Colossians Lesson 8

Hermeneutical principle

a. Compare translations to see if there are words or phrases that have been translated differently to clarify certain ambiguous references in the text. (ESV, NASB, NIV, KJV)

i. Three different philosophies of translations

1. Literal (NASB, KJV, RSV)

2. Dynamic Equivalent (NIV)

3. Paraphrase (The Message, Pigeon, Ebonics, etc.)

b. Understand the meaning of the word in context.

i. Use bible dictionaries to look up meanings of the words in the context of the culture.

ii. Use cross-references to help understand the context of the word in the NT.

iii. Carefully examine the context of the immediate text to help understand the author’s intent of the word.