CONNECTION IN WHICH IT OCCURS. This may seem so evident as
figurative use of words is left for a following paragraph. In the study of the words in their connection, the interpreter should proceed on the following principles:
1. "THE LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE SHOULD BE INTERPRETED ACCORDING TO ITS GRAMMATICAL IMPORT; AND THE SENSE OF ANY EXPRESSION, PROPOSITION, OR DECLARATION, IS TO BE DETERMINED BY THE WORDS EMPLOYED" (Muenscher, Manual of Biblical Interpretation, p. 107). In the last analysis, our theology finds its solid foundation only in the grammatical sense of Scripture. Theological knowledge will be faulty in proportion to its deviation from the plain meaning of the Bible. Though this canon is perfectly obvious, it is repeatedly violated by those who bring their preconceived ideas to bear upon the interpretation of the Bible. By means of forced exegesis, they attempt to make the sense of Scripture square with their pet theories or opinions. Rationalists act in defiance of it, when they resolve the story of the fall into a myth; and Millenarians, when they find in 1 Thess. 4:16 proof for a twofold resurrection. The interpreter should carefully guard against this mistake, and conscientiously abide by the plain meaning of the words.
2. A WORD CAN HAVE BUT ONE FIXED MEANING IN THE CONNECTION IN WHICH IT OCCURS. This may seem so evident as to require no special mention. But experience teaches us that it is not superfluous to call attention to it. The desire to seem original and profound, and to surprise the common people by fanciful expositions of which they have never heard, sometimes tempts interpreters to lose sight of this simple canon of interpretation. It frequently happens that all the significations which a word in the abstract has, are ascribed to it in whatever connection it may occur. Such a mode of procedure must be condemned as being purely arbitrary. Its danger and folly may be illustrated by a few examples.
The Greek word sarks may designate (a) the solid part of the body, except the bones (1 Cor. 15:39; Luke 24:39); (b) the whole substance