Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Mark 3:5 – Read With Intent
The Bible is not a fictional play, but I sometimes wish it were. No I am not wishing it to be inauthentic so that I may excuse my behavior and do as I please. What I mean is that man-made scripts often “set the scene.” Scripts give written instruction for how the lines are to be read and understood. Scripts have the author’s intentions written beside the dialogue. The author helps you “hear” the tone.
When reading the Bible, we need to remember that words and phrases likewise need to be properly set. Reading without “intent” means the writer wrote without “intent.” And that is not true. The result is that the words become meaningless at best, or misunderstood at worst.
Often I have expressed my regret that we cannot “hear the tone” of the writer. Sometimes the emotions are expressed such as in Mark 3:5 – HCSB After looking around at them with anger and sorrow at the hardness of their hearts, He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Can you hear the exasperation in Jesus’ voice? Can you hear the tone?
Most of the time, we have to strain to hear. Paul’s letter to the 2 Corinthians is filled with sarcasm – I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you (11:8 – NASB).
So when you read, read with intent. Take your time and imagine what the writer is really saying. But make sure your imagination is based upon the context of the writer, and not some fictional intuition.
Comments