Jonathan Edwards’s Interpretation of the Major Prophets: The Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel -- By: Jeongmo Yoo

Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 03:2 (Jul 2011)
Article: Jonathan Edwards’s Interpretation of the Major Prophets: The Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
Author: Jeongmo Yoo


Jonathan Edwards’s Interpretation
of the Major Prophets: The Books of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel

Jeongmo Yoo

The Bible was at the heart of Jonathan Edwards’s life and thought.1 Thus, it is not surprising that almost everything he wrote is full of the interpretation and exposition of Scripture.2 Edwards’s exegetical activity is one of the most important sides of his life and work. However, modern Edwardsean scholarship has paid little attention to his biblical interpretation.3 Stephen J. Stein wrote:

The sheer volume of his biblical writings, however, makes all simple characterizations suspect until more research has been done on this aspect of his thought. Despite the quantity of his writings on the Bible, there is an amazing paucity of serious scholarship dealing with it. The contemporary renaissance of interest in Edwards has hardly touched this dimension of his work.4

Certainly, much interest has been shown for theological and philosophical aspects of Edwards’s life and thought.5 Consequently, Edwards’s contribution to the history of exegesis has been a forgotten aspect of history.6

In the present day, we encounter increasing discussions of the importance of Edwards’s exegetical activity.7 Nevertheless, most

scholars do not discuss in detail Edwards’s hermeneutical methodology in the interpretation of Scripture.8 Even if they explain the method Edwards uses in the interpretation, modern scholars have often focused on more general principles of Edwards’s exegesis without providing the actual and thorough account of it,9 as found in his works such as Notes on Scripture10 and The Blank Bible.11 Moreover, most of the modern scholarship on Edwards’s exegesis fails to examine Edwards’s exegesis in the context of traditional and contemporary

biblical interpretation.12 Consequently, these problematic approaches of modern scholarship result in an in...

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