Originally posted 10/31/23
Any time we read a passage we must look at the context. When I was teaching, I always built background knowledge before beginning a new story or text. My students needed to understand what they were about to read before they started. We first needed to determine who wrote the passage or book. Knowing information about the author helped them to better understand what the passage meant. When teaching The Crucible, it was crucial to explain the events that were happening around the time when it was written. We also needed to explain the hysteria surrounding The Salem Witch Trials. Without that information, the play does not have as much meaning.
The Bible is no different. It is important to know when a passage or a book was written. The cultural implications would be much different when reading a book written around 1500 BC compared to 100 AD. We need to understand the situation and cultural implications of Biblical passages. The style of writing is crucial to understanding the passage.
We read the different types of writings in the Bible differently. Some books are simply retelling a story. They need to be read as such. Other books in the Bible are considered Didactic or prescriptive. They are meant to instruct us or correct us. We would not read a historical narrative and pull out tidbits and model our life after them. We have to determine if the passage is meant to inform or instruct. A passage in the Bible can never mean to us what it did not mean to the original audience. We have to figure out what it meant to them at that time before we can begin to ask how it applies to our lives.
The purpose of the passage is also extremely important. We read a letter that was written to a particular person or church differently than a book written by a prophet.
In her book, Women of the Word, Jen Wilkin discusses the importance of understanding the context of the passages we read in the Bible. She discusses the need to answer the archeological questions each time you look at a passage. Jen Wilkin refers to it as “reading the envelope”.
Each time we read a passage, we should begin by asking:
- Who wrote it? Knowing who wrote the passage often changes the way we read it.
- When was it written? If we know when a passage was written, we can place it in the correct place in history. It helps to understand how the original audience would have received it and understood it.
- To whom was it written? Each book was written for a specific audience. We run the risk of misinterpreting Scripture when we do not consider the original audience. Scripture can never mean to us what it did not mean to the original audience.
- What style of writing? Each genre is written differently.
- Historical narrative–a retelling of a particular historical event. It is much the way a novel is written.
- Parables–a story with characters and a setting used to teach a lesson. Their characters may seem odd to us, but they would not have been to the original audience.
- Law–situations that seem strange to us. They were written to give guidelines for those charged to govern others. It was never meant for individuals to administer justice privately.
- Poetry–passages written to create word pictures.
- Wisdom literature–communicates things that are generally true. They are not to be confused with promises.
- Prophecy–symbolic language. We must be able to place prophecy in its appropriate context.
- Why was it written? There is a purpose every time a passage is written. It is true for Scripture as well. Things were written to address the needs of the particular readers. Some were written for instructions while others were written for correction. We need to example the “why” so that we can appropriately interpret Scripture.
There are many steps we must take before we ask how the passage can be applied to our lives. When we quickly run to apply Scripture to our own lives, we may actually miss the true meaning of the passage.