Helping Your Hermeneutic: Repetition (5 Min Read)

We have placed a significant emphasis on the necessity to read the Holy Scriptures within their context so far in this series. We have examined that Context Determines Meaning, Concentric Circles of Context, Authorial Intent, Intended Audience, and Historical Context. Now, we will transition from the broader categories of scripture interpretation to equip the saints with word and sentence level hermeneutical tools and techniques, beginning with the tool of repetition observation.

A repetition in our Bible occurs when the same word, phrase, sentence, or concept appears more than once within a definitive space. This defined “space” maybe a singular verse, chapter, book, testament, or even the entire Bible. Taking notice of repetitions within each of these contexts sharpens our hermeneutic in several ways. For example, when we pick up on repetitions within a book of the Bible, it helps one understand some of the major themes, purposes, and emphases that the author wanted to impart upon his audience. Such an observation lets us know what the human author, inspired by the Divine Author (1 Peter 1:21), had on their mind when they took their pen in hand. This is not to say that where repetitions are absent that those texts are not important but simply to note that when a biblical author repeats themselves over and again, they really wanted to impart the content of that particular repetition on those whom they wrote to (the biblical audience) and those whom the Lord has preserved his word for (the modern audience). Here are examples of repetitions in a single verse, chapter, and book to help you develop the skill of noting repetitions and important themes in your Bible study:

Repetition Within a Verse – “Let the One”

Revelation 22:17, “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one is thirsty come, let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

The repetition of the word “one” in this verse contributes to an understanding that the call to “Come” is made to individuals.

Repetition Within a Chapter* – “The Promise of the Holy Spirit”

            *We will look at two chapters for this section.

Acts 1:4-5, “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:4, “And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Acts 2:17 (Peter is citing Joel 2:28-32 here), “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and females servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”

Acts 2:33, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

Acts 2:38-39, “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

In my opinion, the immediate context of Acts 2:38-39 along with the five other repetitions of the promise of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2, which all involve Peter either listening or speaking, clarify that the “promise” in Acts 2:39 is the Holy Spirit. This demonstration is one way that repetitions within a chapter (or two) help clarify the meaning of an individual word, verse, or concept.

Repetition Within a Book – “Love”

1 John 2:4-6, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

1 John 2:10, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him[b] there is no cause for stumbling.”

1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

1 John 3:11, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

1 John 4:7-10, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

1 John 5:1-3, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

For the sake of space, I did not include every verse that mentions the word “love” in 1 John. However, suffice it to say that John certainly expresses a focus on love in his 26 repetitions of the word within just five short chapters. Certainly, John wanted his audience to understand and emulate Christ-centered love, and repetitions helps drive his point home.

Conclusion

Repetition within the Bible helps develop our hermeneutic and our biblical theology. Keep this tool in mind and try to pick up on the major themes and emphases of biblical authors as you read through verses, chapters, books, testaments, and the entire Bible itself! Join us next time as we discuss how identifying the referents of pronouns enhances our interpretation of Scripture.