Biblical Interpretation: An Integrated Approach - Paperback

by W. Randolph Tate (Author)

This comprehensive exploration of the interpretive process, now available in paperback, has served as a successful textbook. It focuses on the three "worlds" of biblical interpretation--the world of the author, the world of the text, and the world of the reader--to help students develop an integrated hermeneutical strategy. The book offers clear explanations of interpretive approaches, which are supported by helpful biblical examples, and succinct synopses of various interpretive methods. Pedagogical aids include end-of-chapter review and study sections with key terms, study questions, and suggestions for further reading.

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Tate offers an informed and balanced study of variety in biblical interpretation. His command of primary and secondary sources and his clarity of presentation make this book a vade mecum for students and teachers.
--Phyllis Trible, Wake Forest University

"In this significantly expanded edition of his textbook, W. Randolph Tate brings the advantages of an integrated understanding of biblical hermeneutics to a new generation of interpreters. He more fully applies his 'three worlds' typology to an orientation of biblical hermeneutics vis-à-vis the plethora of critical methods now in regular use among increasingly diverse contemporary literary and biblical interpretive communities. In the process his typology proves itself a flexible and reliable framework for the study of biblical hermeneutics."
--William Yarchin, School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University

"[T]his third edition addresses some of the new insights into hermeneutics that have appeared within the last decade. . . . [The] bibliographies, along with the author, subject, and biblical text indices at the end, add to the usefulness of this first-rate book as a textbook for studying biblical interpretation."
--The Bible Today

"While Tate insists that his is not a textbook on critical methodologies, one of the outstanding features of this volume is its insistence on providing an accessible (and of necessity, brief) introduction to the seemingly inexhaustible list of methodological approaches currently at the disposal of the contemporary biblical interpreter. . . . An array of indexes, a steady stream of discussion questions, and well-stocked lists of further reading make this a very usable introduction to contemporary biblical interpretation."
--D. Shepherd, Vetus Testamentum

"Tate's third edition of his Biblical Interpretation reveals a mature approach to the subject of hermeneutics. . . . Review questions are included with each chapter to help the reader think through the issues. . . . This volume is a helpful addition to resources on interpretation. Its focus on three worlds [author, text, and reader] provides a perspective that will help readers balance their approach in the exegetical process."
--Joseph D. Fantin, Bibliotheca Sacra

"This is a useful work which provides a good survey of the problems of interpreting biblical texts and the different methods available to the interpreter to make sense of these ancient writings."
--David R. Law, Theological Book Review

Author Biography

W. Randolph Tate (PhD, Florida State University) is professor emeritus of humanities at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, where he taught for twenty-seven years. He is the author of several books, including Handbook for Biblical Interpretation.