1

Alexandre Gonçalves
Prof. Dan Ulrich
B-102 Introduction to New Testament History and Literature
3 December 2013

Finding the Messiah in the Scriptures: Paul’s hermeneutics and his (mis)use of the Hebrew
Scriptures in Galatians 3

Abstract

Aiming to make his arguments, both to instruct his churches and to respond to their

opponents, the apostle Paul resorted quite frequently to the Hebrew Scriptures1. However, due to

the hermeneutical methods employed, or due to his criteria of quotation, Paul's argument

sometimes follows paths difficult to understand.

In the face of difficult texts as we address the letter to the Galatians, mainly in Chapter 3, a

fundamental question arises: Did Paul intentionally modify the meaning of the Scriptures in order to

sustain his arguments in favor of the justification by faith in Christ? In order to respond this and other

later questions we will first observe if Paul’s interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures corresponds to

the methods of his time. Second, in what manner Paul was innovative in his methods. And finally, to

understand how the Paul's rearrangement of the quoted texts was justifiable.

However, the understanding of the specific meaning of a text occurs from a dialogue with

its broader rhetoric. It would therefore be necessary to examine the entire "Pauline corpus" so

that the interpretive standards, capable of providing the most reliable information about its

1. In this article, we preferred to use the term Hebrew Scriptures rather than the Old Testament.
Although nowadays is the second most common in the context of the early church the Hebrew
Scriptures, or precisely the Scriptures, was the term commonly used by New Testament writers.
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methodology, could be found. The task of this article is not to find and compare

comprehensively the similarities between the quotations made by Paul from the Hebrew

Scriptures, as well as its application in his arguments to establish the modus operandi of Pauline

hermeneutics. The purpose of this study is to answer whether and for what reasons Paul

deliberately and literally changed the original meaning of some quotations, especially those

found in chapter 3 of his letter to the Galatians.

Introduction

The resurrection of Jesus was the foundational event that consolidated a new profession

of faith, since it represented a watershed in the understanding of salvation offered by God - not

only to Jews but also to Gentiles - as well as the essential motivation for the preaching of the

Gospel. As an example, we have the testimony of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians,

in which he states that the appearance of the risen Christ convinced him that he had to believe

and preach (Gal. 1:15-16b [NRSV]).

Thus, for the early Christian community, the resurrection was the primordial evidence

that the fate of Jesus should correspond to the Scriptures. From the beginning, the early

Christians understood that the whole trajectory of Jesus, culminating in his passion, death

and resurrection, including the ethical demands of the Kingdom of God and the very

conception of the identity of Jesus were somehow prefigured in Scripture. In summary, Jesus

of Nazareth, who was worshiped and proclaimed in the Judeo-Christian communities, was

the Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures 2.

2. Under this view, the early Christian communities express the events related to Jesus with the
words from the Hebrew Scriptures: the division of clothes of Jesus (John 10:24 as a quotation from
 3

Similarly, the apostle Paul made use the Hebrew Scriptures in his preaching to the

Gentiles, with the backdrop of the death and resurrection of Jesus. However, the way Paul

addressed some of these texts "must have startled his audience first"3, and raises some important

questions, such as: Would Paul have been able to use any artifice in his mission to convert the

pagans? Did Paul intentionally modify the meaning of the Scriptures in order to sustain his

arguments in support of the justification by faith in Christ? Would Paul have ignored the original

context from which his quotes were taken in order to use them as evidence for his arguments?

To answer these questions it will be necessary to understand the methods of reading

and interpreting prevailing at the time of Paul, and find out how he followed and or

innovated them.

Methods of interpretation the apostolic period

According to Longenecker4, the development of apostolic hermeneutics must be

understood when read in parallel with the existing traditions of that time, as well as other

important Jewish documents, such as the Talmud and Apocryphal texts (especially the

Psalm 22:18), his cry on the cross (Matt. 27: quotation from Psalm 46 as 22:1), his death on the cross
flanked by bandits (Mark 15:28-29 as a quote from Isa. 53:12), all his suffering (Luke 24:44 as a
generic quote from "Moses , Prophets and Psalms ", i.e., the Jewish Tanakh). The resurrection is also
thereby understood (Acts 13:33 as a quote from Psalm 2:7). The application of the Hebrew Scriptures
to Jesus has grown, reaching marginal aspects of his life, such as where he was born (Matt. 2:6 and
John 7:42 as quotation from Mic. 5:2), where he began his ministry (Matt. 4:15 as a quotation from Isa.
9:1), and even their poverty (Matt. 8:20 and another related texts with the Lord's Servant of Isa. 53).
3. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven & London: Yale
University Press, 1989), 1.
4. Richard N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1999), 4.
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apocalyptic), the Dead Sea Scrolls, Targums, and those written by Philo of Alexandria.

Longenecker also states that, despite the patent differences in methods of interpretation of Jewish

writers, at least four points in common can be found among them:

1. All of them consider the Scriptures as divinely inspired by God;

2. The Torah holds all the truth of God for the guidance of human beings;

3. That there are at least two meanings in the Scriptures: an obvious and superficial, and

another implicit or deductible;

4. That the purpose of all interpretation is to educate the people of God.5

Other important characteristics presented by Longenecker were the four types of

classification of the Jewish exegesis:

1. Literalistic, by which the Scriptures are understood in a straightforward way,

producing a plain meaning of the text.

2. Midrashic, that is an interpretation derived of the Scriptures, however in an

independent way.

3. Pesher, a method in which consists of comment on Scriptures (especially the

Prophets), seeking to apply it to the circumstances experienced by the community, as

the texts were speaking directly of the current reality.

4. Allegorical, a method in which the reality is interpreted symbolically through

metaphors and figures of speech, showing another meaning beyond the literal

meaning of the words.

5. Idib, p. 6-7.
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Among these methods, the allegorical was the most prominent among the Jews of the

first century, with Philo of Alexandria as one of its greatest representatives6. The allegorical

interpretations are divided into: figurative, narrative and typological, the last one being widely

used by the New Testament writers, especially Paul. The typological allegory treats figures and

events from the Hebrew Scriptures as a "type" for other figures or events in different historical

contexts7. Until the Reformation, the allegory was the primary method of interpretation among

Christians interpreters.

Paul and the Hebrew Scriptures

As it could not be different, the apostle shared the classical Judeo-Christian's approach of

the Scriptures, using the same exegetical methods of his time, with emphasis on the midrashic,

pesher, and especially the allegorical. Between direct quotations and allusions, Paul made about

a hundred references to the Scriptures, usually from the Septuagint. To identify his quotations

Paul often used the introductory formula "as it is written" or "it is written."8

In his book The Conversion of Imagination, Richard Hays argues that the fundamental

difference between Paul and the other New Testament writers is that Paul used the Scriptures not

only to relate the events about Jesus - essentially those related with his passion - with the

tradition of the Jews, but so that the Gentiles could read the Scriptures as participants of its

6. Ibid, p. 14-34.
7. We can mention as an example, Paul's quotation of Adam as a "type" of Christ (Rom. 5:14).
8. From Greek καθώσ γέγραπται and γέγραπται (Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor, 8:15;
Gal. 3:10).
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tradition, from the conversion of their imagination9. Since salvation, as interpreted by Paul, was

extended to the Gentiles, they were included in the historical process of redemption executed by

God. Because of their faith in Christ, the Gentiles became God's people.

For Paul, the events regarding the life of Jesus and the full establishment of the God's

Kingdom in history constitute the narrative continuity of the history of Israel itself. By retelling

this story, now with the lens of the cross of Christ and the Parousia, the apostle intended

reshaping the consciousness of the Gentiles. Hays advances that Paul did not ignore the original

context of the texts he used as support for his arguments, but rather he did a re-reading of such

texts, trying to insert them into the paradigm of the converted imagination10. In other words, the

history of Israel and served as a metaphor and type for the Gentiles’ understanding of the

Scriptures, so that the church could both assume the role the people of Israel played in the

Scriptures, and serving as witnesses to the eschatological conversion of outsiders.

Hayes sought to demonstrate that for Paul, the Gospel message could only be understood

in its entirety and purpose insofar as it was in connection with the larger narrative about the

relationship between God and the people of Israel:

“Such a thoroughgoing conversion could be fostered and sustained only by a continuous

process of bringing the community’s beliefs and practices into critical confrontation with

the gospel story.”11

9. Richard B. Hays, The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul As Interpreter of Israel's

Scripture (Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans, 2005), viii.
10. Idid, p. 4.
11. Ibid, p. 6.
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This statement, although it has been done within the context of Paul's letter to the

Corinthians, likewise contributes to our understanding of the use he makes of the Hebrew

Scriptures in Galatians.

The letter to the Galatians

The letter to the Galatians has been considered one of the most bitter and hard works

written by the Apostle Paul. Given the controversy assumed against the "Judaizers" Christians

not identified in the letter - probably missionaries12 who wanted to establish the marks of

Judaism in converts from paganism - Paul spoke to the Galatians in a way never before seen in

his writings. Not even in the Corinthian letters, with whom the apostle had rather difficult issues

to deal with, was he so severe.

The letter presents strong evidence that the converts from Galatia were predominantly

pagan Gentiles (Gal. 4:8-9), persuaded by Jewish-Christian missionaries unknown to Paul (5:7-

12), who according to him have imposed a different gospel and perverted the teachings of the

Scriptures (1:6-7) to impose the compliance of some aspects of Jewish law to the Gentiles (4:10-

11), especially the circumcision (5:2-4, 6:12-13). Outraged by the situation, Paul elaborated a

consistent argument against the teachings of such people.

According to David Barr, Paul's letters should not be considered as proclamation of the

Gospel itself, but as instructions to those who had responded to an earlier proclamation13. With

12. J. D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians, Black’s NT Commentary (Peabody,

Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), 11.
13. David Barr, New Testament Story: An Introduction, 3rd ed. Belmont, (Ca.:
Wadsworth, 2002), 88.
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this argument, we can say that the readers of Paul's letters had prior knowledge of the themes

developed by him, and consequently, they had a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Among the ten quotations from Scriptures Paul made in Galatians, seven of them are

found in chapter three of the letter. After the introduction and a self-defense of his calling and

preaching, Paul focused his attention on the controversy established among the Galatians.

Actually, he began his counter-argument in Gal. 2:15 but the quotations from the Scriptures are

all found from Chapter 3 until the beginning of the chapter 5, in which the apostle ended his

exposition against the Judaizers missionaries.

In his commentary on Galatians, Hays summarizes the main lines of Paul's counter-

argument:

1. The cross, not the Law, is the basis of our relationship to God;

2. The following of the life-giving Spirit is enough to animate and guide the faithful

community;

3. The reconciling power of God is to be demonstrated not by forcing Gentiles to become

Jews but by bringing circumcised and uncircumcised believers together at one

common table.

4. The gospel is the revelation of God’s apocalyptic action that has undone and

transformed the world14.

One of the main topics addressed by Paul in order to compose his counterargument, was

justification by faith. Although he had previously indicated (2:1-5, 15) it was in chapter 3 that

14. Richard B Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians” in The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol.
XI, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 186.
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Paul addressed with more intensity the gospel of God's grace and the ineffectiveness of the Law

for justification of the human being.

After harsh criticism to the Galatians because their commitment the works of the Law to

the detriment of the faith, Paul made the first quote from Scriptures to remember the example of

Abraham, who "believed God, and it was reckoned to him the righteousness," (Gal. 3:6 quoting

Gen. 15:6). However, Paul's comment in verse 7 has no direct relation to the quoted text, but

rather with a verse from Genesis that he did not mention (Gen. 15:15 that speaks about descent).

Hays calls this phenomenon metalepsis, or "echo", "When a literary echo links the text in which

it occurs to an earlier text, the figurative effect of the echo can lie in the unstated or suppressed

(transumed) points of resonance between the two texts".15 By deduction we may suppose that the

Judaizers’ missionaries were teaching that only after circumcision the Gentiles would become

completely children of Abraham.

In verse 8, there is another quotation related to Abraham, connecting his response to the

call of God to the response of faith of the Gentiles16 (Gal 3:8 quoting Gen. 12:3; 18:18, 22:18).

As occurred in his interpretation in the previous verse, Paul's quotation was partial, since he

mentioned only the last part of Gen. 12:3, using it later, in verse 10. This artifice further

strengthens the hypothesis that the churches founded by Paul were instructed in the Scriptures,

which allowed that his explanation contained underlying arguments, appropriate to an audience

previously accustomed to the topics addressed by him. Either way, quotation made by Paul -

15. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1989), 20.
16. The word ἔθνη (ethnȇ), that can mean “nations”, was interpreted by Paul as all
people, including especially those who are non-Jews. The New Revised Standard Translation of
the Bible translated ἔθνη as “Gentiles”, instead “nations”, as the original text presents.
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indicating Abraham's response to God's call as a paradigmatic attitude to the further generations -

explains his typological methodology. Paul said that the Scriptures predicted (προϊδοῦσα) God's

intention to include all nations in his plan of justification.

The following quotations comprise greater difficulty, as in previous examples Paulo only

reinforced his thinking on justification by faith, expanding the meaning of what he understood by

"nations", i.e., that God extended His grace to all generations of the earth. However, in Gal. 3:10,

rather than offer another interpretation to the text, Paul apparently changed its original meaning:

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is

everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law’.”

This quotation was taken from the text of Deut. 27:26 spell out as follows:

“Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them.” All

the people shall say, “Amen!”

Chapter 27 of Deuteronomy begins with a commandment of Moses to the people: "Keep

the entire commandment that I am commanding you today" (Deut. 27:1). Moses continues

saying that the Law ought to be clearly written on stones; probably a sign to not be easily

forgotten or abandoned by people. The obedience of the people would depend on their

observance of the commandments written in these stones. Further, the text presents a series of

twelve curses, all with a strong correlation with the Ten Commandments.

Indeed, the book of Deuteronomy makes countless allusions to the obedience of the Law,

not only as a condition for strengthening the people during their walk in the desert and guarantee

of their entrance into the promised land, but especially as a guarantee of a long life on this earth

(Deut. 11:1 -32). According to this thinking, God's promise was conditioned upon obedience to
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his Law The terms in which the curse appears in the text of Deuteronomy quoted by Paul, is

explained as follows in Deuteronomy 11-26-28:

26
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey

the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today; 28 and the

curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way

that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.

In this perspective, the curse would come upon those who did not practice Law, or upon

those who, at some point, neglected its precepts. Therefore, only the faithful obedience to the

Law, would free them from the curse.17

Paul apparently inverted this logic by stating that actually, those "who rely on the works

of the law are under a curse" (Gal. 3:10a), quoting soon afterwards the Deuteronomist text (from

the LXX) in its literality, however, replacing the phrase "all the words of this law" (Deut.

27:26b) by "all the things that are written in the book of the Law" (now from Deut. 28:58 or

30:10)18. At first glance, it seems that besides making an equivocal reading of the quoted text,

Paul deliberately altered it in order to comply with his argumentative purpose.

However, considering that Paul's audience have already had a prior knowledge from

Scriptures, and the use he made of metalepsis, have echoed in Galatians the descriptions that the

book of Deuteronomy had already made about the underlying conditions for the Law's

17. It is remarkable that the previous context of the Paul's quotation on Deuteronomy
addresses the blessings for obedience (7:12-22), consequences of rebellion against God (9:1-7),
rewards for obedience (11) rules about food (14:1-21), festivals (16:1-17); the same themes
addressed in Galatians.
18. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians, p. 258.
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obedience19. Then, Paul categorically said that cursed are those who place themselves under a

condemning yoke, which the Law itself predicted in its statutes. Those who do so are under a

curse not for practicing the Law, but because of the obligatoriness of its practicing and the

decision to rely on it. Consequently, all those who placed their trust in the works of the Law as a

condition for salvation, shaped their identity by the Law, or more precisely, by the works of Law,

not in Christ. Because the Law was given to reveal the sin of humanity - not to guarantee their

salvation - the curse lies in the obligatoriness of Law's observation, even more with the

crucifixion of Christ offering a definitive means of salvation (Gal. 2 : 20, 3:26).

Both the texts on the sanctions of law, implied but not quoted, and those that were added

from other chapters of Deuteronomy demonstrate that Paul did not change them, nor disregarded

the context in which they were inserted. On the contrary, the echoes we capture from these

quotations demonstrate that the creative composition made by the apostle to an audience

previously aware of such a context, did not change the theological structure of the message. Paul

made a compilation from what he understood as the whole of the Scriptures’ message, not the

details of its literality.

From such perspective we can understand better the use he made of the Habakkuk 2:4,

"but the righteous live by their faith" (quoted in Gal. 3:11b), and Leviticus 18:5, "whoever does

the works of the law will live by them" (quoted in Gal. 3:12b). In these texts, Paul reinforced his

argument that it is not the obligatoriness of observance of the Law that brings life, but rather the

new covenant with Christ, established by faith and animated by the Spirit (Gal. 2:16, 19, 3:7-9,

19. Deuteronomy 28 revisits the theme of blessing for obedience and warnings against
disobedience. This seems to show that Paul, as usual, have done a review on these texts, in order
to substantiate his arguments.
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3:12, 22, 24 and 5:5; also mentioned in 2 Cor. 3:6). According to Hays, for Paul the text of Hab.

2:4 is “the revelatory hermeneutical lens through which Scripture must be read”20.

The next quotation is from Deuteronomy 21:23, “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s

curse”. Again, Paul made a different reconstruction of the text omitting “by God”: “Cursed is

everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13b). Besides arguing that Christ annulled the curse

through his death on the cross, Paul probably also would have provoked his adversaries21. But

Hays argues that, "It is likelier that v. 13 reflects an early Jewish-Christian confessional tradition

that explained the saving effects of Jesus' death by interpreting the crucifixion as Jesus' vicarious

sacrifice, in which he took the effects of the deuteronomic curse upon himself"22. Thus, Paul

used such a quotation to connect the salvific effects of Jesus' death with the blessing of Abraham,

now extended to Gentiles in v. 14. Once again, Paul did not distort the meaning of the

Deuteronomic text, but rather he made a rearrangement in accordance with his inclusive theology

of justification by faith.

The last quotation Paul used from the Hebrew Scriptures in chapter 3 of Galatians was no

less discussed than previous ones we described here. The controversy lies on Paul's rereading of

the promise of descendants to Abraham in Galatians 3:16, precisely on the word “seed”23.

20. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians, p. 259.

21. Dunn affirms that the same quotation from Deut. 21:23 was mentioned by other
interpreters of Paul's time referring to the Jews who were crucified in the first century by the
Roman Empire (according 4QpNah 1.7-8; IIQTemple 64.6-13). James D. G. Dunn, The Epistle
to the Galatians, Black’s NT Commentary (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), 178.
22. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians, p. 261.
23. From Greek σπέρμα (sperma).
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Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to

offsprings,” as of many; but it says, “And to your offspring,” that is, to one person, who

is Christ (Gen. 13:15; 15:5, 18; 17:7-8; 22:16-18; 26:4).

The word “seed” as it appeared in the Abrahamic promise is a singular generic, and

clearly refers to being his descendants. Longenecker points that targumin popularized the

comprehension of this word in the plural, in order to reaffirm Israel's election24.

Paul did not ignore that “seed” was a collective noun (Gen. 15:15), since Abraham was

father of many in the past (Gal, 3:7). However, Paul argued that Abraham’s fatherhood reached

those who belong to Christ (Gal. 3:29). Likewise the rabbinic exegesis that addressed this issue

relating it to David (2 Sam. 7:12-14; Psalm 89:3-4)25, Paul interpreted “seed” as singular to affirm

that Christ is such seed. Thus, Paul did not transgress the grammar; he did an elaborate

interpretive argument to affirm that all people are children of God by faith in Christ (Gal. 4:28).

The descendants of Abraham are not restricted to a person (his son Isaac), nor the people of

Israel, but it is extended to all those who through faith are justified by Christ, including all nations,

regardless of their social status or gender. The inheritance promised by God to Abraham

culminates in justification by faith in Christ Jesus.

Once broken down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, whether or not the Law

is observed, will not make no difference for their salvation. All are free of the curse

(obligatoriness to comply with the Law) through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Once the

Gentiles are not excluded from the promise, no one else should be. Hence, Paul concluded his

24. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period, 106.

25. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians, p. 261.
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argument in this section with his famous statement that: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there

is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ

Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). God included everyone.

And the addition of the Holy Spirit in his interpretation demonstrated that "Paul has

creatively expanded the actual content of the promise; whereas Genesis speaks of God's gift of

land and numerous descendants, Paul regards the promise to Abraham as being fulfilled in the

church's experience of the Holy Spirit"26. Such inference is from the reading of the prophetic

tradition reimagined by Paul27, in particular of Isaiah, one of the most quoted prophets by Paul:

I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. (Isa. 44:3b)

In sum, Paul wove a complex network in his letter, including the Galatians previous

experience with the Spirit (Gal. 3:1-4), the blessing to Abraham (6-9), the justification by faith

and the consequences of remaining under the Law’s works (10-12), the redemption from the

curse and the promise of the Spirit (13-14), and finally, the inclusion of all those who are heirs of

God's promise (15-18).

For Paul, the Scriptures confirm the trajectory of Christ as well as the eschatological

destiny of the world and the role of the church in the witness of God's redeeming grace. The

church's life is animated by the Spirit and enlightened by Scripture. Paul's hermeneutical circle is

based both in a committed reading of the Scriptures, and in a recognition of the community of

faith as a witness of God's grace.

26. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians, p. 261.

27. According to Hays, it refers to the promises regarding the Israel’s restoration from
exile, especially found in Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa. 32:15-17; 44:1-5; 59:21; Ezek. 11:14-21;
36:22-27; 27:1-14), Ibid.
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Conclusion

Important points highlighted by Hays28 help us to understand Paul’s hermeneutic

approach to the Scriptures. First, Paul presented a pastoral concern, because ultimately, he aimed

to form a community whose identity is formed from the recognition of its calling as a member of

God's people. The conversion of the imagination aimed to transform the consciousness of the

community of faith.

Second, Paul made a poetic rereading of the Scriptures, since he sought in it a source of

images and metaphors to announce God's action in his time. Paul read the Scriptures as a

poetic preacher.

Third, Paul read the Scriptures narratively, as the saga of the election, judgment and

redemption of human beings, wrought by God in history. Through a retrospective reading,

and with an apocalyptic perspective, Paul found “prefiguration” in the Scriptures to explain

the unexpected event of Parousia. Hays demonstrates that for Paul the Scriptures presented

eschatological aspects that pervade throughout its length, and that compose the

hermeneutical key to understanding it, as well as to understanding faith in Jesus (typology

and metalepsis)29. Thus, Paul applied to his listeners a style of reading that taught them to

interpret the Scriptures eschatologically.

28. Hays, The Conversion of the Imagination, viii.

29. Ibid, viii.
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Finally, Paul is presented as the one who read the Scriptures with fidelity. According to

Hays, this feature evidences that Paul, with the intention of finding a word of grace, proclaimed

above all, a God of love and justice, and that for these reasons is trustworthy.

All reading necessarily involves an interpretation. Every interpretation reflects the

reader’s understanding of the text. However, all interpretation is ultimately, an interpretive

hypothesis, unable to offer the totality about the facts contained in a text. Thus, the interpretation

acquires a status of truth - even if not in its totality - and begins to compose a formative aspect,

only to the extent that both his interpreter as his listeners decide faithfully organize their lives

from the interpreted content. The truth of an interpretation lies in the fidelity of its interpreters

recognizing it as a formative and guiding principle.

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 19

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