Why Does Context Matter For Reading the Bible?
This is a five-part series on How To Read Your Bible. These steps include Prayer, Translation, Genre, Context, and Costly Obedience. The hope is that whether you’ve been reading the Bible for many years now or don’t know where to start, this will be a helpful resource for you and the people around you to explore and dive deeper into God’s Word!
WHAT
Have you heard the saying, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees?” Simply put, literary context is what comes before or after a text, and the better you understand the whole, the better you can understand a part. In fact, it’s easy to get lost in the details and miss the bigger picture. Literary context invites you to look around. The Bible was not written as disconnected verses, but as literary works that were meant to be understood as a whole. Literary context is all about looking at what surrounds a text in order to better understand it.
Here are some layers of literary context:
Word>Words>Sentence>Sentences>Paragraph>Paragraphs>Chapter>Chapters>Book>Bible
Each layer deeper you go from left to right will offer greater clarity. For example, if you want to better understand a sentence, read the sentences before and after it. If you still don’t understand, or if you want to go even deeper, read the entire paragraph, and so forth. Each layer adds more context and more understanding.
WHY
When you take something out of its context, you can easily miss what it’s really trying to communicate. Words, sentences, or verses taken out of context lead to misunderstanding and wrong interpretations. The problem with taking the Bible out of context is that anyone can make it say whatever they want it to say, which is why practicing literary context is helpful to understanding what God wants to communicate.
HoW
Practice by reading Philippians 4:13 and write down what you think it means.
Now, read Philippians 4:10-14 and write down what stands out to you.
How does the context of Philippians 4:10-14 help you better understand what Philippians 4:13 is trying to communicate?
Remember, as you read the Bible and find yourself struggling to understand what something means, try reading around it and take note of the overall storyline you’re following. This is an extremely valuable practice to continue as you read on your own, have discussions with others, and as you discern what others say.
Resources
While there are many resources on why literary context is important to any form of literature in general, here is an article on the specific literary context of the Bible.