The Literary Context

Introduction

Imagine that you are a college student strolling to class one day when a total stranger hits you with a one-liner. “Go for it!” How would you respond? Would you say, “Sure,” and walk away thinking that he or she was one fry short of a happy meal? Or would you take the message with all religious seriousness and conclude God must be speaking to you through that person, answering your prayers about your dating dilemma or your decision regarding a major or your problem of whether to take the summer job?

To unveil the meaning of “go for it,” most of us would probably come back with a few questions of our own. “What exactly do you mean?” or “Go for what?” We would ask questions as part of our search for a context to give meaning to those three little words. Without a context, “go for it” can mean almost anything. Without a context, words become meaningless.

When it comes to interpreting and applying the Bible, context is crucial. In fact, we would go so far as to say that the most important principle of biblical interpretation is that context determines meaning. When we ignore the context, we can twist the Scriptures and “prove” almost anything.

What is Literary Genre?

Of every passage of Scripture, we must first notice the form it takes (i.e., how does it mean?) before we look at its content (i.e., what did it mean?). The word genre is a French word meaning “form” or “kind.” When applied to biblical interpretation, the expression literary genre simply refers to the different categories or types of literature found in the Bible. In the Old Testament you will encounter narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, and wisdom. The New Testament forms include gospel, history, letter, and apocalyptic literature. Both Old and New Testaments feature a number of subgenres (e.g., parables, riddles, sermons).

What is Surrounding Context?

Surrounding context simply refers to the texts that surround the passage you are studying. You can think of it as the textual world in which your text lives. This includes the words, sentences, paragraphs, and discourses that come before and after your passage.

Dangers of Disregarding Literary Context

You have probably heard it said that you can make the Bible say anything you want. That is true only if you disregard the literary context. There are a number of dangers associated with disregarding literary context. Here we will discuss only two of the most common problems—the first associated with individual interpreters, the second with preachers.

Ignoring the Surrounding Context

The first danger is simply ignoring the surrounding context. This usually happens when individuals focus on a single verse without paying attention to how the surrounding verses might affect its meaning.

Topical Preaching

A second danger associated with disregarding literary context is that of topical preaching. Topical preaching is a valid approach to preaching when the various passages are understood in context and the overall message doesn’t violate those individual contexts. But far too often topical preaching distorts the meaning of Scripture by disregarding the literary context.

How to Identify the Surrounding Context

1. Identify how the book is divided into paragraphs or sections. Look at several different Bible Translations to see how the translators have divided the book into smaller units.
2. Summarize the main idea of each section in about a dozen words or less. When writing your summary, think about two things: (a) the topic or main idea of the section, and (b) what the author says about the topic or main idea. As you do this, you will have to resist the temptation to get lost in all the details. Stick with the main point, the big idea.
3. Explain how your particular passage relates to the surrounding sections. Now that you can see the author’s flow of thought through the entire book by reading your section summaries, it is time to look at how your passage fits into its surroundings.

Conclusion

We study literary context because the interpretation that best fits the context is the most valid interpretation. When we disregard literary context, we run the risk of forcing the Bible to say what we want it to say. This may appear to satisfy people’s immediate needs, but ultimately, this approach hurts people by robbing them of God’s liberating truth. People are seeking time-tested answers to problems that are stating them in the face, answers that contemporary culture simply cannot supply. When we take the literary context seriously, we are saying, “We want to hear what God is trying to say to us.”