Genres of scripture
Christians often think that the Bible is a lot like a history book -- it tells things as they happened, in order, giving just the facts. Some parts of the Bible are like that, but some aren't. They are still part of God's communication with us.
Genre: "A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content" - The Free Dictionary. (Pronunciation -- John-er).
The Wikipedia has an extensive list of genres found in the Bible. They include:
historical narrative
law
wisdom literature
psalms Many parts of the Psalms don't seem to be meant to be taken literally.
From Psalm 23: are we really going to enter green pastures, and walk by still
waters? Will we really sit at a table in the presence of our enemies?
What is the valley of the shadow of death?
From Psalm 114: When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language, 2 Judah became his sanctuary Israel his dominion. 3 The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan as driven back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. 5 What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back? 6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams; you little hills, like lambs? (All scripture from the World English Bible, public domain, unless specified otherwise. Long quotations are in this color.)
apocalyptic literature (Revelation, much of Daniel)
the gospels: The Wikipedia list does not classify these as historical narrative. Other Bible scholars treat the gospels as mostly or entirely historical, although some parts of the gospels are prophecy, and some (Such as Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55) are poetry, or psalm-like. There is quite a bit of non-historical material in the gospels. For instance, Nicodemus didn't understand the concept of new birth. Jesus, according to John's gospel, was (spiritually, not literally) the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Door, the Good Shepherd, and the Way.
Some parts of the Bible are clearly some sort of fiction. See verses 8-15 in the story below (Jerubbaal is another name for Gideon):
Judges 9:1 Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 “Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
3 His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and reckless fellows who followed him. 5 He went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. 6 All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together with all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. 8 The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
9 “But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honor God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
10 “The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’
11 “But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
12 “The trees said to the vine, ‘Come and reign over us.’
13 “The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
14 “Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come and reign over us.’
15 “The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
16 “Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands 17 (for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; 18 and you have risen up against my father’s house today and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); 19 if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; 20 but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech.”
21 Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
Other parts of the Bible, including parts of the gospels, may have been either historical, or fictional. Was there a real prodigal son, or did Jesus just tell this story to show God's love? Was there a real Good Samaritan, or did Jesus just tell a story to point out that giving help to those who need, even if not from our ethnic group, is important? The parables make their point as well if they are narratives of something that really happened, or were told as fictional stories with an important meaning. Some parts of the gospels are clearly meant as non-historical. Nicodemus asked if a person could be physically born again. He missed the point. Jesus said that He was the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, and the Bread of Life, in John's gospel. He said that the Holy Spirit was living water. These descriptions were not meant to be taken as history.
Not all Bible scholars would agree with the Wikipedia's list of genres, or would agree with which Bible parts are of which genre.
In a later post, I hope to discuss the interpretation of Genesis 1-2.
Thanks for reading! Please comment, if you can figure out how to do so.
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