Lesson 3: The Contextual Horizon (1)
Quiz 2
We need to understand historical context so that we can avoid interpreting the Bible with contemporary assumptions.
We may have culturally-conditioned assumptions today that the biblical authors and audience did not share with us.
Most of our understanding of the historical context of Scripture should come through extrabiblical resources.
For the scriptural quotations below, check all questions that should be asked. There may be more than one!
“I will take you… and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you” (2:23)
“The word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel” (1:1)
“Then Haggai said, ‘If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?’ The priests answered and said, ‘It does become unclean’” (2:13).
“On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius” (2:10)
“And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel” (1:14)