The Bible as Literature

LEARNING MODULE RATIONALE

This module will examine the Bible from a literary perspective. The discussion includes the literary
work‟s selected stories, themes, metaphors and other literary elements which surface the text. This
topic is designed to expose the students to different literary approaches in reading the Bible, regardless
the student‟s religious orientation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the conclusion of this learning module, the students are expected to:

A. Determine the different literary approaches to the Bible.

B. Examine the setting, characterization, plot and other elements of fiction of selected biblical
stories.
C. Point- out the most popular narrative genres found in the Bible.
D. Examine the forms of poetic language used in the Bible
E. Determine specific types of biblical poems.
F. Point- out other significant literary forms in the Bible such as proverbs, satires, and
epistles.
G. Examine the literary qualities of the Gospels of the New Testament.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS

Examine the Bible through a broad overview of its overarching story, religious orientation,
unifying themes, archetypes (recurrent images, character types, and plot motifs), and style.

Click this link: https://bibleasliterature.wordpress.com/lesson-8/#comment-6032

LEARNING CONCEPT

Topic 3
The Bible as Literature

Where Did the Bible Come From?

The first thing you need to know about the Bible is that it is not one book but an anthology of 66
individual books. The word “Bible” comes from the Greek biblios, which means “little books.”

The authorship of the Bible is shrouded in mystery. What we do know is that dozens of authors
wrote it over a span of approximately 1,500 years. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew
and the New Testament in Greek (primarily in the
dialect of koine). For the most part, it was composed
in the Middle Eastern region then called Palestine. It
could be said that the Bible has a national unity in the
sense that virtually all of its authors were Jewish.

The individual books of the Bible gradually were

collected into one volume, but we know little about
the process. We can infer that many parts of the Bible
originally circulated in oral form, but — as with Homer‟s Odyssey — it is difficult to say when
or how these materials were first written down. The phases through which the parts of the Bible
passed were these: composition (in oral or written form), circulation, collection, and
recognition or canonization (acceptance of the collected works as a single sacred book).
What Is Literature?
We‟ve mentioned that literature is made up of many different genres — but what do all these
genres have in common? What traits do they share that enable us to call them “literature?”

Whatever your definition of literature, it should touch on at least these three points:

Literature portrays human experience.

Literary authors not only portray human experience — they also interpret it.
 Literature is an art form. The style of expression — its skillful technique and beauty
— may be as significant as the content of a work.
Literary Perspectives in the Story of Cain and Abel

Does the story of Cain and Abel portray human experience?

Yes, in abundance. Here is a partial list of the conditions and emotions it touches on: sibling
rivalry, domestic violence, the “model” child versus the “problem” child, guilt, remorse,
envy, lying, self-pity, harboring a grudge, giving in to evil impulses — to mention but a few.
How does the author interpret human experience?
Crime will be punished. The story is not just a tale of murder, but also of retribution. Following
the archetypal pattern of the crime-and-punishment story, the author introduces the criminal
(verses 1-4a), gives a motive for the crime (verses 4b-5), describes the crime itself (verse 8), and
the arrest, trial, and sentencing (verses 9-12), as well as Cain‟s ultimate punishment (verse 16).
Does the story have an artistic style?
Yes. The plot of the story is masterfully organized — it is a complete tale with a beginning,
middle, and end. Beyond that, it contains many of the ingredients that make up “artistic form”
in any of the arts: unity, progression, contrast, balance, symmetry, repetition or recurrence, and
variation.
Three Types of Writing in the Bible
In The Poetics of Biblical Narrative, Hebrew scholar Meir Sternberg formulates a very
helpful framework for looking at the Bible. He theorizes that you can break down the Bible
into three types of writing:

 Religious

 Historical

 Literary

In many — if not most — Biblical passages, you may find all three types of writing
converging at once. The Bible is a religious book, and it is a rare passage that does not make
an explicit or implicit comment on how to live spiritually and morally in the world. Secondly,
one of the distinctive features of the Bible is the consistency with which its authors place
events in real-life history.

In the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2), the Garden of Eden is not only a physical
place but a way of life. It symbolizes the simplicity and innocence of Adam and Eve‟s
life before the fall.

In the book of Ruth, the romance between Ruth and Boaz unfolds in a pastoral setting, a
popular locale for love stories throughout the centuries. Why? Because the idealized
“green world” mirrors the idealized romance unfolding within it.

In the story of Jonah (Jonah 1:17), when Jonah is trapped inside the belly of a huge fish,
the setting represents the imprisonment of Jonah‟s futile attempt to flee from God.

Settings serve as a “container” for characters and actions, to establish atmosphere as well as
embody symbolic meanings. A setting contains an action the way a dining room contains a
dinner party: Without the specific context and “props” provided by the room, the dinner
party would not exist.

In the Bible, character is action. Since the storytelling technique is minimal, what a character
does speaks volumes about who the character is. For an example, let‟s look at the story of how
Jacob convinces his older brother Esau to sell him his birthright:

Once, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.
Esau said to Jacob, ―Let me eat some of that red stuff.‖ Jacob said, ―First sell me your
 birthright.‖ Esau said, ―I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?‖ Jacob said,
―Swear to me first.‖ So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.
– Genesis 25:29-34
Solely on the basis of Jacob‟s actions — and without any commentary from the storyteller —
we learn that Jacob is selfish, opportunistic, materialistic, and unsentimental. We also see that
he possesses a canny business sense: He makes the exchange of the birthright legally binding by
having Esau swear an oath.

Direct description. Sometimes a storyteller will comment on a character in a simple,

straightforward way. When we read that “Joseph was handsome and good-looking”
(Genesis 39:6), we can take it as fact; the storyteller knows.

The reactions (or commentary) of other characters in the story. For example, when
Potiphar‟s wife “cast her eyes on Joseph and said, „Lie with me'” (Genesis 39:7),
it confirms the storyteller‟s comment that Joseph was handsome.

Self-description. Occasionally a character in the Bible describes him or herself, such as

when Jacob stands before the king of Egypt and says, “The years of my earthly sojourn are
one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life” (Genesis 47:9).
Plot in Bible Stories
The heart of any plot is conflict. Conflict occurs between the main actor in the drama, the
protagonist (from the Greek, meaning “first struggler”), and the character or forces arrayed
against him or her, the antagonist(s). What draws us into a story and keeps us interested is
suspense or curiosity about its outcome. The stories of the Bible are full of suspense; the
best ones grab your interest and hold it to the end.

Of course, stories are not random bits and pieces of action, but carefully arranged events with a
beginning, middle and end. Three time-honored principles of good writing are unity
(everything relates to a central focus), coherence (individual parts relate to the unifying parts
and to each other), and emphasis (at the end, we are not left to guess what the main point is).

Biblical storytellers use many narrative devices in their plots. One of the most common strategies
they employ is to put their protagonists in situations that test them. The hero‟s test may be physical
(such as David‟s battle with Goliath), mental (such as Moses‟ leadership ability in the Exodus from
Egypt), or spiritual (such as Satan‟s temptation of Jesus in the desert).
Through conflict, fortunes rise and fall, and characters, inevitably, change.

Other common plot devices you‟ll find in Bible stories include:

 A foil is a character who dramatically heightens or sets in relief something that is
important about the protagonist. A good example is the way in which Abel‟s
virtue offsets Cain‟s villainy.
Dramatic irony:
Irony occurs when the reader knows something of which characters in a story are
ignorant. Example: In the story of Ehud‟s assassination of Eglon, we know that the
left-handed assassin is carrying his homemade sword on the unexpected right side and
has therefore escaped detection by the guards.
Poetic justice:
You will find countless stories in the Bible that end with virtue rewarded and
vice punished.
Hero Stories

Life — everyday life as we live it — doesn‟t provide ready-made heroes. Life supplies the
raw materials from which heroes are shaped.

Selected by nature or circumstance, a hero is heightened, silhouetted, molded. He or she is an

interpretation of a human being — a distillation of qualities we hope we might have, such as
strength, wisdom, cunning, steadfastness, loyalty, and compassion. Look at the virtues that
heroes possess and you can learn a lot about the culture from which they sprang. Heroes always
embody the idealized values of the people who created them.

This is not to say that heroes are perfect. Although they possess exemplary qualities, they
invariably have failings, too. They are flawed. They are us — only exaggerated.

The story of Abraham: Genesis 12-24 (pages 20-37)

The story of Daniel: Daniel 1-6 (pages 1304-1317)

The story of Gideon: Judges 3-6 (pages 378-384)

The story of Ruth (pages 410-415)

The story of Esther (pages 738-748)

David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17 (pages 443-446)

The story of Jesus (a selection): Mark 8-11 (pages 1932-1941)

Each of these heroes is unique, yet collectively they share something in common. Each
hero embodies a quality (or qualities) that biblical storytellers deem worthwhile. As you
read the hero stories of the Bible, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What values does this hero embody?

2. What conflicts does this hero face?

3. According to this hero‟s story, what is the goal of life?

The Bible Epic
Do you like a “long read?” Then you‟ll love the epics of the Bible. They‟re sprawling,
encyclopedic tales — “the story of all things,” as noted literary critic Northrop Frye once
called them.

While an epic is built around a hero who performs a great feat — a Moses or David — it is
really the panoramic story of a nation. In the Bible‟s epics, the hero‟s journey is
intertwined with the destiny of the nation as a whole, its conflicts, wars, and dominion.
Events occur on a cosmic stage that is alive with supernatural events. Unlike a typical hero
story, the scope is enormous.

There are two unmistakable epics in the Bible — the Exodus from Egypt and the story of
David. The following readings encapsulate the cores of both epics (page numbers given
for The Harper Collins Study Bible):
Exodus:
Exodus 1-20 (pages 79-117), Numbers 10-17 (pages 218-234), Numbers 20-24
(pages 238-249), Deuteronomy 32-34 (pages 318-325)
David:
1 Samuel 16-17 (pages 442-446), 2 Samuel 5-19 (pages 473-498)

Along with these two full-fledged epics, you‟ll find epic-like stories throughout the Bible,
particularly in Genesis and Old Testament historical chronicles. While these are better
approached as hero stories, they do share the wide scope of epics.

In a sense, you could argue that the Bible as a whole is an epic. The book encompasses the
history of all people and nations, from the creation of the world to the end of time. True to
epic form, supernatural characters and marvelous events occur throughout the Bible.
Comedy and Tragedy
You have good days and bad days. This is the rhythm of life. It is also the rhythm of
literature, where comedy and tragedy form a complementary whole.

Comedy and tragedy are pregeneric forms; they occur within other genres. Hero stories and
epics can be either comic or tragic. For example, the hero story of David is a tragedy, while
the hero story of Ruth is a comedy. You could argue that the Bible as a whole is comic,
culminating in the “happy ending” of Revelation 21-22 (pages 2335-2337 in The Harper
Collins Study Bible).

The parables are folk literature, simple enough on the surface to be understood even by
young children. They are brief, they tend to focus on a single event, and they feature a small
cast of characters, usually archetypal figures such as the rich man, the master and his
servants, the prodigal son. As literature, they feature realistic characters in everyday settings
— no supernatural events or miracles occur in a parable.

They are also religious in nature, specifically Christian. The parables require a symbolic or
allegorical level of meaning to make them significant. The very word parable means “to
throw alongside,” suggesting that double meaning is an essential mark of the parables.

Many details in the parables stand for something else. For example, the parable of the sower
and the seeds (Matthew 13:1-9) is too simple in itself to interest us; when we realize that the
different types of soil symbolize different hearers of Jesus‟ words, the tale takes on deeper
meaning.
Biblical Poetry

“From Homer, who never omits to

tells us that the ships were black
and the sea salty, or even wet,
down to Eliot with his „hollow
valley‟ and „multifoliate rose,‟
poets are always telling us that
grass is green, or thunder loud, or
lips red. This is the most remarkable of the powers of poetic language: to convey to us
the quality of experiences.” —C. S. Lewis, The Language of Religion The Language
Poets Use
Even if you‟ve never written a sonnet or haiku, you use poetry all the time. You speak of the
sun rising, of juggling your schedule, of running to the grocery store. Every day, you use
poetic idioms, just as poets do.

If everyone uses the same words, what, then, is poetry? It is the specialized use of language
to convey figurative, rather than literal, meaning. It is language condensed, heightened, and
patterned for aesthetic effect.

Roughly one-third of the Bible is written in poetic form. Here are some of the key
ingredients you‟ll find in the Bible‟s poetry:

Imagery.
The use of words to paint pictures, evoking a concrete sensory experience of people,
places, and things: “He makes me lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:1).
Simile.
A comparison between two things that uses “like” or “as” — A is like B: “They are
like trees planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3).

Metaphor.
A comparison between two things that forgoes “like” or “as” to say that A is B: “The
Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).

Apostrophe.
Addressing someone absent as though the person (or people) were present: “Depart
from me, all you workers of evil” (Psalm 6:8).

Personification.
Endowing a non-human subject with human attributes or actions: “Let the hills sing
together for joy” (Psalm 98:8).

Hyperbole.
Conscious exaggeration for emotional effect: “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm
18:29).
Let‟s look at a biblical poem to identify the elements of poetic language it uses. Read Psalm23

Psalm 23: A Psalm of David

1
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name‟s sake.
4
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
 for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6
Surely your goodness and love will follow
me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell
What images does the poet use? How does the central metaphor evoke meaning?

In Psalm 23, what images does the poet use?

Green pastures, still waters, dark valley, a shepherd‟s rod and staff. The images are
concrete, specific, drawn from nature and everyday life. Psalm 23 is built around
the controlling metaphor of a shepherd herding his sheep to safety.

How does the central metaphor evoke meaning?

The poet‟s strategy is to compare God to a shepherd and his creatures to sheep. The
poem recreates a typical day in the life of a shepherd, and it shows him guiding and
protecting his flock. Figuratively, God extends this care and protection to people,
shepherding us through “the darkest valley,” where we may fall victim to predators
just as sheep may fall blindly in a gully.
The effect of the poem is not only to paint a picture of a world of natural beauty that
is fraught with hidden perils — darkness and evil — but also to reassure and comfort
us with images of stability and sustenance.
When we talk about poetic idiom, we are discussing the content of poetry. The form
in which it is presented, however, is just as important as the language that is used.

What Is Poetry?

Here are some famous definitions:

―The rhythmic creation of beauty.‖ (Edgar Allan Poe)

―The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.‖
(William Wordsworth)
―Simple, sensuous, and passionate.‖ (John Milton)
―Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.‖
(Samuel Coleridge)
―The art that offers depth in a moment.‖ (Molly
Peacock) ―Memorable speech.‖ (W.H.
Auden)
Lyric Poetry

Psalms, The Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Lamentations . . . The Bible is a veritable

anthology of poems. Vast sections of the prophetic or visionary parts of the Bible are
written in poetic form, as is the Book of Job, a drama. Still, when we speak of a
“poem” in the Bible, we generally mean a lyric poem.

A lyric is a brief poem containing the thoughts or feelings of a speaker, usually

intended to be sung aloud. It is condensed, self-contained, and packed with meaning.
Most lyrics have a three-part structure:

1. Introduction
2. Development
3. Resolution

Lyrics typically have a single theme that unifies the poem. The theme appears
throughout the poem in variations. After the introduction, the poet develops the
theme using one or more of the following formats:

Repetition:
Restating the theme
Contrast:
 Presenting an opposite emotion or phenomenon as counterpoint the theme
Listing or catalog:
Delineating specific aspects of the theme
Association:
Elaborating on the theme using related ideas

Typically, lyric poetry is personal. The poet expresses his or her thoughts and feelings
directly, capturing an intense emotional moment or epiphany. As personal, subjective
verse, a lyric is not directed to us, the general reader, but to a specific audience —
God, the nation, the starry night sky. We are merely eavesdropping on the poet‟s
moment of thought or feeling.

While most biblical poems are lyrics, the Bible contains a host of other poetic genres.
In virtually every instance, these genres are specific types of lyric poems. Perhaps the
most famous of these are the Psalms.
Poetic Types in the Bible

Psalm means “song of praises.” The Old Testament Book of Psalms (also known as the
Psalter) is a Temple collection, which means that the poems were used in an official
capacity at the Temple in Jerusalem. In essence, the psalms contain the whole gamut of
religious emotions — from lamentation and grief to joy, love, and awe. In his
commentary on the Book of Psalms, John Calvin called the Psalter “an anatomy of all
the parts of the soul.”
A psalm may be either private or communal, and each has its own characteristics. A
praise psalm testifies to the worthiness of God, either God‟s activity on a given
occasion or an attribute or quality that God possesses always. It is written in a three-part
format:
1. A formal call to praise (which may include a command to praise, the naming of the
group to whom the command is uttered, and the naming of the mode of praise, such
as voice or lyre)
2. The development of praise (a listing of the praiseworthy acts or attributes of God)
3. The conclusion of praise (often a brief, final prayer or wish)
 Similarly, a psalm of lament has five main parts — an invocation to God, a
definition of the crisis (the lament or complaint itself), a petitioning of God to act, a
statement of confidence in God, and a vow to praise God.
Outside the Book of Psalms, other poetic genres become more prevalent. The Song
of Solomon (also known as the Song of Songs) is an anthology of love lyrics. In the
Old Testament book of Proverbs, we find the encomium — a poem in praise of an
abstract quality or general character type. The Christ hymn is a lyric form unique to
the New Testament.
Here are some examples of each poetic genre we‟ve mentioned:
o Lament psalm: Psalm 10
o Praise psalm: Psalm 33 or Psalm 103
o Worship psalm: Psalm 84 (page 879)
o Nature poem: Psalm 104 (pages 896-897)
o Love poem: Song of Solomon 2:8-17 (pages 1003-1004) or 4:1-8 (page 1005)
o Encomium: Proverbs 31:10-31 (in praise of the virtuous wife; pages 984-985)
o Christ hymn: John 1:1-18 (pages 2013-2014) or Colossians 1:15-20
(pages 2212-2213)
Proverbs, Satire, and Epistles

While stories and poetry dominate the Bible, a host of genres thrive in its pages.
This lesson looks at three significant literary forms: proverbs, satire, and epistles.

A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7)

This famous proverb fulfills the classic definition of an aphorism — it is a concise,
memorable statement of truth. It is one of many proverbs you will discover in the
Bible. In fact, the Bible may be the most aphoristic book in the world. Proverbs are
embedded within its narratives and poems, and much of the New Testament is
inherently proverbial. And if that isn‟t enough, the Bible has the wisdom literature
of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs — whole books devoted to proverbs.

What are the essential features of the biblical proverb?

A gentle tongue is a tree of life. (Proverbs 15:4)

Those who trouble their households will inherit wind. (Proverbs 11:29)
A good wife is the crown of her husband. (Proverbs 12:4)

Based on these examples, we can make a few generalizations about what a proverb is.
First and foremost, it is memorable, an insight conveyed with striking brevity. It is both
simple (easily grasped) and profound (it gets to the heart of an issue). It is often poetic
in form, using such staples of poetry as concrete images, metaphors, and similes. The
language used is both specific — tongue, tree, wind — and universal.
If we turn from the form of a proverb to its content, it is important to bear in mind our
most basic literary principle — that the subject of literature is human experience. The
truthfulness of a proverb reflects the way things are in the world. A proverb
encapsulates universal, recognizable human experience.

As you analyze a proverb, ask the following questions:

 What human experience does the proverb describe?
 How does the proverb achieve its effects? (Does it use concrete imagery,
figurative language, or other poetic idioms?)

 What does the proverb mean? What virtue does it encourage, what vice
does it denounce and what value does it offer for approval?
As a case study, let‟s look at the proverb, “Like a bird that strays from its nest is one who
strays from home.”
What human experience does the proverb describe?
It cautions against the physical dangers and moral temptations that threaten people when they
leave the grounding influence of home and family.

How does the proverb achieve its effect?

It takes the poetic form of a simile — one who strays from home is like a bird that strays
from its nest.

What is the meaning of the proverb?

It commends the virtue of home, warns about the vice of getting into trouble when away
from home, and affirms the value of home.

Biblical Satire
In his classic The Educated Imagination, Northrop Frye claims that “there are two halves to
literary experience. Imagination gives us both a better and a worse world than the one we
usually live with.” Satire is the preeminent genre used by writers who want to show a
world gone awry.

The distinguishing mark of satire — the element that allows you to know for certain that you are
dealing with a satire — is an object of attack. If a writer is attacking someone or something, the
discourse immediately has a satiric element. Although writers of satire usually take on one main
object of attack, they often take potshots at a whole range of subjects (a feature that one literary
critic calls “satiric ripples”).

In itself, satire is not necessarily literary. It can occur in an editorial, song, cartoon, or any
other vehicle. Satire becomes literary when it is couched in a distinctly literary form, such as
narrative, proverb, or lyric. Biblical satire appears in virtually every genre — story, parable,
poetry, epistle, discourse, visionary writing, and more.

Even though all satire targets something foolish or evil, there is always a stated or implied
satiric norm by which the object of attack is satirized. In the Bible, satiric norms include the
character of God, the moral law of the writer‟s religious community, basic virtues like love,
generosity, or humility, and the golden rule (behaving toward others as one wants to be
treated by others).
Finally, tone (the writer‟s attitude toward the material) is crucial in satire. Two modes of
satiric attack exist: Satirists can either laugh vice and folly out of existence, or they can lash
vice and folly out of existence. Drawing on the Roman tradition, angry satire is called
Juvenalian satire, while lighthearted satire is called Hortian satire.

Satire in the Bible

Where can we find satire in the Bible? Practically everywhere. To get a feel for the many
forms in which biblical satire appears, you may want to peruse some of these examples:

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 (pages 992-993 in The Harper Collins Study Bible). Here we see
satirein proverbial literature. These proverbs deal with the futility of trying to find
satisfaction in money: It doesn‟t satisfy one permanently (verse 10), wealth is attended by
numerous anxieties (verse 12), and so on. The satiric norm appears in verses 18-20: The
antidote to the futile pursuit of wealth is acceptance of what God gives you.
The Book of Jonah (pages 1375-1378) is satire in narrative form. While most of the
satirein the Bible is serious, the Book of Jonah is a masterpiece of humor in the Bible —
the story of a pouting prophet whose career is a veritable handbook on how not to be a
prophet. Jonah embodies the nationalistic, ethnocentric zeal that views God as the
exclusive property of the Jews.
The Book of Amos (pages 1357-1369) is an example of satire in prophetic literature. As
aplainspoken satirist, the prophet Amos spews out a kaleidoscopic collection of literary
forms and objects of attack. What unifies the book is its satire: From start to finish,
Amos either attacks vice or appeals to a standard of virtue from which the wealthy and
privileged classes of his society have departed.
The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37, page 1980) embodies satire
inparable form. The object of attack is self-centeredness, indifference, and lack of
compassion toward people in need. The Good Samaritan‟s acts of mercy embody the
satiric norm of love and compassion.

For an example of satire in visionary literature, look at Zechariah 5 (pages 1416-1417). It is

a fantastic vision of a flying scroll, a woman named Wickedness, and two flying women
with stork-like wings. The objects of attack are people who steal and lie.

This is but a small selection of biblical satire. As you read these and other samples of satire
in the Bible, you will discover that it is a fundamentally subversive genre. Its aim is to
unsettle us and undermine our complacent belief that people and institutions are basically
good.
The Gospels

What is uniquely literary about the Gospels of the New Testament?

Are the Gospels “Unliterary”?

At first glance, the New Testament Gospels seem strange and difficult. Each tells the story of
Jesus‟ life, but only half of each Gospel is narrative in form. The rest of the material is what
we might call “discourse” — speeches, parables, theological dialogues and debates, satire,
and proverbs (also called “sayings” in the text). This diverse hodgepodge makes the Gospels
seem unconventional — and even unliterary.

Structurally, the Gospels are story cycles, a common format in the ancient world but not well
known to modern readers. Their plots are episodic and, in some ways, disjointed — events do
not build on each other by cause and effect, but are brief and self-contained mini-stories
within the story. Once an episode is finished, it drops out of sight forever. (In part, this may
be due to the fact that the Gospels were originally circulated orally.)

The Gospels‟ style often seems too plainspoken to be considered literary. They use simple,
unembellished language. (An exception to this rule is the Gospel of John, which employs
poetic imagery.) One sign of how spare the Gospels are: There is not a single physical
description of the main character, Jesus, in any of the four Gospels.

Perhaps what most makes the Gospels most seem unliterary is their heavily didactic
(“having the intention to teach”) content. While the entire Bible is religious, the Gospels are
even more so. Unlike the richly human stories of the Old Testament, the Gospels focus
intensely on doctrinal teaching.

Despite the evidence — simple style, didactic content, and piecemeal organization —
the Gospels are not as unliterary as they appear at first, as we will see in the next
section.

What Is Literary in the Gospels

Diverse as their material is, a closer look reveals that narrative is the glue that holds the
Gospels together. They feature such hallmarks of storytelling as a central character (Jesus),
a chronology of events (however loose), and unifying dramatic conflicts (usually
between Jesus and his disciples or the Pharisees).
Within the narrative structure, we find many familiar genres, including “hero” stories, parables,
mini-dramas, sermons, proverbs, satire, and poetry. We also find a host of genres unique to the

Gospels, including:

 Nativity stories (stories surrounding the birth of Jesus)

 Calling or vocation stories (stories in which Jesus commands people to
follow him) Recognition stories (stories in which a character discovers
who Jesus is)
 Witness stories (stories in which either Jesus or another character testifies
regarding who Jesus is or what he has done)
 Encounter stories (stories in which Jesus encounters an individual or group)
 Conflict or controversy stories (stories in which Jesus engages in an
argument or conflict with someone)
 Pronouncement stories (an event accompanied by a memorable
saying by Jesus) Miracle stories
 Passion stories (stories surrounding the trial, death, and resurrection of Jesus)
 Even though each Gospel is a mosaic of these brief, often self-contained
episodes, the episodes themselves are filled with literary appeals to our
imagination (our image-making ability).

Consider this passage:

―Jesus went out again beside the sea: The whole crowd gathered around him, and he
taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax
booth, and he said to him, ‗Follow me.‘ And he got up and followed him.‖ — Mark 2:13-
14

With just these two verses, a full and vivid scene comes alive in our imagination. It is filled
with movement — Jesus walking beside the sea, the crowd gathering around him, Jesus‟ terse
call to Levi {“Follow me”), and Levi‟s sudden decision to do so.

Throughout, the Gospels use heightened language like metaphor, simile, and other figures
of speech. In fact, the discourses of Jesus are essentially poetic.

Look at the conciseness, parallelism, and metaphoric language at play in these lines from Jesus‟
most famous discourse, the Sermon on the Mount: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the
gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.
For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
(Matthew 7:13-14)
Perhaps the most defining trait of literature is conscious artistry, and we find this in the Gospels as
well. We see artistic use of parallelism not only in the statements of Jesus — “Ask, and it will be
given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Matthew7:7)
— but in the greater narrative structure as well. For example, the Gospel of Matthew artfully
alternates between passages of narrative and discourse. In the Gospel of John, a “sign” (usually
a miracle) performed by Jesus is often paired with a discourse on the same subject, as when
Jesus miraculously provides food for a crowd and then talks about himself as the bread of life.

Examination of the Gospels allows us to see not only their literary qualities. Next we will
look at what unifies this diverse material into four cohesive pieces of literature.

Archetypes in the Gospels

Wherever you turn in the Gospels, you will find familiar literary archetypes: heroes,
villains, conflicts, journeys, miraculous transformations, ordeals, happy endings, feasts,
and storms, among many others.

The Unity of the Gospels

What unifies the kaleidoscopic material of the Gospels? Above all else, the Gospels tell
the story of Jesus‟ life, chiefly the events of his last three years, what is known as his
public ministry. Discourses, parables, debates, and dialogues all occur within the frame of
the main story. In fact, they all contribute to the cumulative effect of Jesus‟ life story.

We tend to view a modern novel as a sprawling canvas, but when we look at the Gospels, it
may be more helpful to see them in terms of mosaic and collage. Until the story reaches the
final week of Jesus‟ life — where a single chronology dominates all four Gospels — the plot is
a patchwork of episodes. We are given snapshots from the life of Jesus, a scrapbook of the
protagonist‟s daily life.

And Jesus is the protagonist, clearly occupying center stage. All other characters flow outward
from him as if in concentric circles. Closest to him are the disciples, his immediate followers. In
the next concentric ring are the members of the religious establishment, the Pharisees, a force
hostile to Jesus (hence the chief instigators of conflict in the plot). Beyond the Pharisees are
ordinary people; at times, they are nameless masses, at other times particular individuals.
The masses typically respond to Jesus either with acceptance or rejection, belief or disbelief.
Jesus himself is what unifies the Gospels. They paint a portrait of him in words and actions, a
portrait of an itinerant teacher, miracle worker, religious leader, and perennial source
ofcontroversy (in the stories, he generates debate wherever he goes). We are constantly
observingJesus‟ teachings, Jesus‟ actions, and how people respond to him.

In a way, the world Jesus inhabits sketches him in relief. As literary critic G. Wilson Knight
describes it, “We see Jesus silhouetted against a world of formalized religion, hypocrisy,
envy, evil and suffering.” We see what he is like by how different his behavior is from that of
the characters swirling around him.

Another feature that unifies the Gospels is geography. In each Gospel, we travel with Jesus from
one locale to the next — the books almost function as a travelogue for ancient Palestine. Jesus
becomes the archetypal wanderer, so much so that at one point Jesus tells his followers, “Foxes
have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
(Luke 9:58)

Style is a final unifying aspect of the Gospels. The most notable stylistic trait of the Gospels
is their economy of words and details. As in the Old Testament stories, we find a
preference for brevity, realism, dialogue, and drama, all serving a simple,
unembellished story.
REFERENCES

Roberts, E.(1983). Writing themes about literature. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc.

Barnet, S., et al. (1977). An introduction to literature. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, Inc.

The Bible as Literature: the Bible ~ a literary work and an artistic presentation of human
experience. Retrieved from https://bibleasliterature.wordpress.com/lesson-1/ January 26, 2015

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