Study the Context

13. Study the Context

As you read, seek to understand who wrote a book, when it was written, to whom it was written, and why it was written. That is the historical context, and the book introductions will cover such significant details. Also, use the study notes when you need light shed on people, places, and events far removed from our day. For example, when the Gospels talk about “lawyers,” they are referencing “experts in the Law of Moses” (the first five books of the Bible). The literary context is important as well. Literary context simply refers to what surrounds a text (what is said or happens in the verses before and after) and where the text is found in the whole of the book.

For example, Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), in part, as a rebuke and warning to the Pharisees, who Luke informs us “were lovers of money” and who “ridiculed” Jesus (Luke 16:14) after he taught the parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1–13), which concludes: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In sum, if you know the historical and literary context of the passage, you will have a better understanding of its meaning.

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