Interpreting Scripture

The Bible has MOST DEFINITELY been misinterpreted and in several places, innapropriate words were used in translation and even outright incorrect words for some. That is without doubt. One list of several mistranslations that have caused a lot of dispute within the church is here. You understand, though, that this speaks nothing of the original texts, but of the translators. You should be glad to know that no essential doctrines related to the gospel message have been mistranslated to the point that people cannot clearly understand them. But what do we make of these mistakes? Does this mean the Bible is not inerrant?

The Bible is indeed inerrant because the originals are inerrant. We only have copies of the originals, however the mistakes and differences found are for the most part copyist errors such as "rocks and trees" instead of "trees and rocks" or spelling mistakes or other fairly obvious errors/ommissions on the minority of the copies. So the obvious questions I suspect you are asking then is what we are to do if even those highly educated in the original languages make mistakes in the translation? How on earth are we to figure out what is and what is not a mistake? How do we know if we are right or wrong?

The answer is two-fold:

1. First, the Holy Spirit (if we are listening to Him), teaches us ALL things is is the light by which the scripture is illuminated to us in its true meaning. It is much like a Hologram. The Holy Spirit is to be our teacher, not humans -- we are to subject every human interpretation to the authority of the Spirit.... including our own often half-hazzard interpretations. We must come to the Word in prayer and in submission to it. If it speaks against our worldview or corrects us, we need to be willing to listen to it and not stand in judgment over it.
2. Second, and very importantly, is that we absolutely must read scripture in context. There is a local context (scriptures in the immediate vicinity), the context of the book or letter, the historical context (can get a lot from the traditions in force at the time through works such as the Talmud, etc.) and MOST IMPORTANTLY the context of the whole of scripture. One of the best ways to find out if an interpretation is correct when there are multiple available is to seach the whole Bible for every occurrence of the key words in the passage and see what the meaning in the local context is for each. By the end of such a study, you will have an idea as to whether or not the proposed interpretation is likely or not or even plausible. And anybody, regardless of their training can do this as long as they are seeking the truth and submitting to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
   

A very good book which I highly recommend on the subject of interpreting scripture is "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth," by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart.