Joseph Bascuña

Marcel Angelo Delfinado

Adriel Soreta
Introduction to Sacred Scriptures TH 201
Worksheet 1- Literary Genres

1. Logical Discourse
Hebrews (3:7-15) NAB
“Take care, brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to
forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none
of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ if
only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end, for it is said: “Oh that today
you would hear his voice: ‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion.’”

The genre of this passage from the Letter to the Hebrews falls on a logical discourse
since, the author is appealing for steadfastness of faith in Jesus, basing his experience of
Israel during the Exodus that is having had to suffer because of the unfaithfulness of the
people of Israel and their being weary and giving up in the journey that results from
having the hardness of heart. The text aims to encourage the Christians exhorts the
faithful to remember that the rest that the Christians are called into is the entrance is the
promise that is foreshadowed to the ancient Hebrews and now given to the Christians.
The Sitz im Leben of this verse is categorized as a letter. It is a letter that edifies the
Christian community to be steadfast in faith amidst trials and persecutions.

2. Narrative
Hebrews (7:1-3) NAB
“This Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,” “met Abraham as he
returned from his defeat of the kings” and “blessed him.” And Abraham apportioned to
him “a tenth of everything.” His name first means righteous king, and he was also “king
of peace. Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
 The genre of this passage is a narrative of the priesthood of Melchizedek and his being a
priest of God forever is defined by not having an ancestry and since the rabbis maintained
that anything not mentioned in the Torah does not exist and therefore Melchizedek
remains forever and this text aims to explain the priesthood of Christ. The priesthood of
Jesus Christ is foreshadowed in Melchizedek because of his blessing of righteousness and
peace. The Sitz im Leben of this passage is categorized as a prose or verse.
3. Law
Hebrews (13: 17)
“Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give
an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be
of no advantage to you.”

The passage is about the law of obedience to the leaders of the community which is given
by the author to the Christians. This is a law on how to live as a follower of Christ which
is to follow the leaders. This is a legal narrative since it gives a guideline on how to live
one’s life. The Sitz im leben of the passage is a legal exhortation to the faithful.