Oyewole O. Sarumi | Ph.D. ACC.
Oyewole O. Sarumi | Ph.D. ACC.
INTRODUCTION
The Bible contains a lot of verses that tell us what to do and what not to do. These verses stand as commands from God. Bible scholars call these prescriptive texts, as they prescribe the behavior God expects from us.
However, many more verses in the Bible are narrative. They tell us what happened. Bible scholars call these descriptive texts. They describe what occurred, usually without godly commentary.
According to Cone (2015), the short-form process of discerning and appropriating the meaning of a Biblical passage includes the four basic steps of
(1) observation,
(2) interpretation,
(3) correlation, and
(4) application.
He further opined the more detailed process exegetical process to include nine steps below:
(1) verify text and translation, (2) understand background and context,
(3) identify structural keys, (4) identify grammatical and syntactical keys,
(5) identify lexical keys,
(6) identify Biblical context, (7) identify theological context,
(8) secondary verification, and
(9) exposition.
From the above, steps one through seven of the detailed exegetical process correspond to observation and interpretation in the summary process. Both methods include a verification element, and both culminate with appropriation (exposition and application).
As a result of the seven observational or exegetical steps, we can formulate and test our interpretation, and we can appropriate the passage properly. The exposition of a passage includes a discussion of the applications of a passage and should include some consideration of primary and secondary applications. Primary application refers to how the original audience was to respond to the passage, while secondary application references expected responses of later (i.e., secondary) readers.
Prescriptive or descriptive
Cone stressed out the distinction between the two aspects (primary and secondary) is critical. Without acknowledging the distinction we would not be able to discern whether or not we (the modern readers), for example, are expected to go to a nearby village to obtain the colt of a donkey (Mt 21:2). All seven observational steps help us differentiate between primary and secondary application, as we discover what is descriptive and what is prescriptive.
So, when studying the Bible, it is important to determine whether the verse or passage at hand is descriptive or prescriptive. The difference is this: a passage is descriptive if it is simply describing something that happened, while a passage is prescriptive if it is specifically teaching that something should happen. Simply put, is it a description or a command? Is the passage describing something (it happened) or is it prescribing something (it should happen)? The difference is important. (see below). When a biblical passage is only describing something but is interpreted as prescribing something, it can lead to errant thinking and behaviour (Got Questions, 2019).
DESCRIPTIVE AND PRESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
Now, let’s break it down..
Descriptive is that which describes, as in historical narrative. Acts 5:1-11, for example, describes what took place when Ananias and Sapphira lied in order to make themselves look more godly.
Prescriptive is that which prescribes, or commands. Prescriptive material is that which provides directions for the audience. Matthew 28:18-20 contains one prescription, the imperative make disciples (matheteusate).
Further, because this imperative is in a descriptive context (the passage is describing what Jesus said to His disciples), we can recognize that the passage is describing a prescription for the disciples, and thus the primary application of the passage was a call for the disciples to obey the specific command.
We can certainly draw a secondary application from this passage, from the description of the events that took place there, and from other Biblical contexts which focus on disciplemaking (e.g., 2 Tim 2:2). But the primary application of this passage is for the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking – just as in Matthew 21:2, the primary application is for the specific disciples Jesus was addressing (thus we are not obligated to obtain the colt of a donkey).
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY APPLICATIONS
In considering primary and secondary applications, the first question to be asked is whether or not the passage is descriptive or prescriptive. Next, if the passage is prescriptive, we need to ask for whom is it prescriptive. Shall we consider Exodus 19:4-6, as an example:
_‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”_
These verses are descriptive, in that they are the record of what God said to Moses (see 19:3). They are also prescriptive in the sense that they contain information Moses was commanded to pass along to Israel. So in answer to the question regarding the recipient of the prescription, the answer is Moses.
There appears to be another prescriptive layer here, as the content was to be heeded by Israel (“…hear My voice and keep My covenant…”), but it is not until the message is delivered that it becomes prescriptive for Israel. So we might identify the primary application as for Moses to communicate what God spoke.
There are several secondary applications we might draw from this description of Moses’ prescription, but only one primary application. Further in 19:7, we read a description of Moses fulfilling the prescription of 19:3 and delivering God’s message to Israel.
The primary application of 19:7 would be for Israel to respond to what was given to them. Again, we might draw any number of secondary applications, but the primary application is limited to the initial audience.
A less dramatic example of the descriptive vs. prescriptive issue concerns how the New Testament describes the early Christians meeting in homes (Acts 2:46; 20:20; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15). Some interpret this to mean that Christians today should only meet in homes, and, therefore, meeting in church buildings is wrong. This is errant thinking. None of the passages that describe believers meeting at home prescribe that believers only meet in homes. The New Testament nowhere instructs believers to meet in homes. The Bible describes believers meeting in homes, but there is no command to do so. So, meeting in homes is allowable, but it is not advocated or even necessarily preferred.
The Lord’s Supper and speaking in tongues
Another example of the importance of descriptive vs. prescriptive passages concerns the question of how often communion should be observed. From Scripture, it appears that the early Christians observed the Lord’s Supper weekly (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:20–25). Yet, none of the passages that describe the Lord’s Supper being observed weekly actually prescribe that it be observed weekly. Can the Lord’s Supper be observed weekly? Absolutely yes. Must the Lord’s Supper be observed weekly? Categorically No.
The gift of tongues is another area in which it is important to separate descriptive from prescriptive passages. The book of Acts gives us several instances of people speaking in tongues, such as Acts 2:4, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Some take this and other passages describing tongues and assume they are prescriptive, but this is a wrong interpretation.
The Bible describes certain occasions when Spirit-filled people spoke in tongues, but the descriptions of what happened should not be confused with commands to make it happen. The Bible certainly commands us to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), but nowhere does it say that speaking in tongues always accompanies the filling, and neither does it mandate speaking in tongues for everyone. (Note that the real meaning of ‘tongues’ is languages. The pervasive blah, blah, kloh, kloh, being orchestrated by the Pentecostals and Charismatics in our clime today has no basis in the New Testament)!
In considering the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive, it is evident that we need to identify the direct recipient of any prescriptions so that we can properly apply (primary) the passage. Once we have done that we can move on to the more descriptive elements that would lead us to secondary applications.
Let’s examine one more example. Consider Acts 16:11-34, the account of the Philippian jailor coming to believe in Christ. The context is descriptive, as it is a narrative describing events that happened. This is most obvious from the use of past tense and the sequence of the events as they are described.
However, in Acts 16:31 we discover a prescriptive element in response to the jailor’s question of what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas responded that he should believe (pisteuson, aorist active imperative, second person singular) in the Lord Jesus.
To correctly apply the passage, we must identify who is the recipient of the prescription. In this case, it is the Philippian Jailor. The primary application of the prescription is then that the jailor needed to believe to be saved. It is not correct to apply the passage as a universal formula for salvation – even if the conditions are universally applicable. The primary application of the prescription is not to you and me; rather it was for the Philippian jailor.
Now, of course, we might draw many appropriate secondary applications, as we recognize that the formula is indeed universally applicable (all who believe in Jesus Christ have eternal life, see, Jn 6:47, for example), but we need to be careful to distinguish between the primary application and the secondary. In instances like these, we must keep in mind that arriving at a proper conclusion (in this case, what one must do to be saved) does not justify misapplying a passage.
REFRAMING THE ISSUE FOR PROPER CONTEXT
If we recognise that every bit of scripture is both describing and prescribing something, the question is this descriptive or prescriptive? becomes unhelpful and not a little limiting. If we always answer both, we are forced to ask: How do we tell which is which? It can be more helpful to reframe our original question into two and add a third question between them, to get to the heart of the passage. The more accurate and helpful set of questions are:
(1) what is this describing? (2) why is this here? and,
(3) what, therefore, is this prescribing? Let me explain.
If every passage is describing something, it pays to ask what is being described. Is this a narrative, an argument, a command, etc? If it’s a narrative, what is broadly happening? This will orient you to what is going on. What, exactly, it is you are looking at?
Second, you want to ask why is this here. So, if you come across Samson being described as an A-grade Superman, ask yourself why the author included this story. If it’s obvious we’re not being asked to rip the gates off the local town walls (assuming you live in Gombe or Kano or cities with Gates), what is the author intending to convey to us through this story? Is it a positive or negative example to us?
We’ll know that by how it interacts with other clearer passages of scripture. How does it relate to the themes of the book we’re in? Is this book a series of heroic, godly examples to follow or troubling, ungodly examples to be avoided? What does it tell us about God and his work in and through his people? Just by asking why the author included this story, we can get a sense of what is and is not supposed to be copied.
Finally, we can then turn to our question of what is prescribed. The reason it’s framed and what, therefore, is being prescribed? is because the prescription is going to be closely tied to authorial intent. If the author included this story as an evident example for us to follow, then what is being prescribed is the specific example itself. The author might be including the story, not as an example to emulate, but one to avoid.
So, what is being prescribed is the opposite of what this person did. The author might be including the story with no intention of it being an example to us in either direction at all. Rather, the story might be more concerned with showing something God does on behalf of his people and the prescription for us is to respond rightly to God as he is. There may be several other reasons narrative are included and an author may even have more than one purpose in mind.
David and Goliath
So, as a final example, let’s think about the really well known story of David and Goliath. What is being described is God’s people in battle against the Philistines. There are no direct commands to us anywhere in the narrative. Why does the author include this narrative? It seems apparent that God’s people are fearful of God’s enemies whom they cannot defeat. Only God’s anointed is able to defeat God’s enemies on behalf of God’s people. It is pointing towards David as a type of Christ.
So what is being prescribed? (1) A proper response to Jesus, God’s anointed, who alone is able to defeat our enemies;
(2) A reframing of our thinking. We do not need to fear God’s enemies in Christ because Jesus has defeated them on our behalf. What is prescribed, fundamentally, is a proper trust in Christ as God’s anointed.
GENERAL RULE IN THE HERMENEUTIC AND EXEGETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DESCRIPTIVE AND PRESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
As a general rule, much of what occurs in the book of Acts is descriptive, while much of what is said in the New Testament Epistles is prescriptive. Acts is history, and the Epistles are instruction. There are exceptions, of course. The book of Acts sometimes prescribes, and the Epistles sometimes describe.
If a verse or passage is simply describing something, with nothing said in the positive or negative about that something, then it is descriptive and should not be considered something we are commanded to do. It is only when Scripture specifically instructs (prescribes) that New Testament believers do something that we are to take it as a command to obey.
Please note that the Bible employs many different genres of literature. There is poetry. There are personal letters. There are visions and dreams. There is narrative. Good interpretation of the Bible requires recognizing the genre of the respective passage and applying the appropriate interpretive rules for the genre.
One interpretive decision to make that crosses over genres, but occurs most especially in personal letters and narrative, is whether to understand the passage as descriptive or prescriptive.
CONCLUSION
As part of the interpretation process, we must recognize descriptive and prescriptive language, distinguishing between the two. In so doing we will have a much clearer understanding of primary and secondary applications in a given context.
The point is that what is described is included for a reason. Why the author included it helps us understand the role the narrative is playing. When we understand why the author included what is described we are in a position to think about what the scriptures intend to prescribe. All of it describes stuff and all of it prescribes stuff, but we only really know what when we’ve properly understood why the author included it at all.
Once we know that, we can figure out what the author intends us to deduce and, therefore, what he intends us to say, think, do, believe, or feel as a result.
PS: Comments and further interrogation are welcomed.
Blessings 
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Cone, C. (Feb.2, 2015) The Hermeneutic and Exegetical Implications of Descriptive and Prescriptive. Available at. https://drcone.com/2015/02/27/the-hermeneutic-and-exegetical-implications-of-descriptive-and-prescriptive/
2. Jeantet, S. (Nov. 5, 2014) Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Bible Interpretation. Available at https://stevejeantet.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/prescriptive-vs-descriptive-bible-interpretation/
3. Ortiz, K. (May 16, 2016). What’s the Difference Between Prescriptive and Descriptive Bible Passages? Available at https://www.theologyfortherestofus.com/92-whats-the-difference-between-prescriptive-and-descriptive-bible-passages/
4. Stephen Kneale (March 13, 2024). Is that descriptive or prescriptive? Ackshually, it’s both. Available at https://buildingjerusalem.blog/2024/03/13/is-that-descriptive-or-prescriptive-ackshually-its-both/
5. DeHaan, P. (2019). How to Discern the Difference Between Biblical Commands and Biblical Narrative. Available at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.peterdehaan.com/christianity/prescriptive-texts-vs-descriptive-texts/
6. Biblical Hermeneutics. (2019). Is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 intended to be prescriptive or descriptive? Available at https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/7771/is-1-corinthians-69-10-intended-to-be-prescriptive-or-descriptive
7. TJ Friend. (Sept.16, 2009). How to Study the Bible: Descriptive vs. Prescriptive. Available at https://studyingtheword.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/descriptive-vs-prescriptive/
8. Got Questions. (2019). What does it mean that a biblical passage is descriptive rather than prescriptive? Available at https://www.gotquestions.org/descriptive-vs-prescriptive.html
9. Wanjiru Ng’ang’a (May 23, 2023). Bible Interpretation: Descriptive vs Prescriptive Passages. Available at https://intruthshedelights.com/bible-interpretation-descriptive-vs-prescriptive-passages/
10. Gandhi, R. (July 24, 2022). Deriving Prescriptive Statements from Narrative Passages: 6 Examples. Available at https://apeopleforhisname.org/2022/07/deriving-prescriptive-statements-from-narrative-passages-6-examples/
12. DeRouchie, Jason S. (n.d). Interpreting Scripture: A General Introduction:An Essay. Available at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/interpreting-scripture-a-general-introduction/
13. Bouma, J. (July 15, 2024). Is Acts Descriptive or Prescriptive? Here’s How to Read It For All Its Worth. Available at https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/book-of-acts-descriptive-or-prescriptive-heres-how-to-read-the-bible-for-all-its-worth
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