The Importance of Context

This week, the professor whose videos we are watching spoke on the importance of studying the Bible within its context and how it allows the reader a deeper understanding of God’s truth and grace He weaves into the pages of Scripture. He took a very simple sentence, “I’m mad about my flat," and showed how depending on where the person lives and their linguistics, this could mean two different things.

This could mean someone is upset about their flat tire. This would be the common understanding in the United States If the person comes from Australia or New Zealand speaking the sentence, it could also mean they love their apartment. Being “mad” about something meaning could mean they love it, the flat referencing the apartment. The same language is understood in two different ways by two different groups of people. The only way to appropriately read what is going on is by knowing the context in which the story is being told.

Text is as unique as the teacher, and when studying the Word of God, there should be a constant awareness of when it was written. God put these stories in a particular time and place because that is where the stories are best expressed. What we are supposed to learn is best understood in this context.

Another example given was a grandfather going through pictures of a safari trip. Their granddaughter picked up a photo album and pointed to an elephant and said, “A frickin’ elephant!” After trying to correct his granddaughter several times, the granddaughter finally said exasperatedly, “No, it’s a FRICKIN’ elephant, grandma said so!” It was at that point the grandfather realized she meant “African” elephant.

“What is a disciple in the context of the Bible?” The professor posed this question to his students.

There are several lenses used to understand this better. The first type of context is linguistic. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek and a handful of Aramaic verses were also scattered through the Bible (268 to be exact). The Hebrew language has a very limited word count which means figuring out the context it is written in, so the text is translated accurately.

Geography helps us figure out where the story happened and its challenges. Were the people in the historical documents in the desert? How deep and wide is the body of water they crossed?

The history of the people being read about also matters greatly. This refers to the social, cultural, political, and economic conditions that existed at the time the text was written. It provides more of a guide as to how to analyze how and why things happened as they did to understand the events and ideas that happened at that time.

Culture is the last point the professor discussed, speaking of the beliefs, values and social norms that shape how people communicate and interact within a specific group or society. It influences everything from language and gestures to the interpretation of messages and behaviors in various situations.

This all helps to answer the question of, “How does this Bible passage add to God’s story? Their story? My story? God’s nature?

Genesis 21:33 starts, “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba…” but why is this detail in the text?

There are two things to look at in these seven words and they are both geography-related: Beersheba and the tamarisk tree. Beersheba tells us where the tree was planted. But why did Abraham plant the tree there, and what is the spiritual significance?

At this point, Abraham is at the edge of the desert. He lives in the desert looking desperately for a tiny bit of shade where very little vegetation thrives. One tree in the desert is very valuable, the tamarisk. By themselves, there’s not enough water to keep them alive, so they must be watered or wait until there is rainwater in the flood of the bottom of a canyon. It takes a lot of work to keep a tamarisk tree alive.

 Also, this tree is one of the slowest-growing trees, not able to provide shade in the lifetime of the planter. The wood burns up easily and the tree bears no fruit. It is the only shade tree that grows in the desert. Planting the tree was Abraham’s way of saying, “God, I believe what You said and I believe it so much that I am willing to put a tree here to tend to for future generations to enjoy.”

Then the professor spoke about how in Jewish culture, honor was highly sought after and shame was avoided like the plague. Being shamed was worse than losing your life. Back then, it was very shameful for men to run. The whole village would gossip about it.

There are three instances in the Bible where men are recorded running. One is found in the four gospels when the prodigal returned. The father did not care about the shame he would bring to himself or his family – he just ran to meet his beloved son. Another instance is when Peter and John ran to the Jesus’s tomb to find it empty, also found in the gospels. Knowing this cultural detail adds richness to the story and impacts the reader in a deeper way.

Jesus was hung naked on the cross in a shameful way, just because He wants you.

The words in the Bible don’t and won’t change, but when you know the context, the story becomes more intense and personal. Discipleship is about being around the rabbi so much that we become more and more like the rabbi in learning truth experientially.