In the world of Biblical Studies, one key area of interpretation is to think about the way that the authors have crafted their work. This means we need to take the Biblical writers seriously as thoughtful, considered creators of written documents. As our context section demonstrates, a number of external factors shape the way that people write, and impacts the ideas in their documents.

However, the books of the Bible are shaped by more than just the events of the surrounding world. The author/s make a number of decisions along the way when sharing their thoughts. They choose a style of writing (called a form, or genre). Sometimes, they include more than one style in the same text. They choose words to communicate their ideas. They may also use a number of tricks and techniques to capture audience attention, encourage them to think in a new way, or help them process complex information. In this section, we consider a range of ways in which the Biblical authors use language to share their ideas about God.