1) What is narrative literature in the Bible? Narrative books of the
Bible are those that tell a story, or recount an incident in an orderly
manner. (AB 431)
2) Examples of narrative literature: Genesis, Joshua through Esther,
the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles
3) Contrast Leviticus, Proverbs, Isaiah, Romans, as non-narrative
literature—not telling a story at all, though sometimes it is held together
by a loose story. The non-narrative books are not trying to tell us a
story—they are trying to convey a point or points
4) Why discuss narrative literature at this point? Because right now
we have the biggest chunk of storytelling in the Bible—the sacred history
of Israel.
5) It is the history that Israel is telling about itself and its experience
of standing on the shore of the promise land and finally, the story of how
that promised land is lost at the hands of the Babylonian Empire.
6) So, where are we? Moses has died, Joshua is the new CEO, and
he and all of Israel stand on the edge of the Jordan, ready into the land
that God has promised them (show map)
Over The River And To The Promised Land: Joshua & The Conquest of
Canaan
1) Great! God promises a land for the people of Israel. The
problem: the promise lands have current tenants
2) Israel’s job: to evict the current occupants
3) Chapter 1-12: With the help of the prostitute Rahab, Joshua &
Israel enter the Promise land, defeat most of the current occupants, and
take control of much of the land.
4) Chapters 13-21: The booty (land) gets divided up
5) Chapters 23-24: Like Moses, Joshua gets a farewell speech,
exhorting the people to be faithful to their God
6) The people of Israel will be ruled by God and no human king: a
model theocracy
Side Question: Is ethnic cleansing OK if God says its OK? Joshua 6:21,
8:2, 8:24-29
1) Current trial of Milosevic
2) The dilemma for us—who is this God who orders the mass
slaughter of a people?
Who Wrote Joshua?
1) Remember that deutoronomist dude? The guy who wrote
Deuteronomy and who was obsessed with the covenant between God
and the people of Israel—as well as the people being obedient to God?
Most scholars think it was him or folks from his “school” who wrote this
portion of the Bible.
2) Deutoronomist History: Deuteronomy through 2 Kings, except for
Ruth with various additions and editing that took place by the end of the
late seventh century or early 6th century (622 BCE to 575 CE)
3) The Deutoronomist has three main points he works into the
texts—his agenda, so to speak, in telling the story.
a. Obedience to the law of Deuteronomy
b. Centralized worship in Jerusalem
c. Strong kingship as exemplified through David (Davidic dynasty)
4) Joshua is especially setting us up for the latter point, as seen in
Judges: the people of Israel are sorely in need of a strong ruler, one that
doesn’t emerge until Saul and David.
Judges: When Joshua is away, the people will fall apart.
1) Name of the book comes from 12 leaders who settled the
disputes (judged) among the 12 tribes of Israel.
2) Judges also lead the people into battle, as old enemies re-
emerged and the unfinished task of conquering the Promise Land
nagged the people.
3) Been called “ a collection of rogues, outlaws, lowlifes, seducers,
harlots, assassins, mercenaries, rapists and torturers”
4) Couple of points in this book that the author seems to want to get
across:
a. Things had gotten way out of hand, thus…
b. A strong hand was needed, a powerful king
Judges 19: How Bad Things Really Got
Summary of the story: A Levite goes to retrieve his runaway concubine
at her father’s house in Bethlehem, and on his way back, he stays in
Gibeah. The men of Gibeah, a perverse lot, threatened to gang rape
him, and his host offers his daughters instead. The “hell-raisers” refuse
the offer, and the Levite throws out his concubine, who is raped her all
night. The next day, the master wakes up, says, “get up, let’s go” and
she does not respond. He puts her on a donkey, takes her home, then
cuts her up to send a rallying cry to other tribes of Israel against the tribe
of Benjamin, whose members included the townspeople of Gibeah.
1) Where is God in the text?
2) So ambiguous and disturbing that the Greek translators added
“for she was dead” onto v. 28
3) The disposability of women
4) This incident almost destroyed the tribe of Benjamin
Ruth: The Farmer Takes A Wife or the Wife Takes a Farmer
1) The story is about loyalty: loyalty between family and loyalty
between God and humans.
2) The book shows how Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi brings about God’s
loyalty to Israel—this is about the beginning of the Davidic line
3) This is not part of the Deutoronomistic narrative, but works well
here because it shows the roots of the strong king to come (David)
Three Men And A Kingdom: 1 Samuel
1) Probably at written by the same person or “school”, with
additions, so we’re going to treat it as one work (about 600 BCE)
2) Samuel is the last judge and he realizes the need for a strong
king—the theocracy is not working—direct rule by God is not working.
3) The people demand a king in 1 Samuel 8—and God gives into
their request.
4) Saul is called in various ways, Samuel says his goodbyes, and
then proceeds to not be a very good king (1 Sam 8-15). God is
disappointed in God’s first choice.
5) Samuel returns on the scene and is led to David. The problem:
Saul loved and hated David and ultimately spent a lot of time chasing
David down, until finally Saul kills himself rather than be captured by the
Philistines, whom he was warring with. 1000 BCE
The Greatest King…With Feet Of Clay: 2 Samuel
1) Chapter 1-10: David begins his reign over Judah, a civil war
ensues, and Saul’s brother gets crowned king of the other tribes.
Eventually, David takes control over the other 11 tribes, uniting the
kingdom
2) Chapter 11-12: The feet of clay part: The man who wants
everything wants more: Bathsheba, another man’s wife.
3) Chapter 13-20: The price of power—fighting his own son,
Absalom, to hold onto that power.
4) David at the end of his reign: 21-24
The Wise Guy And His Not-So-Wise Heirs: 1 & 2 Kings
1) Chapters 1-11: David names his successor, Solomon, which is isn’
t his oldest son
2) Solomon is know for his wisdom, and he builds the first great
temple
3) His not-so-wise move: treat people like slaves, which build up
animosity in his kingdom
4) When he dies, his son continues his heavy-handed polices, which
cause the 10 northern tribes to rebel (1 Kings 12)
5) Chapters 12-16: Judah’s kings (some good, some bad) and Israel’
s kings (all bad) are compared and contrasted
6) Chapters 17-22: Elijah arises against the worst of Israel’s kings,
Ahab. Ahab introduces
7) In 2 Kings, Elisha continues Elijah prophetic ministry—he speaks
against the evil king
8) The rest of the book is the story of the kings until of Judah and
Israel until the invasion of Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom
(Israel) (chapter 17—722 BCE) and the Babylonian invasion of the
Southern Kingdom (Judah) (chapter 25—597 BCE)
9) The Babylonians take the first wave of best & brightest to Babylon
in 597 BCE and hold them captive until 539 BCE, when the Assyrians,
who defeated the Babylonians allowed them to go home.
Once Was Not Enough: 1 & 2 Chronicles
1) The newest of the two versions of what really went on in (mostly)
Judah and Israel—around 400 BCE
2) The people were back in Jerusalem, having been freed from exile
in Babylon. Sources seemed to have been the same as the
Deutoronomist, but with a different emphasis: faithfulness to the Lord
3) The viewpoint is more positive—omits a lot of the nasty stories
about David and Solomon
4) Much more concerned with the Southern Kingdom (Judah) than
the Northern Kingdom (Israel) because Judah was David’s tribe and the
bearer of the promise of an eternal kingdom.
5) Probably written after the return to the exile (597-538 BCE), as a
source of hope rather than condemnation
A Study In Source Materials: 1 Samuel 31 & 1 Chronicles 10
1) In this passage, the writer of 1 Chronicles follows the
deutoronomist, but adds his viewpoint until the end: the reason Saul
loses his kingdom is because of his unfaithfulness.
To Babylon & Back: Ezra-Nehemiah
1) Viewed as one work, either written by the same person who gave
us the Chronicles or someone who was writing a sequel to the events of
Chronicles.
2) A narrative of the restoration of the Jewish people to their
homeland and to proper worship in their rebuilt temple (539-430 BCE).
3) Probably written by Jerusalem clergy/temple priests of around
400 BCE
4) Ezra is sent to lead the first group of Jews to rebuild the temple,
they get bogged down, and God sends Nehemiah to finish up the job.
No Mixed Marriages: What Would You Have Done?
1) What would you have done?
2) Is it an act of faithfulness to send away wives and children away,
probably to starvation, because they would have probably not been able
to re-marry or go back home—to be sent away would have been
disgraceful.
The Godless Book: Esther
1) A dramatic story of a Jewish woman who becomes queen of
Persia and saves her people from destruction
2) Probably written by the Jews who lived outside of Israel (no
concern for homeland) around 400-300 BCE.
3) Godless because God is never named in the text. So disturbing
to some that additional material was added to make God’s role clearer.
Additions found in some other versions of the canon
4) Incredible that a woman is the hero, because women’s roles were
incredibly marginalized at that time in Jewish culture.
5) Also, Esther and her uncle seem very secular—quite willing to
ditch the Jewish customs, like dress & diet, that might have revealed their
Jewishness.
