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Jeanie C. Crain, ProfessorMissouri Western State University4525 Downs DriveSt. Joseph, Mo 64507 |
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Old Testament Life and Literature Chapter 1:The Literature of the Bible
Section A: Introductory Essay Why read the Bible as literature? A
short answer is that it is literature, some of our oldest and finest, and
reading it as literature makes sense. This introductory essay focuses on the
forms of literature discovered in this amazing anthology, the use of figurative
language, critical tools common to literary and biblical study, and themes
embraced broadly in literature which are also found in these books. Section B: Forms of
Literature Myth : Ostensibly historical events that serve to unfold part of
the world view of a people or nation; myth organizes, shapes, or provides
patterns and principles as opposed to strict fact. As myth, the Bible is
concerned with explaining universal truths, and providing an explanation of
origins and destinies. Even early history, if we believe Herodotus, contains
myth. Another definition or approach--anonymous; supernatural accounting for
natural events; makes concrete and particular a perception of human beings or a
cosmic view; a projection of social patterns onto a supernatural level;
explains divinity, creation and religion; demonstrates human perception of
deepest truths; gives order and frame of meaning to human experience; reveals
archetypal imagination embodying and suggests universality; a narrative
stirring us with the strange and familiar, contains primordial ritual and
ceremony; a repository of racial memories; a structure of unconsciously held
value systems; an expression of the general beliefs of a race, social class or
nation; a unique embodiment of ideology (306). Genesis 1-11 (White 22)
introduces two creation stories (1:1-2;4 and 2:5-25), the fall (3:1-24), first
brothers Cain and Abel (4:1-24), and Seth (4:25-26), the first man's
descendants (5:1-32), the Nephilim (6:1-4), the flood (6:5-9:17), Noah's
descendants (9:18-32), the tower of Babel (11:1-9), and the genealogy of
Abraham (11:10-32). Other
examples of myth include Yahweh's fight with the dragon (Isa. 27. 1, 51. 9),
Sheol, that fearful monster which, with open jaws, swallows up men, and from
which Yahweh alone can rescue (Psalms 49.15, 86.13) , the morning star which
tried to set its throne above that of God and was hurled into the depths (Isa.
14. 12ff.), a primitive man who listened at a meeting held by God (Job). Much
smacks on fairy tale: foundling who lay naked and bare, but finally rose,
through marriage, to a high position (Ez. 26.4 ff), the unlucky man who escapes
the danger of a lion only to meet a bear, or who is bitten by a serpent in the
safety of his own house (Amos 5.19), a dreadful sword from which there is no escape
and from which only God can bring rest (Ez. 21), of the wonderful tree with no
equal (Ez. 31.4 ff), all kinds of animals with the power of speech (Gen. 3.1,
Num. 22.30), the giving of a choice of wishes (1 Kings 3.5, 2 Kings 2.9, 4.2)
or the granting of a child, long desired, to a couple. Legends instruct and explain smoothly, simply, in their own way,
not with learned discussion and profound thoughts, and provide answers to all
kinds of questions: (Kuhl, The Old Testament) Why is the area around the Salt
Sea dead and deserted? Legend knows that the vale of Siddim was here (Gen.
14.3), a garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt (Gen. 13.10). The high stone
pillar on the Jebel Usdum is Lot's wife (Gen. 19.26); the serpent crawls on its
belly and eats dust (Gen. 3.14); the sexes are attracted to each other by an
act of God (Gen. 2.22 ff); cultic custom of not eating thigh muscle (Gen.
32.32), meaning of Abram's name (Gen. 17.5); explanation for Isaac's name (he
laughed--Gen. 17.17, 18.12, 21.6). In
the early books, we find narrative history, but within that history, we also
find myth and legend. Paul Tillich in the Dynamics of Faith tells us
"Myths are symbols of faith combined in stories about divine-human
encounters" and then defines myth as using "material from our
ordinary experience. It puts the stories of the gods into the framework of time
and space although it belongs to the nature of the ultimate to be beyond time
and space" (49). The nature of myth is such that the gods reveal themselves
under a fate "which is beyond everything that is" (48), organized
into hierarchies, sometimes into a trinity of gods, a duality of them, or into
savior-gods who mediate, sometimes sharing the suffering and death of humans
(49). Tillich goes on to point out that a criticism of myth has been its
division of the divine but that even when only one god is present, this
"one God is an object of mythological language" (49). Tillich then
summarizes: "all the stories in which divine-human interactions are told
are considered as mythological in character" (51). The reader should note
that such a definition of myth merely confirms its existence in human
consciousness and argues myth must be accepted as myth, not science; that is,
science cannot address the substance of myth, the existence of the divine or
the "beyond space and time." Myths are not deceptions or untruths but
vehicles for expressing universal insights into the nature of the world and
human society (Harris 5). Acknowledging
myth as present in the Bible frees the reader in several important ways. As
historical narrative, the Bible introduces its reader to a time before formal
history, "to a people who lived thousands of years ago and shows us how
much we are like our ancestors and how much they have had to do with our own
forming as a part of the human family" (White 2). Importantly, though, the
Bible is not secular history but primarily a religious book in which its
authors speak through the perspective of faith (2). To try to reduce the Bible
to history is to engage in literalness and to deny the function of symbol and
myth to point beyond themselves to something else; as Tillich remarks, such
literalness "deprives God of... ultimacy" (52). The historian is
always concerned with what really happened, and certainly, much did happen, but
the case is rightfully made that its authors were interested more in the
theological importance of what happened than in the happenings themselves.
Reading: Genesis 1-11 Primeval history, universal in scope; Divine act brings
humanity and history into existence, enables humanity to exist, multiply,
diversify, and disperse upon the earth. Belongs to the Pentateuch, the first
five books traditionally ascribed to the authorship of Moses; the Pentateuch is
narrative which extends from the creation of the universe into the entrance of
one people, the Hebrew, into their "promised land" or Canaan, the
people coming to be known as the Israelites. The
Pentateuch narrative, after the first eleven chapters on primeval history,
tells the story of Israel's ancestors, Abraham's migration from Ur of the
Chaldees (Mesopotamia) through Canaan into Egypt, the Hebrew exodus from Egypt,
their sojourn at Sinai and origins of moral law, their wanderings in the
wilderness (Numbers), and their entrance into Canaan. Deuteronomy develops this
latter story and continues the development of moral, religious (Leviticus is
largely concerned with religious ritual), and secular law. Some have noted that
Genesis ends with a coffin in Egypt while Deuteronomy ends with Israel or the
development of a people's identity. Concerning
the literature, most critics agree that an epic literature circulated
orally among the people as story, song, and proverb. This tradition is, it is
held, later reinterpreted and eventually takes a written form. Scholars have
detected a southern (Judean) and northern (Ephramitic) influence, these letters
originally deriving from "J" for "Jahveh" or
"Yahweh" and "E" for "Elohim." The other two sources
are "P" for Priestly and "D" for Deutoronomic. The Priestly
writers contributed through the Babylonian exile, and the Deuteronomic account
covers Joshua through Second Kings. We know that parts of Deuteronomy were
discovered in written form in 612, or during the reign of King Josiah. The
student must think of the Bible in written form as being a rather late
creation, its story dipping back into the oral tradition and remote past, with
the story of Israel's ancestors beginning in history about 1700 BCE The
books, form, and structure of the Bible will be addressed in a later section. Links: Epic: The
Bible is, in fact, epic in its account of human and national origins (Harris
58). The first eleven chapters of Genesis establish the creation of the world
as a divine action then survey the primeval history of humanity. History is
viewed as the "inevitable outworking of divine purpose" (60). Already
present is an insistence upon an "eternal, omnipotent Creator who
exercises undisputed control of the universe, bringing chaos and light out of
darkness through the power of his word alone" (61). In contrast to
science, the account of Genesis is that God does, in fact, create something
from nothing. More importantly, though, are the evolving themes: a people
created by God in the image of God (activity and relationship); disobedience,
revolt, and separation; covenants and a promised blessing to all of humanity.
In the Biblical epic, human beings constitute the apex of creation, "made
little less than a god" (Psalms 80), separated from God in a conscious act
of willful revolt. But from the beginning, the initiative comes from the
intervention of the infinite in the finite, and on these two levels, the drama
of the Bible is from the beginning that of relationship. Other
Kinds of Literature: •narrative--a recounting of events; chronological or containing a plot
(Holman and Harmon 308). An example of biblical narrative is the story of
Abraham in Genesis. Genesis 12-25. •epic--a long narrative poem, elevated style, characters in high
position, heroic, depict a development of episodes important to the history of
a nation or race (171). Much of the Bible is epic literature accounting for the
development of the Judeo-Christian world. Read Genesis 26-50 Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph. •short story-- a relatively brief fictional narrative in prose; contains
a unity of effect, theme, character, tone, mood, and style; contains plot.
Biblical examples are Ruth, Jonah, Esther. •folk tales--short narratives (199) handed down through oral tradition
but eventually getting written down; cumulatively written. Samson in the book
of Judges 13-16 captures the popularity of the folk hero). •apocalypses--literature
depicting an ultimate destiny (usually destructive) of the world; character of
catastrophe is grandiose, imminent, unrestrained, wild; suggests final
judgment. (Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament are
examples of this kind of literature.) Outline of Revelation. •poetry--exists in many forms; marked by regularity of rhythm
surpassing that found in prose, basic pattern evidencing variety but returning
to basic rhythm; concrete; inversions frequent; simple, sensuous, impassioned
language; pleases by appealing to emotions and intellect; highly imaginative
(365). Psalms and Proverbs both consist largely of poetry. The Psalms are
devotional lyrics. Biblical poetry is noted for accent and parallelism rather
than meter. •love lyric--a type of poetry, subjective, marked by imagination,
melody, emotion, single impression (273). The Song of Solomon is a good
example. •battle ode--public, solemn, elaborate, dignified, musical, complicated
(divided into strophes, anti strophes, and epodes (329); directed to a single
purpose and theme. An example is the song of Deborah found in udges 5. •epigram--a pithy saying, often antithetical, compressed; shows
balance and polish (173). These exist in abundance in Proverbs. •epiphanies--a showing forth of divine being; an event in which the
essential nature of something--a person, situation, or object--is suddenly
perceived; a grasp of reality achieved in a quick flash of recognition; sudden
insight or new light (174). •elegy--a sustained, formal poem setting forth a meditation on
death or other solemn theme. •gospels--found solely in the New Testament; form was invented by
author of Mark and imitated by the later Gospel writers; record the story of
Jesus as it was known by his contemporaries; not simple histories of the life
of Jesus but further exemplifying the view that history is an arena in which
the divine makes itself known; actually speak of things beyond history,
addressing meaning; intention of writers is to produce faith (White 144). •biography-- a written account of a person's life, a life history. •letters--notes and epistles, correspondence (264).Paul's letters
were immediate and direct, addressing the needs of particular Christian
communities, giving spiritual direction; they continue to have a universal
dimension, a timelessness, in that what was true for the people of these
communities continues to be true for people of contemporary times (White 129).
Paul's letters to the Galatians, I and II Corinthians, and Romans are excellent
examples of the epistle. •law--a binding custom or practice of a community; a prescribed
rule of conduct or action which is enforced by a controlling authority. The Old
Testament, in particular, assumes human behavior is under Yahweh's authority as
well as one's relationship with neighbors(29). The beginning of law for the
Hebrew people is expressed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Exodus
20:22-23:19 contains absolute, conditional, ritual, moral, and religious laws.
The materials from Exodus 35 to Numbers 10 (including all of Leviticus) have to
do with laws. Israel's religious tradition is deeply embedded with the notion
that Yahweh rewards obedience and punishes disobedience (91). A special
relationship exists between the law of the Old Testament and the New Law or
covenant of the New Testament. One must understand the human situation in the
Old and New Testaments is that of alienation from God. This alienation is
caused by sinned or willful rebellion or disobedience to divine law. Both the
Jews and the Gentiles are alienated by their measures, whether Law or heart;
the New Testament emphasizes faith rather than obedience as the means whereby
the individual is to be reconciled with God. As seen in the New Testament, the
Law defines sin; it is not the cause of sin (137). •sermons--a religious discourse delivered as part of a service.
Paul's sermon at Antioch is a good example (Acts 13: 15-41); another example is
the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. •codes--a system of principles or rules. Leviticus, a book of
worship, is filled with codes detailing how the Levitical priests were to
minister in the sanctuary; it contains codes for dealing with sacrifices,
setting forth the distinction between clean and unclean foods, describing the
ritual for the ceremony of the atonement, and laws governing Israel's life as a
holy people. •puns--plays on words based on the similarity of sound between
two words and divergent meaning. Matthew 23:24 contains an example: galma for
gnat and gamla for camel. •liturgy--performed as part of a worship service. Again, Leviticus
provides several examples. •parables--short,
illustrative stories teaching a lesson. A true parable parallels, detail for
detail, the situation that calls forth the parable for illustration. Christ
told many parables--Luke 15:11-32 provides an example in the prodigal son. •hymns--poems expressing religious emotion and intended to be sung
by a chorus; many of the psalms fit this definition. •songs--from the beginning, there was not the written but the
spoken workd; there was not literature but singing and reciting. The Old
Testament contains many songs, often older than the text surrounding them.
These were often quite short and were sung, during dancing, to the
accompaniment of musical instruments. They would often be sung in chorus (Ex.
15. 20-1; Num. 21. 17; 1 Sam. 18. 6-7). People sang at their work: at the
completion of a well (Nu. 21.17-18), while harvesting and treading the grapes
(Jer. 25.30, 48.33), at social gatherings and feasts (Amos 6.4 ff.; Isa. 5.11
ff.); men rejoiced and forgot their cares (Isa. 22.13), not always with
moderation (Is. 28.8); they told riddles (Gen. 31.27); they mocked physical
imperfections in song (bald head, 2 Kings 2. 23; faded beauty, Isa. 23. 15-16;
they inflamed the tribes to fight with song (Jg. 5.12 Song of Deborah); they
sung deriding the enemy (Num. 21.27), lamented an only son (2 Kings 2. 12,
13.14). •proverbs--briefly and memorably express some recognized truth about
life; these are found in abundance in proverbs. •laments--poetry expressing grief. The book of Lamentations is a
small psalter of communal laments over Jerusalem, following its destruction by
the Babylonians in 587 B.C. •acrostics--compositions usually in verse which are arranged in such a
way as to spell words, phrases or sentences. Lamentations contains an example:
the first four chapters contain stanzas for each of the twenty-two letters of
the Hebrew alphabet, and the fifth has the same numbers of verses as the
alphabet. •oracles--hidden or divine knowledge revealed through utterance,
usually poetic; a wise, authoritative decision or opinion. Isaiah 6-9 consists
of oracles set in their own historic context.Oracles contain Yahweh's answer to
questioners seeking advice and help. Literary
Genres (Oxford Companion to the Bible): Literary Genres in the Bible. The most common way to define
literature is by its genres or literary types. Through the centuries, people
have agreed that certain genres (such as story, poetry, and drama) are literary
in nature. Other types, such as historical chronicles, theological essays, and
genealogies, are expository (informational). Still others can fall into either
category. Letters, sermons, and orations, for example, can move in the
direction of literature by virtue of experiential concreteness, figurative
language, and artistic style. The
Bible is a mixture of genres, some of them literary in nature. The major
literary genres in the Bible are narrative or story, poetry (especially lyric
poetry), proverb, and visionary writing (including prophecy and apocalypse).
The New Testament letters frequently become literary because of their
occasional nature, figurative language, and rhetorical or artistic patterning.
Other literary genres of note in the Bible include epic, tragedy, gospel,
parable, satire, pastoral, oratory, encomium, epithalamion (wedding poem),
elegy (funeral poem), and a host of subtypes of lyric poetry (such as nature
poem, psalm of praise, lament, love poem, psalm of worship, hymn). Genre study is central to any literary approach to the Bible because
every genre has its own conventions, expectations, and corresponding rules of
interpretation. A biblical story, for example, is a sequence of events, not a
series of ideas. It is structured around a plot conflict, not a logical
argument. It communicates by means of setting, character, and event, not
propositions. In short, the literary genres of the Bible require us to approach
them in terms of the conventions and procedures that they possess. Literary
Forms in the Gospels (Oxford Companion to the Bible) An
analysis of the teaching of Jesus reported in the four Gospels reveals a
variety of literary forms. Sometimes he conveyed his teaching by means of
parables; at other times he used proverbs and plays on words (puns). Many
passages in the Gospels are arranged in strophic, or poetic, form, and
frequently one is struck by the vigorous, picturesque language by which the
teaching is convey ed. Examples within each of these categories, considered in
reverse order, include the following. Picturesque Speech Like
other persons of the Near East, Jesus made use of striking contrasts and vivid
metaphors. Using exaggerated and colorful expressions, he frequently drew
attention to the ridiculous and the illogical behavior of the self-righteous.
For example instead of saying in prosaic and commonplace terms that some people
are inconsistent when judging others and themselves, Jesus put it thus: Why do
you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own
eye? ... You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. (Matthew
7.3 ,5) By
taking into account the presence of picturesque expression in the Gospels the
reader can sometimes avoid misinterpreting the meaning. For example, the hard
saying preserved in the third Gospel, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate
father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life
itself, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14.26), must be understood in the
light of the frequent use of overstatement as characteristic of the speech of
Near Easterners. It is obvious that Jesus, so far from intending to increase
the sum total of hatred in the world, states a principle in a startling,
hyperbolic manner, and leaves it to his hearers to discover whatever
qualifications are necessary in the light of his other pronouncements. The
saying means that in order to be a follower of Jesus one must be prepared to
choose between natural affection and loyalty to the Master. The same idea is
expressed in Matthew's less rigorous version of Jesus' saying: "Whoever
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10.37). One
should, of course, be alert to the danger of diluting Jesus' teaching by
finding overstatement in passages where it is not present. For example, Jesus'
command to the rich man who inquired what he should do to inherit eternal life,
"Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (Luke 18.22), should not be
discounted as exaggerated hyperbole, meaning merely, "Sell ten percent of
what you own. ..." The context makes it absolutely clear that the
questioner as well as the disciples understood Jesus' words in their literal
sense. Poetic, Rhythmical Parallelism Hebrew
poetry, illustrated in the Old Testament Psalter, is characterized by
parallelism of members. Sometimes
the parallelism is synonymous and sometimes antithetic . In view of the
frequency of Jesus' quotations from and allusions to the Psalms, it is not
surprising that we find much of his teaching cast into the mold of Semitic
poetry. Synonymous parallelism appears in the saying recorded in Luke 6.27_28: Love
your enemies, do
good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you. Antithetic
parallelism is illustrated by Matthew 7.17_18: Every
good tree bears good fruit, but
the bad tree bears bad fruit. A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
can a bad tree bear good fruit. Besides
these two basic types of parallelism, several other kinds have been identified.
What is called step parallelism, for example, occurs when the second line takes
up a thought contained in the first line and, repeating it, makes it, as it
were, a step toward the development of a further thought, which is the climax
of the whole. An example of step parallelism is found in Luke 9.48 (the italics
indicate the repeated member which serves as a step, and the vertical line
stands before the climax): Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me,
and whoever welcomes me |welcomes the one who sent me. For other passages that
exhibit an elaborate rhythmical pattern, see Matthew 6.19_21; Matthew 23.16_22;
Mark
2.21_22; Mark 9.43_48; Luke 11.31_32; Luke 17.26_30. Plays on Words The
Old Testament contains not a few instances of plays on words (for examples see
"Paranomasia" in "THE TECHNIQUES OF HEBREW POETRY" and the
notes on Genesis 11.9; Jeremiah 1.11_12; Amos 8.1_2). The text of the Gospels,
which has been transmitted to us in Greek, contains more than one instance
where the original Aramaic of Jesus' mother tongue probably involved a
word-play. It is understandable that very few such puns in Aramaic could be
reproduced in Greek. In one case, however, it happens that the Greek word
pneuma, just as the Aramaic r´hâ, means both "wind" and
"spirit." In John 3.8 Jesus is quoted as saying to Nicodemus,
"The pneuma blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do
not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born
of the pneuma. " One
of the most noteworthy of Jesus' sayings about the church involves a play on
words. According to Matthew 16.13ff. at Caesarea Philippi, in response to
Jesus' question to his disciples who they thought he was, Simon Peter confessed,
"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." After declaring
that Peter had spoken this by divine revelation, Jesus retorted, "And I
tell you, you are Peter [Greek Petros ], and on this rock [Greek petra I will
build my church." In Jesus' mother tongue the play is even closer, for in
Aramaic the word kŮphâ serves as a proper name (Cephas) and also means "a
rock, a stone." Jesus' statement therefore would have been, "And I
tell you, you are KŮphâ, and on this kŮphâ I will build my church" (there
remains a difference in gender, for the common noun is feminine and the proper
name is, of course, masculine; compare French pierre (f.), "a stone,"
and Pierre (m.), "Peter"). Another
passage which probably involved a pun is Matthew 23.24, where the Greek text is
unable to reproduce the jingle that is present in what is presumed to be the
original Aramaic. In his condemnation of the inconsistency of certain scribes
and Pharisees, Jesus reproached them for "straining out a gnat and
swallowing a camel." Since in Aramaic the word for "gnat" or
"louse" is qalmâ and the word for "camel" is gamlâ, the pun
provides added piquancy to the picturesque speech used by Jesus: he is
describing a punctilious Pharisee who, in view of Leviticus 11.41ff., which
forbids the eating of what swarms or crawls on the earth, is careful to strain
out a qalmâ that may have fallen into his food or wine, but is quite
unconcerned over gulping down a whole gamlâ! Proverbs Every
language has pithy sayings or maxims that express a truth crisply and
forcefully. Because proverbs frequently express only one side of a truth, it
happens that mutually contradictory proverbs may circulate, each of which is
true when applied to the appropriate life-setting. The common saying,
"Penny wise, pound foolish," correctly describes one who is
scrupulous about small transactions, but is extravagant in great ones. On the
other hand, the proverb, "Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will
take care of themselves," is also true. More
than once the Bible presents two proverbs that, though contradictory, are both
true when applied to appropriate circumstances. In Proverbs 26.4 the writer
cautions his reader, "Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you
will be a fool yourself"; in the very next verse, however, he advises,
"Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own
eyes." It is left to the reader to know when it is appropriate to heed one
or the other of these two antithetical proverbs. It
is not surprising that Jesus sometimes cast his teaching in the form of
proverbs. Since, however, these brief, salty sayings stress one side of a
truth, they should not be exalted as maxims of inflexible conduct. On the
contrary, one categorical statement must be interpreted in the light of another
that may counsel the opposite of the first. For example, Jesus' command,
"Do not judge, so that you may be not judged" (Matthew 7.1), has
sometimes been taken as a blanket prohibition against making judgments
concerning right and wrong, good and evil. In the same context, however, the
evangelist includes another of Jesus' pithy sayings, one which presupposes the
necessity of forming judgments: "Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do
not throw your pearls before swine" (Matthew 7.6). To obey this command
against desecrating what is holy, one obviously must judge who is doggish and
who is swinish. Spiritual prudence will know when it is appropriate to follow
one precept and when it is appropriate to follow the other. Similarly
Jesus' proverb-like prohibition, "Do not resist an evildoer" (Matthew
5.39), is not to be taken to mean that his disciples are never to resist evil
in any kind of way. In the light of Jesus' other teachings as well as his use
of force to drive out the money-changers from the temple precincts (Mark
12.15), it is clear that the principle that he inculcates in this crisp maxim
is non-retaliation for a malicious wrong inflicted by a personal enemy. Parables In
all the teaching of Jesus there is no feature more striking than the parables.
Although other religious teachers had made use of parabolic stories (see Judges
9.7_15; 2 Samuel 12.1_6), in quantity and in excellence his parables are
acknowledged to be outstanding. About sixty examples, from what was probably a
larger number, have been preserved in the synoptic Gospels; these comprise more
than one third of Jesus' recorded words. The
fourth Gospel nowhere uses the word "parable," but it contains
several parabolic sayings in the form of allegories (for example, John 10.1_18;
John 15.1_11). The old definition of a parable as "an earthly story with a
heavenly meaning" contains a certain amount of truth, but one must beware
against seeking an elaborate allegorical meaning for every detail in a parable.
That is, many details in Jesus' parables are present in order to make the story
"live," and were not included primarily to instruct or edify the
hearer. Defined more precisely, in Jesus' teaching a parable is a comparison
drawn from nature or common experience in life and designed to illustrate some
moral or religious truth, on the assumption that what is valid in one sphere is
valid also in the other. The distinctions between parable and simile and
metaphor are not easily defined. Often there is scarcely any difference, for all
of them involve an aspect of comparison, but generally the metaphor and simile
are short while the parable is more extended. "You are the salt of the
earth" (Matthew 5.13) is a metaphor; "Be wise as serpents"
(Matthew 10.16) is a simile; but "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that
a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was
leavened" (Matthew 13.33) is a parable. The
proper method of interpreting Jesus' parables is to make a thorough inquiry
into the "life-setting" in his ministry when the parable was first
uttered, and to seek out the chief point that, in that setting, it was intended
to teach. In other words, To whom did Jesus speak the parable? and, Why did he
speak it? Usually the details in a parable provide nothing more than the
necessary background in order to make the story realistic, and are not to be
assigned, point by point, special meanings in the manner of an allegory. An
analysis of Jesus' parables reveals that most of them are intended either (a)
to portray a type of human character or disposition for warning or example, or
(b) to reveal a principle of God's government of the world and humankind. In
other words, Jesus' parables usually teach a certain kind of conduct that his
hearers are to emulate or avoid (matters of ethics), or they disclose something
of the character of God and his dealings with humankind (matters of theology).
Examples of the former class of parables include The Two Builders (Matthew
7.24_27), The Two Sons (Matthew 21.28_32), The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
(Luke 18.9_14), and The Good Samaritan (Luke 10.30_37); examples of the latter
include the several parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13;
Matthew 20.1_15), The Seed Growing Secretly (Mark 4.26_29), The Great Supper (Luke
14.16_24), and The Lost Coin (Luke 15.8_10). Most parables of Jesus have two
levels of meaning. One is the story itself, which usually reflects some aspect
of daily life in the Near East. The other, deeper level of meaning (which may
be paradoxical or surprising), is an open-ended invitation awaiting the
hearer's response. In this respect the parable is not effective until the
challenge inherent in the parable is freely accepted and acted upon. Finally,
it should be observed that when Christian teachers and evangelists retold
Jesus' parables in the early church, they occasionally introduced small changes
so as to apply the stories to new situations or to bring out the application
more vividly. An example of the latter is the slight modification in the order
of the wording in Matthew and Luke's retelling of the parable of The Wicked
Tenants. According to Mark 12.8, when the owner of the vineyard sent his son to
the tenants to get some of the fruit, they "killed him, and threw him out
of the vineyard." Matthew and Luke, however, finding in the parable a
parallel to what happened to Jesus when he was crucified outside the city
walls, altered the sequence of the clauses so as to read, "they threw him
out of the vineyard, and killed him" (Matthew 21.39; Luke 20.15). There
was also a tendency to turn parables that Jesus addressed to the crowd, or to
opponents, into parables for the disciples. For example, according to Luke
15.4_10 Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep as an answer to criticisms
leveled against him by Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15.2). When Matthew recounts
the same parable (Matthew 18.12_14), however, it is no longer addressed to
Jesus' opponents; it has now become part of Jesus' instruction to his disciples
(Matthew 18.1), that is, to the church, on the subject of how Christians are to
relate to other Christians (see also Matthew 18.15_17). In
other cases the parables of Jesus were remembered long after the circumstances
that gave rise to them had been forgotten. More than once, therefore, we find
that the Evangelists, impressed by the sublimity of Jesus' teaching, recount
his parables without mentioning the specific situation in which they were first
narrated. Section C: Chronological
Table of Old Testament Literature *Curt
Kuhl, The Old Testament, John Knox Press, 1962 Pre-Mosaic and
Mosaic Periodto
c. 1200 B.C.E Song
of Lamech (Gen. 4. 23-4); Miriam's victory song (Exodus 15.21); The sites of
Moab (Numbers 31.14-15); The Song of the Well (Number 21.17-18); Song of Sihon
(Num.21.27-29); Aaron's Blessing (Numbers 6.24-6); Canaanite Mishpat of the
Book of the Covenant (Ex. 21.2-11, 18-22, 21.28-22.26); Oath against Amalek
(Ex. 27.16); Ark Formula (Num. 10.35-36); Oracles of Noah (Gen 9.25.27);
Patriarchal Oracles (Gen. 12.2,3,7, 13.14-17,26.11, 28.13,14; 43.22); Song of
Deborah (Jg 5); List of Unconquered cities (Jg 10.1-5, 12.7-15); Sources of J
and E. Family and heroic sagas of Joshua and Judges (Jg 3.16 ff., 4, 8.4 ff,
11.1-11, 29.32-33); Israelite nucleus of the Book of the Covenant. Decalogue
(Ex. 20.1-17) Era of David c.
1000 BCE
Song
of the Bow (2 Sam. 1.17-27); Collections of the Book of the Righteous and the
Book of the Wars of Yahweh. Oldest Psalms. Story of the Ark (I Sam. 4-7, II Sam
7); War of the Kings (Gen. 14; or late Midrash?). Nucleus of the war reports (I
Sam. 13-15); Nathan's prophecy (oldest form of 2 Sam. 7). Report on Ammonite
War (2 Sam. 10.6-11.1, 12.26-31). Story of Saul (1 Sam. 7-15,28, 31); List of
David's officials (2 Sam. 22. 15-22, 23.8-23, 24-39); Development of the
Yahwistic source document. Era of Solomon c.
950 BC E.
Collection
of the older oracles of the Jacob blessing (Gen. 49.3-7, 13-27). Individual
oracles of the blessing of Moses (Dt, 33). Oldest Proverb collection (Prov.
10.1-22.16); Beginning of recording of royal annals. Biography of Samuel.
Assembly at Shechem (Josh. 24). Development of the Elohistic source document. Oldest period of the
separate kingdoms
922-800
BCE
Esau
oracles (Gen. 25.22-3, 27.39-40). Blessing of Jacob (Gen. 27.27-9). Words of
the Wise (Prov. 22.17-24.22); Agur (Prov. 30. 1-14) and Lemuel collections
(Prov. 21.1-9). Ahab's Ammonite War (1 Kings 22.5-28). Collection of the Elijah
stories. Earlier Monarchical period
800-700
BCE
Amos
(before 760: basic material of 1-11; soon after 760: collection of threat
oracles 3-6 and visions 7-9. Hosea (750-725). First part-collection (1-3).
Zech. 9.1 ff.,10.3 ff. Isaiah (742-700: beginning of his career (6); before the
Syro-Ephramite wars: 2. 1-4.6, 5.8-24, 10. 1-4? ; during these wars: 7, 17.
1-11; latter part of his career 713-701: 28-32 (28.1-4 before 713), 14.24-27,
29 ff., 18.1 ff., 20.1 ff., 22.1,
2-31; of indefinite period : 5. 1-7, 24-30, 9.8-10.4. Solomon's biography (1
Kings 3-11). Unification of J and E. Collection of Elisha stories. Later Monarchical period
700-598
BCE
Foreign
oracles (Is 19). David's Song of Praise (2 Sam. 22). Image of a ruler (2 Sam.
23.1-7). Zephaniah (c. 630). Psalm (Nah. 1.2-11); Jon. 2.3-10 ? Jeremiah
(628-622 BCE: 1, 2, 1-4.4, 4.5-6.30. 605-598: rhythmic oracles from 7-22 and
autobiographical passages 11.18 ff., 8.1 ff. Passover cantata (c. 622: Ex.
15.1-18). Habakkuk (c. 615). Nahum (before 612). Foreign prophecies (Ez.
25-26.5, 28.20-23). Isaiah collection(1-12). Conclusion of Hosea collection.
Isaiah stories (36-39=2 Kings 18.13,17-22.19). Final editing of the Book of the
Covenant (before 622: Ex. 20.22-23.33). Original Deuteronomy. Memoir (c. 622: 2
Kings 22.3-23/3). Excerpt from the report on Josiah's reform (after 622: 2
Kings 23.4-20). Josiah's district list (Josh). First Deuteronomist? (c. 600) Period of the decline 598-587 BCE Jeremiah
(Threats: 10.17-21, 13.15 ff., 15.5-9, 22.20 ff., 21.1 ff., 23.9 ff., 23.34
ff.; autobiographical passages:
24, 25.15 ff.,27, 32.5 ff.). Ezekiel (until 593: threats 4-24). Egyptian
oracles (Ez. 29-32). Lamentations
(1). Zech. 9. 9-10. Baruch source of the Book of Jeremiah (594 onwards). Period of the exile
587-538
BCE
Lam.
2, 4. Ezekiel (Comfort oracles: 33-37). Lam. 5, 3. Song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2.
1-10). Deutero-Isaiah (546-538). Trito -Isaiah (Is. 43.7-64). Appendices to
Hosea and other prophetic writings: Jer. 10. 1-18, 16.19-27; Hab. 2.18-20; Mic.
7.8-20, Ob. 1-14, 15. Job (or early post-exilic). Historical work of the
Deuteronomist (c. 550). Deuteronomistic editing of Jeremiah. Priestly Code of
the Pentateuch. Draft of a constitution (Ez. 40-48). Conclusion of the Law of
Holiness. Restoration period
538-400
BCE
Zechariah
1-8 (520-518). Haggai (after 520). Last formation of Zephaniah. SONG OF MOSES
(Dt. 32. 1-43). Addition to the prophets (Is. 11. 11-16, 28.5-6, 33.19 ff.,
24-27, 32, 33, 34-35); Jer. 9.11-15, 23.33 ff., 52; Am. 9.8-15; Mic. 2.12-13).
Trito-Isa. (Is. 4214-18, collection 40-42). Framing of the Blessing of Moses
(Dt. 33.2-5, 26-9). Malachi (before 445 without the later additions 1.11 ff.,
2.11-12, 3. 23-4). Trito-Isa (before 445: Isa. 41.9-42.21). End of the Persian and Macedonian period
400-300
BCE
Joel
(without 3. 1-5, 4.4-8). Is. 23. From Trito- Isa: repentance liturgy IS.
43.7-45.25;Temple oracle: Is. 46. 1-4. Collections of the Psalms. Song of
Solomon. Prov. 1-9. Image of virtue (Prov. 31.0-31). Final editing of the
Pentateuch. Chronicles historical work (Ch., Ezra, Neh.). Completion of the
Pentateuch canon (before 330). Seleucid period 300-200
B. C. E. Deutero-Zechariah
(9-11, 13.7-9). Ecclesiastes. Tyre oracle (c. 274: Is. 23.25-18). Stories of
the Book of Daniel (Dan. 1, 2-6). Book of Esther. Jeremiah's Epistle (Baruch
6). Septaugint translation of the Torah. Conclusion of the second stage of the
Canon (c. 200). Period of oppression
and revolt
200-100
BCE
Hebrew
Ecclesiasticus (c. 190). Trito-Zechariah (c. 170): Zech. 7-8, 14). Baruch
3.9-5.9. Song of the Three Young Men. Prayer of Azariah. Dreams and visions of
Daniel (168-164: Dan. 7-12). Book of Tobit (c. 150). Book of Judith (c. 150).
Translation of Ecclesiasticus (c. 132). Baruch 1-3.8. Translation
of the Septaugint completed (before 130). Rest of Esther (c. 114). Period of Pharisaism from
100 BCE
Susanna,
Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees (before 70). 2 Maccabees (c.50). Rest of Esther
(c. 48). The Wisdom of Solomon. c.
CE 90
Canonization
of the Old Testament completed. Section D: Metaphors and Symbols in the Bible The
Oxford Companion to the Bible lists the following uses of metaphor in the
Bible: Metaphors. The principal subject of the Bible is God in his relation to
his world, his people, and humanity. But the God of the Bible is holy,
transcendent, other, unlike anything in all creation. It follows, then, that
language about God must be figurative, because it attempts to describe in terms
of this world one who is totally different from this world. We
can speak about God and our relation to him, however, because he has revealed
himself through his own words and deeds in the history recorded in the
scriptures. All metaphoric language about God must be consonant with that
self-revelation in order to be true. God
is known in the biblical account only in relationship. The five most frequent metaphors
of his relationship with his people are king/subject, judge/litigant,
husband/wife, father/child, and lord or master/servant. All are commissive
metaphors, implying an obligation in the relationship described. Yet every
metaphoric term for God breaks its limits and transforms the way in which it is
ordinarily understood. For example, when God is described as father, the term
is filled with the meaning given it by God's self-revelation, and human fathers
then become responsible for growing up into the measure of God's compassionate
and loving fatherhood. In short, metaphors for God come to define the goal of
human life, which is to conform to the image of God. None
of the metaphors for God are intended to be taken literally in their human
sense, a fact sometimes overlooked. For example, God as father or husband is
never literally male, nor does he exercise sexual functions. Similarly, the use
of metaphoric language for God says nothing about the historicity of his deeds
and words. Many
terms for God participate in metaphoric systems and undergo rich development in
the scriptures. God as father is source of life, names, care, love, discipline,
family unity, and an example to children; he feeds, clothes, gives inheritance,
legal rights, property, home, and a sense of belonging. Because such a
metaphoric system is involved, God is never called mother in the Bible, though
he exercises mother-like love and care for his children. Female terms for God
are used in the Bible only in similes, pointing to one activity (See Feminism
and the Bible). If they are interpreted as metaphors, the deity is then
connected with the images of birth and suckling, and they erroneously result in
the view of a goddess giving birth to all things and persons, who then
participate in the divine being. The distinction that the Bible insists on
between creator and creature is then lost. Figures
for God can have a high or low degree of correspondence with their referents.
When God is described as like a bear, lion, leopard, moth, withering wind,
devouring fire, eagle, or even dry rot, the correspondence is low, and such
images are used for their shock or surprise value. More appropriate are the
descriptions of God as rock, sun, living water, fortress, refuge; similarly,
the descriptions of his actions in terms of those of a healer, potter, vintner,
builder, farmer, tailor, shepherd, or warrior yield vivid pictures. Indeed, God
is most often portrayed in anthropomorphic terms; this prevents his
identification with some diffuse soul of nature, and it expresses the fact that
he meets us person to person and demands from us the full depth of our personal
devotion and love. Some
metaphors for God have lost their meaning because they have lost their context,
such as the metaphor "redeemer," which originally referred to a
relative who bought back a family member from slavery. The metaphor is
recovered when the original context is recalled. Similarly, some figures become
objectionable to some groups, for example, those of God as mighty warrior or as
judge or, for feminists, as father or lord. But such metaphors are
indispensable to the canonical witness to God and should be recovered by an
explication of their full biblical content. Human
beings' relation to God is also described metaphorically because it deals with
that which is evident only to the eyes of the faithful and must describe the
unknown in terms of the known. Thus, God's faithful people are called in the
Bible his adopted sons or children, his bride, kingdom of priests, holy nation,
peculiar treasure, servants, jewels, witnesses, noble vine, pleasant planting,
fruitful trees, and so on. The church, in the New Testament, is called the new
Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the true circumcision, the Israel of God, the
body of Christ, God's temple, building, field, his covenant people, new
creation, or colony of heaven. Church members are pilgrims, aliens, exiles,
strangers on the earth, slaves of righteousness or of Christ, heirs, fools for
Christ, citizens of heaven, or ministers of reconciliation. Christ himself is
their righteousness, sanctification, redemption, first fruits, covenant,
temple, high priest, sacrifice, word, or wisdom and power of God. He is called
priest after the order of Melchizedek, man of heaven, Son of God, servant, last
Adam, Son of man, Messiah, and Lord. The
life of faith is described in an almost limitless stock of pictures. It is
soaring or being set in a broad place or on the heights. It is enjoying
freedom, light, order, joy, life. It is being granted never-failing water and
food, knowing shade and rest. It is experiencing the gift of a new heart and
spirit. On
the other hand, the life of faithlessness is described as slavery to sin and
death, and sinners are compared to rebels, disobedient sons, adulterous wives,
whores, worms, backsliders, dead bones, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild
waves, wandering stars, restless young camels, plunging horses, wild asses,
rudderless ships, stubborn heifers, dogs, wilting grass, and choking tares.
They are the old Adam, those of the flesh, cursed by God, and slaves to the
principalities and powers of this present evil darkness. Some
metaphor systems permeate the Bible from beginning to end, for example, those
connected with the Exodus, or with the Temple and sacrificial system, or the
law court. Other metaphors, such as those of light and darkness, are given
expression by many different words (cf. morning star, dayspring on high), while
others draw on the perennial relationships and rounds of family life, as well
as birth and death. Metaphors
may change their meaning from one context to another. Thus, the wilderness can
be an expression of danger and judgment or of love and care; a yoke can be a
figure of sin or of faithfulness. Meanings can be determined only by the context
and by the intention of the author. Other
metaphorical forms, such as those of synecdoche, eponymy, metonomy, parable,
and allegory are frequent in the scriptures. The Bible is rich in figurative
terms, of which we use only a very small portion. Send
comments to: crain@griffon.missouriwestern.edu Copyright 1997MWSC/Jeanie C. Crain
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