Wrestling with Literary Context

What is the Literary Context?

Literary Context is the form and context of words which are used to bring about an intended meaning.

Ex: A love letter vs. A true/false test

It answers these questions:

What style (genre) of writing did the author choose?

Does the author use particular grammar?

What is the theme or purpose of the writing?

Literary Genres Found in OT

Narrative - Ruth or Esther - recounts historical situations for the sake of revealing the authors intention.

These can be positive.

These can be negative.

Poetry - Deuteronomy 32; Psalm 2 - Poetry uses metaphors, similes, parallelism, rhyme and meter to paint a picture of the authors intention.

Wisdom - Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes - Wisdom literature deals with general truths of life or the philosophical questions.

Didactic/Prophetic - Hosea, Joel, Amos - Prophetic messages are often practical messages, which deal with genuine issues in the lives of the authors audience.

Parable - Isaiah 5 - Parables use the natural surroundings and customs of the day to convey a point the author desires to make.

Apocalyptic - Daniel 11; Zechariah 5:1-4 - Apocalyptic literature is highly symbolic literature usually written during times of great distress. They often contain contemporary and futuristic messages.

Literary Genres in the NT

Narrative - the Gospels

Epistles - Galatians or Philemon - these are letters which have been written to a specific audience or person.

Parable - Luke 15

Apocalyptic - Revelation

The importance of literary context

What gives words their meaning?

Look at the different uses of the word hand in these sentences.

He kissed her hand.

She handed him the note.

Can you give me a hand?

The robbers were tried by the swift hand of justice.

EX: In the Olympics, what keeps a soccer player from picking up the ball with their hands and throwing it in the goal? What keeps a basketball player from bringing a bat to the court and swinging at every pass thrown their way?

Literary Context are the rules in which we play the game of interpretation. The genre in which the author writes gives us the rules by which we should interpret their words.