In this episode we discuss a few major contexts to keep in mind while reading the Bible. Context determines meaning. The contexts I mentioned in the episode were:

1) Overarching/Entire Bible Context -- "What does the rest of the Bible say about this topic. Are there any other Scriptures I can think of?"
2) Literary Context -- "What is the genre of this portion of the Bible? Is it poetry, prose, narrative, a letter, biography, etc.?"
3) Immediate Context -- "What do the sentences and paragraphs around this passage say? How do they inform my understanding of the text?"
4) Historical/Cultural Context -- "Are there any historical or cultural details that would help me understand and properly interpret this passage?"

Two helpful resources I want to share with you are:

1) http://www.openbible.info/topics (This site will allow you to fill in a search bar that says "What does the Bible say about...". Then it will just give you verses that are relevant to the topic you typed in. This will help with the Overarching/Entire Bible Context.)
2) http://www.freebiblecommentary.org (This man has written introductions to each books of the Bible as well as commentaries on each chapter of the Bible. When I am looking for a good introduction to a book of the Bible, I frequently come to this site. This will help with the Historical/Cultural Context.)

**CORRECTION**
At 34:30 I said that Israel was made up of 10 tribes before the national split. I meant to say that it was made up of 12 tribes before the split, and the 10 tribes in the north were collectively referred to as the nation of Israel while the 2 tribes in the south were collectively referred to as the nation of Judah.

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