I have been reading through the introduction to John Sailhamer’s new book The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation (IVP). The introduction is available for free online (click the sample pages link from Westminster’s Bookstore page or see the book’s page on IVP’s site).
Now that I’ve seen the intro, I know I want this book! And I wanted it before I saw John Piper’s high praise for the book.
This section, I thought was quite good and important for those of us who aim to interpret the Old Testament. Enjoy, then download the whole introduction, or better yet get the book (from Westminster Bookstore or Amazon.com).
The goal of a theological study of the Pentateuch is the biblical author’s intent as realized in the work itself. The (human and divine) authors’ intent is the “verbal meaning” of the book. The author’s intent is what his words say as part of the book.
When talking about the meaning of the words of the Pentateuch, one should be careful to distinguish this from the “things” that the words point to in the real world. The Pentateuch is about real historical events, that is, “things that have happened” (res gesta) in the real world. Words are not the things themselves. Words only point to things and tell us about things.
In speaking about historical events (things), one may easily confuse what an author says about these events with the events themselves. As important as history and archaeology are for understanding the “things” that the Bible points to and talks about, they sometimes get in the way of understanding the “words” of Scripture. The Pentateuch may be compared to a Rembrandt painting of real persons or events. We do not understand a Rembrandt painting by taking a photograph of the “thing” that Rembrandt painted and comparing it with the painting itself. That may help us understand the “thing” that Rembrandt painted, his subject matter, but it will not help us understand the painting itself. To understand Rembrandt’s painting, we must look at it and see its colors, shapes and textures. In the same way, to understand the Pentateuch, one must look at its colors, contours and textures. To understand Rembrandt’s painting, one must study the painting itself. To understand the Pentateuch, one must study the Pentateuch itself (pg. 19-20).
A reader emailed me with a good point on this. We want to know not just the painting but the painter. We want to encounter God as we learn the meaning of the Text of His Book, the Bible.