This post is part of the “How to Study the Bible” series.
Most Bible publishers provide introductions to each book of the Bible filled with background information on the book. When you Investigate to Know an author’s intended meaning, this background information is a great resource. If you cannot find this information, check out the Free Resources below.
As you read different introductions, look for 6 types of background information:
- The Culture
- What traditions did the writer’s audience keep?
- What were the values and beliefs of the audience?
- What did the audience believe about God and their relationship to him?
- What non-Jewish or non-Christian thought systems influenced the audience?
- What non-Jewish or non-Christian religious systems influenced the audience?
- What gender roles did the audience see as “normal”?
- What types of freedoms did the audience enjoy?
- What adverse conditions did the audience have to endure?
- The Historical Period
- Does the book cover a long time period or is it concerned with a specific historical period?
- What historical events were happening when the book was written or received?
- What enemies did the audience have?
- The Redemptive-Historical Period
- What biblical covenant (the covenant with creation, the covenant with Noah, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses, the covenant with King David, or the New Covenant) is connected to the writing?
- What prophecies, promises, judgments, or oracles did the writer’s audience expect to be fulfilled?
- What about himself had God revealed to the audience?
- The Political Situation
- What kind of government was in place?
- Who were the political leaders?
- What were the leaders like?
- How did the leaders’ rule affect the writer’s audience? The writer?
- The Geography and Climate
- How did the geography and climate affect living and travel conditions for the writer? His audience?
- How did the geography and climate affect the understanding that the writer or his audience had about the world?
- The Literary Context
- What type of literature (narrative, law codes, psalms, wisdom, prophetical, letters, apocalypse) describes the book that contains your passage?
- What type of genre (drama, hymn, oracle, allegory, parable, prophecy, poem, greeting, salutation, doxology, genealogy, etc.) describes your passage?
Other Resources for Investigating Background
Online Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias are good places to look up important terms.
If you want even more direction, search for Bible maps related to your passage.
You can dig up information about the latest archeological findings related to your Bible passage. You might glean some good background from these finding.
Commentaries are great for background information too. But once you have that information, try not to use them any further until after you have been through the inductive Bible study process. Remember that commentators come from different theological perspectives that inform their conclusion. Also, even though some commentators may have more training in original languages than you, they have to go through the same study process that you are going through, and you may glean insights that the commentator missed. Plus, just going through the process will help you understand your Scripture passage better. After you’ve gone through the study process, if you want to compare your conclusions with a commentary, use more than one to get a balanced perspective.
