15. Tools for Looking at the Background
A number of Bible publishers produce "study bibles" that contain explanatory background notes and articles that can often be helpful. The New International Version Archaeological Study Bible and English Standard Version Archaeology Study Bible, as well as the New International Version and New King James Version Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible are good examples, with helpful information tied to their respective versions of the Bible.
There are also numerous Bible dictionaries, handbooks, and atlases that give varying amounts of background information that sheds light on the biblical text, but these can vary widely in thoroughness, and it is sometimes difficult to find the information specifically needed in books of this type. Among the best compact yet detailed background resources are The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John Walton, et al. (IVP Academic, 2000) and New Testament by Craig Keener (IVP Academic, 2014), which are accessibly written by trained scholars and are generally very good.
There are also some very worthwhile books on individual aspects of Bible background. For example, looking at the Jewish background to the life and teachings of Jesus can be particularly profitable. A few of the useful books in this area (from more accessible to more scholarly) are: Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Anne Spangler and Lois Tverberg (Zondervan, 2009), New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context by David Bivin (En-Gedi, 2005), and Jesus the Jewish Theologian by Brad Young (Hendrickson, 1995.)
But where availability and cost preclude use of resources such as these, there is a great deal of information available on the internet. Care must be taken, of course, in choosing and using sites that are produced by individuals and groups that select sound material. This is especially important in the areas of biblical archaeology and history, where many internet sites lean toward the sensational with coverage of supposed archaeological finds "proving" the Bible, but which often have no basis in fact. A very good option in this area is the website of the respected Biblical Archaeology Society www.biblicalarchaeology.org. The society's website has a great many well-researched and reliably reported articles and features on biblical history and archaeology from its publications – with more than 9,000 articles from over 40 years of Biblical Archaeology Review (1975 to present), 20 years of Bible Review (1985 to 2005 complete) and 8 years of Archaeology Odyssey (1998 to 2006 complete). The site also carries a very helpful annual summary of the most important finds in biblical archaeology for the past year.
Despite the relative wealth of available information on the background to the Gospels, Acts and epistles, there is less easily accessible information on the background to the Old Testament. Given this situation, rather than trying to read dozens of individual books on the long history and many cultures mentioned in the Old Testament period, it can often be more productive to simply research specific OT background topics online. This is relatively simple to do by using an online search-engine and searching "topic + biblical world" or "topic + ancient Near East" (where "topic" is, of course, whatever subject you wish to research). Again, one must be careful to try to evaluate the trustworthiness of the sources one finds doing this kind of online search (aim for sources from mainstream rather than "special interest" sites wherever possible), but the same is just as true of printed information, of course!
Naturally, studying background information – just as making endless word or context studies – is no substitute for simply reading the Bible. But when time allows, simply searching a few terms or topics relevant to sections of the Bible we are reading in our personal Bible study can often provide helpful archaeological, historical, and cultural background that makes the biblical narrative much more real and understandable to us.
CONCLUSION: Taking Steps to Understand the Bible
Successful understanding of the Bible involves three basic actions on our part – observation, interpretation, and application.
The first action, observation, consists of finding out what a passage says and involves the principles we looked at in Step One in this book – working with the text until we have a clear grasp of what is being said.
The second action, interpretation, involves coming to see what the passage means. This may involve all of the steps given in this book – looking at the text, context, and background as necessary to understand as well as we can what the original writer intended.
In working through this process, we should always keep in mind, however, that the evidence of the text is most important, that of context less so, and that of background least of all. Remembering this will help keep our understanding on solid ground as we follow the principle that the Bible is its own best interpreter, and the simplest and most natural explanation of a Biblical text is always the best interpretation.
The third and final action we must take to complete our study and understanding of any biblical passage is application – our response to what the passage is telling us. This may involve thought and, in some cases, prayerful meditation on our part until we have a clear plan in mind regarding what we are going to do about what we have learned. Application of what we learn is always a key part of understanding the Bible – there are occasions when we only come to fully understand some things the Bible teaches when we actually put them into practice!
The main thing to always remember is that despite the seemingly difficult passages we may occasionally encounter in our study of the Scriptures, with the right attitude, good techniques, and a little work, we can understand the Bible!
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