I’m fascinated by what appears to be a renaissance in Biblical hermeneutics that has been semi-quitely underway for the last generation or so. Most of the activity has been limited to academic circles, but facets of it have begun emerging in more lay-level websites such as BibleProject, AlephBeta, and the Theopolis Institute. There are a number of things which are quite interesting about this renaissance:

1. It is not one single movement but more of a collection of partially overlapping local renaissances in divergent Judeo-Christian interpretive communities: Orthodox Jewish, Messianic, Reformed Protestant, Generic Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, and also secular/scholarly studies of the Bible as (human) literature.
2. Both between and within those various communities, various people seem to independently be (re)discovering some of the same/similar techniques from different angles. As Rabbi Fohrman says, it’s like there is something “in the air.” A certain zeitgeist. Hence my use of the term “renaissance.”
3. On a personal note, my first significant exposure to such things was through my friend Andre Houssney, who independently rediscovered “symbolic/poetic” theology (spurred on by debates with a Western professor teaching on Jesus’ parables in an Eastern seminary, and by reading St. Ephrem the Syrian) in the early 2000s.
4. It is a RE-discovery of certain interpretive tools, but the fundamental roots are ancient. The ancient “Rabbis of blessed memory” (Chazal) used these techniques in their midrashic and talmudic studies. Many (esp. non-Latin) patristics (like Ephrem) used these techniques. Indeed, the tools seem to ebb and flow in the history of Scriptural exegesis, hymnody, poetry, and mystic contemplation.
5. One reason for the ebb and flow is because they have great potential for beautiful, powerful, heart-affecting observations and imagery from God’s word, but also have incredible potential for abuse and doctrinal error. So, like any power tool, they require responsible usage, management, and stewardship. Indeed, while the ancient Rabbis themselves used these tools, they rarely if ever explained what they were doing, as if they felt the tools themselves should not be placed in the hands of ordinary, untrained laity.
6. The hermeneutical “tools” I’m talking about are themselves not so esoteric, really most (if not all?) of them are just tools of literary analysis! But the Bible is no ordinary literature because its Author is no ordinary dude. So “ordinary literary analysis” applied to the Bible has the power to become super-charged!
7. Hence David Curwin, from the Jewish perspective, calls the tools of this renaissance the “Orthodox Literary Approach.” The guys at AlephBeta often speak of them as “midrashic” techniques because, as I’ve noted, through reverse engineering you can detect that these tools were how Chazal composed the material of the Midrash. The fullest name I’ve come up with, to encompass the different communal orbits circling this thing, is, “The modern midrashic, literary, figural-symbolic, pattern-based hermeneutical renaissance!“
8. Probably at the top of the toolchain is intertextuality: following specific, detailed verbal and thematic cues from one portion of Scriptural text to enlighten another text (even though the second text often appears completely unrelated topically at first blush). This is a form of inner-Biblical exegesis, but quite different from the approach of systematic theology. The BibleProject guys call these intertextual allusions “hyperlinks.” Rabbi Fohrman similarly speaks about the Bible as an ancient (but also more advanced!) version of the internet!
9. Many more interesting features, but let’s move on.

One big question lovers of Scripture can and should be asking: where does this stuff lead? If it introduces new doctrines, that sounds scary! If it doesn’t, then what’s the point?

Great question, glad you asked! I think there are two answers.

1. A proper(!) usage of these tools often results in insights which adds color, texture, nuance, richness, flavor, insight, and deeper heart-impacting dimensionality to the same truth readily available on the “surface layer” of the text. That’s why, historically, these tools have often been employed in hymns and poems rather than creeds and catechisms. So, in one sense, the safe and reassuring answer is that you don’t need these tools in order to extract the core, essential doctrines for life and salvation from the Bible. But if you DO make use of these tools, the aesthetic and heart-moving interaction with Scripture can become richer and more profound.
2. But… here’s the kicker! While these tools are arguably “cool but not essential” for the understanding the majority of the Biblical canon, they take on a different role when it comes to apocalyptic literature, in part because apocalyptic is so symbol-laden. When it comes to the book of Revelation, in particular, I believe that these tools move from “helpful background usage” to the forefront, primary, hermeneutical keys to make sense of the genre. And this is not just my own opinion. Since the 1980s a (once again) wide diversity of interpreters from Reformed amillennial Calvinists to premillennial dispensationalists, have been converging towards a consensus that Revelation must be understood in light of the ubiquitous and incessant use it makes of intertextual allusions verse after verse after verse.

A few months ago I began compiling resources I’ve found regarding this modern midrashic, literary, figural-symbolic, pattern-based hermeneutical renaissance at https://bible.wiki, a website using the same MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia. There’s no beautiful design (e.g. lack of logo), and not a ton of material since I alone am about the only contributor so far. But there is at least a non-trivial amount of starter material to introduce what is “in the air.”

As a wiki, the intent is to be communally edited and supplemented. I would be delighted if anyone has anything to add, be it now or whenever in the future. You need not be “registered” or “logged in” to edit existing pages.

The two main pages I would encourage folks to check out are:
https://bible.wiki/wiki/The_modern_midrashic,_literary,_figural-symbolic,_pattern-based_hermeneutical_renaissance
https://bible.wiki/wiki/Midrashic_hermeneutical_resources