Lesson 4: The Contextual Horizon (2)
Review
- How to Misuse a Commentary
- Don’t try to understand a passage before you open a commentary.
- Take one commentator’s decision on interpretation as final.
- Don’t worry about the commentator’s foundational assumptions.
- Using Rich Resources to Discuss the Text of the Contextual Horizon
- Definition of literary context: “[W]ords only have meaning in sentences, and ... biblical sentences for the most part have full and clear meaning only in relation to preceding and succeeding sentences.”
- Two Questions to Ask
- The microscope question: “How does this word or sentence contribute to the point of the passage?”
- Studying words
- Look for theological words.
- Look for emphasized words.
- Look for connecting words.
- Studying sentences: Emphasize grammatically or logically significant sentences.
- The telescope question: “How does the point of the passage impact the rest of Scripture, and vice versa?”
- How does the emphasis of the rest of Scripture help me interpret my passage more accurately?
- How does the emphasis of my passage help me interpret the rest of Scripture more accurately?
The Five Horizons Cheat SheetpdfThis cheat sheet summarizes each horizon: its goal, and the steps required to study it (e.g. the microscope and telescope questions).
Haggai Annotated BibliographyList of best commentaries on Haggai, with descriptions and recommendations