Page 111 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised

pregnant. In our minds, we think of this as they were “engaged” or planning to be married in the future.
If we are thinking correctly, then how could Joseph contemplate divorcing Mary? They were not
married yet!

In the culture of their day, there was an official date of marriage when the contracts of agreement of
marriage were signed by the parents of the man and woman. While the couple was “officially married”
immediately after the agreement was made between parents and dowries were exchanged, the couple
did not live together as husband and wife for the period of one year or longer. After that time had
passed, and each had proved their chastity to one another, the groom would travel to the bride’s house,
blow a trumpet, and then claim his wife and take her to a home prepared for her. A five to seven-day
feast would then ensue (most often, seven days). Since the culture and practice of marriage was quite
different than how we practice it today, we really don’t have a word for “betrothed” in English to
communicate the binding relationship the couple had.

Another illustration would be Jesus’ comment about
riches. In Matthew 19:24, Jesus said, “Again I tell you, it
is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
The disciples did not fully understand what Jesus meant
by this declaration. They responded, “Then who can be
saved?”

To understand this saying, we must understand how they
designed cities in that day. Some cities in the middle
east had walls constructed around them to provide
safety for the occupants of the city from marauding
invaders. Jericho had what they felt was an impregnable
wall. In the evening, most city gates were closed to
incoming or outgoing traffic. However, should a resident
return to the city after the gate closing, there was a smaller gate or door built into the larger door called
the Needle Eye Gate (see picture to above). If a person arrived with his camel loaded with of goods on
his back, the person had to remove the goods from the camel and have the camel enter the gate on his
knees, with no possessions. In other words, those hearing Jesus say these words understood that the
possessions would have to be left behind.

Another Scripture helps us understand what Jesus was trying to teach the disciples. Matthew 6:24 says
“No one can serve two masters; Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The rich young ruler was told by Jesus to sell his possessions and come and follow Him. Hearing that, he
turned away grieving because He loved his wealth above his willingness to walk with Jesus.

There are literally thousands of cultural differences between the time of the writing of the Scriptures
which pose a great difficulty in bringing the original truths to bear on the readers of the Bible today.

Corresponding Words
Another difficulty is that there may not be words in the original tongue that correspond to the target
tongue. Or there may be a word to match, but the word does not communicate the degree of meaning

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