When people approach the Bible without any concern for the historical-cultural context, their interpretation of what is written can be seriously misunderstood and lead them to form opinions and ideas other than what was originally intended. There is the danger of interpreting passages far too literally and missing the meaning that it holds for us today. Slavery is an excellent example of this. There are numerous references to slavery being acceptable in the bible. This was, unfortunately, a way of life then. However, that doesn’t mean that we should employ slavery, in any form, today, just because it was acceptable back then.

In the Song of Solomon 4:1-4, Solomon proceeds to compliment his love with the following words: 1Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. He was, stating that her hair was as beautiful as that of the long, flowing black hair of the goats as the sun shines off of their coats. At a time when dental hygiene wasn’t really a concern, this was quite a compliment, as he was commenting on how white and straight her teeth were. If someone were to comment on the state of our teeth today or refer to your hair as being that of a goat’s, it would be considered quite rude! From a modern aspect, his “compliments” don’t seem to get much better: 3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. However, what he was really saying was that her ears were rosy and red like the outside of the fruit, her neck was long and elegant like that of a majestic tower.
Nowadays, everyone is used to being able to gain almost instant access to what they want. However, this cannot be done with the Bible. In order to fully understand and appreciate the text, we must delve into the passages and truly study them. In order to do this we must look into the background of the passage. In an instant gratification world, it may be difficult to persuade people to do this. However, if they understand that they can derive more meaning and direction in life by doing their background research so that they can understand what they Bible is trying to convey, they may be more open to doing the work necessary. If we don’t do the necessary background work, then we are only cheating ourselves out of what the Bible can do for us.