Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching: An Introduction to biblical Hermeneutics

Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching: An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics. By Stanley Porter. Baker Academic, 2023, 192 pp., $26.99 paper.

The study of biblical hermeneutics is a perennial task for those committed to reading the Bible and communicating its message. In this succinct volume, Stanley Porter introduces the central issues involved in hermeneutics for those who aim to teach and preach biblical texts on a regular basis. This target audience allows Porter to navigate the vast and complex field of hermeneutical theory with precision and with a specific focus.

One helpful aspect of this volume is the way that it begins with an orientation to interpretation in general alongside hermeneutical starting points that inform the interpretative task. This broad perspective is important because “whether we recognize it or not, we are constantly engaging in the process of hermeneutics” (p. 1, cf. pp. 141–42). 

Porter defines hermeneutics as “discussion of the principles of understanding found in various models used to interpret a written text” (p. 3). Hermeneutics allows readers to reflect on the issues and commitments that inform their reading and shape how they perceive the Bible’s message.

After a brief survey of the way hermeneutics has been handled across the history of the church, Porter appropriately begins with a reflection on the theological commitments involved in assessing the Bible’s authority for readers (chapter 2). He then anchors his following discussion in the nature of language and the tools of linguistics (chapter 3). With these elements in place, Porter then gives an extended focus on the primary dimensions of textual analysis (chapters 4–5). 

While noting the relevance of historical and theological contexts, Porter insists that “the first priority should be careful linguistic analysis of a given text” (p. 62). Discerning the “meaningful language patterns” of a text is at the heart of the interpretive task (p. 64). This text-based orientation is maintained in subsequent discussions of authorship and genre.

In the final three chapters, Porter rounds out the volume by discussing the way that this textual analysis connects to the further horizons of biblical theology, systematic theology, and the task of preaching. This final chapter examines what is involved in the move from hermeneutics to homiletics. For Porter, the structure of his volume reflects the field of hermeneutical study and the shape of the interpretive task: beginning with language and how words function, moving to an extended examination of the text itself, then allowing that meaning to interact with the further levels of other biblical books and the canon as a whole (in terms of both literature and theology), and then finally to articulate this rich meaning either in teaching or preaching (for Porter’s own articulation of this movement, see pp. 160–62).

In order to illustrate various aspects of these hermeneutical areas, Porter also provides an extended case study on the meaning of Paul’s letter to Philemon. This small biblical text illustrates the features of New Testament epistles, of Paul’s self-understanding as an apostle, and the way that written texts mediated apostolic teaching and affected readers in the early churches (pp. 68–77). Porter also reflects on the interpretive significance of Paul’s discussion of the household of God and the institution of slavery in the ancient world. 

These themes inform a broader biblical theology of these notions (pp. 111–17) as well as our understanding of these issues in our contemporary cultural setting (pp. 129–38). Alongside other biblical examples, this running treatment of Philemon allows readers to sense the exegetical payoff of some of the more theoretical elements of biblical hermeneutics.

This volume draws on Porter’s extensive scholarship in biblical studies and hermeneutics in particular. In a readable and straightforward way, Porter walks through the major elements that must be considered when reading and communicating a biblical text. These features make this brief volume a fine initial introduction to the field of biblical hermeneutics.

Also in JETS 67.1 (2024): 145–46.