HISTORICAL-CULTURAL AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

1.  Take the time to read through the entire book, epistle, psalm, . . . , several times (More is better.). The student must gain some sense of the whole before he can determine the sense of a smaller portion. 

Do not assume you understand a verse when you do not know the general flow of the full work.  Read it through to gain an overview.  Do not be concerned with details.  See "the big picture."  The details will come later. 

Do not assume that you are already familiar with the section or book because you have read portions of it, have heard a few sermons from it, or you have read through the section sometime in the past.  Become familiar enough with the full work that you can tell the story in general broad strokes with your own words.

 

2.  Determine the general historical and cultural situation of the writer and his original audience.  Sometimes, the historical and cultural information may be found in the writing itself.  Some good books containing "introductory matters" are valuable, such as Guthrie's New Testament Introduction and Edersheim's Bible (Old Testament) History, his Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, and his Sketches of Jewish Social Life.  "Introductory matters" include such things as political climate, ruling authorities, historical timelines, general civil circumstances, relationship to other surrounding areas and kingdoms, and so on.  The Works of Josephus are worthwhile (remembering his habit of exaggeration and general "colorfulness") and inexpensive.  Old Testament Survey and New Testament Survey books will also give some introductory material on the different books.

a.  Determine the general historical circumstances.  What challenges were they (the writer and his original audience) facing politically?  . . . economically?   . . . socially?   What was the main source of their livelihood?  Is their livelihood being threatened?  What are the major threats, concerns? What is going on around the readers in the neighboring areas?  These are important questions to consider when studying, for example, Jeremiah's "Lamentations."  Why is he "lamenting?"

b.  Be aware of cultural circumstances and normal daily experiences that add meaning to given actions.  The concept of "corban" in Mk. 7 is a very important cultural situation unknown to us today.  The search for a man doing "woman's work" of carrying water was a very exact sign and may have been prearranged in Mk. 14:12-14.  Remember that ancient cultures in the middle east were not like your familiar modern western culture.  You must see the situation through their eyes in their time.

c.  Determine the level of spiritual  commitment of the audience.  For example, consider why a man would intentionally marry a prostitute, have (3) children, give them bizarre names, mourn his wife's return to prostitution, search her out, buy her back, then talk to her in a very strange fashion . . . .  These actions become quite clear when one sees the larger context of Hosea as prophet to God's unfaithful (prostituted) people.

 

3.  Consider the specific historical and cultural context of the situation and the author's purpose(s) in writing the book.

a.  Who was the writer?  When did he live?  What was his social environment like?  How was he raised?  Is he a priest? . . .  a king? . . . a prophet? . . . an apostle?   What was his spiritual background and experience?  Why did he write these words?  What is his point?

b.  To whom was he writing (e.g., believers, unbelievers, apostates, believers sliding back)?  What was their social and cultural situation?  What was "normal" to them?  What was abnormal?  What was their need? 

c.  What was the writer's purpose in writing this particular book?  What does he intend to convey?   To determine his purpose:

1)  Note obvious statements or repeated phrases.  E.g., Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1--Luke says he writes to present an orderly account of the beginning of the Christian era;  John 20:31--John's purpose is to present an account of Christ's ministry so that men might believe (He does not intend to give a chronological history or a pictorial "Life of Christ."); Peter in 1 Peter  5:12 says that he is writing an exhortation to stand firm amid persecution.

2)  Watch for sections of encouragement or exhortation.  Since exhortations flow from purpose, they often give direct clues to purpose.  What is the encouragement?  Hebrews, for example, exhaustively exhorts to continue in the faith, so the readers evidently were prone to backsliding or turning back to personal works for righteousness; hence, the purpose must have been to keep them (and us) from turning away from Christ. (Hebrews is not a theological treatise, though the author does speak theologically.)

3)  Consider issues that either may be omitted or are the focal point.  The writer of 1 & 2 Chronicles does not give a complete history of Israel; hence, the purpose is not fully historical.  Rather, events are mentioned which show Israel's success only when she is faithful to the Lord.  Notice the frequency of the clause, "__________ did what was evil/good in the sight of the Lord."  The purpose must have been to encourage the people toward a proper walk before God.

 

"A good check on whether or not you understand the author's purpose(s) is to summarize his purpose(s) in a single sentence.  Beware of interpreting any passage without first understanding the author's intention in writing the book which contains it" (Henry Virkler).  If your understanding falls outside the purpose, then you may be "reading into the passage" what you want it to say. 

 

4.  Confirm the limits of the passage.  Make sure you are dealing with a self-contained unit that is cohesive.  Do not "pick and choose."  Beware of picking a verse and immediately concluding that you know what it means without regarding its contextual unit.  Anything can mean anything without a context.

Deal with the paragraph as the smallest unit, not just one verse.  But, beware of paragraphing in older translations of the Bible, such as the American Standard Version and the King James Version.  Certainly do not take the chapter and verse structure as absolute.  These were added centuries after the Bible was completed and serve as little more than markers to find locations.  They do a very poor job of expressing sentence or paragraph structure. 

Modern versions such as The New King James or the New International Version offer much more reliable sentence and paragraph structure.  Yet, even modern paragraphing and structuring should be reviewed and considered.  Chapters and verses have not been changed from older versions to maintain continuity.  Hence, they remain problematic.

 

5.  How does the passage fit into its immediate context?  How is it related to the surrounding verses?  How does the passage relate to the work as a whole?

a.  Identify the major blocks of material in the book and show how they fit into a coherent whole.  Ultimately, determine the outline of the whole book, psalm, etc.  Write out that outline, showing major divisions and subdivisions which support the major divisions.  The focal point of the outline must be the author's understood purpose.  Your understanding of a scripture portion must fit into and agree with the outline, which then must support the author's purpose.

b.  Show how the passage under consideration fits into the flow of the author's argument.  What is the connection (either logical or theological) between the passage being studied and the preceding and succeeding blocks of material?  . . . . with the book as a whole?  How does the smaller section (a few verses or a paragraph)  relate to the larger part (the book being studied)?

c.  Determine the perspective which the author intends to communicate.  Is he telling the reader the way things really are, only the way they appear, or the way they should be?  Is he speaking from God's perspective, from a third person's detached human perspective, etc.?  Is he arguing his point by assuming the opponent's viewpoint and anticipating his counterpoint?

d.  Distinguish between descriptive and prescriptive truth.  Is the author only informing the reader of a given situation?  Is he merely "describing" the situation as it is; or, is he saying that this is the way it must be?  Just because scripture says something happened, it must not be assumed this is the way it must be forever thereafter.  In Matt. 27:3-5, we find that Judas "repented," then went out and hanged himself.  Is Matthew intending to say that all those who repent must hang themselves?  No . . . . he is merely "describing" a situation.  Consider Acts 2 from this perspective.

e. Distinguish between incidental details and the teaching focus of the passage. Here is where allegorizing of parables enters in.  Incidental details within parables are almost never the real concern.  The lesson derived from the parable is the focus.  What is the author's point?  Stay with the focus . . . .

f.  Identify the person or category of persons for whom the particular passage is intended.  God told Noah to build an ark; he did not say that everyone must build an ark.

 

In sum, who is the author?  Who is the audience?  What is their setting?  What is the author's point?  The author's point must always remain the focal point.

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