justbyfaith
Well-Known Member
Didn't Matthew take Hosea 11:1 out of context in Matthew 2:15 when he referred to the son as Jesus in Matthew when the son referred to in Hosea was Israel?
In NT theology, Jesus is indeed the Son of God; and Matthew was right to take it out of its immediate context and did so under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
More important than immediate context, is topical context (1 Corinthians 2:13 (kjv)).
In 2 Corinthians 9:6, the immediate context is referring to financial sowing and reaping; but if you utilize the hermeneutical mandate of 1 Corinthians 2:13 and compare 2 Corinthians 9:6 to Luke 8:11, you will come up with a wonderful doctrine in application. You can also throw Ecclesiastes 11:6 into it and it is even better.
Don't get me wrong: immediate context is very important for the most part: it is just not essential to our understanding; as can be seen clearly in the case of Matthew 2:15 as it is quoted from Hosea 11:1.
We ought to take our personal reading seriously so that we can understand what the scripture is saying in its immediate context as we read through books of the Bible rather than playing Bible roullette in our Bible study time.
Then, when people apply verses in relation to their topical context (coming from other portions of the Bible) we can discern whether the understanding is accurate or inaccurate; because we have done our reading and know what the Bible is teaching in its immediate context.
Nevertheless, in some cases, it is clear that verses can stand on their own as bastions of spiritual truth and can be understood outside of their immediate context (as was the case with Matthew's quotation of Hosea 11:1).
In NT theology, Jesus is indeed the Son of God; and Matthew was right to take it out of its immediate context and did so under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
More important than immediate context, is topical context (1 Corinthians 2:13 (kjv)).
In 2 Corinthians 9:6, the immediate context is referring to financial sowing and reaping; but if you utilize the hermeneutical mandate of 1 Corinthians 2:13 and compare 2 Corinthians 9:6 to Luke 8:11, you will come up with a wonderful doctrine in application. You can also throw Ecclesiastes 11:6 into it and it is even better.
Don't get me wrong: immediate context is very important for the most part: it is just not essential to our understanding; as can be seen clearly in the case of Matthew 2:15 as it is quoted from Hosea 11:1.
We ought to take our personal reading seriously so that we can understand what the scripture is saying in its immediate context as we read through books of the Bible rather than playing Bible roullette in our Bible study time.
Then, when people apply verses in relation to their topical context (coming from other portions of the Bible) we can discern whether the understanding is accurate or inaccurate; because we have done our reading and know what the Bible is teaching in its immediate context.
Nevertheless, in some cases, it is clear that verses can stand on their own as bastions of spiritual truth and can be understood outside of their immediate context (as was the case with Matthew's quotation of Hosea 11:1).