One of the most important keys to better Bible study is understanding context, and one of the most important aspects of “context” is the historical and cultural context that produced the text (See Better Bible Study Tip #41). Although the Bible is 100% the inspired word of God, God inspired the text by using real life people who wrote in real life historical situations (see Better Bible Study Tip #30). Since our goal is to understand what the original authors of scripture were trying to say, and how the text would have been understood by the original audience (Better Bible Study Tip #43), it is important to gain at least a basic understanding of the culture in which the original author lived.

As we seek to rightly understand scripture, we need to learn to think like the author and like the original audience. Now of course, all cultures have their flaws. I’m not suggesting that ancient worldviews were somehow more correct than our own. I’m simply saying that it helps to understand the culture that produced the text. Understanding their culture is the best way to make sure we are not imposing our foreign context onto the text (Tip #43).

The key to understanding the Bible’s time and culture is to read books (Better Bible Study Tip #22). If you want to understand how people from Egypt, Canaan, or Babylon viewed the world, there’s books written about that. If you want to understand what life was like in the Roman Empire, there’s books written about that. If you want to understand how the various Jewish sects approached scripture during the time of Christ, there’s books written about that. You can even find English translations of tablets and manuscripts that were written during the Bible’s times.

There are lots of good resources out there. You just have to put in the work (Better Bible Study Tip #17). But if you want to be a better Bible student, it’s worth the extra effort to gain a basic understanding of the ancient world.