Culture and its influence on the Bible

Eyob Abera

Bible Background

Jeffrey Krohn (Ph.D.)

Evangelical Theological College

Feb 10,2023
Culture
There is no such thing as a story or a teaching without a cultural context. The Bible is the book
that is full of cultural background, and God gave us the Bible by means of the experiences that
real individuals had in real historical contexts. Cultural context influences how we read the
Bible.1 When studying the Bible, knowing the cultural context helps to understand the stories
and teachings more accurately. In this paper, we will see significant features of Babylonian and
Greek culture and their influence on interpreting the Bible.

Babylonians

Babylon was located 50 miles (80 km) south of the current Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on the
river Euphrates in central Mesopotamia.2 their lives are heavily dependent on the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers. Their language is called Assyro-Babylonian or Akkadian, and their writing is
adapted from that of the Sumerians; the world’s oldest written language is called Cuneiform
script. They have many different pieces of literature represented by various sets of tablets. Some
of their literatures are annals (which provide extensive accounts of a king's exploits for each
year), the Epic of Gilgamesh (an epic poem that tells the tale of Gilgamesh, the mythical hero-
king of Uruk, and how he subsequently sets out to find the key to immortality; it also talks about
the tale of a massive flood); Enuma Elish (the Epic of Creation, which describes how Marduk
killed the monster Tiamat and then created the world out of her body); wisdom literature
(including the poem of the righteous sufferer); and so on. 3 Dave Roos, in his article "What Was
Life Like in Ancient Babylon?" describes the Babylonians' religious life in this way.
"Babylonians were polytheistic and worshiped a large pantheon of gods and goddesses. Some of
the gods were state deities, like Marduk, the chief patron god of Babylon, who dwelled in a
towering temple. Others were personal gods that families worshiped at humble home shrines". 4
As we have seen above, one of the Babylonian cultures is their ancient texts, and even though the

1
Craig S. Keener and InterVarsity Press, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
(IVP Academic, 2014), 13.
2
J. D. Douglas, Merrill C. Tenney, and Silva Moisés, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 345.
3
Silva Moisés and Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible: Volume 1, A-C
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 406-412.
4
“What Was Life like in Ancient Babylon? - History,” accessed February 12, 2023,
https://www.history.com/news/daily-life-ancient-babylon-mesopotamia.
stories written in their texts are not exactly the same, somehow the stories written in their texts
are also written in the Old Testament. Let us see a few of them and conclude.

The most obvious ones are the creation story narrated in Enuma Elish and the creation story in
the book of Genesis (Gen 1-2) and the flood story narrated in Epic of Gilgamesh and the flood
story in the book of Genesis (Gen 6-8). Since both Babylonian texts and Bible share common
stories and both the Israelites and Babylonians share common traditions, Studying and
interpreting the Bible based on our understanding on these Babylonian texts and culture is
illuminating.

Greece
Greece is located in "south-eastern Europe at the point where the Balkan peninsula juts into the
Mediterranean Sea and forms a land-based connection to Anatolia and the Middle East." 5 Hellas
was the name given to their nation by themselves. Around 800 B.C., the year of the epic poems,
when the Aegean civilization was emerging from a Dark Age that lasted roughly four centuries,
can be considered the beginning of Greek history.6 Their official language is Greek, which is
nearly spoken by all the citizens. Koine, a later variety of ancient Greek used to write the New
Testament, is the language used for church services. Historically, the people have been mobile.
Peasants frequently relocated in response to wars, land tenure laws, and agricultural
opportunities, while merchants, sailors, and shepherds frequently travelled as a matter of work.
In the past, the cornerstones of the economy were farming, herding, fishing, seafaring, trade, and
crafts. Their social status is not directly related to economic class; rather, it is the outcome of a
combination of money, education, vocation, and what is known as "honor." In Greece, marriage
is regarded as the norm for adulthood, and families are the primary sources of support and
identity. Regarding their religion, currently nearly 98 percent of the population are Orthodox
Christians, 1% or less are Muslims, and a few Jews, seventh-day Adventists, Roman Catholics,
and Protestants make up the remaining population.7 We have already seen some features of

“Greece,” Countries and Their Cultures, accessed February 09, 2023,

https://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Greece.html#ixzz7stNI9uQ5.
6
The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, 852-853.
7
“Greece,” Countries and Their Cultures, accessed February 09, 2023,
Greek culture. The influence of the Greek language on the Bible will be discussed in the next
paragraph.

One Greek theologian, Ippokratis Tavlarios, said, "Even from the time when the oldest books of
the Old Testament were written, the cultural interaction between Jews and Greeks is historically
well documented… More than one of the later books in the Old Testament were originally
written in Greek... the Greek style is abundantly evident in these books... the translation of the
8
Septuagint (the 70) essentially ‘Hellenized’ the whole of the canon of the Old Testament" He
mentioned the influence of the Greek language in the New Testament also, and he said, "The
relationship between the New Testament and ancient Greek culture was one of constant
interchange, to the point that their common features cannot be separated." 9 From this facts it is
obvious that Greek language has a significant influence in the Bible. Therefore, learning Greek
will make it easier and more thorough to understand the entire Bible.

8
Pemptousia Partnership, “The Old Testament, Ancient Greek Culture and Christianity,” Orthodox
Christian Network, February 7, 2021, https://myocn.net/the-old-testament-ancient-greek-culture-and-
christianity/.
9
Ibid.
 Bibliography

Douglas, J. D., Merrill C. Tenney, and Silva Moisés. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.

“Greece.” Countries and Their Cultures. Accessed February 09, 2023.

https://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Greece.html#ixzz7stNI9uQ5.

Keener, Craig S., and InterVarsity Press. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New
Testament. IVP Academic, 2014.

Partnership, Pemptousia. “The Old Testament, Ancient Greek Culture and Christianity.”
Orthodox Christian Network, February 7, 2021. https://myocn.net/the-old-testament-
ancient-greek-culture-and-christianity/.

Silva Moisés, and Merrill C. Tenney. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible: Volume 1, A-C.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.

“What Was Life like in Ancient Babylon? - History.” Accessed February 09, 2023.
https://www.history.com/news/daily-life-ancient-babylon-mesopotamia.