Chapter 9
Prophoristics

Prophoristics is the science of expounding biblical materials for others. Technically, it includes the field of biblical exegesis, but in a more general way it refers to giving people the means to understand and read the sacred text better.

One of the earliest examples of explaining the Bible to others were the Targums (from the Hebrew Targumim, which means translations or interpretations) of the rabbis of the first century onwards.

Since Aramaic had become the common tongue of most Palestinian Jews, the rabbis wrote translations of the texts from Hebrew to Aramaic, along with proper explanations of difficult texts for the common people. One of the earliest-written Targums of the Pentateuch is the Targum of Onkelos, written in the third century A.D.

Among the most well-known forms of prophoristics are the translations of Sacred Scripture throughout the ages. The Septuagint, the Old Latin, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and a multitude of later versions have brought the Word of God to people of different races and tongues throughout the world.

A good vernacular version, that is, a translation from the original language to the language of a given people, should have a number of characteristics to be truly valuable: It should be faithful to the original (that is, it should accurately reproduce the meaning and style of the text, but without the need to be servile); it should be clear, or written in such a way as to be comprehensible for the speaker of the vernacular tongue; and finally, it should receive appropriate Church approval, because Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium are intimately connected, and because the written text must be understood above all within the living tradition of Christ’s Body, the Church.

Other ways of making Scripture more accessible for the public are the systems of textual signs and additions developed throughout the centuries: paraphrases, glosses, scholia (explanations of obscure passages), and catenae (or running commentaries).

In modern times, many of these signs have been transferred to simple footnotes at the bottom of the page, or in the computer age, hyper-links or related web sites for biblical questions.

Some of the great concordances, like those of Solomon Mandelkern and Edwin Hatch and Henry Redpath, are of great help to biblical studies. Using these texts, one can find all the instances in the canonical books where a certain Hebrew or Greek word occurred, and through this study be able to understand more clearly the literal meaning of a text as well as its relationship to parallel passages.

Many of these texts have now been put on computer disks or on electronic programs which allow one to discover instantly all of the passages in which a certain biblical word appears; this is a tremendous help for research. Thus, one can understand more clearly what the human author, as well as the Divine Author, wanted to say.

It also enables one to grasp how a word developed in meaning, such as the concept of the messiah or the notion of justice, from a merely temporal meaning to a more spiritual meaning.

More extensive explanations of the Bible are the so-called biblical commentaries. These are more general works that deal with the major topics needed to read the Bible with greater depth and knowledge.

They normally include an introductory section that deals with the concept of inspiration and the rules of interpretation, followed by more empirical sections that cover topics such as ancient geography, history, and archeology. Many of these works also include a complete verse-by-verse commentary of the Old and New Testaments to help the reader discover a passage’s meaning - either literal, spiritual or typical, or sensus plenoir.

Some of the most well-known commentaries include A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture [ed., Orchard, Sutcliffe, et al. (Edinburgh, 1953)], The Companion to Biblical Studies by John Steinmueller (General Introduction and two volumes on the books of the Old and New Testaments, New York, 1969), and the Navarre Bible, published at the University of Navarre (Pamplona, Spain, 1983), which consists of a vernacular translation from the original languages, the New Vulgate text, and ample footnotes considering a text not only in its historical literary meaning, but also in its relationship to the living tradition of the Church and the spiritual life of the faithful.

The Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1968) incorporated many of the elements of historical critical scholarship over the last century. Though technically well composed, one misses a more explicit and integral connection of its introductions and textual commentaries with the Fathers and the preaching traditions of the Church.

The same could be said of the Catholic Study Bible published by Oxford University Press (New York, 1990). Both works favor a dating of the Gospels later than traditionally held, and in the case of Matthew and Luke their dating is after 70 A.D. (the destruction of Jerusalem).

Related to the science of prophoristics are the topics of actualization and inculturation, discussed in The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, the 1993 document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission which we have often mentioned in this book.

The Commission prefers the use of the word actualization over accommodation, the classical term that we expressed above, but the meaning is the same: the making of biblical texts relevant to the people of today. This process always starts with the literal meaning of the text and should always work within the community of faith.

Areas for actualization that are listed by the Pontifical Biblical Commission are the situation of the poor, the growth of technology, respect for life, the challenge of materialism, and other modern themes. Inculturation refers to the adaptation of the message of Scripture to the needs of a specific historical time and place, and includes such elements as work, social life, legislation, and art.

The Bible was inculturated in the East and the West in the first centuries, both in the Greek and Roman worlds, but it continues to be inculturated in modern times. In a certain sense, one could say that the Word of God actually transforms the people and times that hear it.

Actualization and inculturation are related, and both are possible because the Word of God in itself transcends all times and cultures, and has a message of salvation for everyone until the end of the world. Both have much to do with good preaching.

The computer age has produced some very helpful works for biblical study. There are concordances on CD-ROM that can access any Hebrew and Greek word and show immediately all the texts in which they appear.

Some show parallel passages as well, and by proper scrolling and scripting one can analyze several passages at a time, achieving in a few seconds what the great Origen and his disciples labored for years to produce. Such tools are also an invaluable aid to textual criticism.