THE FIRST SYSTEMS OF INTERPRETATION © Serhiy Kvit

Moses tablets

Cabbalistics Kabbalah is a generic name for mystical doctrines and mystical practices of Judaism, in the center of which there is a view at the text of the Bible as a moving space of symbolic meanings. The idea about the emergence of Kabbalah diverges by more than 3000 years - from the time of Abraham to the XIII century“.

Cabbalistics The doctrine of Kabbalah interprets the creation of the world as a mystical act of the creation of 10 divine digits or spheres (Sefirot) and 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (3 main, 7 double, 12 simple), each of them corresponds to the special name of God. Their collection represents 32 ways of secret knowledge. Using those 10 digits, you can count everything you want and 22 letters is enough to write a variety of books, as well as what is unspoken. Our Universe predetermined by these forms represents the various degrees of separation of the Divine light from the original.

Cabbalistics All the books of the Torah: The Pentateuch, the Prophets, the Scriptures, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and others were written by various kabbalists, that is, the people who were in contact with the Creator, gained the spiritual world.

Torah "Moses received the Torah in Sinai". The word "Torah" means "guidance." Jews use it in several senses. Sometimes it means the first five books of the Bible, sometimes the Bible as a whole, that is, the entire written Torah. The word "Torah" can also mean the totality of the traditional doctrine that interprets the Bible and directs Jews in everyday life. This doctrine was transmitted orally from generation to generation and is known as the oral Torah.

Homer (VI century BC) the first European Poems: ”Iliad” and “Оdyssey”

Heraclitus (544–483 BC) you can never step the same river twice

Socrates (469–399 BC) dangers of writing

Protagoras (486-411 BC) the man is the measure of all things

Plato (427–347 BC) imitation of ideas

Antique hermeneutics Plato: Hermeneutics is a kind of art of prophecy, it is close to poetry. Ordinary people can't understand the "divine" language of the spiritual world. Poets are the interpreters of the gods. They interpret another's language, reveal its meaning, but they themselves can not know whether it is true or not. Aristotle: hermeneutics (interpretation) is an "external" expression of something "internal". A statement is an interpretation as far as we try to convey what we conceive with the help of words. It involves logic and philosophy into hermeneutics, speaks about truthfulness and falsity of judgment.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) imitation of forms

Antique hermeneutics Plato: poets are those who give names (like the gods). And the gods call things by the right names, such as those defined by nature. The one who wrongly names things deceives himself. Philosopher and sophist (critic). Aristotle: An idea that appears in the soul or expressed aloud is not true or false in itself. Its truthfulness depends on the context, the rules of grammar, and on the person who expresses a certain judgment.

Antique hermeneutics Paul Ricœur argues that already in the treatise of Aristotle "On the interpretation" hermeneutics acts as a general theory of human understanding. On the one hand, it is close to Plato's thoughts, and on the other, it serves as a kind of bridge that links ancient rhetoric and logic with hermeneutics and semiotics.

Antique hermeneutics The Stoics distinguished between "external" and "internal" logos: in every speech phenomenon it was necessary to find its inner meaning. According to them, hermeneutics becomes an independent field. If the literal meaning is obvious, then the allegorical meaning can only be guessed. Allegory practice of the Stoics continues to Philo of Alexandria in the interpretation of the Old Testament.

Antique hermeneutics The Stoics sought to preserve the authority of the myth. How could gods do evil? - Therefore myths are interpreted symbolically and allegorically. So the Stoics solved the question of the correlation of poetic myth and rational logos. Anthropomorphic gods were for them the allegories of the world mind - logos. The Stoics widely used etymological method of interpretation, trying through the etymology of words come to the interpretation of things that affects it. Etymologizing in the Stoics is a kind of allegorical interpretation.

Antique hermeneutics Analogists (Alexandria, Aristarchus) proceeded from the existence of certain general rules that are strict and selective. The idea of regularity. Anomalists (Pergamum, Kratis) made decisions on a case-by-case basis, since all the existing texts were considered as important in itself. Anomalists were afraid of the influence of general rules as a threat of unification. They paid attention to individual and unique forms. The idea of irregularity.

Odyssey Ulysses the one that angers the gods

Antique hermeneutics Three ways in interpretation of myths moralistic-psychological   allegorical   historical

Hebrew exegetics of Christ times Literal method Midrash Apocalyptic method Allegorical method

Jesus Christ humanity

Christian hermeneutics. Jesus and the Old Testament Historical understanding of events Normally, he didn't use an allegorical interpretation of the text Rejection of casuistry (replacing the Word of God with their own instructions) He was charged with unlawful acts, but never accused of misinterpreting the Holy Scriptures Using of Hebrew idioms, which are not directly translated into the language of our culture. The audience understood him well.

Christian hermeneutics. Apostles (authors of the New Testament) The Old Testament was a God-inspired text for them Sometimes there was an arbitrary citation from the Old Testament (there were differences between the commonly used Jewish, Aramaic, and Greek versions). The authors of the New Testament did not necessarily have to literally quote the Old one, because they did not claim it (a specific genre). Free speech with quotations indicates a thorough knowledge of the text. In the vast majority of cases, the New Testament interprets the Old Testament literally, according to established norms and traditions of the time.

Christian hermeneutics. Fathers of the Church Unlike the apostolic tradition, largely they interpreted the Holy Scriptures allegorically. Clement of Alexandria: historical, educational, prophetic, philosophical and mystical meanings. Origen: by analogy with the human structure (body, soul, spirit), the Scriptures have three meanings - literal, allegorical, mystical). Augustine: historical, moral, allegorical meanings.

St. Augustine (354-430) Christian doctrine; On the Trinity; Confession

Christian hermeneutics. Rules of St. Augustine The interpreter must be a believer. Particular attention should be paid to the historical (literal) meaning of the Holy Scriptures. An allegorical interpretation is appropriate. The task of the interpreter is to reproduce the meaning of the message, instead of adding its own values. It should constantly check with the symbol of faith. Certain poems should be considered in context, not in isolation from neighboring poems. The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for a good education An obscure part of the text should be interpreted through a clear passage. Revelation progresses (gradually deepens).

Christian hermeneutics The Alexandrian theological school (formed in the I-II centuries) put forward the allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures. The Antiochian school (which emerged at the end of the III century) put forward the "literal" interpretation - grammatical and historical.

Thomas Aquinas (1225/26 - 1274) faith and mind

Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas tried to find common ground in faith and reason. He responds to the teachings of Aristotle. In a controversy with St. Augustine's followers, he argued that man was able to comprehend natural truths without divine enlightenment (illuminations), but only through his own intelligence and intuitively learned principles. Faith and philosophy have a divine origin and mutually complement each other. The truths of philosophy do not contradict the truths of faith. Otherwise, the first or second is false, and this is impossible. In his comments to Aristotle, he states that "the study of philosophy does not serve to find out what people thought, but in order to grasp the truth."

Thomas Aquinas Senses of Scripture 1. Literal (historical) 2. Allegorical 3. Moral 4. Anagogical