When a NT author quotes the OT, he believes the OT passage has an argument to make that he now commandeers for his own use. The quotes are not window dressing, with the real argument coming before or after the quote. No, the quotes are a fundamental part of the argument. The quotes contain the premises upon which the conclusion stands. We might misunderstand the conclusion if we haven’t identified the premises (in their original context).

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Matt 1:23)
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)
“Not one of his bones will be broken.” (John 19:36)
“You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” (Heb 5:5)
Since the Bible had no verse divisions until the 16th century AD, we ought to consider what this implies about how to read and study the Bible. Ancient readers had no map or reference system to pinpoint particular statements. They could not speak with precision about a textual location such as Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14.
Instead, they referenced Scriptures by broad indicators such as:

“…in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush…” (Mark 12:26)
“…the scroll of the prophet Isaiah…He found the place where it was written…” (Luke 4:17)
“the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah…” (John 12:38)
“he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way…” (Heb 4:4)

They did not quote things the way we do. They did not have MLA- or APA-style citations, word-perfect precision, or bibliographical indices.
In fact, most people didn’t read their own copies of the Scripture. Most of what they knew about Scripture came through oral delivery, repetition, and memorization.
So if we read our Bibles only like 21st century students at institutions of higher education, we will not be reading them like 1st century commoners, or even nobility, receiving these remarkable works of literature from the hands of Jesus’ first followers.
What does this mean?
1. NT quotes of the OT are referencing passages, not verses.
Often there’s a verbal connection to the exact verses being quoted. For example, when Peter wants to make a point about being “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5) he grabs a few key statements with the word “stone” in them (1 Pet 2:6-8). But his goal is not to produce sound bytes fitting for a radio interview, or back-cover blurbs promoting a book.
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The inner witness of the Holy Spirit confirms this promise of Scripture to my soul, but the gospel does more than just offer out that future promise of healing; it also works as a soothing-balm for the wound of sin until that final perfect restoration is realised. The Holy Spirit works through the gospel to our souls in the now, helping to alleviate – or soothe – many of the symptoms of sin that cause us so much current suffering.

The time has come for my monthly medication delivery for the small handful of incurable illnesses (by modern medicine standards at any rate) that I now possess in my body. This month, as I placed the near two carrier bags full of tablets down by my bedside cabinet, I noticed my Bible sitting nearby and my mind turned to the promises of healing within the gospel.
In my near-decade as a preacher, and despite those many gospel-declarations being proclaimed from out of my own sickly body, I think that I have only ever preached on those gospel promises of healing once, from Romans 8:23. Even then, I think that the gist of that message was very simply: “Sufferings within this current time is normal. During these sufferings there are groanings within for the perfect future. These groanings are a reminder of the hope that we have for the future.”
I have often thought upon Romans 8:23 (and the similar message from 2 Cor. 5:2, 4). The reality is I have experienced this groaning from within (both audible and silent) far more than I have ever let on. Why, then, haven’t I preached more on those promises of healing within the gospel? After all, we all suffer, and there are many, many others who suffer from various types of illnesses in similar ways to myself.
The reason for this, I think, is that while I have a lot more experience of illnesses, and the suffering caused by those illnesses, than I would have ideally liked[1], what do I know about a perfect freedom from all of sin’s effects? The fact is, I know nothing about that. What I do know about, however, is the feeling of the morphine hitting the right spot when hospitalised due to Crohn’s flare ups, and that, at any rate, feels pretty good!
I know nothing of freedom from the effects of sin – I can scarcely even remember, by this point, of freedom from the effects of illness – but the Holy Spirit that God has given to me as a groaning witness within knows what this perfect future redemption of our bodies will be like, and He is telling us that it is going to be so, so good! In fact, it will be so good that even the worst “sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).
Knowing that, we are left with a great hope. We can now listen to those wondrous examples of miraculous healing by Jesus and His disciples and, rather than feel a sense of bitter jealousy and dejection, we can be excited by what it is store for all of the children of God – and by grace we have been saved!
There are certain illnesses that can even be used to tell the story of the gospel’s promises. Say, for example, with large wound in the arm that has also picked up an infection. The doctor will give you antibiotic medication to fight the infection, but this medication does not bring an instantaneous cure to that infection. What it does bring, however, is the promise of that cure (assuming that the correct kind of antibiotic has been given). Knowing that the suffering caused by the infection should soon be over certainly offers us a hope within the suffering that helps to strengthen and hearten our inner spirits.
Chances are we still might not actually feel any sense of that cure coming within the first few days, so, in the meantime, the doctor may have given us a cooling balm to alleviate some of those surface level symptoms of an infected sore, such as a tormenting itchiness!
In Old Testament times, the region of Gilead was associated with healing balms. It was used by the prophet Jeremiah as a metaphor for the gospel message, a metaphor taken up by many gospel preachers ever since. There is something about this that it is so, so important and helpful for us to know:
The gospel message of the salvation in Jesus Christ offers out the promise of a perfect redemption of our bodies – redeeming it from all of the awful effects of sin, including illness and disease. More than that, as a child of God saved by God’s grace, the gospel does not just offer out that promise of redemption from illness and disease to me (as well as all of the other awful effects of sin, of course), but it tells me that this future physical redemption of the body is absolutely certain (as well as the spiritual redemption of the body too, praise God!).
Knowing that this is true is a wonderful comfort, and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit confirms this promise of Scripture to my soul, but the gospel does more than just offer out that future promise of healing; it also works as a soothing-balm for the wound of sin until that final perfect restoration is realised. The Holy Spirit works through the gospel to our souls in the now, helping to alleviate – or soothe – many of the symptoms of sin that cause us so much current suffering.
This is true spiritually, of course (think about the how the gospel helps to alleviate those feelings of guilt and shame associated with past sins, despite the fact we continue to commit more sins), but this is true of our physical sufferings, of our illnesses and diseases, too. The gospel may not offer physical relief in the same way a physical soothing balm would, but it certainly does help us in those battles that are physical, as well as those that are spiritual.
When the gospel is preached to Christians, the Holy Spirit is working within, applying its soothing balm upon our wounds. Maybe your wound was caused by a seemingly losing battle with besetting sins. Maybe your wound was caused by a seemingly losing battle with illness. Either way, the gospel does not just promise the future redemption from those things, but it also applies a much-needed soothing balm for those wounds to help us in the now too.
Preachers, keep preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if you are preaching to the converted! That same good news message that once saved us will continue to help us until we come to meet with our precious Lord face-to-face. The Holy Spirit within continues to use the gospel of Jesus Christ for our good in ways past our finding out, leading us over and again to Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, working to ever deepen and strengthen our union with Him.
[1] Deliberate understatement!
Matthew Prydden is an itinerant preacher from Wales, Reformed, Calvinistic, and Evangelical. This article is used with permission.
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The author is the source of meaning, and the text is the means of meaning. Because the text is public, readers are able to attend to the author’s intention embedded in his words. And good readers attend both to the explicit and implicit dimensions of an author’s meaning.

Picture yourself in a group Bible study. Your small group is studying the book of Ephesians, and you’ve made it to chapter 5. Someone reads aloud verse 18: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” Then Steve, the new guy, says, “Well, Paul clearly forbids getting drunk on wine. I’m just thankful that he said nothing about getting drunk on whiskey. That’s my favorite way to become intoxicated.”
We all intuitively recognize that Steve is mistaken. We might even think him absurd. But how do we explain his error? My guess is that we would say something like, “Steve, that’s not what the Bible means. Paul intended to prohibit all drunkenness, not just drunkenness from wine.” To which Steve might reply, “But that’s not what the Bible says. Paul mentioned wine only. I’m sticking to the text.” Or he might say, “That’s just your interpretation. I’m talking about what the Bible means to me.”
Learn the Habit of Reading Well
When people ask what I do for a living, I often say, “My job is to teach college students how to read.” This is only half a joke, because the reality is that our educational system and society has left many people incapable of reading well. That’s why, at Bethlehem College & Seminary, our approach to education centers on imparting to our students certain habits of heart and mind.
In all of our programs, we aim to enable and motivate students

to observe their subject matter accurately and thoroughly,
to understand clearly what they have observed,
to evaluate fairly what they have understood by deciding what is true and valuable,
to feel intensely according to the value of what they have evaluated,
to apply wisely and helpfully in life what they understand and feel, and
to express in speech and writing and deeds what they have seen, understood, felt, and applied in such a way that its accuracy, clarity, truth, value, and helpfulness can be known and enjoyed by others.

There is a certain order to these habits. Before you can feel appropriately, you must evaluate rightly. And before you can evaluate rightly, you must first observe accurately and understand clearly. Note this: evaluation depends upon understanding. Without clear understanding of what someone has said or written, evaluation is impossible, because you have nothing to evaluate. You can’t say whether something is true or false, good or bad, until you first know what the something is.
Meaning and Significance Are Not the Same
My own experience as a teacher suggests that there are many confusions and pitfalls around the question of “meaning” when we read a text. Consider this a crash course on the meaning of meaning.
Let’s begin with the Golden Rule: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). When it comes to reading, we ought to practice Golden Rule Interpretation. That is, we ought to treat authors the way we want to be treated. No one wants his own words treated like a wax nose that a reader can bend according to his will. No one likes to have his words twisted into something he didn’t intend. When we speak or write, we mean something, and we want that meaning to stand—to be understood and respected as ours (even if others disagree with us). And so, given that’s how we want to be treated, we ought to treat authors the same.
To do this, we must distinguish between what the author meant by his words and the effects of his words on subsequent people and events. For clarity, let’s refer to the first as meaning. Texts mean what authors mean by them. The second we may call significance. The author’s meaning can be related to different texts, contexts, concepts, situations, people, places—anything you can think of, really.
Meaning and significance are distinct. Meaning is stable through time; significance may and does change. Meaning is about what authors do in public by means of words (as one theologian puts it). Significance is about the effects of those words on everything else. Meaning is fixed and bounded; significance is, in principle, limitless. When an author writes something, he means this and not that. But significance has to do with the relation between the author’s meaning and this, that, and the other.
With this basic distinction in hand, let’s consider four puzzles in relation to meaning: the source of meaning, the means of meaning, the levels of intent, and the boundaries of meaning. To aid in solving these puzzles, we’ll use Steve’s surprising interpretation of what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:18 as a test case.
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