5.1 Old Testament Narratives and Their Literary Significance

Old Testament narratives form the backbone of biblical storytelling, weaving tales of creation, fall, and redemption. These stories introduce key themes like divine power, human purpose, and the consequences of sin, setting the stage for later biblical developments.

From Adam and Eve to David and Solomon, these narratives use literary techniques like repetition, irony, and typology to convey deep truths. They've profoundly influenced literature, shaping archetypes and providing rich symbolism that continues to resonate in modern storytelling and cultural imagination.

Major Old Testament Narratives

Creation and Fall

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• The creation story in Genesis 1-2 introduces key themes of God's power, human purpose, and the origins of sin and evil
  • Depicts God as the sovereign creator who brings order out of chaos (separates light from darkness, land from sea)
  • Emphasizes the goodness of creation and the special status of humans as bearers of God's image
  • Establishes the pattern of Sabbath rest and the ideal of marriage as a complementary partnership
• The story of the fall in Genesis 3 explores themes of temptation, disobedience, and the consequences of sin
  • Portrays the serpent as a crafty deceiver who twists God's words and casts doubt on his goodness
  • Highlights the human tendency to blame others and hide from God when confronted with guilt
  • Introduces the curse of death, pain, and relational discord as the result of sin's entry into the world

Flood and Patriarchs

• The flood narrative in Genesis 6-9 highlights themes of divine judgment, grace, and the establishment of a covenant relationship
  • Presents the flood as God's righteous response to the corruption and violence that fills the earth
  • Depicts Noah as a righteous man who finds favor with God and obeys his command to build the ark
  • Establishes the Noahic covenant as God's promise never again to destroy the earth by flood, signified by the rainbow
• The Abraham narrative in Genesis 12-25 focuses on themes of faith, promise, covenant, and the founding of a chosen people
  • Traces Abraham's journey from Ur to Canaan in response to God's call and promise of land, descendants, and blessing
  • Highlights Abraham's faith in God's promise despite obstacles like barrenness and the command to sacrifice Isaac
  • Establishes the Abrahamic covenant as an unconditional pledge to bless Abraham and his offspring and make them a blessing to the nations

Exodus and Kingship

• The Exodus story in Exodus 1-15 emphasizes themes of divine deliverance, the formation of national identity, and the giving of the law
  • Portrays God as the mighty deliverer who hears the cry of his oppressed people and acts to save them from bondage in Egypt
  • Highlights the role of Moses as God's chosen mediator who confronts Pharaoh and leads the people out through the Red Sea
  • Establishes Israel's identity as a covenant people set apart to worship and serve God, culminating in the giving of the law at Sinai
• The David narrative in 1-2 Samuel traces themes of kingship, divine election, sin and repentance, and messianic expectation
  • Depicts David as the divinely chosen king who establishes Jerusalem as the political and religious center of Israel
  • Highlights David's military prowess, his friendship with Jonathan, and his sin with Bathsheba and subsequent repentance
  • Establishes the Davidic covenant as God's promise to establish David's throne forever, pointing forward to the ultimate messianic king

Prophetic Narratives

• The Elijah-Elisha narratives in 1-2 Kings develop themes of prophetic authority, divine power, and the conflict between true and false religion
  • Portrays Elijah as a bold prophet who confronts the idolatry of Baal worship and experiences God's power on Mount Carmel
  • Depicts Elisha as Elijah's successor who performs miracles and pronounces judgment on Israel's unfaithful kings
  • Highlights the ongoing struggle between the worship of the true God and the lure of pagan deities and practices

Literary Techniques in Old Testament Storytelling

Structural Devices

• Repetition is used to emphasize key words, phrases, or events and to create a sense of unity and coherence across the narrative
  • The refrain "and God saw that it was good" in Genesis 1 underscores the inherent goodness of creation
  • The recurring phrase "this is the account of" in Genesis provides a structuring device for the various sections of the book
  • The tenfold repetition of "let my people go" in Exodus highlights the central conflict between Moses and Pharaoh
• Irony is employed to highlight the discrepancy between human intentions and divine purposes, often subverting expectations
  • Sarah's laughter at the promise of a son in her old age is ironic in light of her later joy at Isaac's birth (Genesis 18:12; 21:6)
  • Haman's plot to destroy the Jews ironically leads to his own downfall and the exaltation of Mordecai (Esther 7:10)
  • Jonah's attempt to flee from God's presence ironically leads him to the belly of the fish where he is confronted by God (Jonah 1:3; 2:1)
• Typology foreshadows later events or persons, establishing patterns of divine action that find ultimate fulfillment in Christ
  • Adam is a type of Christ, the new Adam who brings life and righteousness (Romans 5:14)
  • Melchizedek's priesthood foreshadows Christ's eternal priesthood (Hebrews 7:1-3)
  • The Passover lamb typifies Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

Narrative Techniques

• Characterization reveals the inner motivations, moral qualities, and spiritual status of individuals through their words, actions, and relationships
  • Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac reveals the depth of his faith and obedience to God (Genesis 22:1-14)
  • David's refusal to kill Saul when he has the opportunity highlights his respect for God's anointed king (1 Samuel 24:1-22)
  • Jezebel's manipulation of Ahab and persecution of the prophets portrays her as a wicked and idolatrous queen (1 Kings 18:4; 21:1-16)
• Dialogue advances the plot, discloses hidden motives, and provides insight into the relationship between characters and God
  • The dialogue between God and Satan in the prologue of Job sets up the central conflict of the book (Job 1:6-12)
  • The dialogue between David and Nathan after David's sin with Bathsheba leads to David's confession and repentance (2 Samuel 12:1-13)
  • The dialogue between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel exposes the futility of Baal worship (1 Kings 18:20-40)
• Narration provides an authoritative perspective on events, guiding the reader's interpretation and theological reflection
  • The narrator's comment that "the Lord was with Joseph" in Egypt provides a key insight into his success (Genesis 39:2)
  • The narrator's assessment that "David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" sets him apart from other kings (1 Kings 15:5)
  • The narrator's explanation of the reasons for the Babylonian exile highlights the consequences of Israel's unfaithfulness (2 Kings 17:7-23)
• Plot structure often follows a pattern of tension, crisis, and resolution, tracing the redemptive purposes of God
  • The plot of the Joseph story moves from the initial tension of his brothers' jealousy to the crisis of their betrayal and his enslavement, to the resolution of their reconciliation in Egypt (Genesis 37-50)
  • The plot of the book of Esther moves from the initial crisis of Haman's plot to destroy the Jews to the resolution of their deliverance and the institution of the feast of Purim (Esther 3-9)
  • The plot of the book of Ruth moves from the initial crisis of Naomi's loss and bitterness to the resolution of Ruth's marriage to Boaz and the birth of their son, a forefather of David (Ruth 1-4)

Influence of Old Testament Narratives

Literary Archetypes

• The Adamic myth of the fall has shaped conceptions of human nature, sin, and redemption in works like Milton's Paradise Lost and Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter"
  • In Paradise Lost, Milton portrays Adam and Eve's disobedience as the root of all human sin and suffering, requiring Christ's redemptive work
  • In "Rappaccini's Daughter," Hawthorne uses the Edenic imagery of a poisonous garden to explore themes of innocence, corruption, and the consequences of playing God
• The Abrahamic story has inspired explorations of faith, sacrifice, and divine promise in texts like Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling
  • Kierkegaard uses the story of Abraham's call to sacrifice Isaac as a paradigmatic example of the "knight of faith" who obeys God's command despite the apparent absurdity or immorality of the act
• The Exodus motif of liberation has informed slave narratives, social justice writings, and political rhetoric from the Puritans to Martin Luther King Jr.
  • The Puritan "city on a hill" ideal drew on the Exodus story to envision America as a new promised land of religious freedom and covenant blessing
  • Slave spirituals like "Go Down, Moses" used the Exodus story to express the longing for deliverance from bondage and oppression
  • Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech evokes the Exodus journey to the promised land as a metaphor for the struggle for civil rights and racial justice
• The Davidic model of flawed kingship has provided a template for tragic heroes in Shakespeare's plays and other works
  • Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth as a once-noble king undone by ambition and guilt echoes the story of David's fall and judgment
  • Faulkner's portrayal of Thomas Sutpen in Absalom, Absalom! as a larger-than-life patriarch with a tragic flaw and a doomed dynasty mirrors elements of the David story

Prophetic Vision

• The prophetic tradition has fueled visionary and apocalyptic literature from Blake to Yeats to Morrison
  • Blake's poetry and art, especially in works like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, use biblical prophecy as a model for creative and subversive imagination
  • Yeats's poem "The Second Coming" draws on the apocalyptic imagery of the book of Revelation to envision a moment of historical crisis and transformation
  • Morrison's novel Beloved uses elements of biblical prophecy, especially from the book of Ezekiel, to challenge the national amnesia about the horrors of slavery and the need for truth-telling and redemption
• Biblical archetypes like the suffering Job or the questing Jonah have offered enduring patterns for the struggles of the human condition
  • Melville's Moby-Dick portrays Captain Ahab as a Job-like figure wrestling with the inscrutable forces of nature and fate
  • Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea echoes the story of Jonah in its portrayal of an aging fisherman's epic struggle with a giant marlin
  • Kafka's The Trial evokes the plight of Job in its depiction of a man subjected to an absurd and inexplicable legal process
• Scriptural language, imagery, and cadences have profoundly shaped the style and sensibility of Anglophone literature
  • The King James Bible's majestic prose and poetic rhythms have influenced generations of writers, from Melville and Whitman to Faulkner and Morrison
  • Biblical allusions and analogies pervade the metaphysical poetry of Donne and Herbert, the sermons of the Puritans, and the rhetoric of the American Revolution
  • The spare, paratactic style of Hemingway and other modernists owes much to the terse, vivid language of biblical narrative

Symbolic Meanings in Old Testament Stories

Edenic Symbols

• The tree of life and tree of knowledge symbolize the choice between wisdom and folly, obedience and autonomy
  • The tree of life represents the blessing of eternal life in fellowship with God, forfeited by sin but restored in Christ (Revelation 2:7)
  • The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the human grasp for moral autonomy apart from God, leading to judgment and death (Genesis 2:17)
• The serpent allegorically represents the seductive power of temptation and the deceitfulness of sin
  • The serpent's cunning speech to Eve exemplifies the subtle allure of temptation, casting doubt on God's word and goodness (Genesis 3:1-5)
  • The serpent's association with the devil identifies him as the ultimate source of deception and rebellion against God (Revelation 12:9)

Covenantal Signs

• The ark symbolizes both divine judgment on sin and gracious provision for the faithful remnant
  • The flood waters represent God's righteous judgment on human wickedness, cleansing the earth of corruption (Genesis 6:5-7)
  • The ark represents God's gracious provision for the preservation of life, both human and animal, through the faithful obedience of Noah (Genesis 6:14-22)
• Circumcision serves as an embodied symbol of covenant identity, setting apart a people in relationship to God
  • The act of circumcision symbolizes the cutting away of the sinful nature and the consecration of the reproductive organ to God's service (Genesis 17:10-14)
  • The physical mark of circumcision identifies the individual as a member of the covenant community, bound to God's promises and commands (Romans 4:11)
• The Passover lamb allegorically points to Christ's atoning sacrifice and the deliverance from sin
  • The blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts of Hebrew houses protected them from the judgment of the angel of death (Exodus 12:21-23)
  • Christ's death as the ultimate Passover lamb delivers believers from the penalty of sin and sets them free from bondage to sin and death (1 Corinthians 5:7)

Sacred Spaces

• The tabernacle and temple symbolically represent God's presence with his people and the need for mediation and sacrifice
  • The tabernacle in the wilderness was the portable dwelling place of God's glory, where he met with his people through the mediation of the priests (Exodus 25:8-9)
  • The temple in Jerusalem was the permanent house of God's name, where sacrifices were offered for the atonement of sin and the renewal of the covenant relationship (1 Kings 8:10-11)
  • Both tabernacle and temple point forward to Christ as the ultimate meeting place between God and humanity, the true temple who mediates a new covenant (John 2:19-21)
• The promised land of Canaan symbolizes the inheritance and rest that God provides for his covenant people
  • The land flowing with milk and honey represents the abundance and blessing of life in fellowship with God (Exodus 3:8)
  • The conquest of Canaan under Joshua typifies the believer's spiritual warfare against the powers of sin and evil (Ephesians 6:10-18)
  • The Sabbath rest of entering the promised land points forward to the eternal rest and inheritance of God's people in the new creation (Hebrews 4:1-11)