This past week I wrote a proposal to a non-profit foundation requesting money to help advertise my Internet website based on this newspaper column. I focused the request on the estimate that one billion people will be on the Internet by 2002! We want to reach as many of these people as possible and encourage them to study and appreciate the Bible. Needless to say, a major advertising campaign takes big money. So, I spent hours crafting a little one-page letter. I wrote and rewrote the letter being mindful to layout our needs in as careful and precise manner as possible. No detail was overlooked. My wife edited the letter and then I called a friend and read it to him. Finally, after hours of work, the letter was finished and mailed.
My style of writing the letter is called "low context" and is often seen in legal documents and loan agreements. It assumes that the reader does not know much about the subject and goes to great lengths to explain the details. On the other hand, there is a style of writing called "high context" which assumes the reader knows a lot about the subject. The Bible has many examples of both styles.
For instance, many statements from the book of Mark make it evident that it was written for non-Jewish readers and that much of the book is "low context." Mark supplied many details such as explaining the worth of some specific Jewish coins (see chapter 12:42). Also, he explains the Jewish Passover (chapter 14:12) and the customs of the Pharisees (7:3,4). None of this would have been necessary for a hometown reading audience who were familiar with local culture . In addition he translates from Aramaic (the everyday common language of the Jews in Jesus' time) into the more universally understood Greek language of the rest of his world. See Mark 5:41; 7:34 and 15:34. Many feel that Mark's explanations seems to indicate that he was writing for those of a Latin background.
Luke is another example of the use of "low context" and seems to have been written primarily for Greek readers far beyond Israel's borders. One commentator writes, "...Luke, writing for men of all races, traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Adam, the father of mankind. More than any other evangelist, Luke takes note of the incidents that reveal Jesus' interest in, and ministry for, Gentiles. More than any other gospel writer he refers to Roman centurions, and always in a favorable light." 5BC665.
However, much of the content of the letters of Paul would certainly fall into the category of "high context." Paul assumes the reader already knows a good deal of what he is talking about. For example, in Galatians 1:6,8 we read, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." These strong words of Paul leave us wondering exactly who was teaching false doctrine and specifically what it was. Paul uses the phrase "...there are some that trouble you..." and assumes the reader knows to whom he is referring. In many of Paul's letters the reader is simply left to fill in the blanks, sort of like when you write a letter to a family member or close friend. In such a letter there's no need to remind the reader that you are referring to Aunty Alice, who is a first cousin on your father's side of the family, now living in Nebraska etcetera. Your reader knows Aunty Alice personally and needs no further prompting, so you write your letter in a "high context."
The main point of this discussion of "context" is to help make the study of the Bible more informative and interesting. Realizing the context in which one is reading a passage of scripture can shed a brighter light on what once seemed to be some very dark passages. Plus, it can even be fun figuring out the context.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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