The Bible is Literature

This topic covers something that is essential to reading and understanding the Hebrew Bible. Simply put, the Bible is literature. This might be the most obvious thing you’ve read today, since the Bible is in fact, a book. However, defining it in literary terms—that it is text on a page—establishes literary implications: (1) that it has an author (since written works have authors) and because of this, (2) it possesses a literary strategy. That’s the part that’s not so obvious, so let’s unpack that for a little bit.

A literary strategy is the way in which an author has utilized the various materials and literary devices that are at his disposal in order to convey a message and purpose for the writings themselves. The Lord of the Rings series serves as a great analogy. At the end of reading the whole LOTR saga (to all the fanatics out there, we all know it’s not three books but actually just one single book broken into three!), is there a distinguishable meaning that Tolkien has purposely set forth through his writings? Yes, of course! 

Though the Bible often feels merely as a collection or compilation of different writings, with no real organization or arrangement, or simply as an account that reflects the life, history, and religion of an ancient people group, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. If this were the case, the Bible would have no substantial meaning for us today besides its historical dimension. Although the Bible is made up of many different works over a long period of time, the different materials have been woven and stitched together into a recognizable whole with a literary strategy that is applicable to all its readers—even today’s. How? Where is the evidence?

There are clues at the highest level of the text (the birds-eye view, or what we call the macro-level of the text) of distinguishable literary structures called canonical seams, which inform us of a final author/composer that gave the Bible its final shape and meaning. Because structure implies purpose, purpose implies authorship. 

In short, the Hebrew Bible is literature, it has various authors, however, it possesses one final author and thus has a literary strategy for the book as a whole which conveys to us its intended message and meaning. So while we read we should always be asking ourselves: what is the purpose that the author intended here for this portion? What is the meaning of the arrangement of the materials in this way? For instance, when there is a break in the narrative with a list of genealogies such as in Genesis chapter 5 or Genesis chapter 10, what meaning is the author attempting to convey by this interruption of the narrative?  

Most importantly, we should be asking: how does this piece contribute to the larger whole? Oftentimes we fail to consider these questions and simply pass them by. John Sailhamer, an American scholar of Old Testament studies who has written many helpful books with regards to studying the OT once stated, “The biblical books are not hastily written documents or mere historical records. These books are carefully constructed works of literature…to understand the meaning of its author, one must pay close attention to its literary dimensions. A sensitivity to the author’s literary skill and techniques goes a long way in helping to elucidate his purpose in writing the book” (The Pentateuch as Narrative, 39). So what is the author intending to communicate? What is the discernable message and meaning of these texts as a whole? We will definitely be getting into that in future blog posts!

If you’re interested in further research, I suggest Michael B. Shepherd’s book, The Textual World of the Bible. Dr. Shepherd is an Associate professor of Biblical Studies at Cedarville University where I studied for my BA. Check him out.