Prioritizing Depth Over Breadth in Biblical Exposition
Biblical exposition often emphasizes moving beyond foundational teachings to explore the deeper aspects of Christian doctrine, a concept articulated in Hebrews 6:1, which encourages believers to "press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" [1]. This pursuit of depth recognizes that while basic principles are essential, a richer understanding of Scripture involves plumbing its profound truths.
The Bible itself speaks to this idea of depth. Ecclesiastes 7:25 describes wisdom as a "great depth, who shall find it out?" [2]. Similarly, the psalmist exclaims that God's "judgments are a great deep" (Psalm 36:7), a passage John Calvin interprets as referring to a "hidden will" of God that surpasses immediate human comprehension [6]. This suggests that divine truth is not always immediately apparent but requires diligent exploration.
The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 3:18-19, encourages believers to "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" [3]. Calvin understands this passage to mean that the mind, through faith, embraces what it cannot fully comprehend, gaining understanding "more from mere certainty of persuasion than it could discern of any human matter by its own capacity" [3]. This indicates that true spiritual depth involves a dimension of knowledge that transcends purely intellectual grasp.
Early Church fathers also recognized the need for profound engagement with Scripture. Augustine, for instance, advises that the student of Holy Scriptures should "constantly meditate upon that saying of the apostle's, 'Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth'" (1 Corinthians 8:1) [5]. This highlights that the pursuit of biblical knowledge should be rooted in love and spiritual growth, not mere intellectual accumulation. Augustine also speaks of lifting up one's heart to reach a certain "height" in understanding, emphasizing perseverance in well-doing for God's reward [4].
In Reformed theology, the concept of depth in exposition is often linked to understanding the "sublimer and deeper principles" of Christian doctrine, as noted by Jamieson, Fausset & Brown in their commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:6 [7]. They suggest that only those "matured in Christian experience and knowledge" can truly grasp these deeper truths [7]. Charles Hodge, a prominent Old Princeton theologian, emphasizes the importance of including all Scriptural facts when formulating doctrine, even those that seem contradictory, to achieve a comprehensive understanding [10]. For example, he notes that while Scripture attributes omniscience to Christ, it also ascribes ignorance and intellectual progress, and both facts must be integrated into a complete doctrine of His person [10]. This approach encourages a thorough, rather than superficial, engagement with biblical data.
Rabbinic tradition also offers insights into the careful handling of scriptural details. The Babylonian Talmud discusses a principle of exegesis where a generalization in the Torah should not be limited to merely clarifying a preceding detail, but rather understood in its broader implications [8, 9]. This suggests a method of interpretation that seeks to extract comprehensive meaning from the text, moving beyond surface-level readings.
Sources
- Hebrews “Hebrews 6:1 (NASB) — Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,”
- Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 7:25 (DRC) — Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 57: in order to reach it. Nor even when it has reached it does it comprehend what it feels, but persuaded of what it comprehends not, it understands more from mere certainty of persuasion than it could discern of any human matter by its own capacity. Hence it is elegantly described by Paul as ability “to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” ( Eph. 3:18, 19 ). His object was to intimate, that what our mind embraces by faith is every w”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — ON THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL, MATT. CHAP. V. 3 AND 8, "BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT:" ETC., BUT ESPECIALLY ON THAT, "BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART: FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD." (part 12): for which height's sake thou art bidden "to lift up thy heart." Do well, and persevere in well-doing, because of God's reward. Esteem earthly things as nothing, lest, when this earth shall be smitten with any scourge of that wise One, thou say that thou hast worshipped God in vain, hast done good works in vain, hast persevered in good works in vain. For by doing ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 41.--WHAT KIND OF SPIRIT IS REQUIRED FOR THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. (part 1): 62. But when the student of the Holy Scriptures, prepared in the way I have indicated, shall enter upon his investigations, let him constantly meditate upon that saying of the apostle's, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth."(1) For so he will feel that, whatever may be the riches he brings with him out of Egypt, yet unless he has kept the passover, he cannot be safe. Now Christ is our passover sacrificed for us,(2) and there is nothing the sac”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 33: them explain to what effect Scripture declares, that “his Judgments are a great deep,” ( Ps. 36:7 ). For when Moses exclaims that the will of God “is not in heaven that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us? Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea and bring it unto us?” ( Deut. 30:12, 13 ), because it was familiarly expounded in the law, it follows that there must be another hidden will which is compared to “ a great deep.” 185 It is of this will Paul excl”
- 1 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Corinthians 2:6: Yet the Gospel preaching, so far from being at variance with true "wisdom," is a wisdom infinitely higher than that of the wise of the world. we speak--resuming "we" (preachers, I, Apollos, &c.) from "we preach" (Co1 1:28), only that here, "we speak" refers to something less public (compare Co1 2:7, Co1 2:13, "mystery . . . hidden") than "we preach," which is public. For "wisdom" here denotes not the whole of Christian doctrine, but its sublimer and deeper principles. perfect--Those matured in Christian experience and knowledge alone can unde”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Nazir 133b.68:9: The Gemara asks: And as we eventually include everything that is similar to the detail of fruit and the waste of fruit, what is the meaning when the verse states: “From pits to grape skin”? This serves to tell you a general principle of exegesis that applies throughout the Torah: Wherever you find only a detail and a generalization, you cannot broaden it and learn that the generalization is limited to be like the detail, by saying that the generalization merely clarifies the previous detail.”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Nazir 34b.9: The Gemara asks: And as we eventually include everything that is similar to the detail of fruit and the waste of fruit, what is the meaning when the verse states: “From pits to grape skin”? This serves to tell you a general principle of exegesis that applies throughout the Torah: Wherever you find only a detail and a generalization, you cannot broaden it and learn that the generalization is limited to be like the detail, by saying that the generalization merely clarifies the previous detail.”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 8: an extended plain. In theology a partial induction of particulars has led to like serious errors. It is a fact that the Scriptures attribute omniscience to Christ. From this it was inferred that He could not have had a finite intelligence, but that the Logos was clothed in Him with a human body with its animal life. But it is also a Scriptural fact that ignorance and intellectual progress, as well as omniscience, are ascribed to our Lord. Both facts, therefore, must be included in our doctrine of his person. We must admit that He had a hum”