Handout 06
A. Features To Observe When Reading Narrative:
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In general, Old Testament narrative is written in a straight-forward manner. So, in general, we should…
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Pay attention to the details. // Even though the Old Testament adds up to be rather large, the individual accounts are often rather brief; so the details count. If the writer slows down to give more detail, it’s important.
To Note! OT narrative often does not give you all of the info you might like to have. But it gives you enough for you to know what you need to know in order to assess the episode you are reading.
For example:
1 Samuel 15, Saul and the command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. -
Similarly, if something gets lengthy treatment, it is probably important.
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Editorial Comments. Note comments which give direct moral or theological evaluation, comments which offer a value judgment on what is happening in the story. I call these “editorial comments”.
They give us God’s perspective on the events recorded. The classic example is: “They did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
Other examples are:
Judges 9:56-57;2 Kings 17:7-23; and1 Chron 10:13-14. -
Pay attention to the dialogue. // By “dialogue” we mean whenever someone is speaking, whether or not there is a back-and-forth conversation.
The story as told by the narrator is sometimes called the "narrative proper."]In particular, pay attention to lengthy statements or speeches or prayers by “approved persons.”
An "approved person" is — someone who is commended in Scripture (e.g., Moses, Abraham, Joshua, David, Solomon [sometimes ☹️], Josiah, etc.), or, someone whose conduct shows genuine faithfulness to God (Joseph, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah). Note, however: Just because a person is a main character in an episode does not guarantee that he/she is an "approved person".In OT narratives, the dialogue often carries the theology of the passage.
Example:
Gen 22.On the other hand, the Bible sometimes records people saying things that are not true. When the narrator is speaking, what is said will always be true. But when a person is speaking, sometimes what they say is not true. (e.g.: King Saul,
1 Sam 23:7)
B. Principles of Special Value for Interpreting Narrative:
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Bear in mind the prior theological framework provided by Scripture, especially the foundation set by the Pentateuch. This is what the text “assumes” you know.
Example:
Deut 18:10,11↔1 Samuel 28. -
What happens in narrative is to be judged by the general teaching and the prophetic sections in the rest of the Old Testament.
Pay attention to other Scriptures (especially in the OT) to see if they make it clear whether the action recorded is good or bad.
Example:
1 Sam 28↔1 Chron 10 -
Read the passage and then keep reading. Ask:
- What does the rest of Scripture do with this event? (
Gen 35:22) - What does the rest of Scripture do with the information given here? (
Gen 34)
- What does the rest of Scripture do with this event? (
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Ask yourself: What is the point, the purpose, of this passage? Why is it recorded? A good way to find the purpose of the passage is to ask:
If this passage was not in the Bible, what would we miss, what would we lose?
The answer to that question may well be the point of the passage.
Examples:
- The Joseph narrative (
Gen 37-50). - The account of Rahab (
Josh 2-6).
- The Joseph narrative (
Do Not -
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Do not ignore the context while trying to draw applications from a small detail of a narrative.
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Do not assume the that Bible recommends something it merely records.
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Do not “overdrive” your evidence. That is, do not draw a big conclusion or make a big application you cannot show clearly from the text.
- Often, the Bible itself .
- But if the Bible itself does not draw any conclusions about an event, or does not focus
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Do not neglect the passage by merely “typologizing” the recorded events, or by spiritualizing, seeking to find a “hidden spiritual meaning” for every incident and detail in the Old Testament.
E.g.:
Genesis 22:17“like sand of the seashore ↔ like stars of the sky.”