Observation and context: what the text says and where it stands

Program / Course 4: Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics / Lesson 7.2

What you will learn

• Make a careful list of observations about a passage before interpreting it.
• Compare translations and note differences that affect the sense.
• Describe a passage’s literary context and historical context.
• Avoid common errors in studying words and in reading a passage out of its setting.

The big idea

Interpretation should rest on observation. Before asking what a passage means, a careful reader asks what it says: the words, the order, the repetitions, the connections between the sentences. Then the reader asks where it stands: in its paragraph, its book and its world. Most mistakes in exegesis come from skipping this stage. A patient list of observations, tested against two or three translations and set within its context, gives the later steps firm ground.

Key terms

Observation

The careful noting of what is actually in the text, such as its words, structure and tone, before explaining it.

Literary context

The setting of a passage in the text around it, from the nearby verses to the book as a whole.

Historical context

The setting of a passage in the history, culture and circumstances of its author and first audience.

Connective

A small word that links parts of an argument, such as therefore, for, but, so that. Connectives show how the writer’s thought moves.

Word study

A study of a word’s meaning by looking at how it is used in the author’s writing and its time.

Semantic range

The set of meanings a word can carry. In any one use, context selects one.

Parallel passage

Another passage with similar wording, subject or event, which may illuminate the one under study.

Background

Observation is a skill that can be learned, like noticing details in a painting. People who read the Bible often read quickly for the main point, or read what they expect to find. Slow reading reveals more. A passage that seemed plain begins to show a structure, a mood or a surprising turn.

Context is the second discipline. A sentence taken from a letter, a speech or a story can mean something quite different from what it means in its place. Interpreters distinguish the literary context, which is the surrounding text, from the historical context, which is the world in which the text was written. Both limit what a passage can mean.

This lesson gives a practical procedure. It does not require Hebrew or Greek, though it will mention what those languages add. You will need a notebook, two or three translations, and access to a good introduction to the book you are studying.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Read slowly and list what you see

Read the passage at least three times, aloud if you can. Then make a list. Note who speaks and to whom. Note the actions, the places and the times. Note words and phrases that repeat, contrasts, comparisons, questions, commands and promises. Note the connectives, since they show the logic. In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.” The word therefore points back to the long argument of Romans 1 to 11. A reader who skips it misses that the call to sacrifice rests on the mercies described.

Try also to outline the passage in a few lines, giving each section a heading in your own words. If you cannot outline it, you have probably not understood its shape yet. Mark what surprises you, since surprise often marks something important.

Step 2: Compare translations

Read the passage in at least three English translations that differ in method. Some aim at word for word fidelity, some at thought for thought clarity, and some are paraphrases. Note every place where they differ in a way that affects the sense. Check any footnote that mentions a variant reading or an alternative translation. The differences do not tell you which is right, but they show you where the decisions lie and where you should look more closely.

Resist the temptation to treat one translation as the original. Every translation is an interpretation, and each balances accuracy against readability. Comparing is the cure.

Step 3: Study the literary context

Work outward in circles. Read the paragraph before and after. Then read the whole chapter and the whole book, or at least a summary of it. Ask how the passage fits the movement of the book. Is it an opening, a turning point, a conclusion? Look at the book’s genre and purpose. Finally, ask where the passage stands in the canon, and whether other passages quote it, echo it or explain it.

Be careful with word studies. A word does not carry all its possible meanings into every use. The scholar James Barr warned in 1961 against taking a root meaning or a list of senses and loading them into a single occurrence. Ask how the author uses the word in this book and in this sentence, and consult a lexicon only to see the range, not to choose the sense you prefer.

Step 4: Study the historical context

Ask who wrote the passage, to whom, when and why. Gather what can be known of the place, the customs and the events that the passage assumes. Use an introduction to the book, a Bible dictionary and, for later steps, commentaries. Mark clearly what is well supported and what is disputed. For example, the date of Daniel or the destination of Galatians is argued, and your study should say so.

Finally, look at parallel passages. Another gospel may tell the same story differently. Another letter may treat the same subject. These comparisons often raise the questions that your study should answer. Write them in the notebook and leave the answers for later.

1. What does the passage say, in my own words, verse by verse?
2. Which words, phrases or structures repeat?
3. What do the connectives show about the logic?
4. Where do the translations differ in ways that affect the sense?
5. How does the passage fit into its book?
6. What do I know and not know about the historical setting?

Examples

Different perspectives

Protestant

Protestant guides to Bible study, from the Reformers to the present, stress careful observation of the plain sense in its context, with the aid of grammar and history. The principle that Scripture interprets Scripture drives the habit of tracing connections to other passages.

Catholic

Catholic teaching asks interpreters to attend to the literary forms and the circumstances of the time and place, as the Second Vatican Council taught, and to read within the whole canon and the tradition. Lectio divina, the slow prayerful reading of a passage, includes a stage of careful attention to the text.

Orthodox

Orthodox students value the fathers’ close reading of words and phrases, as in the sermons of Chrysostom, and read the text as it is used in worship. Modern Orthodox scholars also use historical and literary tools to understand the context.

Jewish

Jewish study has long attended closely to the words, to repeated terms and to small differences in wording. The tradition of commentary values the question of why this word and not another. These habits are useful models for all readers.

Academic

Scholars emphasize the discipline of separating observation from interpretation, and the use of semantic and discourse analysis. They also stress that any claim about the historical context should rest on evidence, and that gaps in evidence should be marked.

Why it matters

Everything else in the course depends on this stage. A student who has observed carefully will find the commentaries easier to use and easier to question. A student who has skipped it will be led by whichever author is read first. The habit also makes ordinary reading richer, since a passage that has been looked at closely is more likely to surprise and to teach.

Common misunderstandings

Knowledge check

Think it through

1. When you read the Bible, how quickly do you move to meaning, and what do you skip?
2. What does comparing translations show you about the choices translators make?
3. How might the context of a famous verse change your picture of it?
4. What would you do if you could not find reliable information about the historical context?

Independent assignment

An observation sheet

For your chosen passage, make an observation sheet in your notebook. List speakers, actions, places, times, repeated words, contrasts, questions, commands and connectives. Write a brief outline. Copy the passage from three translations and mark differences that affect the sense. Then write 150 to 250 words on the literary context and 150 to 250 words on the historical context, marking what is certain and what is disputed. Do not yet consult commentaries. Keep your work in your notebook.

Further study

• Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Read the chapters on the context and the genres of your passage.
• Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Use the sections on variants if your passage has a textual note.
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hermeneutics Read for the role of context in meaning.
• John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood Read to see the pastoral purpose that close reading serves.
• Romans 12:1 The word therefore and the argument behind it.
• Psalm 23:4 A translation difference in the valley passage.
• Nehemiah 8:8 Reading with understanding.