Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 181:724 (Oct 2024)
Article: The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Hermeneutics
Author: Roy B. Zuck

BSac 181:724 (October-December 2024) p. 387

The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Hermeneutics

Roy B. Zuck

Roy B. Zuck (1932–2013) served as the senior editor of Bibliotheca Sacra from 1986 to 2013. This article was originally published as Roy B. Zuck, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics,” BSac 141.562 (1984): 120–30. It was adapted from chapters 4 and 10 of the author’s book The Holy Spirit in Your Teaching, rev. ed. (SP Publications, 1984) and used by permission. The article has received minor revisions and editing to style and formatting for this reprint.

Hermeneutics, the science and art of biblical interpretation, is of primary concern to evangelicals because of their commitment to the inerrancy and authority of the Bible. The task of Bible interpreters is to seek to ascertain the meaning of Bible passages to their original hearers and readers and to determine how that meaning relates to readers today.1 Biblical scholars have wrestled and are wrestling with serious hermeneutical issues but comparatively little attention has been given to the Holy Spirit’s role in hermeneutics.

Since inaccurate interpretation of Scripture can lead to improper conduct, one must be sure he is interpreting properly. Adequate application of truth builds on an adequate understanding of truth. A distorted meaning of a Bible verse or passage may result in misguided living.

The Holy Spirit, as the παράκλητος (“Helper”; John 14:16, 26; 15:26), is available to help believers ascertain the correct meaning of the Bible’s statements, commands, and questions. He is involved in the hermeneutical process because He is “the Spirit of truth,” who, Jesus said, “will guide . . . into all truth” (John 16:13). And as Paul wrote, “We have . . . the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:12). John wrote, “His anointing teaches you about all [spiritual] things” (1 John 2:27). Probably “anointing” refers to the Holy Spirit; by metonymy

BSac 181:724 (October-December 2024) p. 388

the act of anointing stands for what is given in the anointing, namely, the indwelling Holy Spirit.

However, the Holy Spirit’s involvement in teaching believers and guiding them in the truth raises some thorny questions: If true learning comes by the Spirit’s inner working, does this mean that one�...