A key to reading the Bible is to know the context of the verses we read. Without this we risk misunderstanding and misapplying the intended meaning of the text.

Understanding context includes taking into account:

literal meaning (what it says), historical setting (the events of the story, to whom is it addressed, and how it was understood at that time), grammar (the immediate sentence and paragraph within which a word or phrase is found) and synthesis (comparing it with other parts of Scripture for a fuller meaning).

A further aspect of keeping Scripture in context is to make sure we don’t impose our modern cultural expectations, or our own personal bias, onto Scripture passages to make Scripture say what we want Scripture to say.