Anytime you study a book of the Bible exegetically, you need to research the background of the book and the overall themes and structure so that you have a big picture idea of why it was written, by whom, to whom, when it was written, and more. You also need to understand the literary style, or type of writing, and the historical and cultural times of the ancient characters and the ancient readers. The Bible was not written to us, it was written for us, eventually. But each book was written for a special purpose, and we must figure that out before we begin to study the chapters and sections within.