{"id":17925,"date":"2021-03-01T18:15:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T23:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/?p=17925"},"modified":"2021-03-17T19:14:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:14:28","slug":"the-bible-uses-full-range-of-literary-techniques-to-retell-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/2021\/the-bible-uses-full-range-of-literary-techniques-to-retell-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible uses full range of literary techniques to retell history"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREENEVILLE<\/strong> \u2013 Reading the Bible not only provides spiritual nourishment but also invites someone to experience varied literary techniques that bring to life the divinely inspired text.<\/h3>\n
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Dr. Scott Hummel<\/p><\/div>\n

During a presentation Friday, Feb. 26, Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum University<\/a>\u2019s president, highlighted the biblical uses of word play, contrasts, poetry, characterization and chiasm.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hummel\u2019s lecture, \u201cBiblical Historiography,\u201d was the second and final one for the 30th annual Theologian-In-Residence<\/a> series. He conducted the talk via the Zoom virtual platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we read biblical histories and stories, we need to discern the authors\u2019 multi-layered intentions as well as the abundant literary techniques used,\u201d Dr. Hummel said. \u201cThe Bible\u2019s historical narratives are also literary. They are composed of different literary genres and use an abundance of literary devices in highly sophisticated ways. Not only do they provide historical and theological insight, they stand as some of the richest and most influential literature ever written.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Hummel highlighted several of the literary devices used in biblical historical narratives.<\/p>\n

Word play is commonly used to advance the story and draw attention to particular details. To illustrate, he discussed the story of Samuel as a young boy working for Eli the priest at Shiloh, the fall of Eli\u2019s family and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant. Dr. Hummel said 1 Samuel demonstrates the causes of the calamities through word play of a single Hebrew word \u201ckabod.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word play is difficult to discern in English translations because numerous English words, such as \u201chonored,\u201d \u201cfat,\u201d \u201cglory,\u201d \u201cheavy\u201d and \u201charden,\u201d are used to translate the same Hebrew word.<\/p>\n

Word play is a powerful literary device that advances the story and, in this instance, enables the reader to understand why Eli\u2019s priesthood fell, he said.<\/p>\n

Another biblical storytelling method highlights contrasts between different characters. The books 1 and 2 Samuel contrast the actions of Eli with those of Hannah, Samuel\u2019s mother; Saul with David; David with Uriah; and David in his early reign with David later. Another example of intentional contrasting is illustrated through the stories of Rahab and Achan in the book of Joshua.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biblical historians use contrasting and juxtaposition to illustrate points that would not be a clear without them,\u201d Dr. Hummel said.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, the Bible uses prose to express historical narrative, but it also uses poetry to describe more effectively the powerful emotions caused by events. The story of Deborah as a judge is first expressed in prose in Judges 4 and then emotionally voiced in poetry in Judges 5. The Bible is not limited to a single way of retelling history.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, from a modern perspective, we want to impose our own rules and say, \u2018History has to be written one way and in one sequence,\u2019\u201d Dr. Hummel said. \u201cBut the biblical historians richly use all stylistic forms at their disposal to tell their stories, including poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Characterization is a powerful and effective tool used to persuade the reader to interpret events in a particular way, Dr. Hummel said. He said a typical style of characterization occurs in 1 Samuel 10:26-27 ESV with the description of those who joined Saul at his home as \u201cmen of valor whose hearts God had touched\u201d and others people as \u201cworthless fellows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Hummel pointed to Joshua 22, which illustrates how differently the same event can be characterized. In this story, the eastern tribes build an altar near the Jordan River as a witness to their tribal unity and as a memorial to the service to God. The western tribes, however, characterize the same altar as a breach of faith, sin and rebellion.<\/p>\n

Civil war nearly broke out between the tribes, until Phineas listened to both sides instead of jumping to a conclusion based merely on characterization. When some refused to listen to their enemies, Phineas wisely averted war.<\/p>\n

While modern readers typically expect a historical narrative to be told in chronological sequence, the Bible often uses more sophisticated structures to advance a story and interpret its meaning. Dr. Hummel said a chiasm is one such method.<\/p>\n

Chiastic structure is symmetrical in that the first and last portions of a story match, the second and second-to-the-last portions align and the center of the narrative becomes the focal point of the story. As an example, he cited the story of Solomon in 1 Kings 1-11. It begins with the establishment of Solomon\u2019s kingdom and the end concludes with the disestablishment of his kingdom. Stories of Solomon\u2019s wisdom bracket the central and most important part of the narrative, which is the construction of the temple.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hummel said another interesting element of biblical historiography is the presence of multiple versions of the same story. For instance, he noted two versions told about Israelite history. He noted that those who compiled the Bible did not feel as if they had to pick one version over the other but instead chose to keep both versions to give a broader meaning to that history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a modern sense, we would have a great temptation to syncretize or to figure out which version is right and which one is wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cThe biblical material acknowledges that both are right, even in tension and even with some different emphases.\u201d<\/p>\n

The history of Israel is given twice in two versions in the Old Testament. Scholars describe the history written in Joshua through 2 Kings as the Deuteronomic history because of its use of the book of Deuteronomy. The version of Old Testament history in 1 Chronicles through Nehemiah is called the Chronistic history.<\/p>\n

The same dynamic applies to the Gospel, which is expressed through four Gospels, Dr. Hummel said. Matthew and Mark reflect a Jewish perspective, Luke expresses a Gentile perspective and John provides a philosophical perspective. John 21:25 acknowledges that all the books in the world are not sufficient to tell the whole story.<\/p>\n

As he finished his presentation, Dr. Hummel offered 10 guidelines for interpreting biblical historical narratives.<\/p>\n