The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Prophets and Apostles, by Abner Chou. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2018. 251 pp. $23.99.
Abner Chou serves as a professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University and Seminary in Santa Clarita, CA, and is the John F. MacArthur Endowed Fellow. Chou is a graduate of The Master’s University (B.A.) and The Master’s Seminary (M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D.). He has taught courses in Greek, Biblical Theology, and Hermeneutics, and spent two years teaching in Israel with the Israel Bible Extension program (IBEX).
The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers is a culmination of Chou’s theological studies which began in college and continued through his Ph.D. and his dissertation. Chou’s continued engagement with hermeneutics, and especially with the question of the “New Testament Use of the Old,” resulted in this current effort to uncover the hermeneutics of the biblical writers. In many respects, this book takes a “back door” approach to dealing with the question of how the New Testament uses the Old Testament.
In the first chapter, Chou defines what he calls the “Quest for Authorial Logic,” that is, the author’s rationale when referencing previous Scripture. Chou helpfully expresses his method and approach in this first chapter. In summarizing what he sets out to do, Chou notes, “Before we can call the apostles odd, reject their hermeneutic, or accept their hermeneutic, we need to understand what they actually did. Only then can we see if we should do as they do or as they say or, as I will argue, both” (18–19).
We see Chou’s penchant for biblical theology as he ties the hermeneutical approach of the human authors of Scripture to biblical theology. Chou delineates that “this book uses the New Testament’s use of the Old to teach us the nature of hermeneutics and interpretation” (23). Throughout the book, Chou seeks to demonstrate how the prophets and apostles interpreted Scripture by means of a literal, grammatical-historical framework and how this heuristic approach should be emulated by subsequent readers of Scripture.
Chapter 2 functions as a secondary introduction where Chou lays the groundwork for his approach, including his presuppositions, which include authorial intent, meaning and significance, and the reality of intertextuality. This approach is helpful in that it makes it much easier to evaluate and interact with Chou’s argumentation—the method and presuppositions are stated at the forefront and are not left ambiguous or up to the reader to determine.
Additionally, regardless of whether one agrees with Chou’s conclusions regarding these presuppositions, Chou’s effort to explain the significance of presuppositions and their impact on one’s method or process for biblical interpretation is an important, and oft overlooked, aspect of biblical interpretation that encourages introspection.
Chapters 3 and 4 focus upon the prophets and their hermeneutical approach. To begin with, Chou identifies the prophets as “scholars of Scripture” who are exegetes and theologians. Chou notes the manner in which intertextuality works in the Old Testament through allusion and argues convincingly for the availability of earlier biblical text for the prophets and demonstrates his reasoning with numerous biblical texts. Throughout these chapters Chou interacts extensively with the question, “Did the prophets speak better than they know?” Chou’s intertextual, or inner-biblical and exegetical, approach to answering this question is at once thorough and convincing.
Chapters 5 and 6 detail the hermeneutical practices of the apostles and seeks to answer the question of whether or not the New Testament authors utilize the same hermeneutical method and approach in their preaching and writing. In addition, Chou tackles the subject of “fulfillment” language in the New Testament. Chou interacts with a significant number of “fulfillment” passages and offers biblically-based arguments for his reasoning and conclusions. Chou’s assertion regarding the New Testament authors is that they demonstrate a consistency in hermeneutics and in ideology with the prophets, not only with regard to the big picture, but also through the intricate details of the Old Testament when interpreting, preaching, and writing. Chou looks at each of the New Testament authors in arriving at these conclusions.
In chapters 7 and 8 Chou identifies the logical conclusion for the Christian, which is to imitate the hermeneutical tradition of the biblical writers. However, rather than just state this conclusion in the abstract, Chou helpfully guides the reader through the application of this process in their own study—a benefit not only for scholars, but for every student of Scripture. Chou concludes with a reminder in chapter 8 that the authors of Scripture were sophisticated in their thinking and teaching, and reminds the reader that Scripture has a compounding complexity which demands careful thought and attention. Chou reminds the reader that he does not need to make up a new hermeneutic, but that Scripture comes with “hermeneutic included.”
Throughout his work, Chou grounds his reasoning in Scripture and deals honestly with the complexity of language. Irrespective of one’s agreement with Chou’s conclusions throughout his work, one cannot fault Chou for avoiding the difficult questions or setting up straw men he can easily burn down. Instead Chou tackles difficult questions head-on in an attempt to honestly ascertain the hermeneutics of the prophets, apostles, and by extension, the hermeneutic he believes should be applied by the modern-day exegete. Far from being yet another book on hermeneutics, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers is a refreshing approach toward identifying and applying the hermeneutic of Scripture.
