African Biblical Hermeneutics Research Articles

Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics within the Context of African Biblical Hermeneutics: It’s Origin, Trends and Challenges

This study delves into the intricate landscape of Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics within the context of African Biblical Hermeneutics, aiming to unravel its origins, discern trends, and confront challenges. Employing a qualitative research methodology grounded in extensive literature review and critical analysis, this investigation explores the evolution and current state of Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics in the African context.Findings underscore the significance of linguistic and cultural nuances in biblical interpretation, emphasizing the role of indigenous languages in shaping contextual understanding and relevance. Moreover, the study identifies persistent challenges including colonial legacies, linguistic imperialism, and theological biases that impede the full realization of Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics.In light of these findings, recommendations are proposed to foster the integration of indigenous languages into biblical scholarship, advocate for linguistic diversity, and promote inclusivity in theological discourse. Ultimately, this study contributes to scholarship by illuminating the vital intersection of language, culture, and interpretation in African Biblical Hermeneutics, thereby enriching theological dialogue and advancing decolonial approaches to biblical studies. Keywords: Biblical Hermeneutics, African Biblical Hermeneutics, Mother-tongue Biblical studies, Origin, Trends and Challenges.

Interpreting paired phenomena in the Hebrew Psalter and in African indigenous sacred texts

The Hebrew Psalter is a repertoire of paired phenomena. From parallelisms to twin Psalms, biblical scholars have paid attention to these structural and poetical features as keys to unlocking and interpreting the meaning and theology of these psalms. Unfortunately, the otherwise admirable results of these exegetical works remain abstract and largely removed from the interests of the African reader. An alternative way of engaging these texts is to realise that paired phenomena are not exclusive to the Hebrew Psalter. African indigenous sacred texts such as the Adinkra of the Akan people equally contain similar phenomena though relatively little attention has been paid to them. This article, using a dialogical approach of African Biblical Hermeneutics, studies the twin Psalms 111 and 112 as an example of a paired phenomenon in the Psalter. It brings this text into dialogue with the Adinkra denkyemfunefu to illustrate how focussing on similar structural phenomena in either text uncovers the same theme of the common good in either text and facilitates the reception of the biblical discourse in contemporary African contexts.Contribution: It is argued that common literary features in biblical and African indigenous sacred texts could be harnessed as vehicles for facilitating the reception of biblical discourse in contemporary Africa.

Die by Fire (Isaiah 66: 16): A Study of Divine Justice in Old Testament and in African Yoruba Context

This study attempts to reread Isaiah 66: 16 in the light of divine justice in African Yoruba culture in Nigeria. The study survey various uses of fire in ancient Israel and in the African Yoruba tradition. In the event of justice, a parallel is sought between Yahweh and a Yoruba deified divinity called Sango whose presence is marked by fire, thunder and lightning. The parallel is with the view to establish the significance of fire on justice in African Yoruba Christianity. African Biblical Hermeneutics was used for the study. It was discovered that fire was used as medium of divine justice and mercy in African Yoruba tradition. Fire marked divine presence, manifestation of the glory of God, revelation of God’s power, cleansing of human and vessels for holy use, and use for domestic purposes especially cooking. The African Yoruba Christians in Nigeria see fire as a weapon of divine justice. Therefore, in their prayers to God they call down fire to kill their spiritual and physical enemies. They are fond of using the words: ‘die by fire’. In this way, the Bible becomes a sure and reliable weapon in the battles of life and thus makes the biblical text relevant in any context, condition and generation.

Assessing the Mode of Biblical Interpretation in the Light of African Biblical Hermeneutics: The Case of the Mother-Tongue Biblical Interpretation in Ghana

In establishing the Christian faith on African soil, the first missionaries to Africa came along with the Bible. They were determined to share the word of God with the indigenous Africans. This was undertaken effectively; however, it came at a cost. In an attempt to produce translated versions of the Bible for the natives, they ended up producing translations, some of which did not reflect the thoughts of the indigenous people. This has called for an enterprise whereby these texts need to be retranslated and interpreted to reflect the thoughts of the indigenous people. Mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics in Ghana has been advantageous to this enterprise since it seeks to remedy the situation by examining the mother-tongue translations and making proposals for retranslations and interpretation. This has attracted some scholars to come up with a methodology and approaches that would be appropriate in this direction. This paper seeks to assess and evaluate the use of the mother-tongue interpretation, as well as its methodology and approaches in Ghana in the light of African biblical hermeneutics. Though this enterprise is recommendable to African exegetes, it is a special area of biblical studies in search of a standard methodological approach. The paper calls for much attention to how the mother-tongue interpretation could bring the meaning of the text closer to the culture of the Ghanaian reader—however, not at the expense of neglecting the cultural milieu of the original author in which the text was couched.

Foregrounding African Ontology/Epistemology: A Reading of Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22 Considering the Nature of God

Deuteronomy 23:3, says: “No … Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord”. This verse is motivated by a discriminatory tendency embedded in the ontology of the Deuteronomist. Interestingly, Deuteronomy 23:3 was used by Ezra-Nehemiah to discriminate against the “Moabites” during the Second Temple. Such ontology is countered by the author of Ruth in the narrative of Ruth during the Second Temple. This demonstrates an ontological “war” within the Bible itself. The primary contestation lies in whether God is exclusive or inclusive. This development necessitates a hermeneutics of suspicion. In the course of history, the “theology” of Deuteronomy has been used to grossly violate the human dignity of many God-fearing African people and many other people of the South for colonial purposes. To exacerbate the situation, there were persistent attempts from some quarters to universalise such a discriminatory biblical perspective. This would feed into the centre–periphery arrangement, with the centre feeding the periphery with such hermeneutics. For this reason, African scholars are implored to be very vigilant against ardent pressures put on the biblical texts by ontological, epistemological, and contextual biases of interpretations. Accordingly, Andrew Mbuvi identifies African Biblical Hermeneutics perfectly when he says it seeks to undo “the very construct of the ‘centre-periphery’ binary by allowing the possibility of multiple centres”). Kenneth Ngwa, thus, rightly asserts that African Biblical Hermeneutics considers African epistemologies and conditions “to be invaluable and legitimate contexts and resources in biblical interpretation”), drinking from our own wells). In consequence, this paper intends to set a dialogue between Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22. This paper aims to examine the understanding of God behind these verses. This paper will then compare the two theologies with the African philosophical concept of God. Harnessing the African concept of Ubuntu, this paper will de-ideologise the two texts and thus will provide a recommendation concerning the two texts.

Redefining love: Engaging the Johannine and Akan concepts of love through dialogic hermeneutics

Both the Johannine and Akan cultures are described in scholarly literature as collectivistic communities that value love as a communal value. Nonetheless, a scholarly analysis of the Akan concept reveals that Akan proverbial tradition promotes love motivated by the expectation of reciprocation. Thus, the article aimed to provide a biblical response to these challenges for Akan Christians, who hold love as both a traditional and theological value. Consequently, the study employed Gatti’s dialogic hermeneutics because it encourages engagement between text and culture, viewing them as dialogue partners from which a call to action emanates directed at the interpreter’s context. Even though the Akan concept relates love to sacrifice, forgiveness and reciprocity, it promotes conditional love, thereby diminishing its concept of love-motivated sacrifices and reciprocity. By incarnating the concept of love that Jesus promotes and embodies in John, Akan Christians can establish a culture that reflects the community of God, proscribing conditional love and prescribing utmost and greater love – godly selfless and reciprocal love. In addition, it makes love the substratum of functional unity and interpersonal relationships. Ultimately, it makes love a divine command for the community of believers.Contribution: This article engages the Johannine and the Akan ideations of love through dialogic hermeneutics and, as such, contributes to African biblical hermeneutics and the ongoing discussions on the inculturation of the New Testament within the African context.

“If I forget you Jerusalem” (Ps. 137:4). The Transmission of Sacred Discourse in the Bible and in African Indigenous Sacred Texts

African biblical scholars have long advocated a shift in existing exegetical and hermeneutical approaches. The reasons include not simply the inadequacy of these approaches in dealing with the existential questions of contemporary African societies, but also their lack of effectiveness in transmitting the results of the exegetical process to receptor cultures in Africa, partly to be blamed on their colonialist legacy. One pathway to resolving the above challenge, which remains insufficiently explored, is to engage in a dialogue between the biblical text and African indigenous sacred texts. This paper, using a dialogical approach of African biblical hermeneutics, brings Psalm 137 into dialogue with the Adinkra amammere (tradition), an indigenous text of the Akan of Ghana. It argues that reading these texts together uncovers their complementary views on the preservation and transmission of sacred discourse and could facilitate reception of the biblical message in contemporary Ghanian society.

Oἱ Ἰουδαῖοι (The Jews) in John’s Gospel: An African Reading

The portrait of the Jews in John’s Gospel has been the object of a great debate among Western scholars. The negative portrait of many of the Jews of the fourth canonical gospel has led some to qualify John’s Gospel as the most “anti-Jewish” writing of the New Testament. Recent Western history, in particular the Shoah, has certainly had a heavy weight on this negative interpretation of John’s Gospel. But another perspective, here African Biblical Hermeneutics, may give a different understanding of this disputed theme. Following this non-Western approach, we want to show that maybe it is not John’s Gospel’s characterization of the Jews which is problematic, but the hermeneutics used to interpret it. In the end, what is at stake, is not the Jews or Jewish people as such, but how one, Jew or non-Jew, responds to Jesus’ message and gift of abundant life.

African Biblical Hermeneutics Considering Ifá Hermeneutic Principles

African contextual biblical hermeneutics, practiced mainly among those from the southern hemisphere, is framed by conflicting academic approaches, methods, epistemologies, rationalities, etc. The general challenge put before the Bible scholars in this part of the world mostly concerns methodologies. This paper focuses on the link between a biblical text and the context of its interpretation. To avoid any specific context or interpreter gaining hermeneutical hegemony over the text, in contextual biblical hermeneutics, the coherence should be first and foremost between the text and the context of its interpretation. The interpretation method of Ifá, the sacred orature of Yoruba and some non-Yoruba people in West Africa, helps to achieve that coherence. This paper is a theoretical presentation of what a contextual biblical hermeneutic can learn from this African Sacred literature reading in context. The hermeneutical rationale of Ifá stories is one of “speaking in proverbs”, considering both the stories and their interpretations as proverbs. In line with this rationale, the ideal link between a biblical text and its hermeneutical context is like the one between a “proverb story” and the many stories (contexts) of its harmonious utterances. The epistemological and hermeneutical functions of the context of interpretation are not to interpret the biblical text but to verify the validity of proposed interpretations.

Service and Care in the Johannine and Akan Conceptual Schemas: Inculturation Hermeneutics

The Johannine and Akan ideologies pertaining to communal existence place significant emphasis on the cultivation of values such as reciprocal service and care. Nevertheless, upon careful examination of the Akan conceptual framework, it becomes apparent that these principles are espoused and upheld due to Akan belief in the indispensable nature of interdependence of human beings. This belief stems from their recognition of the inherent insufficiency of the human being which consequently gives rise to imperfect expressions of service and nurturing. Thus, the study aims to provide a biblical response to these challenges by employing Ukpong’s inculturation hermeneutics. This approach presents a framework for interpretation that enables an exploration of sociocultural matters in a manner that not only enhances the comprehension of the biblical text but also permits the text to function as a discerning evaluation of the Akan culture and propose possible remedies for its sociocultural challenges. The findings reveal that the Akan concepts foster a form of reciprocal care that is propelled by individual motivations and also service that is incentivised by rewards. Consequently, this paper proposes that the Akan believers must emulate the servanthood of Jesus and see reciprocal care as a response to divine instruction. This pursuit should be undertaken with the intention of fostering a sense of familial unity, rather than with the anticipation of receiving equivalent treatment in return. This article makes a valuable contribution to the field of African Biblical Hermeneutics and the ongoing discourse surrounding the integration of the New Testament into the African cultural framework. Keywords: Inculturation Hermeneutics, Johannine Concept of Service and Care, Akan Proverbs

Reading the Locust Plague in the Prophecy of Joel in the Context of African Biblical Hermeneutics and the Decolonial Turn

Joel is one of the 12 minor prophets (dōdekaprophēton). His prophecy aims at calling the nation and people to repentance through emphasizing that the Day of the Lord (yōm ădȏnay) is at hand (3:1–5 [2:28–32]). The locust plague (ʾarbbeh) in Joel’s message—which recalls the insects that threaten to destroy crops and vegetation in Africa and beyond, but which can also be used as food and livestock feed and offer other benefits as well—could be interpreted as Joel’s prophetic sign that the great Day of the Lord is near (1:2–2:17). Throughout history, scholars, theologians, and exegetes of differing schools of thought and from numerous locations have offered various interpretations for Joel’s prophecy and subjected it to diverse Eurocentric and Americo-centric hermeneutical methods. This work, however, with its focus on Africa, takes a different approach. Drawing from the work of many African hermeneuticians, it reads Joel’s prophecy using the tools of African Biblical Hermeneutics (ABH), a post-colonial enterprise, in light of the decolonial turn. The article exegetes and theologically analyzes the narrative of the locust plague (ʾarbbeh) in Joel 1:2–7, within the context of Joel 1–3, with the hopes that it will be transformational and beneficial for African readers within their faith context.

“Thy Law Is within My Heart” (Ps 40:7). Sacred Tradition in the Hebrew Psalter and in African Indigenous Texts

Every society possesses systems for accessing, preserving, and transmitting its traditions. These are meant to ensure that privileged knowledge entrusted to reliable custodians is passed on unchanged between generations for the preservation of society. In Africa, scholars have advocated new hermeneutical approaches to the study of the Bible, arguing that the adoption of traditional methods of exegesis served as another instrument in the colonialists’ toolkit to undermine the reception and preservation of Africa’s sacred traditions. Using African Biblical Hermeneutics, this paper studies the processes for preserving Sacred Tradition in Psalm 40. Similar processes are found in African Indigenous Sacred Texts such as the mate masie of the Adinkra textual system. I argue, therefore, that a complementary reading of the texts of the two traditions could serve to de-link from the monocular vision of traditional exegesis and offer a much more fruitful approach to interpreting these texts and making them relevant to the contemporary African reader.

‘Uncleanliness’ of Menstruation: An African Feminist Reading of Lev. 15:19-24

In Ghana, as in many other countries in Africa, the natural phenomenon of menstruation is considered taboo. People cannot speak freely about it but resort to the use of euphemisms, which made it difficult if not impossible to sensitize the public on the health effects of using unsanitary products like rags and used cloths as pads. This attitude is not only contemporary but can also be found in the Bible. It is against this backdrop that the article investigates the perceived ‘uncleanness’ of menstruation through a literary analysis of Lev. 15:19-24. To engage the text and Ghanaian reality, the paper employs the Communicative approach to African Biblical Hermeneutics from a feminist perspective. Major findings are that both Jewish and Ghanaian cultures regard menstruation as a time that restricts women’s movement in cult, society, and the home. The article advocates for a change of perspective knowing that what God has created cannot render the physical sacred space impure. The focus of the church should be on the ‘new’ sacred space, which is the human body (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, caring for the body implies personal hygiene but entails creating an inclusive environment, free from any form of discrimination perpetuated by cultural traditions that are not only anachronistic but harmful and against the Gospel’s message.

Shema as Paradigm (Dt. 6:4–9). The Bible, Education, and the Quest for Development in Contemporary Ghana

It has been sixty-five years since Ghana, the first black African country south of the Sahara, gained independence from colonial rule. Since then, Ghana can boast of an educational system, which has churned out hundreds of thousands of graduates over the years. Despite these achievements, the country remains poor, raising questions about whether its educational system is fit for purpose. Meanwhile, the moral fibre of society seems to be crumbling with corruption, threatening to thwart any gains made since independence. Given the fact that over 70% of Ghanaians profess Christianity, and the Church’s active involvement in education, a resolution of the problem cannot exclude a religious and hence a biblical dimension. This paper, using the distinct interest approach of African Biblical Hermeneutics, argues that Deuteronomy 6:4–9 contains a paradigm for transformative education applicable to the challenges Ghana faces. It demonstrates that the instructions to love YHWH with the whole heart, the whole soul, and the whole might, relate to an education that creatively engages the intellectual faculty, one that is holistic and oriented towards the common good. These are necessary ingredients for the transformation and development of society and equally underscore the role of biblical discourse in building a future for Africa. Keywords: Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4–9, African Biblical Hermeneutics, Education, Development, Ghana

Old Testament dietary laws in contemporary African Christian practice

Old Testament dietary laws consist of the rules that God gave to the Israelites pertaining to what may be eaten and what should not be eaten. In the Old Testament, the animals that may be consumed are referred to as ‘clean’, whereas those which should not be consumed are referred to as ‘unclean’. The prohibitions on food were mainly aimed at preserving the identity of the people of Israel. This article analysed the dietary laws recorded in Leviticus chapters 11 and 17. It investigated the observance of the Old Testament dietary laws among contemporary African Christians, with specific reference to Nigerian Christians. The findings of this study revealed that in the contemporary Nigerian Christian practice, some Christians’ compliance or noncompliance to the food laws is faith-based, while for others it is not. Hence, some Christians obey the Old Testament food regulations on the premise of their loyalty to God, while some do not observe the dietary laws because they do not regard noncompliance as an act of disobedience to God. They believe that one’s faith in God is not determined by what one eats or does not eat. Moreover, the study discovered that in recent times, compliance or noncompliance to the dietary laws is also based on health, economy, culture and other factors. A greater percentage of the data used in this work were derived through personal communication. The researcher utilised the descriptive research methodology in analysing the data derived from both primary and secondary sources.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article is an Afrocentric assessment of the observance of Old Testament food laws among contemporary Christians. This study contributes to Old Testament modern discourses on dieting and sustainable lifestyle. Its related disciplines are nutrition and dietetics, dietetic medicine, biblical interpretation, African biblical hermeneutics and practical theology.

African biblical hermeneutics in a state of flux – towards refocusing its trajectory

This study attempts to critically re-examine certain key hermeneutical concerns of a representative group of African biblical and religious studies scholars, who ground African theological reflection on traditional African values, cultures and social realities. Most of the scholars examined are united by a focus on the past and by an attempt to interpret the present and future on the basis of it. The article critiques the backward-looking hermeneutic implicit in the work of the scholars, especially Jesse Mugambi’s backward-looking metaphor of reconstruction. It proposes a hermeneutic based on the metaphor of liberation, as employed, for example, by African women theologians or by Gerald West or Emmanuel Katongole, who focus on building the present and future on the basis of a new liberative transformative narrative and praxis that prioritises the sacredness and inviolability of human life in the context of the web of life, and in particular foregrounds the dignity of African lives, as well as all others.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article engages exposition and understanding of biblical texts by African scholars. Aspects of NT Christology or Ecclesiology are connected to theologies of traditional African socio-cultural realities. The relevance for an African theology of liberation and African theology of women is defended as necessitated by a new liberative transformative hermeneutic.

Debriefing hermeneutics for a balanced reading of the biblical text

In this study, it is argued that the trust of previous (and existing) hermeneutical approaches of promoting ancient biblical texts as applicable to the everyday life of contemporary readers is not only imaginable but also too ambitious. The Hebrew Bible emerged from an Israelite cultural context, which neither speaks to nor deliberates on issues concerning the African cultural contexts. The present essay utilises a narrative approach comprising three main overtures. Firstly, some examples of previous contributions on hermeneutics will be discussed. Secondly, this study interrogates the legitimacy of employing African biblical hermeneutics that utilises ancient Jewish texts as applicable to African societies today. Thirdly and finally, the study will critically appraise for a balanced reading of the biblical text.Contribution: The present study aims at engaging (debriefing) existing hermeneutical contributions towards proposing a balanced reading of the biblical text. In order to achieve that goal, the study engages into a dialogue following hermeneutical approaches, which are popular amongst most African scholars, namely African biblical hermeneutics, black biblical hermeneutics, contextual biblical hermeneutics, feminist hermeneutics and oral hermeneutics.

African contextual hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the science of textual interpretation and comprises a wide range of disciplines, which helps to control subjective influences in the study of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures. It is imperative to consider the context of any given text, as well as the context of the receiver in the interpretive process. This consideration, from the African point of view, is what may be referred to as African contextual hermeneutics. To see the effect different contexts have on the interpretation of an encountered text, using as an example 1 Chronicles 21, it was discovered that the changes in culture, religion, tradition, text and language affected the presentation of the new text, so much so that the writer made a lot of additions and subtractions from the original story in 2 Samuel 24. The diversity of the Old Testament texts requires that each text be studied within its historical framework. This also reflects the reality of life expressed by people in the African society. However, with hermeneutics in the Old Testament, the reader should be brave enough to throw off cultural ties and focus only on what matters. It requires reading the controversy and polemic in the text and not being influenced by it. What matters in any text is the relationship between God and humans, and this is what the interpreter should translate into the African context, not the culture or the controversy. There is a need for reassessment of the ancient biblical tradition and the African worldviews, cultures and life experiences, to correct the effect of the extraneous cultural and ideological conditioning. African biblical hermeneutics can be understood as the rereading of the Old Testament from a premeditatedly African perspective. African biblical hermeneutics is the principle of interpretation of the Bible that could lead to transformation in Africa. Africa’s religious practice is mostly polytheistic. In the African religion, there are new allegories, images, figures of speech, ways of reasoning, etymologies, analogies and cosmogonies to gratify the intellect.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The African contextual ideas of mysticism, tradition and initiation advance new theological inductions, astrophysical tales and ways to hypothesise moral behaviour. Nevertheless, the ideologically motivated text of 1 Chronicles 21 can still be relevant for Africa today if the following options can be taken into consideration. Israel was a confused nation, seeking identity after the exile. An author like the Chronicler wanted to give them direction by telling them that they can find identity in their relationship with God. This can be translated into the African context as a relationship with God. This means that people who are feeling confused about their circumstances and identity today can find certainty in their relationship with God, regardless of how and where they worship.

African biblical hermeneutics and the Book of Ruth: Some observations

This article investigates interpretations of the Book of Ruth from the point of view of some African scholars. Firstly, an attempt is made to understand what is meant by African biblical hermeneutics (ABH). An overview of the emergence of ABH is given, and the question why reading the Bible from an African perspective was necessary, is addressed. It appears that African biblical scholars and an African Christian community could not relate to Western European interpretations of the Bible that reflect western experiences and concerns that were vastly different from their own postcolonial experiences and concerns since the latter part of the 20th century.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The engagement between Western and ABH is discussed, and ABH as a necessary and viable means of biblical interpretation is recognised, but a point of critique is also raised at the end of this section. Thereafter an overview of ABH as appropriated to the Book of Ruth is given, and finally, some evaluative conclusions are drawn.

Hagar and Epistemic Injustice: An Intercultural and Post-colonial Analysis of Genesis 16

Having one's voice heard and being known by one's name are foundational aspects of respect and human dignity. Likewise, being able to contribute to shared understanding is at the core of epistemic justice. This intercultural and post-colonial inquiry of Gen 16 considers the Egyptian Hagar-known by her foreign Semitic name meaning "Fleeing One"-as an example of epistemic injustice. Integrating Miranda Fricker 's work on epistemic injustice, this study espouses the justice of hearing and seeing the marginalised and oppressed, as exemplified by Yhwh. As the Egyptian woman's voice- once ignored-gives testimony within the text to a fuller understanding of God, so also listening to/seeing other contemporary African scholars' voices/writings opens one's ears/eyes to fuller understandings of God today. These voices include the seminal work of David Tuesday Adamo, a vanguard in African biblical hermeneutics, in whose honour this examination is written.