How To Study The Bible Like A Pro - Class #8e - Methods Of Bible Study - Conclusion Series

E. Literary Formats

When reading the Bible it becomes evident that it is comprised of many different literary formats each of which is utilized to a different end. Correctly identifying the various types of writing in the Bible is a skill that will enhance your personal Bible study in allowing you to properly interpret the words you are reading. Where the poetic passages allow for incredible imagery, powerful expressions of thought, and great lyrical beauty the narrative passages are better suited to the representation of historic details and technical descriptions. The genealogical and prophetic passages are also used to better present the material being presented by each. Understanding how each genre is used will assist you as you seek to discover the meaning of any passage being studied.

1. Wisdom Literature (or Proverbs)

Wisdom literature consists of proverbs laid out in the format of Hebrew poetry but which generally do not have the same style or impact of poetry proper.

Proverbs are statements (usually couplets of contrasting ideas) giving generalizations describing how life in general goes for the subject of the proverb.

Where poetry may take some time to develop a theme to maturity the proverbs are most often single statements or pairs of statements, though occasionally a series of proverbs be used to develop a single theme (such as occurs in the treatment of the theme of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes).

It is important to note that Proverbs do not usually have universal application nor are they usually universal truths but are more along the line of rules of thumb with a religious meaning, although many proverbs may be interpreted to be of eternal significance in describing the final outcome of the righteous and the rebellious. Proverbs must be treated with as much care as the rest of the Bible to determine how they are to be applied to our lives today.

2. Narrative

Narrative literature is that which lays out its material in a prose style of writing.

Information is presented without adornment, poetic structures may be inserted into the text but overall the passage resembles a modern novel in its design. Our concept of discrete sentences, paragraphs, and chapters would be alien to the ancient Hebrew writers, in fact many of the oldest manuscript copies have no sentence or paragraph breaks at all. One must be careful to follow the progression of thought contained by the passage itself apart from the occasionally arbitrary sentence, paragraph, verse, and chapter structure placed upon it by various translators and scholars.

A subset of the narrative form is historical writing which differs from the narrative mainly in the sense of its view of time. Narrative is generally written with regard to the present while history is written with regard to the past. In the case of the books of the kings of Israel and Judah it is done to present a moral standpoint by contrasting the actions of the various kings to that desired by God.

Historical writing also allows present day readers to view past events as though they were there.

In this regard Genesis is historic in that Moses wrote what God revealed to him of events that occurred at times ranging from the recent past to events of several thousands of years in the past. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, however, are narrative because Moses is primarily writing about events as they occur and most certainly within the memories of people still alive at the time of the writing.

3. Letters

Letters are personal communications between an author and a specific recipient.

The added feature is that they were circulated to a wider audience either after the original recipients were finished with them or out of obedience to the wishes of the authors.

Biblical letters should be read like a letter form a loved one; from start to finish in a single sitting to grasp the full impact of the purpose, or occasion, of the letter and the points that the author is making.

Reading a letter in bits and pieces destroys the force of it if read in bits and pieces, here and there.

Larger letters, such as Paul's letter to the church in Rome, may not suffer as much as the smaller letters in being read in sections, but even these were received by their recipients as a single communication from someone who cared deeply for them.

4. Genealogy

The Israelites placed a great value on genealogical records so that each person's familial background would be understood.

Liberties were taken with the genealogies on some occasions for reasons of emphasis.

Ex: The division of the generations of Jesus into three small groups of fourteen (see Matt 1).

This would be done as a memory device and possible for literary symmetry and in no way takes from the accuracy of the genealogy in this particular instance as its stated purpose was to prove that Jesus Christ is God, the Son. Names were omitted indicating that certain generations have been left out. However, that does not overwhelm its goal.