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John Calvin's Interpretive Method of the Old Testament

John Calvin is the most significant theologian and his interpretive method may provide a good model for the pastors who interpret and preach the Bible. For the understanding of the Old Testament, Calvin thought that the interpreters of the Bible need the guide of the New Testament. He followed the typological interpretation of the disciples, and applied Jesus’ essential and inclusive application of the Torah to the Old Testament. He regarded the simplicity as the significant principle of his interpretation. In order to grasp the right meaning of the text, he studied the etymology of a word which he attributes to the God. Calvin knew very well the Hebrew grammar, and applied it to his interpretation. When he felt difficulty to settle a meaning of a word or a sentence, he very often referred the Jewish interpreters, since he regarded them as experts of the Hebrew grammar. Calvin also considered the immediate context of a text, and searched the usage of a word both in the Old and the New Testament, showing the typical principle of the sola scriptura. Calvin significantly considered the original context and the original audience of the text in his interpretation. He very often quoted and referred to the content of the Greek historians like Herodotus and Xenophon.