Elizabeth Groves on Context, Context, Context

Every Bible teacher wants to be liked and appreciated by those he or she teaches. As a lecturer in Biblical Hebrew at Westminster Theological Seminary since 2009, Elizabeth (Libbie) Groves doesn’t have to wonder if her students appreciate her. She has repeatedly been the highest-ranked professor on student evaluation forms at the seminary. On the day I was there, not only had she dressed up like Elvis to make her point in Hebrew grammar memorable, she also fed her classes burritos. No wonder she’s a favorite! She’s also known for her dramatic recitations of passages in the Bible in Hebrew, including this presentation of the entire book of Jonah.

We’ve heard the saying over and over: “A text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext.” We want to understand the passage we’re teaching in context. But how do we work through context in a way that affects how we’re teaching? In our conversation, Groves walks listeners through two passages—Daniel 1 and Proverbs 3—demonstrating how exploring the various aspects of context in these passages saves us from teaching them insufficiently.

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Nancy Guthrie teaches the Bible at her home church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, in Franklin, Tennessee, as well as at conferences around the country and internationally, including through her Biblical Theology Workshop for Women. She is the author of numerous books and the host of the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast from The Gospel Coalition. She and her husband founded Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child, and they’re cohosts of the GriefShare video series.

Elizabeth (“Libbie”) Groves (MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary) is lecturer in biblical Hebrew at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Groves’s academic interests include Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis, as well as counseling those who have gone through the loss of a husband or wife. For those who are new to Groves’s writing and teaching on these interests, she recommends several resources as places to start. Regarding her interest in Hebrew and exegesis, she would suggest her video on the importance of learning biblical languages, as well as her dramatic recitation of the book of Jonah in Hebrew. Or, listen to her sessions for the Women in the Word conferences in 2010 and 2011. On her interest and work on the topic of loss, she recommends her Women to Women mini-book, Becoming a Widow: The Ache of Missing Your Other Half, as well as her new devotional book, Grief Undone: A Journey with God and Cancer.