Bible and Culture
The Bible, as one of the most influential collections of texts in human history, is deeply embedded with cultural elements that permeate every narrative, law, proverb, and prophecy it contains. Each book within the Bible reflects its unique cultural context, revealing how deeply intertwined biblical messages are with the cultures of their times. Understanding these cultural backdrops is essential for accurate interpretation and application of biblical teachings.
Bible and Culture: Genesis
The Book of Genesis sweeps through more cultures than the rest of the entire Bible. Before Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, they lived in a world that had no previous culture. The two of them would automatically develop their own culture, as they obeyed God's standards of right and wrong. Their "religion" was extremely simple. Obey and love God and don't eat from only one tree, the Tree of Life. They had access to God's garden, which we can assume had millions of trees.
Following and loving God would have produced a perfect culture: no sin, no suffering, no war. They chose otherwise.
Genesis only names two of their children: Cain and Abel. God had promised to solve their problem of having sinned against Him by sending them someone who would destroy the snake, that had deceived them. Eve thought that Cain was that savior. Wrong. Cain murdered Abel.
In Genesis 4, Cain's culture expanded, but not back toward perfection with God laying down the rules. Since a water barrier encircled the earth, humans lived for hundreds of years. Humans rarely turned back to God, so those cultures clashed, producing typical human wars. Imagine Einstein and Hitler living for 800 years. Ultra fast technology development and ultra evil politics.
There might have been a world-wide revival in Genesis 4:26. "To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh ('weak,' 'dependent'). At that time people began nto call upon the name of the LORD."
It didn't change the direction of the world. The cultures continue to establish their own relative rules for right and wrong.
And the entire world spoke the same language.
God had finally had enough. Genesis 6:5, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every cintention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Not a nice place to live.
God drowned everyone except Noah and seven relatives. They would start developing their own culture all over again. By the end of Genesis 9, there were only eight people on the planet. At the beginning of Genesis 10, the world had grown into nations. A lot went on between Genesis 9 and 10. The only thing Genesis tells us about that time period is how it ended. The Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Humanity had again covered the planet, but continued to rebel.
God changed the world from one language to many languages. Language is more foundational and fundamental to cultures than most people realize. Even dialect of the same language modify and tweak a culture.
“If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, to all the rooms inside.” — Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist and physician
Based on conjecture, it's possible that the world had only one culture before God changed the system.
After the Tower of Babel, more cultures surfaced in the Bible. That wasn't good or bad. It simply meant that taking a message from culture into another culture required learning a new language and different ways of looking at things. Cultures developed different WORLDVIEW.
The first culture of any biblical significance was Babylon. Human economics probably crossed cultures in the Middle and Far East back then, and Genesis 10 lists a myriad of nations with different cultures.
When Abraham left Babylon, he entered a diverse culture in present-day Israel/Palestine. The closest thing to a nation was Egypt, which contain numerous modified cultures even within their own language.
Understanding the patriarchal culture in stories like those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveals societal norms such as polygamy, inheritance rights, and covenant relationships, all viewed through the lens of a clan-based culture.
Bible and Culture: Exodus
Exodus narrates the journey of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to their formation as a nation under God's law. This book is heavily influenced by Egyptian culture, as demonstrated by the ten plagues that mimic Egyptian deities' domain. God, through Moses, was attacking the Egyptian culture and religion. Understanding the significance of each plague requires an understanding of Egyptian culture. Also, when God gave the Law Code to Moses, which included the Ten Commandments, God used the Hittite culture by inserting His content into the Hittite forms of their law codes, which everyone in the Middle East understood at that time.
Bible and Culture: Joshua
The conquest narratives in Joshua reflect a culture of ancient warfare that is foreign to contemporary readers. The practice of "herem" or the ban (e.g., Joshua 6:17) involves dedicating conquered cities to destruction, reflecting an ancient worldview where war was both a physical and spiritual contest.
Example of Misinterpretation. Viewing those wars through the lens of modern day relative moral judgments overlooks the culture that understood complete annihilation of the enemy was the only way to avoid further wars and retaliatin from those enemies. Also, some of those cultures were becoming as bad as the world before the Flood.
Bible and Culture: Nehemiah
Nehemiah features the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and the re-establishment of worship. This book is steeped in post-exilic culture, reflecting Persian influence and the challenges faced by returnees, such as intermarriage with surrounding peoples and the reintroduction of Mosaic law. The seventy years that Israel sent in Babylon strongly influenced their own culture. At one point, in Nehemiah 13:24, Nehemiah chastized his people for almost forgetting how to speak and read their own mother tongue, Hebrew.
Many Hebrews married Babylonians, producing children who were half Jewish and half Babylonians. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, a cultural rift exploded across the land between the full-blooded Jews and the "Samaritans," or half Jews. The Samaritans eventually formed their own culture that radically rejected much of the Jewish culture.
Bible and Culture: Psalms
The Book of Psalms, or the Five Books of the Psalms, is structured, with some overlap, around five time periods in Israel's history. The different cultures of those periods permeate the Psalms written during those time periods.
Example of Misinterpretation. Some Psalms are general worship songs
that easily apply to everyone. Psalm 90 is one of those. But Psalm 91:3
clearly does not apply to everyone, because when a plague hits,
everybody dies.
Psalm 91:3 - "For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence."
Bible and Culture: Isaiah & Daniel
A vivid representation of three ancient empires and diverse cultures. Discover the Assyrian empire showcasing their distinguished ziggurat architecture, winged bull statues, and warriors in their unique military attire. Marvel at the Egyptian empire adorned with pyramids, sphinxes, and individuals wearing traditional ancient Egyptian dresses with headdresses. Lastly, stand in awe at the Babylonian empire with its Hanging Gardens, Ishtar Gate, and citizens in their characteristic Babylonian uniforms.
Isaiah lived through four major dynasties of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. A number of diverse cultures surrounded each king, the larger ones being Assyrian, Egyptian and the Babylonians. Blending these cultures together and then trying to interpret Isaiah's warnings, commands and prophecies is a cultural swamp.
Daniel lived through three kingdoms. Assyria had disappeared, obliterated by the Babylonian empire. In Daniel 1:3-4, King Nebuchadnezzar understood the dangers of allowing other cultures to infiltrate his kingdom. He gave order to re-indoctrinate the best of the best among the Hebrew.
Dan. 1:3-4 - "Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family1 and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans."
A very wise king.
The Persian empire wiped out the Babylonian empire in one strategic battle and changed the culture of Central Asia for decades.
As the writers of the Old Testament described Israel's journey through time, the nation clashed with other cultures that were vying for supremacy in the Middle East. Smaller ones: Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, etc., had developed their own relative values and cultural practices, until they were overrun by larger cultures like the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Greeks and Romans.
Bible and Culture: the New Testament
Written for a Jewish audience, Matthew’s gospel is saturated with Old Testament references, showing how Jesus fulfills Jewish prophecies. Matthew's cultural lens highlights Jewish customs, temple practices, and legal interpretations relevant to a community very much shaped by its heritage.
Mark, considered the earliest gospel, was written for a Roman audience, emphasizing action and authority. Its brisk pace and focus on Jesus as the suffering servant reflect a Roman worldview where deeds and authority speak volumes.
Luke’s gospel, aimed at a Greek audience, is characterized by a focus on detailed narrative and philosophical debate, appealing to Greek ideals of logic and order. It highlights Jesus’ compassion and inclusivity, reflecting Greek cultural value for individualism and civic engagement.
The Gospel of John and most of the New Testament Letters (Epistles) focused on relating to followers of Jesus in any of the four major cultures of the day: Jewish, Greek, Roman and Far Eastern.
Bible and Culture: Asia
In the first century, Asia significantly influenced the Middle East primarily through trade along the Silk Road, leading to the exchange of goods, ideas, and cultural practices between the two regions, with the Persian Empire acting as a major conduit between them, impacting the Middle East in areas like art, politics, and religion.
The Silk Road, established during the Han Dynasty in China, connected the Middle East with East Asia, facilitating trade in goods like silk, spices, and textiles, which brought significant economic interaction between the regions.
Because religion is the visible foundation of every culture, the influence of Asian gods permeated the cultures of the Roman empire long before Augustus ruled in Rome. The increasing trade and military presence in the eastern Mediterranean facilitated the introduction of these deities to Roman society and culture.
The
most prominent Asian god to become part of Roman religion was Cybele,
the Great Mother Goddess from Asia Minor, whose worship was introduced
to Rome around 204 BCE due to a perceived need to appease her during a
time of crisis. Cybele's cult gained significant popularity in the city of Rome, with
rituals often involving ecstatic practices and self-flagellation.
Other notable Asian deities influenced Roman religion and culture, include Attis (associated with Cybele) and Anahita (a Persian water goddess).
The importance of this fourth religious influences surfaces in a number of cities visited by Paul during his second missionary journey. Philippi, a Roman colony with a Roman garrison, experienced a constant flow of Asians bringing their good to trade with multiple cultures. The news of Augustus and Mark Antony winning the battle against Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC traveled in all directions. That battle involved the largest number of troops in Roman warfare at the time.
Thessalonica, Greece's second largest city today, reveals evidence of Asian influence during the early Roman period.
Athens, the capital of Greece, accommodated hundreds of philosophers from around the known world. Every religious philosophy had been discussed in the halls of Athenian academia. Acts 17:21 - "Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new."
When Paul arrived in Athens, he became angry when "he saw that the city was full of idols." Acts 17:16. Athens had become the center of the world's religions, including the Egyptian gods that had preceded the Greek gods.
The point: During the first century, the Middle East bubbled over with gods from at least five cultures: Egyptian, Asian, Jewish, Greek and Roman.
Communication and trade required extensive cross-cultural communication. Cultures clash all the time. When the majority of a country's population only speaks one language, a renewed interest in cross-cultural communication becomes imperative to avoid the most damaging clashes.
Bible and Culture: the Book of Revelation
The entire world has always been enamored with the Book of Revelation. Interpretations abound in every generation. Whenever a catastrophe appears on the horizon and looks like it might become worldwide, humanity pulls out the Book of Revelation and screams; "The end of the world! The end of the world!" The end of the world hasn't come yet, but the Book of Revelation might still be more true than most people want it to be.
The Book of Revelation, written as apocalyptic literature, is a work deeply immersed in the symbols and historical context of the late first-century world.
Apocalyptic literature focuses on prophetic visions of the end times, presented through symbolic imagery and dreams, detailing cataclysmic events that will occur at the world's conclusion, usually with a message of hope for the faithful despite present suffering. The word "apocalypse" itself means "revelation" or "unveiling" in Greek, signifying the unveiling of hidden truths about the future. The Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ could be re-titled, the Book of Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.
The most important piece of Apocalyptic literature supporting and fundamental to the Book of Revelation was the Book of Daniel. His later chapters between 9-12 set the stage for the entire Book of Revelation.
Roman imperial imagery and Greek language and thought contributed significantly to the Book of Revelation, making it challenging to interpret without a nuanced understanding of these three converging cultures.
Bible and Culture: the Main Point
No piece of literature was ever written in a vacuum.
When a professor in a present-day university teaches about an ancient text, he introduces his students to the language, culture, immediate background and specific context of that period of time. Once the students have comprehended those three fundamentals about that piece of literature, the professor begins to help them interpret what the author meant by what the author wrote.
The Bible is no different than any other book when a person wants to know what over 40 authors meant when they wrote their parts of the Bible. Just follow these step, in order, and you will be stunned at what you discover.
- Language
- Culture
- Immediate Background
- Specific Context
Language Tools:
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