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Biblical studiesWhat does the text say?

Hermeneutics

What is hermeneutics?

Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation; in theology, reflection on the principles, conditions and practice of interpreting Scripture. It frames exegesis, the practical work of reading a given text, and overlaps with biblical theology, the history of interpretation, philosophy and literary theory. Definitions differ on whether its object is the Bible alone or understanding as such.

  • 107Sources
  • 14Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 11Minutes

Study v1.1, 12 October 2026

Hermeneutics

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

The principles of reading: how meaning is found and how readings are weighed, so that more than one reading can be judged by its support.

What the study found

Hermeneutics is reflection on the principles and practice of interpreting Scripture; it runs from inner-biblical and patristic interpretation through Schleiermacher and Gadamer to a global field.

Where traditions divide

Traditions divide most over who judges a reading: the Magisterium for Catholics, Tradition and the Fathers for Orthodox, Scripture for Reformed and Lutherans, community and Spirit for Anabaptists and Pentecostals.

How the traditions compare

  • Catholic

    Holds that Scripture and Tradition form one sacred deposit and that the literal sense is the base of the spiritual senses; the Catechism keeps the four senses, all based on the literal.

    The Magisterium serves the Word, and three criteria govern reading in the Spirit: the unity of Scripture, the living Tradition and the analogy of faith. The judgment of exegetes is ultimately subject to the Church, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission defines a fuller sense, intended by God but not clearly expressed by the human author.

    Sources1–3

  • Eastern Orthodox

    Holds that Scripture lives within the Church and its Tradition, and that the Church is its primary interpreter: Scripture is vivified only within the Church.

    The Fathers and the liturgy guide reading, with the Septuagint as the default but not the sole Bible. Its representative voices include Georges Florovsky, John Breck, Theodore G. Stylianopoulos, Andrew Louth and Eugen J. Pentiuc.

    Sources4–7

  • Oriental Orthodox

    Reads within commentary traditions in West Syriac, Coptic-Arabic, Armenian, and Ge'ez and Amharic, with the Fathers read in each church's own language; the Ethiopian andemta commentary is one of them.

    Its representative voices include Ephrem, Ibn Katib Qaysar and Nonnus of Nisibis.

    Sources8–12

  • Church of the East

    Keeps the East Syriac commentary tradition, distinct from that of the Oriental Orthodox churches, and honors Theodore of Mopsuestia as the Interpreter.

    Theodore's Antiochene reading was historical, wary of allegory but not without typology.

    Sources813

  • Lutheran

    Holds that the Gospel is the key that opens Scripture, and distinguishes law and gospel, a distinction held to be a special light for dividing God's Word rightly.

    Scripture is its own interpreter, read with the Confessions, and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod holds that a text's canonical meaning cannot differ from its original meaning. Its representative voices are Luther and the Formula of Concord.

    Sources14–18

  • Reformed

    Holds that Scripture interprets Scripture and that its true sense is not manifold but one.

    The Westminster Confession (1.6 to 1.10) makes Scripture the infallible rule of its own interpretation and the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture the supreme judge; it requires the Spirit's inward illumination but excludes new revelations and the traditions of men. Its representative voices include Calvin and the redemptive-historical biblical theology of Geerhardus Vos.

    Sources19–21

  • Anglican

    In Hooker's ordering, Scripture comes first, then reason, then the Church's voice.

    It is one classic position, not three equal legs.

    Sources22

  • Wesleyan and Methodist

    Holds Scripture primary, read with tradition, experience and reason, and makes Scripture the norm by which traditions are judged: tradition has authority under Scripture.

    Outler, one of its representative voices, regretted the label quadrilateral.

    Sources23–24

  • Anabaptist

    Reads Scripture in a Christ-centered way, treats the congregation as a hermeneutic community and puts obedience before technique.

    It gives priority to the New Testament, makes discipleship a condition of understanding and expects the Spirit in the gathered congregation. Its representative voices include Menno Simons, Marpeck and Stuart Murray.

    Sources25–26

  • Evangelical

    Seeks the grammatical-historical meaning the author expressed, which for the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) is single, definite and fixed while its applications vary; the statement also says illumination yields no new truth.

    The Chicago Statements of 1978 and 1982 are one influential position among evangelicals. The Lausanne Seoul Statement (2024) says faithful interpretation belongs to the universal church and calls for conversation across contexts.

    Sources27–29

  • Dispensational

    Reads consistently in a literal or plain way, prophecy included, and keeps Israel and the Church distinct.

    Its representative voice is Ryrie.

    Sources30

  • Pentecostal and charismatic

    Holds Spirit, Scripture and community together, in Kenneth J. Archer's influential model, with testimony and worship shaping reading and the experience of the Spirit bounded by criteria.

    Pentecostal scholars make the Spirit one of three poles of interpretation and place the decisive check in the community where the Spirit is at work. Its representative voices include Archer, Amos Yong, Craig S. Keener and Lee Roy Martin.

    Sources31–34

  • Seventh-day Adventist

    Holds the Bible to be its own interpreter, seeks its plain meaning, and holds that Scripture cannot be rightly interpreted without the Spirit.

    The General Conference statement Methods of Bible Study (12 October 1986) rejects the naturalistic presuppositions often attached to historical criticism while accepting historical investigation.

    Sources35

  • Jewish

    Reads through midrash and the middot, distinguishes the plain sense (peshat), which is not to be overridden, from the homiletic (derash), and carries on modern critical scholarship within Jewish life.

    Rabbinic tradition and the Jewish Publication Society translation are its authorities, and its representative voices include Michael Fishbane, James L. Kugel, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler.

    Sources36–40

How the field developed

  1. Second Temple
    3rd to 2nd century BC

    The Septuagint is made, and the Targums are later read in the synagogue: translation is already interpretation.4142

  2. Second Temple
    c. 30 BC to 2nd century

    Hillel's seven rules and Rabbi Ishmael's thirteen, the earliest rules of interpretation preserved under named rabbis, codify older practice.4344

  3. Second Temple
    c. 20 BC to AD 50

    Philo of Alexandria reads the Pentateuch as allegory while keeping its literal observance.4546

  4. Early church
    3rd century

    Origen's De principiis IV sets out three senses of Scripture: body (history), soul (moral) and spirit.47

  5. Late antiquity
    396/397 to 426/427

    Augustine writes De doctrina christiana, on signs and things, with love as the test of a reading: a reading that does not build love of God and neighbor is not yet right.4849

  6. Medieval
    1040 to 1105

    Rashi ties the plain sense to wording and context.5037

  7. Medieval
    1267 to 1273

    In the Summa theologiae (I q.1 a.10), Thomas Aquinas founds all the senses on the literal, the only basis of argument.5152

  8. Reformation
    1520 to 1539

    Luther, Zwingli and Calvin press the literal sense, with Scripture as its own interpreter, its clarity, and Calvin's lucid brevity.165320

  9. Reformation
    8 April 1546

    The Council of Trent, in its fourth session, ties interpretation to the Church: Scripture and tradition, the Vulgate as authentic, and the consensus of the Fathers.54

  10. Modern
    1654

    The Strasbourg theologian Johann Conrad Dannhauer uses the word in the title of his Hermeneutica sacra, its first appearance as a book title, though the Greek terms are far older.5556

  11. Modern
    1805 to 1833

    Friedrich Schleiermacher lectures on a universal hermeneutics of grammatical and psychological interpretation, applying equally to the Bible, law and literature. He is treated as the starting point of philosophical hermeneutics.5758

  12. Modern
    1960

    Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method sets out philosophical hermeneutics and the fusion of horizons, in which understanding occurs when the horizon of the text meets that of the reader.5960

  13. Modern
    1974 to 1979

    Hans W. Frei, the journal Semeia and Brevard S. Childs mark the narrative, literary and canonical turns.616263

  14. Modern
    10 to 13 November 1982

    The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics sets out the evangelical grammatical-historical consensus.27

  15. Modern
    15 April 1993

    The Pontifical Biblical Commission's The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church surveys and evaluates the main methods and approaches; it is presented to Pope John Paul II on 23 April 1993.603

  16. Modern
    September 2024

    The Lausanne Seoul Statement holds that interpretation belongs to the universal church, across contexts.29

How to study hermeneutics

The questions it asks

  • Is the object of hermeneutics the Bible alone or understanding as such, and is it a set of rules or an art?585527
  • Does meaning lie with the author, with the text, or with the present reader?275964
  • Does a text have one sense or more than one?319
  • What did a text mean, and what does it mean now?6566
  • When two readings of a text disagree, how is one judged better than the other?
  • Who judges a reading: the Church, Scripture, the community, the Spirit or the academy?

Its method

Start

  1. Establish the text itself: the original languages, the best recoverable wording, its grammar and genre67273.

  2. Read it in its historical setting: what the words could mean when written, and the author's intention127.

  3. Identify its literary form, what kind of text it is and so what kind of truth it claims6727.

  4. Read it within the whole canon, for consistency with Scripture read as a whole121963.

  5. Test it against the rule of faith and Tradition, for consistency with the Church's confession and its Fathers685424.

  6. Where a teaching authority is recognized, accept its final judgment on matters of faith and morals, as Catholic teaching requires21.

  7. Let the gathered church receive and test the reading, as Anabaptist and Pentecostal hermeneutics require253129.

  8. Ask whether the reading builds love of God and neighbor49.

  9. Name the reader's pre-understanding and keep it open to correction6027.

  10. Submit the reading to scholarly method and peer review, where hypotheses are tested against evidence by other scholars69.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • Hillel's seven rules and Rabbi Ishmael's thirteen, the rabbinic middot4344.
  • Origen's De principiis IV, on the three senses of Scripture47.
  • Augustine's De doctrina christiana, on signs and things and the rule of love4849.
  • John Cassian's Conference 14, which illustrates the fourfold sense by Jerusalem70.
  • Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I q.1 a.10, on the literal sense as the foundation of the others51.
  • The Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546)54.
  • The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article V (1577), on law and gospel15.
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 119.
  • Dei Verbum (1965) and the Pontifical Biblical Commission's The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993)160.
  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 109 to 1192.
  • The Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) and on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982)2827.

Standard reference works

  • W. W. Klein, C. L. Blomberg and R. L. Hubbard Jr, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (3rd edition, 2017), a standard seminary textbook71.
  • Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral (revised and expanded, 2006)72.
  • Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (4th edition, 2014), for lay and introductory readers73.
  • Walter C. Kaiser Jr and M. Silva, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics (2nd edition, 2007)74.
  • Anthony C. Thiselton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction (2009)75.
  • Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? (1998; anniversary edition 2009)76.
  • Elizabeth W. Mburu, African Hermeneutics (2019), and J. Severino Croatto, Biblical Hermeneutics (1987)7778.
  • Oda Wischmeyer, Hermeneutik des Neuen Testaments (2004)79.
  • The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, planned at thirty volumes and not complete: volume 24 was published on 14 October 20258081.
  • Hauser and Watson (eds), A History of Biblical Interpretation, in three volumes82.
  • The Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (2005) and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation (2013)8384.
  • The New Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (2022)85.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 396/397 to 426/427De doctrina christianaAugustine of HippoDe doctrina christiana (396/397 to 426/427)Augustine of Hippo (354 to 28 August 430)Sources4886
  • 1267 to 1273Summa theologiaeThomas AquinasSumma theologiae (1267 to 1273)Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 to 7 March 1274)Sources51–52
  • 1900The Rise of HermeneuticsWilhelm DiltheyThe Rise of Hermeneutics (1900)Wilhelm Dilthey (1833 to 1911)Sources87
  • 1919 and 1922Der RömerbriefKarl BarthDer Römerbrief (1919 and 1922)Karl Barth (10 May 1886 to 10 December 1968)Sources88–89
  • 1941New Testament and MythologyRudolf BultmannNew Testament and Mythology (1941)Rudolf Bultmann (20 August 1884 to 30 July 1976)Sources90–91
  • 1960Wahrheit und MethodeHans-Georg GadamerWahrheit und Methode (1960)Hans-Georg Gadamer (11 February 1900 to 13 March 2002)Sources59
  • 1969Le conflit des interprétationsPaul RicoeurLe conflit des interprétations (1969)Paul Ricoeur (1913 to 2005)Sources92
  • 1980The Two HorizonsAnthony C. ThiseltonThe Two Horizons (1980)Anthony C. Thiselton (1937 to 7 February 2023)Sources93–94
  • 1983In Memory of HerElisabeth Schüssler FiorenzaIn Memory of Her (1983)Elisabeth Schüssler FiorenzaSources95–96
  • 1985Biblical Interpretation in Ancient IsraelMichael FishbaneBiblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (1985)Michael FishbaneSources97–98
  • 1991Voices from the MarginR. S. SugirtharajahVoices from the Margin (1991)R. S. SugirtharajahSources99
  • 1999The Academy of the PoorGerald O. WestThe Academy of the Poor (1999)Gerald O. WestSources100

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

The critical interpretation of the biblical text to discover its intended meaning; the practice that hermeneutics frames1013.

Reading one's own ideas into a text; the fault exegesis is meant to avoid102.

Meaning is what a text represents; significance is the relation of that meaning to a reader, a distinction drawn by E. D. Hirsch in 196765.

The Catholic term for bringing a text's meaning into the present, already practiced within the Bible itself3.

What the reader brings to the text; no text is read without one6027.

The whole is understood through its parts and the parts through the whole58.

Gadamer's account of understanding as the meeting of the horizon of the text with that of the reader; Thiselton's The Two Horizons (1980) brought the language into English-language biblical studies60103.

Interpretation as such, as against the rules of one field or genre58104.

The literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical senses: the letter teaches what happened, allegory what to believe, the moral sense what to do, and anagogy what to hope for70105.

The medieval Jewish scheme of peshat, remez, derash and sod: the plain, allusive, homiletic and esoteric senses10637.

Where it sits

Builds on

Hermeneutics

Leads to

From the Journal

Four open Bibles at different seats around a round wooden tableAI-generated imageHermeneutics

Why do Christians read the same verse differently?

Christians share the same verses but bring different rules for reading them: how many senses a text carries, who has authority to interpret it, and what historical study adds.Numa Verse Editorial · November 2026 · 6 min read

Questions people ask

Hermeneutics is reflection on how texts are understood; exegesis is its practice on a given text, the practical work of reading it355. Exegesis is the critical interpretation of the biblical text to discover its intended meaning, and historical-critical exegesis is one method within biblical hermeneutics10155.

From the Greek verb hermeneuein, which covers stating, interpreting and translating55. A link with the god Hermes is often drawn, but Jean Grondin, citing Chantraine, finds no etymological connection, so the association is traditional rather than established56. The Latin noun hermeneutica appeared only in the seventeenth century5556.

The traditions answer differently. The Pontifical Biblical Commission defines a fuller sense intended by God but not clearly expressed by the human author, and the Catechism keeps four senses32. The Westminster Confession holds that the true sense is not manifold but one, the Chicago Statement that each text's meaning is single, and the Missouri Synod that a text's canonical meaning cannot differ from its original meaning192717.

It differs by tradition: the Magisterium, as servant of the Word, for Catholics; the Church's Tradition and the Fathers for the Orthodox; Scripture interpreting Scripture for Reformed and Lutheran Protestants; and the community and the Spirit for Anabaptists and Pentecostals24192531. In the academy, a reading that explains more of the text, its language and its setting, and survives criticism from other scholars, is preferred69.

No. Each method makes one question primary and leaves others aside, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission's document of 1993 was written to show what each contributes and where each reaches its limit3. It calls the historical-critical method indispensable, while Verbum Domini warns against a positivist hermeneutic that rules out God's action in advance3107.

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  2. 2Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 109 to 119, Holy Seehttps://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PQ.HTM (opens in a new tab)
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  13. 13Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), "Theodore of Mopsuestia", New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14571b.htm (opens in a new tab)
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  27. 27International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (10 to 13 November 1982), Dallas Theological Seminary Libraryhttps://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_2.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), Ligonier Ministrieshttps://learn.ligonier.org/articles/chicago-statement (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29Lausanne Movement, The Seoul Statement (2024)https://lausanne.org/statement/the-seoul-statement (opens in a new tab)
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  48. 48Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Saint Augustine"https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/ (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book I, New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/fathers/12021.htm (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Rashi"https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rashi (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I q.1, New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/summa/1001.htm (opens in a new tab)
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  53. 53J. West, "The Clarity and Certainty of Scripture among the Swiss Reformers", Christian History Institute (24 February 2020)https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/blog/post/zwingli-certainty-of-scripture (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546), Papal Encyclicals Onlinehttps://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/fourth-session.htm (opens in a new tab)
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Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.1, 12 October 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 7 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 7 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.1.