Reading Our Bibles, Part 5

      When we rightly divide God’s Word, we must divide between genres. A genre, you remember, is a particular kind of writing that makes use of certain styles, forms and conventions. The main genres in the Bible are instruction, narrative, poetry, parable, proverb, prophecy, apocalypse.

Instruction: This is the genre most typically used in the epistles. The writing is prose. While figures of speech will be used for emphasis, the instruction is usually straightforward. Keep in mind, the epistles were not written to us. The instruction for us, in the epistles, is determined by first giving consideration to the author, his audience and the historical context. It cannot mean for us what it was never intended to mean for them.

Narrative: The Old and New Testament histories are typically given in the form of narratives. A narrative is simply a story. Narratives record what happened. They do not always state whether what happened was good or bad. Narratives illustrate principles without giving a direct statement of doctrine. For instance, the narrative of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39) did not instruct us with a direct statement that fornication is sinful. However, the story most definitely illustrated what was taught instructionally in Exodus 20:14. Keep in mind that narratives do not include every detail of the events described, but only what the author felt was necessary to make his point. That is why narratives of the same event in different gospels or in different Old Testament histories contain slight differences.

Poetry: This is one of the more difficult genres of scripture. Few of us delve into modern poetry very much, let alone ancient poetry. Here are a few keys to remember. Hebrew poetry often made use of parallelisms, we must, therefore, be careful of over analyzing each word in the poem. For instance, in Psalm 19, the author speaks of the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, etc. David was not delineating different objects that accomplish different things. He was poetically praising the word and law of God. Further, poetry is used to evoke emotion, not logical thought. That is, the poems are usually intended to make our hearts soar with the greatness and mercy of God or tremble at His power and judgment. They are not designed to teach us the intricate details of theological doctrine. These are poems, not doctoral dissertations. Poetry is purposefully metaphorical. Do not be distracted by the words themselves, but rather determine what the metaphor or figure is intended to signify. For instance, God is called a rock, fortress, shield, shepherd, etc. These are not to be taken literally, but seen as figures representing the nature of God and His relationship to us.

      Next week we will look at more genres found in the biblical writing. Certainly we are not being exhaustive, but this is a starting place for us to remember to read our Bibles.

Edwin L. Crozier