The Bible as Literature

1
The Bible as Literature
2
What Makes Up The Bible?

• The Bible in the West includes the Hebraic and
  Christian scriptures, respectively the Old and
  New Testaments.
• Jews accept the Old Testament as their
  foundational text.
• Christians broaden that outlook to include both
  the Old and New Testaments.

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• Accepting the scriptures as the revealed word of
  the Lord is a matter of faith, and systematic
  analysis of the scriptures is theological
  interpretation, which results in a code of
  beliefs called religion.

4
1.What does it mean to read the Bible as
literature?

• Even if divinely inspired (The Word of God) the
  Bible is still a product of human beings written
  for human audiences.
• The book is a collection of writings
• produced by real people who lived in
• actual historical times.

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The Authors

• Came from a variety of social positions and
  professions
• Kings
• Shepherds
• Doctor
• A Tax Collector
• Fishermen

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CONTENTS OF THE BIBLE

• --The Bible is the common heritage of us all,
  whatever our religious beliefs.
• --The Bible contains various literary forms
  written for a variety of purposes

• It contains genealogies, laws, letters, royal
  decrees, instructions for building, prayers,
  proverbial wisdom, prophetic messages, historical
  narratives, tribal lists, archival data, ritual
  regulations, and information about personal
  problems
• Poetry-Prayers-Short Stories- Novels- Gospels

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Each Bible story has CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

• Aeitiological
• Charter
• Instructional

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AEITIOLOGICAL

• Explains how concrete objects or abstract
  concepts that exist in the world came to be.
• Concrete (Physical) things Sun, Rain, Bears
• Abstract (Conceptual) things Justice, Sin, Shame

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CHARTER

• Explains how religious rites, rituals and
  ceremonies came into existence.

• Marriage
• Bar Mitzvah
• Baptism
• Sacrifice
• Circumcision

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INSTRUCTIONAL

• Teaches a community or individuals how to behave
  appropriately

• Obey God
• Obey your elders
• Dont sleep with your brothers wife
• Dont drink water that has a dead moose in it

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2.What is the Bible about?

• The structure
• --The Bible as an anthology--a set of
• selections produced over a period of
• some one thousand years.
• The Old Testament (39 books)
• The New Testament (27 books)

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• The Old Testament (39 books)
• timeline creation of the universe and of
• mankind to the end of BC
• subject history of Israel
• original language Hebrew
• The New Testament (27 books)
• timeline AD to the end of the world
• subject life of Jesus
• original language Greek

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An Overview of the Major Parts of the Bible--Each
with its Distinctive Literary Features

• OLD TESTAMENT
• Pentateuch
• Historical Books
• Wisdom Books
• Prophetic Books

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• NEW TESTAMENT
• The Gospels (Historical and Wisdom)
• Travel Literature (Historical)
• Epistolary Literature (Historical)
• Apocalyptic Literature (Prophetic)

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The Pentateuch

• Called the Pentateuch, the first five books of
  the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
  and Deuteronomy), also called the Torah by the
  Jews, contain numerous literary forms
• In Genesis, the story of Creation is a literary
  catalogue distinguished by classification and
  division and by incremental repetition.

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• The Pentateuch, continued contain numerous
  literary forms
• In Genesis Continued In the first stage or day
  of Creation, the narrator recounts that God
  created light, divided it from darkness, and
  classified the light as day and the darkness as
  night.
• The narrator follows the same pattern in
  describing subsequent days of Creation.
  Accordingly, God separates the earth from the
  sea, then creates the respective creatures
  dwelling on land and in the water.

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Test Items/Characters - Old Testament

• Creation numbers (next lecture)
• In the Garden- Adam and Eve
• The First Murder Cain and Abel
• The Great Flood Noah and symbols
• Babel Theme
• Abraham A Promise and a Test- Abraham, Sarah,
  Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac, Holy Messenger

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Test Items Continued

• Jacob- (also known as Israel), Isaac, Esau
• Joseph Dreams, Joseph, Coat of many colors
• Moses The Calling Moses, Aaron, Burning
  bush, numbers
• Moses Challenging Pharaoh the Plagues,
  Passover, Red Sea, Miracles in the Desert

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Test Items

• Samson- Samson and Delilah
• David David, Goliath, Bathsheeba
• Jonah- Numbers, Symbols,
• Job- Theme, Theodicy, Comforters
• Daniel- Daniel, Darius, Dreams, Symbols

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Story of Adam and Eve in the Garden

• Remember to use images-
• Do NOT use many words in your presentation

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Archetypal Message/Theme/Lesson

• Three Major Themes
• Man can be easily tempted toward Sin.
• Man must know his place before God and show
  appropriate deference for authority.
• Disobedience is punished!

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Archetypal characters

• The Caretaker

• The Hero, Temptress,
• The Outcast

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Archetypal images/symbols/settings

• Paradise

• The Apple

• Serpent

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Cultural significance

• The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden is
  Aetiological helping to explain how sin and
  temptation came into the world.
• This is also a charter story that helps to
  explain marriage.
• Finally, the story is instructional in that it
  teaches human beings subservience to God.

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The Great Flood

• Similar to the Gilgamesh narrative.
• Differs in the motivation behind the cause.
• Differs in the construction.
• The pattern of Gods judgment and mercy.

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Genesis contains the recurrent literary theme
describing a trial or test during which the
characters exercise the virtues of faith and
obedience.

• Noah tested in the flood.
• Abraham tested when God commands him to sacrifice
  Isaac.
• As protagonists in the stories of Genesis, the
  patriarchs by their trials, sufferings, and
  eventual triumph resemble heroes in literature.

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The Tower of Babel

• Aetiological- And so Yahweh scattered them upon
  the face of the Earth, and confused their
  languages, and they left off building the city,
  which was called Babel "because Yahweh there
  confounded the language of all the
  Earth."(Genesis 115-8).

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• When God speaks in this story, He uses the
  phrase, "let us go," referencing the trinity (3).
• God says in Genesis 116, "If as one people
  speaking the same language they have begun to do
  this, then nothing they plan to do will be
  impossible for them." (NIV)
• God realizes that when people are unified in
  purpose they can accomplish impossible feats,
  both noble and ignoble. This is why unity in the
  body of Christ is so important.

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• Some scholars believe that this marks the point
  in history where God divided the earth into
  separate continents.

• To build, the people used brick instead of stone
  and tar instead of mortar. They used "man-made"
  materials, instead of more durable "God-made"
  materials. The people were building a monument to
  themselves, to call attention to their own
  abilities and achievements, instead of giving
  glory to God.

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Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael

• The Child of Promise

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Abraham

• Known  called the father of the Jews and is
  considered the founder of the Jewish religion. He
  was the first to believe in one all-powerful God
  instead of many gods.
• Christians and Muslims also honor Abraham and
  trace their belief in one God back to him.
• Progenitor of the three major Western Religions.

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(These came after Isaac and Ishmael)
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Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael

• Ishmael

• Isaac

• Son of Abraham and Hagar
• Known as the Outcast
• Muslims believed that he is the sacrificial son
  as he was Abrahams only child for 13 years.
• Becomes the progenitor of Arabs and is an
  ancestor of Mohammad.

• Son of Abraham and Sarah
• His son is Jacob who will become known as Israel
  and whose 12 sons will become the 12 tribes of
  the Jews.
• Because he was born to a sterile mother (Sarah)
  he is seen as an example of Gods providing for a
  savior.

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Job

• Theodicy- The problem of evil. Why does evil
  exist in the world? Why do bad things happen to
  good people?
• Jobs comforters- Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
• Schadenfreude- taking pleasure in the misfortunes
  of others.
• God as judge, and the adversary (satan)

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The Book of Job

• The Book of Job extols an exemplar of faith and
  fortitude who is beset by one misfortune after
  another.
• Urged by his wife to renounce the Lord, who is
  perceived as having unjustly punished one of his
  faithful servants, Job enhances his fortitude and
  affirms his faith despite intense suffering.

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• Urged by friends to accept blame for the
  disasters of his lifethus allowing them to
  maintain a sense of order in the universe.
• Calls for a conference with God.
• Gets no answer, but is responded to by the Lord
  Himself.
• In the course of suffering, Job becomes humble,
  learns the limitations of human intelligence in
  probing the mystery of God, and marvels at the
  higher wisdom of the Lord that humankind can
  never fully comprehend.

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NUMBERS IN THE BIBLE

• Numbers in the Bible have deep spiritual and
  symbolic significance.
• Although the books of the Bible have multiple
  authors, there seems to be a remarkable
  consistency with number symbolism throughout the
  Bible from Genesis to Revelation
• Numbers reference both Good and Evil.

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Important recurring numbers and their meaings in
the bible

• 1-Beginning, First
• 2- Witness, Separation
• 3- The Godhead, Trinity
• 4- Earth, Creation
• 6- Man, Beast, Satan
• 7- Perfection, Completeness
• 10- Law, Government, Restoration

• 12- Divine government, Apostles
• 13- Rebellion, apostacy
• 30- Consecration, maturity
• 40- Trial, Test, Probation
• 75- Separation, cleansing
• 666- Antichrist, Satan, the damned triplicate

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Important recurring numbers

• THREE- Trinity, Let us go in Babel, Noah had 3
  sons, Jonah in Fish, 3 comforters, 3 wise men,
  Jesus in tomb Peters denial, 3 patriarchs of
  Judaism,

• FOUR- Creation, (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water)
  Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Gospels

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Important recurring numbers

• SEVEN- Perfection, Combination of God creation
  including mankind. 7 days and nights in Genesis,
  in Noah, in Joseph,7 years of plenty,
  (Jesus-77th in line from Adam).

• TEN- 10 commandments, 10 plagues, (10 generations
  between Adam and Noah Noah and Abraham.)

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Important recurring numbers

• TWELVE- 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) become the 12
  Tribes of the Jews, 12 apostles (12 days of
  Christmas).

• FORTY- 40 days and nights of rain, 40 years in
  the desert (Israel), 40 days and nights (Jesus),
  40 days after the resurrection before the
  ascension.

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THE NEW TESTAMENT

• BIRTH and NATIVITY
• Where is he who has been born king?
• MINISTRY and MIRACLES
• Is this not the Carpenter?
• The Sermon on the Mount
• Parables
• DEATH AND RESURRECTION
• Last Days in Jerusalem
• The Tomb is Empty

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Characters from the new testament

• Jesus- as Man, as God
• Mary- Mother of God
• Joseph- Jesus human father
• Herod- tries to kill Jesus
• Peter- denies Jesus at his death
• Judas- betrays Jesus
• Thomas- doubts the resurrection

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Parables

• Instructional stories meant to reveal a truth or
  teach a lesson.
• Sometimes confusing and ambiguous.
• The Good Samaritan
• Prodigal Son
• The Great Supper
• The Lost Sheep The Lost Coin

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Historical Books

• Among the historical books of the Bible, Samuel,
  Kings, and Chronicles predominate.
• They are part of the Jewish scripture called the
  Nebim (the prophets)
• Officially in the Jewish tradition there are two
  subsections
• The former prophetsfrom the entrance to Canaan
  to the Babylonian captivity.
• The later prophetsIsaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and
  the 12 minor prophets.
• They describing the roles of kings and prophets
  among the Chosen People and the evolution of a
  nomadic community into a political and military
  kingdom in the land of Canaan.

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Historical Continued

• Emphasized are the first monarchies of Saul and
  David, the histories of various kings, and the
  grandeur of their temporal realms.
• More important is the role of the prophets as
  spokespersons of the Lord.
• Inveighing against monarchs and the people for
  their periodic lapses in fidelity to the Lord,
  the prophets uphold the expectations of the Lord
  in the midst of a community whose majority, at
  times, becomes wayward.

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Literary Form of Narrative

• The histories of the kings are presented in
  accord with the literary form of the exemplum, an
  example or case study.
• The kings who are faithful to the Lord thrive,
  whereas the unfaithful sovereigns are punished,
  even to the extent of being defeated by their
  enemies in battle. When impelled by vainglory and
  by lusts (materialistic or carnal), the kings are
  self-indulgent.

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Literary Form of Narrative

• In line with the literature of didacticism, these
  books teach readers clear-cut lessons concerning
  one's relationship with the Lord, the virtues to
  be imitated and the vices to be shunned, the
  importance of fidelity to the Lord and his
  heavenly realm, and the dangers of inordinate
  attachment to worldly pleasures and possessions.

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• Thus, the prophets, in contrast to the kings, are
  self-disciplined, abstemious, and humble. Such a
  state of purgation and purity readies them to
  accept and disseminate the word of the Lord.

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Wisdom Books

• Among the so-called Wisdom Books, the most often
  cited are Job, Psalms, Proverbs (also known as a
  Book of Wisdom), and The Song of Songs.
• In the Jewish tradition these are contained in
  the Kethubim (the Writings)
• The collective wisdom of these books instructs
  people concerning the adversities of life and the
  means to withstand and overcome them.
• In short, the Wisdom Books stress fortitude and
  faith in the Lord in the present life so that one
  may be rewarded.

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• In doing so, the Wisdom Books adapt the overt
  methods of didactic literature
• to highlight exemplars who manifest faith and
  fortitude during adversity,
• to dramatize a prayerful relationship between the
  people and the Lord,
• to cite aphoristic lore derived from the
  experience of generations, and
• Aphoristic a concise statement of a principle
  or a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment
  (Webster.com).
• to use allegory in highlighting the interaction
  of the Lord and humankind.

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The Book of Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 911, "I returned, and saw under the
  sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the
  battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the
  wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor
  yet favour to men of skill but time and chance
  happeneth to them all."

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The Psalms

• Psalm is based on the Greek word which
  represents the sound of a plucked string.
• Hebrew poetry is not based on strict metrical
  pattern alone (as in Greek or Latin) or on
  metrical pattern and rhyme (as in English and
  other modern languages).
• It works by what is known as parallelism. A
  first statement is repeated or amplified in a
  different form--The statutes of the Lord are
  right, rejoicing the heartthe commandments of
  the Lord is pure,enlightening the eyes (198
  KJV) (Berggren).

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Psalms Psalm 96
55

• The Psalms, collected into a book or Psalter,
  number approximately 150, including both communal
  songs and prayers and individual utterances,
  often set to music.
• Like lyrical poetry, which was often sung or
  recited to musical accompaniment, the Psalms
  manifest a tonal range that includes primarily
  praise and gratitude to the Lord and the
  self-examination of a sinner who becomes a
  penitential suppliant.
• Since many of the Psalms are attributed to King
  David, they are called the Davidic Psalms
  (Labriola).
• Psalm 117 The Audio Bible King James

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The Book of Proverbs

• The book is a compilation of gnomes, a word
  derived from the Greek to know.
• It is presented in the manner of gnomic or
  sapiential literature, which is commonplace in
  cultures as varied as the Greek and the
  Anglo-Saxon,
• the Book of Proverbs provides pithy summations of
  wisdom to be imparted to younger generations.
• As a distillation of the lessons learned by an
  older and wiser generation, the Book of Proverbs
  imparts a philosophy of life, a perception of
  one's place in society, and an outlook on one's
  relationship to God.

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The Song of Songs

• Also called the Song of Solomon and the Canticle
  of Canticles.
• The text features a loving relationship,
  including courtship and marriage, between a
  bridegroom and his wife.
• Though attributed to Solomon and interpreted as
  his wedding song to his beloved, the Song of
  Songs is more often perceived by Christian
  commentators as allegorical literature.
• Especially through lyricism, drama, and dialogue,
  the work suggest various interrelationships
  (Labriola)
• God and His People (or one soul)
• Jesus and His Church
• Christ and his mother Mary

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• The description of the beloved to a company of
  horses in Pharaoh's chariots (Chap. 1).
• Robert Alter clarifies this perplexing reference
  a mare in heat, let loose among chariotry, could
  transform well-drawn battle lines into a chaos of
  widely plunging stallions.
• The male celebration of female sexuality as
  landscape is familiar to readers of later love
  poems.
• However, the Song of Songs is also remarkable for
  the frequency with which the woman speaks
  (Berggren).

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Prophetic Books

• The term prophet is derived from a Greek word
  meaning to speak on behalf of (Britannica).
• The prophets were ancient Israelites who spoke to
  the nation on behalf of God. In other words, they
  were preachers.
• Their purpose was not, as is often mistakenly
  assumed, to foretell the future.

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• The prophets were men who interpreted Israel's
  behavior in the light of God's laws and
  frequently found reason to condemn that behavior.
  
• The prophets also declared that Israel would be
  punished for breaking the laws.
• A series of national disasters that befell Israel
  seemed to prove the merit of the prophetic
  warnings
• Israel was conquered or subjugated in turn by
  Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome over a
  period of seven centuries (Britannica).

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Thus, these Prophetic Books recount the lives and
activities of major and minor prophets who were.
. .

• summoned by God,
• received the divine word, and
• preached it to the people.

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• The literary genre of prophecy, including the
  oral traditions and written narratives of
  Graeco-Roman and biblical antiquity,
  characterizes the prophets as spokespersons with
  two major functions
• (1) to admonish the people against wrongdoing,
  usually violations of their covenant with the
  deity, and to foretell punishment if wayward
  conduct persisted
• (2) to proclaim the expectations of the Lord,
  which the people are urged to heed.

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• In the literary genre of prophecy, prophets
  typically received communication from God through
  dream-visions and trances.
• Unaware of their surroundings and impervious to
  external stimuli, prophets became more attentive
  to divine communication.
• Characterized as zealots who were abstemious and
  at times ascetic, prophets renounced the
  temptations of worldliness and carnalism,
  purifying themselves to become fit vessels to
  receive and disseminate the divine word.
• Isaiah, in fact, cleansed his lips with a burning
  coal as a gesture of self-purification. (??)

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• As they inveighed against wayward rulers of the
  Israelites or against the people at large, the
  prophets often jeopardized their physical
  well-being while they served as divine spokesmen.
  
• Whether imprisoned, persecuted, or martyred, the
  prophets were resolute in their faith in God and
  in their steadfast service,
• This passion derived, in part, from the dramatic
  manner in which prophets were summoned to their
  ministry, which often led to their ardent zeal
  reflected in denunciations of wrongdoing, in dire
  predictions of the imminent wrath of the Lord,
  and in vivid descriptions of the torment of
  everlasting damnation.
• The preaching of Jeremiah, notably mournful in
  his lamentations and fierce in prophesying the
  Lord's wrath, gave rise to the term jeremiad, a
  diatribe often couched as a sermon admonishing
  sinners that their souls will be in the hands of
  an angry God (Labriola).

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The Book of Jonah

• Jonah also spelled Jonas, the fifth of 12 Old
  Testament books that bear the names of the Minor
  Prophets, embraced in a single book, The Twelve,
  in the Jewish canon.
• Unlike other Old Testament prophetic books, Jonah
  is not a collection of the prophet's oracles but
  primarily a narrative about the man. (similar to
  the patriarch narratives).
• Jonah is portrayed as a recalcitrant prophet who
  flees from God's summons to prophesy against the
  wickedness of the city of Nineveh (Britannica).

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• Like Odysseus, Jonah is a reluctant traveler who
  takes refuge in sleep.
• Ancient writers use symbolic details like this to
  suggest delicate psychological states of mind
  (Berggren).
• A clear example of a travel archetype.
• Go a great distance to the edge.
• Come back with a new understanding.
• Jonah is willing to obey
• Jonah learns that his ways are not Gods.

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• According to the opening verse, Jonah is the son
  of Amittai.
• This lineage identifies him with the Jonah
  mentioned in II Kings 1425 who prophesied during
  the reign of Jeroboam II, about 785 BC.
• It is possible that some of the traditional
  materials taken over by the book were associated
  with Jonah at an early date, but the book in its
  present form reflects a much later composition.
• It was written after the Babylonian Exile (6th
  century BC), probably in the 5th or 4th century
  and certainly no later than the 3rd, since Jonah
  is listed among the Minor Prophets in the
  apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, composed about
  190.

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• Like the Book of Ruth, which was written at
  about the same period, Jonah opposes the narrow
  Jewish nationalism characteristic of the period
  following the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah with
  their emphasis on Jewish exclusivity.
• Thus the prophet Jonah, like the Jews of the day,
  abhors even the idea of salvation for the
  Gentiles.
• God chastises him for his attitude, and the book
  affirms that God's mercy extends even to the
  inhabitants of a hated foreign city.
• The incident of the great fish, recalling
  Leviathan, the monster of the deep used elsewhere
  in the Old Testament as the embodiment of evil,
  symbolizes the nation's exile and return.

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Works Cited

• Berggren, Paula. Teaching With the Norton
  Anthology of World Literature Vols. A-C. New
  York Norton, 2002.
• Cauthron What the SNU Religion Department
  Believes and Teaches What SNU Teaches.
  http//home.snu.edu/hculbert/dept.htm (13 Sept.
  2005).
• Fairchild, Mary The Tower of Bable Story
  Summary About.com Christianity 19 Sept. 2010
  lthttp//christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummar
  ies/p/towerofbabel.htmgt
• "Jonah, Book of." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005.
  Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
  20 Sept. 2005 lthttp//school.eb.com/eb/article-904
  3916gt.

70
Works Cited Continued

• Labriola, Albert The Bible as Literature The
  Literary Encyclopedia. (16 June 2003)
  http//www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rectrueU
  ID1283 (13 Sept. 2005).
• Walton, John H. "Is there Archaeological Evidence
  of the Tower of Babel?" Christians Answers. 19
  Spt. 2010 lthttp//www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/a
  br-a021.htmlgt

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Historically Accurate?

• "Are the individuals mentioned in the Old
  Testament (such as Adam, Eve, Noah, Jonah, Job,
  David, and Solomon) real people or just
  allegories for teaching principles?"
• Scripture everywhere speaks of them as real
  people. Archaeological exploration in the Middle
  East have pointed increasingly to many
  identifiable parallels (names, places, artifacts,
  and texts) with things in the Bible. These
  parallels give warrant for accepting the
  actuality of persons named in the Old Testament
  (Cauthron).
• Remember, however, their importance is not
  determined by their historical but spiritual
  reality.

72
A good way to describe these texts is to call
them "primeval narratives / traditions"

• These stories focus on events that took place
  long before humanity began to document its
  history and civilization.. . . These chapters
  contain narratives about the world out of which
  Israel's ancestor Abraham came to follow God's
  call." Discovering the Old Testament 62).

73
"Can you really diminish the historical
legitimacy of any Biblical character without also
diminishing the theological legitimacy of the
lessons that character conveys?"

• This question appears to assume that historical
  veracity is the complete measure of all truth. To
  say it another way It takes the affirmation "If
  it is historical, it is true" and turns it into
  the statement "If it is true, it is historical."
• Yet, one must ask how we usually understand
  Jesus' parables in the gospels. Must we hold that
  Jesus referred to a specific, living individual
  when he spoke about a farmer, a land owner, a
  wife making bread, a pearl merchant, a father who
  divided his possessions (see Matthew 13 and Luke
  15)?

74

• The theological truth of a parable is not
  lessened, or made any less legitimate, when we
  assume that these were stories of what might
  happen rather than specific reports of what
  actually transpired in someone's life.
• In fact, Biblical interpreters through the
  centuries have argued that the father in the
  prodigal son parable would not have been a real
  Jewish father in Jesus' day. In that culture, a
  father would not be so foolish as to do what the
  younger son asked, because the request was an
  insult to the father. Yet, these same
  interpreters have spoken at length about the
  message and meaning of the parable with regard to
  Jesus' emphasis upon God as Father.

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     To return to the question to "diminish the
historical legitimacy" of a character in the
Bible may undermine the legitimacy of the
theological affirmations associated with that
character's story, but not necessarily in every
instance.