BIBLE INTERPRETATION: KNOWING EACH BOOK

Basic Facts Regarding the Whole Book: Questions to ask about it

I. WHO

a. Author

Often unknown – such as for Chronicles and Hebrews

A book may be named after the main character, not necessarily the author. For example, Samuel's death is recorded in I Samuel 25, leaving the rest of I Samuel and all of II Samuel for which he cannot have been the author.

Earlier sources may have been utilized – “Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned; are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.” (I Kings 14:19) Several such written records are alluded to in Chronicles also.

“Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you...” Luke 1:1-3   Luke explains that he started out with written sources based on eye-witness testimony and then did further research himself.

b. Audience This is usually even more important to interpretation than knowing who the author was. You may need to read between the lines. For example, was I Peter written mainly to Jewish or gentile Christians? The evidence could go both ways.

Jews                                    Gentiles

“to the exiles of the dispersion” (1:1)

                                        “do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance” (1:14)

                                        “you were ransomed from the futile ways of your ancestors” (1:18)

“you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people” (2:9a)

                                        “him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (2:9b)

                                        “once you were no people, but now you are God's people” (2:10)

“conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles” (2:12a)

And then there is another case which doesn't seem to fit Jews or Gentiles: “You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, etc. They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation.” (4:3-4)

Previous generations of commentators felt the book was addressed to Jewish Christians, but the consensus today is that it was written to a mainly Gentile audience. The deciding factors for this change of opinion are (1) the term “Gentile” is used by other New Testament writers to refer to any non-believers, not just ethnic Gentiles, and (2) there is the fairly clear implication in Paul's writings that terms such as “God's people” which once applied to Jews only are now applied to God's new people – all believers, Jew or Gentile.

It may not seem to be very important to pin down the original audience in this case, but some preterist commentators start out with the given that I Peter is addressed to Jewish Christians. Then they couple that assumption with the statement in II Peter 3:1 where Peter says this is the second letter he is writing to them. So they further assume that the first letter must be what we call I Peter, even though there is no indication that both were written to the same audience, and Peter may have written numerous letters to different audiences. With that background, they then state that all the warnings in II Peter about the destruction of Heaven and Earth are written in apocalyptic language which can't be taken literally. It really refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD since Peter's Jewish audience at the time would have understood the phrase “Heaven and Earth” to mean Israel, the Old Covenant or perhaps the Temple. (I have read all three explanations in their literature, none of them very convincing.) Notice that this whole chain of reasoning breaks if their original assumption regarding the audience of the book is incorrect.

II. WHEN: This question is often related to who the author is. It can be important, as in the previous example of II Peter. For example, if we knew for sure that the book was written after 70 AD, then the predictions in that epistle couldn't possibly refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

Daniel and Revelation: Most of the prophecies in Daniel match extremely closely the historical events during the Seleucid Empire after Alexander the Great's death, especially concerning the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes starting in 215 BC up to the Maccabean Rebellion around 167 BC. If the book was really written by Daniel himself during the Exile, then it is an amazing example of fulfilled prophecy. Most of it was so literally fulfilled, in fact, that liberal scholars are convinced it had to be written by someone else after the events had taken place.

The interpretation of Revelation will also vary drastically according to when it was written. The description of future events can't refer to destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD if the book was written after that date. On the other hand, if most of it was written as early as 30 AD by John the Baptist and supplemented by later Christian writings (proposed by one scholar), that will definitely skew in another direction how we view it. And then there are those who feel it was written in the 2^nd century AD, not by the Apostle John at all, in an entirely different historical context. The usual evangelical perspective is to place the book somewhere around 90 AD. Each school of thought bases its conclusions on hints they find within the text as to what the current historical events at the time of writing were.

The teachings of the OT prophets can best be understood if we know not only to whom they were writing (Israel or Judah), but also the time period. Was it during the monarchy, divided kingdom, Assyrian conquest, Babylonian exile, etc.? What was happening in history at the time? Any good study Bible will have a short introduction to each book giving the historical setting.

The cultural setting at the particular time and place is also very important in understanding the text.Take the issue of slavery. Several atheist groups have made a concerted effort in attempts to show how immoral the teachings of the Bible are in accepting the institution of slavery. But the conditions of most slaves in the early Roman Empire or the practice of slavery in Old Testament Israel were totally different from those in America before Emancipation.

A recent commentary on the book of Philemon by Barth and Blanke spends 100 of its 500 pages just to describe the cultural context, since it is so important to understanding the background of this short letter. Slavery in NT times was much closer to the situation of indentured servants in colonial America, and slaves sometimes held very responsible positions acting as scribes or doctors and could often buy their freedom. And in the OT there were rules to protect slaves, in contrast to almost all other cultures of the time.

Here is one verse in Philemon that has been interpreted in various ways. “If he (Onesimus) has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” (Philemon 18)  I was always taught that Onesimus must have robbed his master of some money in order to skip town. This could be true, but the laws concerning slaves at that time in the Roman Empire state that if someone harbored a runaway slave, they might be required to reimburse the owner for hours of lost work. That may be what Paul was offering to do.

III. WHAT kind of book is it that you are reading? Consider the literary context.

Biblia = books, not book = a library.  As in a library, each genre of book must be read differently. You wouldn't approach a history book as if it were a sci-fi novel. Special hermeneutics are needed for each genre, and most of these are discussed in this series of posts. Keep in mind that the genre of some books is hard to pin down. Is Jonah a straightforward book of prophecy, an historical account, a fable, a parable or a satire? Or look at the Song of Songs. It has been called poetry, play, a collection of erotic love songs, pagan funerary songs, allegory, fictional short story, (auto)biography, wisdom literature, and pastoral literature. And it also contains dreams/nightmares.

IV. WHY was the book written? Consider the thematic context.

Usually, if you read a biblical book through at one sitting, you can get a reasonable idea of its main theme. Let's look at the book of Hebrews. One repeated idea in this letter is the superiority of Jesus to OT authorities such as angels, Moses, high priest, etc. This idea is confirmed if you look at how the overall book is organized. The parallels within the book sometimes provide a tip-off to its overall structure, which in turn helps to identify the book's main point of emphasis or theme.

The Structure of Hebrews

I. Introduction: God's New Revelation (1:1-3b)

    II. Angels and their Message (1:3c-2:18)

        III. Israel Tested in the Wilderness (3:1-4:13)

                IV. Apostasy and Confidence (4:14-6:20)

                    V. Old and New Priesthood (7:1-28)

                    V'. Old and New Sacrifice (8:1-10:18)

                IV'. Apostasy and Confidence (10:19-12:2)

         III'. Perseverance and Testing of Believers (12:3-29)

    II'. Exhortations (13:1-21)

I'. Conclusion: God's New Revelation (13:22-25)

If there were an exact center to this structure, that would definitely be where the book's emphasis was located. Since there isn't in this case, the most important passages are probably found at the beginning and conclusion of the book: God's new revelation. On the other hand, if you treat V and V' as one large section, you will reach exactly the same conclusion. From any of these approaches you can arrive at the consensus opinion: the author wrote it to a Jewish Christian audience to reiterate the importance of standing firm in the faith and not reverting to Judaism.

It is often not easy to figure out the overall literary pattern of a book, but here is a rough guideline that may help you at least pinpoint the most important passages. Often the main point will be found toward the center of the book. As you are reading through a book, look for passages with similar language, events, or themes. Go forward and backwards from there to see if there are other passages that match up to one another. Take Esther as an example. Here is the center portion of the book.

G. The Scepter is Extended to Esther (5:1-4)

    H. Haman is Summoned (5:5a)

        I. Esther’s Feast for King and Haman (5:5b-8)

            J. Haman with his Friends (5:9-14)

                K. The Plot Turns (6:1-11)

            J'. Haman with his Friends (6:12-14)

        I'. Esther’s Feast for King and Haman (7:1-10)

    H'. Mordecai is Summoned (8:1-2)

G'. The Scepter is Extended to Esther (8:3-4)

The center of the book turns out to be a passage you might be tempted to skip over since it just describes the king having a sleepless night and turning to a book in his library to put him to sleep. But the plot hinges on this seemingly trivial event which is full of coincidences. It demonstrates that the hidden hand of God is always behind human affairs, and that is the main point of the book, not the heroism of Esther and Mordecai.

V. WHERE are the events taking place? Where was the original audience located?

 A Bible atlas or maps in your study Bible are useful tools for following historical events, especially for following the various battles in the OT, the travels of Paul, or learning the background of the cities that Paul writes to. Knowing the location may give you additional insights, but I'll admit that you may need a commentary or good study Bible to point them out. Look at John's letter to the Laodicean church:

“I wish that you were either cold or hot...but because you are lukewarm..., I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16)   One standard interpretation -- God would rather have you totally opposed to Him than being a wishy-washy follower -- never seemed to make sense to me. But try looking at it as an obvious metaphor based on drinking water.

The two nearest cities to Laodicea were Hieropolis and Colossae. Hieropolis was known for its hot springs. People would drink the water for its therapeutic value. On the other hand, Colossae was surrounded by snow-capped mountains and would get their cold drinking water when snow melted. Laodicea had to pipe in its water supply from a spring over a great distance so by the time it arrived, any helpful minerals had precipitated out, it was lukewarm and practically undrinkable.

By this understanding, cold = bracing, refreshing—not indifferent.

Another example of the importance of geography is to consider the reunion of Jacob with Esau, as described in Genesis 33. Only by following the action on a map of the times can you fully appreciate the fact that Jacob purposely misled his brother into thinking that he would be following him back to Edom. Instead Jacob purposely headed off in an entirely different direction as soon as Esau left him.