Cultural, Historical and Literary Context
What you must know
Context questions test whether you can situate a text in its historical setting, its literary conventions, and its cultural assumptions. Know the broad chronology of the biblical period, the major ANE (ancient Near Eastern) parallels such as treaty forms, law collections and wisdom literature, and the literary genres (narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, wisdom, apocalyptic). Understand conventions such as covenant, kinship obligation, honour and shame, hospitality, and purity.
Traps in questions
- Anachronism. Do not import modern concepts (individualism, democracy, psychology) into an ancient text.
- Confusing date and setting. A text may describe an early event but be composed later; distinguish the narrated world from the compositional world.
- Overgeneralising. Not every ancient culture shared the same customs; specify which culture and period.
- Ignoring genre. A poetic text should not be read as flat prose reportage.
- Assuming a single author. Some texts are composite; acknowledge this where relevant.
Rule of thumb
For any context question, answer in three layers: (1) the historical period and setting; (2) the literary genre and convention; (3) the cultural assumption at work. Each layer should be named explicitly.
Worked example
If asked why a character's act of hospitality matters, explain the cultural obligation of hospitality, the honour gained or lost, and the literary function of the scene in the narrative. Do not merely retell the story.