Week 3.
1 Interpreting Narrative
Genre
A category of artistic composition
Shows up in
Movies
Music
Painting
Architecture
Writing
Literary genres - kinds of writings
Old Testament
Narrative - The language of story
Law - The language of relationships
Poetry - The language of emotion
Wisdom
Songs
Discourse
Lament
Prophecy
Narrative
Prose writing
Basic story
The largest genre in the Bible
The form of history
Ancient historiography revolved around biographies rather than events;
revolved around one person
Completing the story rather than a chronological structuring of material is
important
Not always history
Parable is an example
Drama? - some suggest
An Important Part of Scripture
2 Tim. 3:16-17 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebelling,
correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
Narrative is a part of scripture and useful for
Teaching
Rebuking
Correcting
Training in righteousness
Be Equipped!
Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness
Character through the lens of David or Joseph
Spirituality through the lens of Ahab or Daniel
Family dynamics
Parenting through the lens of Isaac or Rebekah
Marriage through the lens of Jacob or David
Theology
God’s sovereignty through miracles
God’s patience through Nebuchadnezzar or Hosea
Etc.
Features of Narrative
Theological purpose -
Re ects imperfections
Insults by the writer
Profanity
Quirks
Etc.
Sophisticated Literary style
Narrative and Historiography
Biblical history writing (historiography) is in the form of narrative
Biblical history writing isn’t modern historiography
Chronological order is not as important
Precise detail is not the goal
Objectivity isn’t the intention - it is to tell God’s history with the people
The Goal of Biblical History
To tell the story of God’s saving activity
For the Hebrews and Christians to tell their own story - but centered around God
To engage the reader
Interpreting Narrative
Seek out the historical context
To understand the way the ancients lived
To guard against anachronisms
To read the text on its own terms
Look for literary devices—How does the author highlight certain things?
Literary Devices
Plot—What happens in the story
Setting—Where and when the story happens
Character—Who’s involved in the story
Refrain and repetition—Elements used to mark out sections
Recurring elements—used to draw attention
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Inversion—Flipping an expected outcome
Ambiguity—presenting something that can be understood in di erent ways
Word Play—Toying with vocabulary for emphasis
Names—Embedding ideas in names of people, places, and things
Theme—Ideas owing through the story
Motif—A dominant idea owing through a story
Echo Narrative—One text is written with another in mind
Type-scenes
Stories presented in a formulaic pattern
Barren women type-scene
Hero arming for battle
Death of the opponents of divine messengers
Interpreting Narrative
Seek out the historical context
To understand the way the ancients lived
To guard against anachronisms
To read the text on it’s own terms
Look for literary devices—How does the author highlight di erent things?
Hunt for divine activity
Little picture within the big picture
Big picture beyond the immediate story
Ponder God’s heart
Through the lens of the rest of scripture
Psalms, Prophets, New Testament
Look for editorial comments
Within the text
2 Samuel 11:27 “But the thing David had done displeased the
Lord”
Within the broader cannon
1 Cor 10:1-6 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in
the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same
spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock
was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were
overthrown in the wilderness.
6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they
did.
Allegorical (symbolic) application
Theological assessment
Moral lesson
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Observation is not inherently approval or disproval
The Bible doesn’t approve of every story or situation it observes
Clarify interpretation with the New Testament whenever possible
Observation is not inherently approval or disproval.
The Bible observes many types of marriage it does not approve
Through plot development and resolution
Through speci c teaching
Mark 10:2-9 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful
for a man to divorce his wife?” What did Moses command you? he replied. They said
Moses permitted a man to write a certi cate of divorce and send her away. It was
because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law Jesus replied. But at the
beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. And the two will become one
esh. So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let
man not separate.
Can truth be derived from literary elements like plot, theme, inversion, omission, etc.?
When scripture doesn’t make the connection for us
Conclusions based on and constrained by study, community, and the Spirit
Wrapping Up
Narrative is the language of story
The dominant genre in scripture has it’s own set of rules for strong interpretation
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