In preparing for this week's study we have been invited to read a wide range of Old Testament texts - some legal texts, some of them poetic texts like the psalms, others historical or from the prophets. Don't be surprised if it feels like you have been thrown into the deep end of the pool, and you are not sure how to swim! The texts come from many different times in religious journey of the people of Israel over hundreds of years. It takes time to become familiar with the history of the people of Israel and to know how to place what you you read into a context and framework that helps you to understand what you read. Good questions to ask are ones like:
1) When was this book written and what do we know about the historical and religious context?
Every book in the Bible comes from a time and place and we need to aware of this to understand the message better. An example would be that the prophets often proclaimed a message of condemnation and doom when people were complacent, but in difficult times of suffering like the exile their message was one of comfort. A beautiful example of this is Isaiah 40. In the heady days when the Temple had been built by Solomon it comes as no surprise that Psalms were written that spoke of its glory and as a sign of God's blessing of the kingdom and its people.
2) What form of writing is this passage?
This is an important question because it helps us to avoid falling into the trap of reading poetry as history, or prayers as legal documents. It also helps us not take literally things that are meant to be figurative or make a point in an extreme way. An example would be Jesus calling us to cut off out hands if they cause us to sin. Fortunately most people don't act on this! Imagine what our Church community would look like on a Sunday with everyone in wheelchairs without feet, hands, arms, tongue and eyes!
3) What are the images, ideas or thoughts that aren't clear to you?
Don't be worried by this because these passages were not written for people in the 21st Century, but for the people in their own time and place who knew what was being referred to e.g. Historical circumstances, personalities, places and events. Knowing that we need do a little background reading is a good thing and fortunately there are many commentaries that have been written who can act as trustworthy guides. Many study Bibles come with very useful introductions to each of the books and provide a great launching pad.
4) What captures my imagination or challenges me? What does this passage mean for me?
Here it is important to remember that we take from a passage is not limited to what it meant for its original audience. Because we believe the scriptures to be inspired and God's word we rightly turn to it for guidance and we can look at a passage not only for what it meant for the original audience, but also how it has been read over the centuries, and even more particularly, what it means for me.
The Catholic tradition has long encouraged a fourfold approach to reading the scriptures that acknowledge their authority, but also the many different and fruitful ways they can be read and appreciated.
- Literal - looking at the plain sense of the passage in its own religious and historical context
- Allegorical - a spiritual sense that is sensitive to, but not confined by, what it meant for the original audience. Here the text is reinterpreted in the light of Jesus Christ
- Moral- how the text text guides our moral life
- Eschatological - how the text helps us to prepare for meeting God face to face.
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