“Historical background information can certainly enrich our understanding of individual passages of Scripture, making it more precise and more vivid…..” Wayne Grudem
I love history. Pairing it with the Bible is exciting to me. Historical context is looking at the historical background within a scripture passage.
History tells a story. Certain events shape how the world moves. The Bible was written at a certain point in history.
There are several historical figures in the Bible that we can learn about in history.
For example,
Xerxes the Great was a historical person. The Persian king, traditionally identified as the husband of Esther or Herod the Great, was king of Judaea during the time of Jesus.
Understanding the historical context can help in the interpretation step of the inductive method.
It can bring light to certain assumptions between the writer and the audience.
“Historical context often relates to shared assumptions between the author and reader- elements that are understood but not necessarily, explicitly stated.” (DeRouchie)
When you live during a specific time period, you understand certain analogies related to current events. This is the same context in which we can look at the Bible. Therefore, historical context can enhance our understanding of the Bible.
What questions should you ask?
What historical event was taking place at that time? What influences were shaping the world? Social influences? Political influences?
However, it is essential to take what we learn to add to our learning. So often, we can make the mistake of missing the point of a particular scripture passage in our zeal to look about its context. So let’s remember to use it to aid in understanding a passage, don’t let it take over our study of the Bible.
We still want to focus on the text. Only using the historical context to provide a different level of understanding in which the text’s audience already knew.
Here are some helpful resources you can use to study the historical context of the Bible.
NKJV Cultural Background Study Bible
How to Understand and Apply the New Testament By Andrew Naselli
How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament” Jason S. DeRouchie
The Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Edited by J.Scott Duvall and J.Daniel Hays
