Understanding the Biblical World

The Bible was recorded in a different time, in a different world, and by people very different from our own. The gap of thousands of years and distance between cultures and ways of thinking is broad. This disparity in culture and time can often leave us scratching our heads or even worse, drawing wrong conclusions from certain biblical passages. The reason for this is the biblical writer thought you lived when he lived, where he lived, and how he lived. Let us examine eight things the biblical writer thought that you knew (thanks to Dr. Randall Smith for the info):

• Function Over Form – Eastern thinkers describe something to inform you what it does, not what it looks like. To the biblical writer something is what it does, so therefore descriptions tell you what something did, not what it looked like. An example of this is Song of Solomon chapter four and seven. We have these descriptions of his love (i.e. “your belly is as a heap of wheat” or “your head is as Mount Carmel) that would get a western man killed. When these descriptions are looked at from a functional standpoint become quite complementary.

Examples: Song of Songs 4, 7

• Relationship Over Ownership – In the Hebrew language there is no way to say “mine”. You can say “there is to me a book”. What is the difference? One implies ownership and the other relationship. This type of thinking is seen the names of people. For a whole life an Arab man may never be called by his own name. He will live the first half of his life as “son of Ahmad” and the second half of his life as “father of Duha”. In other words, in an eastern word you are who are related to.

Example: Exodus 3:6

• Collective (Tribal) Over Individual – We live in a very individualistic society and this impairs our ability to understand some biblical texts. Joshua 7 records the sin of Achan. When he sinned his whole family was executed: father, mother, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, second cousins, etc. We can read this text and think how unfair, but a Jewish person understands this text completely and has no issue with the command of God.

Example: Joshua 7

• East Over North – In the Eastern Mind, east is “up” on a map. When reading directions in the bible the literal translation for north is “to the left hand”. This greatly affects their world view, in that what comes from the west sneaks up from behind you. The word “yam” is used for sea and for chaos both of which are in the westward direction. This is where trouble comes from in the biblical mind.

Example: Daniel 8:1-8

• Survival Over Convenience – We suffer from this difference more that any other people on the face of the planet. We are the Burger King, “Have it Your Way” generation. The biblical world was not that. “Good” in the Bible is what kept you alive, not what kept you happy. In the Bible there was no such thing as a bad rain, but in America we have “rain on our parade”. Another good example of this is in archeology; homes from this time period have no closets. It also allowed them to have a different view of suffering and hardship when God was using tough circumstances to bring about His plan.

Examples: Genesis 50:20; Psalm 73

• They Live in Their World – It is important when interpreting Scripture to understand what was going on in their world or knowing what the headline on the front page of their newspaper would have been. In Matthew 19, Jesus gave his commentary on divorce. It might be nice to know that Herod Antipas divorced his wife and married Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip, an action for which he was condemned by John the Baptist. John was then beheaded. Jesus was probably not making a commentary about all divorces of all times, but this one that his cousin just lost his head over.

Examples: Exodus 15:27; Matthew 19; 1 Corinthians 7

• They Live on Their Own Time – Understanding time in the Bible can often be difficult. When Scripture reads “the third hour of the day”, this could mean 9AM if it is in a Greek city or 9PM if in Jerusalem. Jews also had four new years (one for trees, one for livestock, a sacred new year, and a civil new year) which and make “the second month” confusing. Also the Jewish mind views one’s past as in front of them and their future behind them. When Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt in Genesis 19, most Christian commentaries take about her being worried about the things of her past, whereas most Rabbinic commentaries talk about her worry about God’s faithfulness to provide for her future (salt was a sign of commitment and faithfulness).

Examples: Genesis 19; Mark 15:33; Acts 10:9

• They Used Scripture in Daily Education – All of Jewish education was based in the Word of God. The Torah was their text book for every subject. Every Jewish boy would have likely memorized at least the book of Deuteronomy in its entirety. Therefore when Jesus quoted from Malachi (using the rabbinic “remez” teaching method) they would understand what he was getting at, while we likely see the quote as somewhat out of place.

Examples: Matthew 11:10; Matthew 27:46

These are just a few things that we can keep in mind to help us better understand the world and culture that we are trying to glean God’s timeless truths and principles from.