After determining the specific context of the book, you now have to zero down to the passage you want to interpret and the first step in this is to determine its immediate context. The importance of the immediate context is underscored by the fact that it is the only antidote to proof-texting. Once the context of a passage is ignored, the statements and teachings therein are susceptible to heretical interpretations.
The first step in determining the immediate context is to pick up the major block of materials and also determine how they fit together into a whole.
This could be done by examining the outline of the whole book. Various Study Bibles have already given outlines of the books of the Bible and these could be of help to you.
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The second step is to discover the contribution of the passage to the author‟s flow of argument. This can be deduced by locating the relationship between the passage in focus and the passages immediately preceding it and that immediately following it. In most cases, there would be logical connection between the three blocks.
Thirdly, you need to determine the perspective of the author in the passage.
Two major perspectives exist. The author can speak as God‟s spokesman especially when writing on moral issues and they can also speak in phenomenological manner which occurs mostly during narrative sections.
You must note that making this distinction is of paramount importance to accurate exegesis.
Fourthly, you need to determine the focus of the passage. Doing this would help you to separate the main lesson being taught from incidental details only. An example of this could be drawn from 1 Corinthians 12:12 where Paul used the body metaphor to discuss the membership of Christians in the church. The ridiculousness of pressing incidental details and analogies too far can be seen in the story I once heard of a preacher who was using this passage to preach. He got to the point of saying that some people are like artificial teeth because one day they are in the church and the next day they are not. Indeed, this point seems interesting and fitting but it is still a misreading of the Scriptures. You need to know that the Pelagian error which rocked the church in the early fifth century stems out of this error of pressing incidentals and analogies too far. They used the return of the prodigal in the parable of the Prodigal Son to teach that humanity needs no mediator to return to God.
Fifthly, you need to determine who is being addressed in the passage you are interpreting. No matter how spiritual you may be, one basic fact you must know is that not all the bible promises are directed to you and neither could you claim everything. This statement seems out of place in an age that loves to sing “Abraham‟s blessings are mine!” let me also tell you a joke that has become commonplace in theological circles which is used to taunt believers who believe in opening the Bible at random and obeying the command therein. This young man was said to have opened Matthew 27:5 which says, “…and he went away and hanged himself.” Believing that the message could not have been for him, he decided to reopen the Bible. The second time, he opened to Luke 10:37 which say: “Go and do likewise!” he finally decided to open the Bible the third time and he opened to John 13:27 which also read: “What you do, do quickly!”
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To arrive at the message of the passage of the Bible systematically, the following are the steps that you can take:
Identify who is speaking
Is the instruction or message normative or descriptive?
To whom was it directed?
Finally, take note that most descriptive passages (these are passages where what happened at a particular time was described or related) should not be taken to mean that it is applicable to everybody, everywhere and at every time. However some passages are prescriptive because they seem to articulate normative principles. This principle would come to play seriously in interpreting the Book of Acts and the Epistles (which forms the bulk of the New Testament). Identifying this problem, Fee and Stuart (1993) write:
Does the book of Acts have a word that not only describes the primitive church but speaks as a norm to the church at all times? If there is such a word, how does one discover it or set up principles to aid in hearing it? If not, then what do we do with the concept of precedent? In short, just exactly what role does historical precedent play in Christian doctrine or in the understanding of Christian experience?
Let me briefly cite an example here. The early church as described in the book of Acts worshipped both on Saturdays and Sundays. If it is normative, then the contemporary church has violated a principle. You will deal with later in this course. However, remember to identify in any passage you are interpreting, if the message is descriptive or prescriptive.
4.0 Conclusion
You have learnt in this unit that the meaning of a text cannot be interpreted with any degree of certainty without historical-cultural and contextual analysis. You were also taken further to steps that have to be taken to determine the historical-cultural and contextual analysis which includes the determination of the general historical context, the specific historical-cultural context of the book as well as the immediate context of the passage to be interpreted.
5.0 Summary
The following are the major points you have learnt in this unit:
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That the meaning of a text cannot be interpreted with any degree of certainty without historical-cultural and contextual analysis.
Determining the general historical context includes the political, the social, the economical as well as the religious situations.
You also need to determine culture-locked words and actions and the spiritual level of the recipients.
The next level is the determination of the specific historical-cultural context of the book.
In doing this, the authorship of the book has to be determined through the analysis of internal and external evidence.
The authorship is followed by the determination of the recipients.
After ascertaining the authorship and the recipients comes the purpose of writing.
The purpose can be identified through the explicit statement of purpose from the author, the analyses of repetitions, the analyses of then exhortations in the book and an examination of the omitted and emphasised points in the book.
Finally the immediate context of the book has to be determined.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Discuss the steps you have to take in determining the historical-cultural and contextual situation of a biblical passage.