Three Levels of Context Cultural Context – Incorporating the text into your personal setting Historical Context – Author, Recipient, Date, Situation. Literary Context (Text Surrounding a Passage) Purpose of the book Structure:Genre & Plan Immediate Context

Dangers to Context Memorizing individual verses Attitude of quasi magical formula of verses (power verses worn as amulets) Concordance Work Claiming promises or commands not made to you. Axiom #2: Context is King (of interpretation)

Identifying the Purpose of a Book Sometimes it’s clearly stated (Jn 20:31; Lk 1:1-4; 1 Jn 5:13; Prov 1:1-6; Eccl 12:13) Occasion for writing: Jeremiah; Amos; Philemon, etc. Sometimes it is implied: Selection or placement of details Hortatory or parenthetical comments

Various Structural Arrangements Chronological: Gen., Exod., Josh., 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chron., Ezra, Esther; or Geographical : Neh. , Jonah, Acts Biographical: Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Legal: Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Cyclical: Judges, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs Letters: Romans, 1 & 2 Cor, Gal., Eph., Phil., Col., 1 & 2 Thess., 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1 & 2 Peter, 1—3 John, Jude Wisdom/Poetry: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes Visionary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Revelation

Literary Devices Acrostic: Prov 31:10-31; Psa 119; Lam 2 Chiasm: Mt 13 Parallelism: Luke - Acts Inclusio: Genesis 37-39; Mk 11:12-25

Outlining is the best way to see the structure of your book: Don’t strictly follow verse divisions. They come from the 13th century and don’t always work well (e.g. Acts 8:1; Eph 5:21; Isa 53:1) Poor examples: Acts 8:1; Eph 5:21; Isa 53:1; 2 Cor 2:1

Circles of Context Author Book Section Paragraph Text Pericope chapter Covenant

Project #3 Discover the purpose/theme of your book, the author, the date, the destination and any occasion that might have prompted the writing of that book.