The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide

Methods of Bible Study

Methods of Bible Study W hat we think the Bible is helps determine the way in which we read it. Traditional Jewish commentators believe that the words of the Bible were revealed by God to Moses. Therefore, when there seem to be contradictions or errors, the commentators set about to harmonize apparent inconsistencies into one true and consistent Bible text. They also try to explain any discrepancies between biblical concepts and the ideas and beliefs of their own time. Interpretation is thus a necessity for every generation. Modern critical scholarship reads the Bible as a document of religious faith expressed within a specific culture, tied to a specific time, limited by the meaning of the authors. Every text of the Bible, in this view, is time bound. In contrast to this, traditional commentators in every age seek the timeless, eternal voice of God in the words of the Bible; their reading of the Bible is informed by a deep theological commitment to an eternal God whose very word is understood as being imbedded in the text. Traditional Methods Over the centuries, traditional commentators have used several different approaches to discover the layers of meaning in the Bible. A convenient way to think about these approaches or levels is through a Hebrew acronym that was created for this purpose: PaRDeS. The “Pa” is for peshat, “R” for remez, “De” for derash, and “S” for sod. These ways of reading the Bible for Jews are meant to be complementary, not mutually exclusive. Jewish reading of scripture is not overly concerned with establishing one “correct” reading, and many of the greatest scholars of the tradition have been content to entertain several seemingly opposed interpretations of a single passage. To illustrate what PaRDeS means, let us briefly examine two verses that tell of the journey of Abraham (then known as Abram) from Egypt to Canaan: And he proceeded by stages from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram invoked the Lord by name (Gen. 13:3–4). 107 The commentators interpret the text using the following approaches: Peshat: The plain, literal sense of the verse in its context. Abraham returns to Canaan from Egypt “by stages”; he moves from one oasis to another. Remez: The allegorical or symbolic meaning of the verse. The word “Abram” is understood to be the soul; his travels trace his spiritual journey. Derash: The homiletic (or interpretive) meaning of the verse as viewed outside of its original context. Specific ideas and values are derived from the text, whether the text, in its literal meaning, could mean this or not. This approach reveals Abram’s true intention: to visit many places where he could teach the word of God. Sod: The secret, mystical interpretation of the verse. This approach teaches that the Land of Israel draws Abram from a purely nonphysical state of being to one of concrete physical reality. PaRDeS has become a well-recognized framework for understanding traditional methods of Bible study. No single method of interpretation is considered to be The Jewish Bible 108 Four Approaches to Reading the Bible Judaism has traditionally fostered a “multiple-lens” approach to reading the Bible. Jews of any background may draw on any or all of these ways of understanding the Bible at any given time: Peshat is the plain sense reading. It looks to the surface meaning of the text, drawing on knowledge of word meanings, grammar, syntax, context, cognate Semitic languages, archaeology, and history. Remez is the allegorical, or symbolic, reading. It looks for parallels between the scriptural text and more abstract concepts. This kind of reading sees biblical characters, events, and literary compositions as standing for other truths. Derash is the inquiring or interpretive reading. It looks for further layers of meaning. Midrash, the Jewish tradition of interpreting the scripture through creative storytelling, derives from this way of reading. Sod is the mystical reading. It looks at the biblical text as a symbolic code, which with piety and effort will yield hidden wisdom and personal connection with the Divine. The Jewish mystical tradition known as Kabbalah relies on complex symbolic interpretation of each individual letter of the biblical text. Adapted from Cullen Schippe and Chuck Stetson, The Bible and Its Influence. the best, because the Bible is layered...