Interpreting the Bible through the Visual Arts

This article considers the visual dimensions associated with biblical interpretation. It begins by accentuating the role of the artist as an active reader of the Bible and not merely as an illustrator of biblical scenes and highlights the approach of H.-G. Gadamer in appreciating the part played by the viewer, as well as the artist, in the visual hermeneutical process. The methodological considerations of Gadamer are then illustrated with reference to a range of visual interpretations of the biblical story of the deception of Isaac and the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 27), one of the most psychologically charged episodes in the entire Hebrew Bible.