Literal Bible Interpretation By Dr. David A. DeWitt [All dictionary quotes here are from the “New Oxford American Dictionary.” Emphasis in all quotes is mine. I will refer to authors as “him” rather than “him or her” for the sake of convenience.]
Thesis: Literal interpretation is here defined as the author’s intended meaning. It is simply the way we understand anything any author has ever spoken or written. Nothing spoken or written in words is ever understood any other way.
Should the Author’s Intended Meaning be Called “Literal”? It has often been suggested that “literal” is not a good word to describe the way we understand things. Admittedly, we are not using the word “literal” exactly as the dictionary does, but it’s closer than you might think. The dictionary says, Literal means: “taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.” But can we really divorce metaphors and allegories from the word “literal”? For example, a hyperbola is a form of metaphor. The dictionary says hyperbolas are “exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.” Here’s three hyperbolic statements: • “That suitcase weighs a ton.” • “I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate.” • “She’s as skinny as a toothpick.” In these hyperbolic statements, the words “ton,” “million,” and “toothpick” are “exaggerated statements,” but they do not ignore “the most basic sense” of the words. If we didn’t know the “most basic sense” of a toothpick, it would be meaningless to say, “she’s as skinny as a toothpick.” Let’s look at a few examples from the gospels. Matthew wrote about John the Baptist, Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan (Matthew 3:5). Does that mean that there was no one left in Jerusalem or Judea because all of them went out to hear John when he was preaching and baptizing? Of course not. Jesus said, If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you (Matthew 5:30). Does that mean Jesus’ solution to temptation is to remove parts of our body? Of course not. Matthew meant people were coming to John from all parts of the region. Jesus meant we should eliminate the things in our lives that cause us to sin. Both of these hyperbolic statements are used to emphasize a point. But the emphasis would not be possible unless the author understood the words all and cut off “in their usual or most basic sense.” All words get their “usual or most basic sense” from an author, and the “most basic sense” of a word can change when the author’s usage changes. What’s the “most basic sense” of the word “tweet”? Donald Trump is a president who tweets a lot. I doubt if anyone ever said presidents Roosevelt, Truman, or Eisenhower tweeted. I suggest that if we could review all the uses of the word “tweet” over the next 24 hours, a very small percent would be about the sound a bird makes, and nearly all would refer to 140 characters of a social media communication. Today’s dictionaries give both definitions as the “most basic sense” of the word. But they wouldn’t have in President Eisenhower’s day. So what changed? 1