orthotomeo
Definition
Orthotomeo (ὀρθοτομέω) is the Greek verb from 2Tim. 2:15, composed of orthos (straight, correct) and temnō (to cut). The King James Bible and other traditional translations render it “rightly dividing”; the Dutch NBG-51 translation chose “to plow straight furrows” — a plowing metaphor that Noordzij explicitly rejects on the basis of the Greek text.
In this wiki, orthotomeo is the technical term for the hermeneutical principle of rigorous distinction between old and new covenant, literal and spiritual, earthly and heavenly, shadow and reality in interpreting Scripture. Noordzij characterizes this distinction as “the mindset of Christ himself.”
Author Usage Variants
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij develops orthotomeo as the central hermeneutical principle of his entire interpretive method in De hand aan de ploeg slaan (“To Put One’s Hand to the Plow,” b5). He rejects the Dutch NBG translation on the grounds of the original text and comparative translation evidence:
“The text does not actually say ‘to plow straight furrows’. The Greek verb is orthotomeo and has the following meanings: to cut straight, to hold a straight course. The NBG translators incorrectly thought of plowing. Other translations usually read: rightly dividing the word of truth (e.g., the Dutch Staten Bible and the Lutheran version). Several English translations read: rightly divide the word of truth (King James and Green’s literal translation), handling aright the word of truth (ASV).”
(Cees and Anneke Noordzij, De hand aan de ploeg slaan, section ‘Rechte voren trekken’; 2Tim. 2:15)
Orthotomeo is then applied as the old/new covenant hermeneutical distinction:
“It means making a consistent distinction between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, between the natural and the spiritual, between the earthly shadow-images and the truth in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
(ibid.)
Failure to make this distinction means thinking hermeneutically from within the old covenant. As an example, Noordzij cites Jesus’ temple saying (John 2:19-21): the scribes thought in naturalistic-literal terms; Jesus thought spiritually. “Rightly divide!”
In Van Pascha tot Loofhutten (“From Passover to Tabernacles,” b6) he reinforces the same principle via three key texts:
“The Letter to the Hebrews states that everything in the Bible is a shadow of realities yet to come (Heb. 10:1). The natural comes first, then the spiritual (1Cor. 15:46). First visible typology, then the spiritual reality (2Cor. 4:18). This is a clear principle throughout the entire Bible.”
(Cees and Anneke Noordzij, Van Pascha tot Loofhutten, Introduction)