By Melinda Bouma
One of the coolest parts about working in Bible publishing is getting first-hand experience in reading new insights about the Bible, and learning at the feet (well, minds and hands!) of incredible Bible scholars and teachers. A popular Bible in the past few years—that is so popular it’s now available in three Bible translations—has been the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2017). The Zondervan Bible editor who worked on the project, Mike Vander Klipp, has worked on Bibles for over 20 years. Working on this Bible was invigorating for him, so I sat down to ask him why and to give you a glimpse “behind the scenes.”
What did you most enjoy about working on this project?
Mike Vander Klipp: In nearly 25 years of being on the Zondervan Bible team, I’ve worked on so many different kinds of projects: text, study, devotional, and all kinds in between. Each and every one has taught me something different, but the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (CBSB) has taught me more than any of the other single projects ever did or could have. As I was working on the Old Testament and New Testament content from [the general editors] John Walton and Craig Keener, respectively, I came across [commentary] note after [commentary] note that made me sit back in my chair and say, “You’ve GOT to be kidding me. I’ve been in Christian schools and church all my life; how could I have not known this?”
This study Bible has been purpose-built with the single intent of helping a person like me—who has been reading and studying the Bible his or her entire life—understand what the original hearers heard when they first heard the words of the Bible. And I love it that so many thousands of people are studying this Bible and having the same “No WAY!” moments that I had when I was privileged to develop this title a few years ago (and now is in multiple translations).
What one note, article, or insight stood out the most to you as you worked with the authors on the CBSB?
Mike Vander Klipp: So, so many. Wow. I was interested to learn about the early structure of idolatry. When Abraham left Ur to follow God’s call, he left a culture in which there were multiple series of family, regional, and national gods. Every single family had their own set of gods, and each of the gods were understood to have their own restricted spheres of influence. Abraham broke the mold and truly innovated in the midst of this idolatrous culture when he decided to follow the one true God. This culture persisted into the Greek and Roman eras, as we see Paul preaching at the monument to an unknown god in Acts 17. Again, the temptation of the Jewish people to conform to the ways of their pagan neighbors to survive economically and otherwise was incredibly strong. In our Judeo-Christian Western culture we don’t necessarily feel that kind of pressure (although the idol of the iPhone and its critical nature in social and economic existence in the 21st century comes close).
But the one that stands out the most is the story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18. Here Abraham and Sarah are visited by three heavenly travelers. Sarah is there at the first part of the story baking bread and preparing the meal that Abraham is calling for. You’ll remember that the context of this story is that the travelers reinforced the promise that Abraham and Sarah would have a child. So when Sarah disappears, one of the angels asks Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” and Abraham points out that she is in the tent.
So why is Sarah in the tent? The original hearers would have understood that Sarah, who had previously been busy preparing food, had suddenly become unclean. In that instance, she would have had to remove herself from preparing food and separate herself from the rest of the group. So how did she become unclean? The original hearer of this story would have understood that 90-year-old Sarah, having heard the promise yet again, felt the flow of her period arrive after decades of being post-menopausal. So she actually felt the promise of God in her own body when the visitors arrived. This makes her laughter in this context take on a completely different meaning. What a wonderful insight into a story that usually ends with Sarah being chided for her lack of faith!
Why do you think the CBSB is a significant study Bible for the church?
Mike Vander Klipp: I think this Bible should be required reading for the Christian church today. In a day and age where so many pastors are interested in teaching thematic sermons that bring their parishioners practical Bible-related insights for today, the information involved in this field of study will be incredibly helpful in undergirding their contemporary applications with a solid cultural structure that’s rooted in historical reality. Understanding the underlying implications of the stories and teachings of Scripture and moving them out of a Western Judeo-Christian context is critical for those who hear the word read and spoken today.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: The Tower of Babel]
Take, for instance, the story about the Tower of Babel. Sunday school teachers and preachers alike have been telling their listeners that the builders of the Tower were vain and self-centered; they wanted to prove to the rest of the world they were self-sufficient, and so they built a glorious monument to their own ingenuity and personal power so that all the world could see how great they were. But that’s not the point of the story at all. The ziggurat, which the Tower of Babel most likely was, was a place for the gods to come down and visit with people on the earth. There was a small room at the top of the massive monument that was prepared for the god alone, and the steps of the monument symbolized a god coming down to meet with people.
So yes, the builders of the Tower of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves. In a time when there were very few written archives, the impulse for people to be remembered and to make a name for themselves was strong. They did this by having sons and daughters to carry on their family stories and sometimes by building monuments to themselves. But these builders wanted to be remembered more for facilitating the relationship of God to his people in the midst of a time of pre-historical chaos. And God didn’t need their help. Taken in this context, the story of God confusing the languages of the people of the world takes on a very different meaning.
And that’s why the church needs to understand the context, otherwise teachers and pastors are in danger of missing the point on so many levels.
How should a reader best approach this Bible?
Mike Vander Klipp: I found it best to approach the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible with an open mind. I wanted to learn about what the authors have spent their entire careers pursuing and teaching. Even with all of my previous experience, I had not tapped in to the notion that I couldn’t really understand the message and stories of the Bible in a complete way until I understood the context in which these books were written. And that’s made all the difference.
In Bible reading, as with so many things in life, it’s easy to get the impression that you have it all together until it actually happens. For example, as a parent, you have a difficult toddler and you suddenly realize that all of your high ideals have gone down the drain. Or you think you know how to handle college until you hit that difficult professor in your sophomore year who seems to have a personal vendetta against you and he makes you work like mad to get a good grade.
That’s the way it is with this Bible. I know personally that the minute I started to see the value of understanding cultural context, I realized how little about the Bible I actually knew. Then I was really motivated to dig deep so that the stories and teachings of the Bible would open up and give me a brand new context for discovery and understanding. And this after a lifetime of thinking I had a pretty strong handle on what the Bible was saying.
So the difficult toddler and the challenging professor and the struggle to understand the Bible all lead to greater insight and even maturity. That’s what this Bible does, and the benefits of studying it and really digging deep are very real.
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We hope you enjoyed this brief Q&A with the editor. For many of us who grew up reading the Bible but never experiencing it in its original cultural context, we hope this Bible will be as eye-opening and intriguing as it was for this seasoned Bible editor!
Until next time…
Melinda
The Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Bio: Melinda Bouma serves as the publisher for Zondervan Bibles. She loves God’s Word and seeing its life-changing impact on the world. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband and two young children. She enjoys running, reading, good food & good friends, and looks forward to a day when her kids let her sleep in again!
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The post What I Learned from the <em>Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible</em>: An Interview with the Editor appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
