Class Assignment: Genre Analysis Essay (Law & Historical Narrative)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genre Analysis Essay (Law & Historical Narrative)

 

 

 

 

 

The King’s University, Southlake, Texas

Biblical Background and Interpretation (2021FA-BIBL-2301-ONL)

Professor: Dr. J. Wallace

10/10/2021

 

By Darrell Wolfe

 

Law and Narrative

            What does it mean that there is “Law” in the Hebrew Bible? The word Torah, often translated Law, is better rendered “Instructions” or “Teachings”. The first five books of the Bible, called The Torah, are primarily Narratives, sprinkled with some Law Code sections. However, they also include Poetry, Prophetic accounts, and Ancient Near East (ANE) cosmologies.[1] The grace of The Torah allowed access to YHWH as a covenant people.

            Narratives include characters, plots, conflicts, rising action, and resolution. The narratives tell us what happened and allow us to reflect on the meaning of the events. Far from moralizing stories that oversimplify the account into a simple “don’t be bad, m’kay”,[2] these narratives provide the opportunity to reflect on what it means to follow YHWH as covenant people. Good guys do bad things, bad guys do good things, and the lines are often blurred between them.[3]

To understand the Law sections, one must first understand ANE treaties or covenants, such as the Hittite Treaties. When a treaty is struck between two peoples (usually a lesser and a greater), the treaty takes a certain form. The Historical Preamble (how we got to the point we are making this treaty), the Witness, Reading, and Storage of the Treaty/Covenant, the Promises/Blessings for honoring the covenant, and the Sanctions/Curses for breaking the covenant.[4]  By understanding the “Law”, not as modern western rigid law codes; but rather, as a Narrative Framework for an ANE Covenant, one can better understand that the codes were for a specific people, in a specific place and time, and then one can extrapolate the wisdom from those codes and see how they might apply today. For example, a parapet is a wall built around the roof.[5] In the ANE, roof tops were a social gathering spot, and this wall would prevent someone from falling off. Today, building-codes require staircase handrails for the same purpose.

Bibliography

 

Duvall, J. Scott, J. Daniel Hays, and Mark L. Strauss and Kevin J Vanhoozer. Grasping God’s Word, Fourth Edition: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 2020.

 

“South Park.” South Park. South Park Digital Studios LLC. Accessed October 10, 2021. https://southpark.cc.com/.

 

The Lexham English Bible (LEB), Fourth Edition. Logo Bible Software. Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010. http://www.lexhampress.com.

 

Witherington, Ben. Reading and Understanding the Bible. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2015.

 

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[1] J. Scott Duvall, J. Daniel Hays, and Mark L. Strauss and Kevin J Vanhoozer, Grasping God’s Word, Fourth Edition: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 2020, Chapter 19 Old Testament-Law.

[2] “South Park,” South Park (South Park Digital Studios LLC), accessed October 10, 2021, https://southpark.cc.com/.

[3] Duvall, Hays, and Vanhoozer, Grasping God’s Word, Fourth Edition, Ch 18 Old Testament Narrative-DO THE “GOOD GUYS” ALWAYS WEAR WHITE HATS?

[4] Ben Witherington, Reading and Understanding the Bible (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2015), 34–36.

[5] The Lexham English Bible (LEB), Fourth Edition, Logo Bible Software, Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.) (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010), Deut 22:8, http://www.lexhampress.com.