HERMENEUTICS #8

There are more principles of interpretation that we could cover, but I can't do this forever. At the end of this series of posts, I will give a list of good books that you can study for more, and more indepth, explanations. However -- there is one more major positive point that needs to be stressed -- and that is CONTEXT.

There is a saying in the world of real estate that goes something like this: The three most important things to consider are -- first, LOCATION; second, LOCATION; and third, LOCATION. Bible study should have a similar saying: The three most important things to consider are CONTEXT, CONTEXT, and CONTEXT.

The fifth principle -- SYNTHESIS -- dealt with this issue somewhat. We should compare scripture with scripture in order not to make the mistake of interpreting one passage in contradiction to the plain meaning of another one. This is a very broad application of the principle of CONTEXT, but there is more to understand about this.

You can get all the other elements right in your study of a particular passage, but if you ignore or distort the context, you are likely to STILL misinterpret, and you are almost SURE to misapply, the passage. Understanding the context begins in the very sentence you are studying, and it works its way outward in ever-widening concentric circles.

What is the IMMEDIATE context? What is being discussed in the sentence before, and the sentence after, the one you are looking at? Are these sentences connected, or does the one you are studying stand alone apart from the others? What about the paragraph in which the sentence is found? What about the LARGER context -- the chapter, the letter, the book? What about OTHER books?

Who is speaking, to whom is he speaking, and what is he speaking about? For example, there is a very great difference among the following contexts: Moses speaking to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, Jesus speaking to the Pharisees in Jerusalem, Peter speaking to the Jerusalem council in ACTS 15, and Paul speaking at Mars Hill in Athens. Each of these situations provides CONTEXT for what is being said.

What is the subject under discussion? What else has this writer said about this subject? Who else has had something to say about it elsewhere in the Bible ? What are the issues, the conflicts, the events that are related to the passage? Who are the people involved, and who else is referred to besides them? All of these questions help us focus on the CONTEXT of the passage under consideration, and this is perhaps the most crucial principle of all, as it ties together and makes sense of all the other principles we have discussed.

CONTEXT makes all the difference between a solid, wise application of a passage, and a twisting of the passage to make it seem to support something it really does not support. Remember my earlier example -- the claim that the Bible teaches that there is no god. There are a couple of sentences that could be pulled out of their context to support this claim -- sentences that say, "There is no god." But a look at the context will reveal an entirely different meaning -- "The FOOL has said in his heart, 'There is no god.'"

Here is a good warning to remember when reading or listening to those attempting to use the scripture to support their claims:

A TEXT apart from its CONTEXT is usually used as a PRETEXT!