excuse for beginning to think about the distinctive biblical interpretation that we, as Jews who believe in Yeshua, bring from our own backgrounds.

Ultimately, both Jews and non-Jews will have to deal with the same hermeneutic principles and approach the Bible as a Jewish, first-century CE book. When this happens, I believe that a great degree of unity and understanding will arise between the Jewish and Christian worlds.

Whether we are Messianic Jewish or non-Jewish believers, we should seek a practical outcome from our hermeneutics.

Three principles would lead the "Body of Messiah" to put God's word into action.

1. Obey God's commandments. It might sound simplistic to state that we must obey God's commandments. However, this area of hermeneutics will probably be the most controversial in the future development of a Messianic Jewish hermeneutic. The commandments of God's Word can be divided into three different categories: a) Eternal commandments; b) Commandments for the hour, that is, those commandments which apply to a particular time and place or a specific person only; c) Commandments which are given only for one gender, like circumcision.

2. Imitate the good examples of holy people in biblical history. If we want to be close to God's will, we must take the examples of the early church seriously. What the early church practiced should directly affect what we do and how we do it. If they took communion each week on the "First day of the week," we ought to seek both the reasons and meaning of their action and imitate them as much as possible.

3. The world has outwardly changed with the advent of the modern lifestyle of the West. We no longer live in an agrarian society. For this reason, we must learn how to apply the Biblical situation and principles to our own times from the principles of both Missiology and plain reason. No doubt requiring necessary inferences arrived at through a strict logical analysis of Biblical teachings, examples, and principles. All this without breaking or annulling any direct commands of God's word. One of the prime examples of this would be the role of women in the life and administration of the church. We must recognize the direct commands of Paul in 1 Timothy 2:10ff and 1 Cor. 14, but on the other hand, we must find venues and means by which the modern woman can find herself active and fulfilled in God's Kingdom.

Hermeneutics in the 21st. Century will be much more pluralistic, allowing a broader cultural expression of the Biblical faith. In practical terms, this means that Messianic Jews must put Romans 14 into practice much more clearly. There will be congregations whose interpretations of necessary inferences will differ significantly from the church among the Gentiles or even from other Messianic Jewish congregations. These differences must celebrate the Messiah's Body's universal nature and His children's cultural diversity. At the same time, such a hermeneutic will break down the walls of "tradition" that Satan has built up to divide and diminish the effectiveness of the message of salvation in Yeshua the Messiah.

The future of the church in the world will depend on the ability of the church to overcome the shackles of both Catholic and Protestant traditions and to return to a much more Biblical faith and to a greater unity among those who claim faith in Yeshua the Messiah. That unity and spirit will be greatly enhanced by developing a more Jewish and Biblical hermeneutic in both Messianic Jewish and Christian circles.

In preaching the Good News to the Jewish people, Messianic Jews must apply the above principles of hermeneutics in preparing their messages. Jewish people are often critical and do not feel any obligation to sit and listen to some paid official of the church expound to them things that they have heard all their lives. The Jewish homily has to bring something interesting from the text that is not obvious to any schoolchild. There has to be a moral and practical outcome from the sermon that can be applied in the community or people's personal lives. This kind of sermon can only be preached if the text is taken in context and the proper principles, which have been discussed above, are applied. Messianic Jews must work very hard on the messages they bring to the public. Messianic Jews need to develop their style and approach to preaching compatible with Jewish tradition and Biblical truths.