The Historical Context And Circumstances

Another important aspect in arriving at a correct interpretation is to take into account the time and the circumstances that surrounded a certain statement. On occasion, certain norms or behaviors have been imposed without taking into account the historical context for interpreting them correctly.VOTS 106.1

For example, in the biblical record we find a statement that decrees: “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this” (Deuteronomy 22:5). Some believers consider that this statement is enough evidence to prohibit a Christian woman from wearing pants. However, the historical context of the statement shows that no one, neither men nor women, dressed in pants at that time in those regions of the world. What was the original meaning and God’s intention for conveying that prohibition? It was much wider and much more serious than the use of pants. The key to understanding the concept is that the exchange of clothes between men and women was “detestable.” It involved a moral problem.VOTS 106.2

The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary says in reference to this text: “This probably refers to the heathen custom—quite common in some lands today—of a simulated change of sex for immoral purposes, men wearing women’s clothing, aping their manners, and offering their bodies for immoral purposes.” ^{7Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol 1, p. 1030.} Today we call these people “transvestites.”VOTS 106.3

By giving this text a limited interpretation, as is the case in applying it only to the use of pants by Christian women, the more important principles involved, maintaining a clear distinction among the sexes, and avoiding immoral practices such as transvestitism, are lost from view. The knowledge of the historical context that tells us that no one used pants at the time prevents us from arriving at a limited or incorrect interpretation.VOTS 107.1