Historical, Cultural, Literary, Grammatical, Syntactical, contexts

1. Stan Meyer, PhD Sun, May 9, 2021
S620 Messianic Jewish Hermeneutics
Part 7
Historical-Cultural-Grammatical-Syntactical Contexts

2. Historical - Cultural

3. Historical - Grammatical
Resources
• Use Atlas for geographical setting
• Use Bible History book or Bible handbook for historical background
• Use OT / NT Background Commentary for Cultural background

4. Bible Atlas Walton, IVP Keener, IVP Amy Jill Levine
Bible Background Commentaries

5. IVP Dictionary Series

6. Historical Context

7. What are some historical questions to ask?
• When in Israel’s history did these events happen?
• Who was the writer, and when did he live?
• What was the historical occasion for the passage?
• Who was the audience?

8. What are some historical questions to ask?

9. What is the historical context to Isaiah 7:14
In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah,
Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of
Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet
mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria
is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his
people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. And
the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, (Isa 7:1–3 ESV)

10. What is the historical context to Deuteronomy?
And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the
earth to the other (Deut 28:64 ESV)
And when…you call them to mind among all the nations where the
LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God…
then the LORD your God…will gather you again from all the peoples
where the LORD your God has scattered you. (Deut 30:1–3 ESV)

11. What is the historical context to Luke?
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then
know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who
are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are
inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the
country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all
that is written.
(Luke 21:20–22 ESV)

12. Cultural Background

13. What is the cultural context?
Instructions on Offering Sacrifices
You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened,
or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. “The best of the
firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD
your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
(Exod 23:18–19 ESV)

14. What is the cultural context?
Instructions on Offering Sacrifices
Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens,
I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed
along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an
altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you
worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Acts 17:22–23 ESV)

15. What is the cultural context?
City of Corinth
Every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered
dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were
shaven…since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave
her head, let her cover her head. (1 Cor 11:5–6 ESV)

16. Literary - Grammatical

17. Literary

18. Genre’s in the Old Testament
• Narrative - Report, Speech, Narrator, Dialogue, Ancestral Epoch
• Law - Mishpat, Chukim, Mitzvot
• Wisdom Literature
• Prose & Poetry
• Prophetic - Prophet story, Apocalyptic

19. What questions do you ask a narrative?
•Who are the characters?
•Who is the main character?
•What is the setting?
•What is the conflict?
•What is the resolution?

20. What type of literature is Ruth?
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem
in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The
name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi…But Elimelech, the
husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives;
the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. (Ruth 1:3–4 ESV)
(Ruth 1:1–4 ESV)
Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her
conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD,
who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in
Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life…They named him Obed. He was the father of
Jesse, the father of David.
(Ruth 4:13–17 ESV)

21. What type of literature is the Pentateuch?
Historical background to the treaty (Genesis - Exodus 19)
Terms of the Treaty (Exodus 20 - Numbers)
Recap of the Treaty (Deuteronomy 1 - 26)
Benefits & Consequences (Deuteronomy 27 - 30)
Epilogue (Deuteronomy 31-34)

22. Genre’s in the New Testament
•Gospel (Not biography)
•Narrative (Book of Acts)
•Epistle
•Apocalyptic (Book of Revelation)

23. What type of literature is Acts?
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. (Acts 5:27
ESV)

24. Grammatical

25. What questions do we ask about grammar?
• What is the sentence structure
• Are there any repeating words
• Is there any paronomasia (word play)

26. ‫ֽי׃‬ ָ‫ְל‬‫ג‬ ַ
‫ְר‬‫ו‬ ‫י‬ַ֥
‫ָד‬‫י‬ ‫י‬ ִ֗
‫ֲר‬‫א‬ ֝
ָ‫כּ‬
like a lion my hands and my feet

27. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of
Shem; And may Canaan be his servant. “May God
enlarge Japheth, And may he live in the tents of
Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”
(Gen 9:26–27 NASV)
Genesis 9:26-27

28. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of
Shem; And may Canaan be his servant. “May God
enlarge Japheth, And may he live in the tents of
Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”
(Gen 9:26–27 NASV)
Genesis 9:26-27
Who is “he”?

29. ‫ֽמוֹ׃‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫ֶד‬‫ב‬ֶ֥
‫ע‬ ‫ַן‬‫ע‬ַ֖‫ְנ‬‫כ‬ ‫י‬ִ֥‫ִיה‬‫ו‬ ‫ם‬ ֵ֑
‫שׁ‬ ‫ֵי‬‫ה‬ ֣‫ֱֹל‬‫א‬ ‫ה‬ָ֖‫ְהוֹ‬‫י‬ ‫וְּך‬ ֥
‫ָר‬‫בּ‬ ‫ֶר‬‫מ‬‫א‬֕
ֹ ‫ַיּ‬‫ו‬
to him servant Canaan it will be Shem God of YHWH blessed and he said
‫ם‬ ֵ֑
‫ֵי־שׁ‬‫ל‬ֳ‫ה‬ֽ ָ‫ְא‬‫בּ‬ ‫ן‬ ֖
ֹ ‫ְכּ‬‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ֶת‬‫פ‬ֶ֔‫י‬ְ‫ל‬ ֙‫ִים‬‫ה‬‫ֱֹל‬‫א‬ ,ְ‫ְתּ‬‫פ‬ַ֤‫י‬
in Shem’s tents and will dwell will enlarge Elohim Japeth,
Genesis 9:26-27

30. ‫ם‬ ֵ֑
‫ֵי־שׁ‬‫ל‬ֳ‫ה‬ֽ ָ‫ְא‬‫בּ‬ ‫ן‬ ֖
ֹ ‫ְכּ‬‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ֶת‬‫פ‬ֶ֔‫י‬ְ‫ל‬ ֙‫ִים‬‫ה‬‫ֱֹל‬‫א‬ ְ‫ְתּ‬‫פ‬ַ֤‫י‬
in Shem’s tents and will dwell will enlarge Elohim Japeth
Genesis 9:27
1. Who is the subject (the acting agent) in this sentence?
2. Who are the direct objects (recipients of the action)?
3. What are the two verbs that act on the direct objects?
4. What paronomasia (word play) do you hear?

31. ֙‫ִים‬‫ה‬‫ֱֹל‬‫א‬
‫ֶת‬‫פ‬ֶ֔‫י‬ְ‫ל‬ ‫ֶתּ‬‫פ‬ַ‫י‬
‫ן‬ ֖
ֹ ‫ְכּ‬‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬
ְ‫ו‬
‫אוהל‬
‫ם‬ֵ‫שׁ‬
Will enlarge
and
Japheth
Will dwell tents
Shem
God
‫ב‬ In

32. Yahweh will dwell in the tents of Shem
Grammatical interpretation
• Who is the audience?
• Where was the audience when this was given?
• What meaning would the audience have understood?
• What are the implications for a Messianic reader today?

33. What paranomasia do you hear in Isaiah?
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed
out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and
my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell
you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I
will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall
not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command
the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is
the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting;
(Isa 5:1–7a ESV)

34. What paranomasia do you hear in Isaiah?
he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness, but behold, outcry!
‫ח‬ ָ֔‫פּ‬ְ‫שׂ‬ִ‫מ‬ ‫ה‬ֵ֣‫ִנּ‬‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ ֙‫ָט‬‫פּ‬ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬ ‫ו‬ ַ֤
‫ְק‬‫י‬ַ‫ו‬
‫ה׃‬ֽ ָ
‫ָק‬‫ע‬ְ‫צ‬ ‫ה‬ֵ֥‫ִנּ‬‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ֖
‫ק‬ָ‫ְד‬‫צ‬ִ‫ל‬

35. Syntactical Meaning

36. Syntactical Range
• What is the range of lexical meaning of a word?
• How is the word used in literature of that time period?
• How does the writer use the word?

37. Syntactical range of the word ἔθος
Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are
circumcised according to the custom (εθει) of Moses, you cannot be saved.”…Paul
and Barnabas…were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders
about this question. (Acts 15:1–2 ESV)
Ethos: social custom, personal habit, religious practices, a Jewish law

38. Syntactical range of the word ἔθος (ethos)
1. ἔθος in this verse is translated “custom”, or “tradition”, not “law”
2. Gentiles were being wrongly told to keep an oral tradition
3. Therefore, the Jerusalem council was concerned with oral law, not Mosaic law
4. Therefore, the Jerusalem council never told Gentiles not to observe Mosaic Law
5. Therefore, Gentile believers are required to keep the Mosaic law.

39. Syntactical range of the word ἔθος (ethos)
Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are
circumcised according to the custom (εθει) of Moses, you cannot be saved.”…Paul
and Barnabas…were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders
about this question. (Acts 15:1–2 ESV)
Some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is
necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law (νοµος) of
Moses.” (Acts 15:5 ESV)
νόμος ONLY means law, and in this sentence the Mosaic law

40. Syntactical Interpretation
1. Ethos in this context refers to the Mosaic law
2. Therefore, the Jerusalem council was, in fact, concerned with Mosaic law
3. Therefore, the Jerusalem council did tell Gentiles they are no obligated to keep
Mosaic law.

41. Syntactical range of the word ‫פלח‬
Behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a ‫אנש‬ ‫בר‬ (son of man),
and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him
was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should ‫פלח‬ (serve); his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed
(Dan 7:13–14 ESV)
‫פלח‬ common word “to serve” (Hebrew)

42. Syntactical range of the word ‫פלח‬
Behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man (‫אנש‬ ‫)בר‬, and he came
to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and
glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve (‫)פלח‬ him; his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed
(Dan 7:13–14 ESV)
‫פלח‬ common word “to serve” (Hebrew)
cultic word, only used to serve a deity (Aramaic)

43. Syntactical Interpretation ‫פלח‬
1. Daniel describes a mystical figure he names “the son of man”
2. The “son of man” is enthroned next to God in heaven
3. The “son of man” receives worship
4. The “son of man” is a divine being like God