Harold Shank

Review: What we have learned

Week 1—Two basic Bible study tools (for personal and use in evangelism)

• Read one book of the Bible repeatedly until you know it well (we are using Mark)
• Write in the margin A*?E

 

Week 2—Two principles of Bible study

• Pay attention to what the Bible says about itself
  • Mark 4:1-20
  • 4:2; Pro. 30:6; Rev. 22:18, 19
  • 2 Peter 1:16 – 2:1
  • 2 Timothy 3:16-17
• Identify units and write a summary of the point of that unit

 

Week 3—Two levels of meaning in the Bible

• What it meant–Exegesis (not eisegesis)
• What it means—Hermeneutics

 

Week 4—Two understandings

• 1—Understand the Bible alike
• 2—Understand the Bible’s three levels

 

The Bible has three levels:

• Top: Whole plan of God revealed in the Bible—Creation to Second Coming
• Middle: A particular section of the Bible story—Patriarchs, Judges, Kings, Life of Jesus, story of the early church
• Bottom: Specific narrative or paragraph.  The hundreds of individual stories.  Abram going to Egypt, David bringing the ark to Jerusalem, Jesus calming the storm at sea

Another way of understanding the Bible’s three levels

                        Inner circle—paragraph you are reading

                        Middle circle—book or section of a book which contains the inner circle

                        Outer circle—whole Bible

How is this helpful?

• How does the bottom story fit into the middle and top levels?
  • Abram going to Egypt (bottom) puts Sarah at risk and endangers the whole promise of descendants in Genesis (middle), and raises the question about the fulfillment of the promise to Abram in Jesus (top)
  • David bringing the ark to Jerusalem (bottom) sets the stage for the Jerusalem temple (middle) which provides a background for Jesus replacing temple sacrifice and Christians being the temple of God (top)
  • Jesus calming the storm (bottom) is part of Mark’s effort to show Jesus as the Son of God (middle) which is the foundation of the Christian faith (top)
• Bottom and middle levels help focus on “what it meant” while the middle and top levels how focus on “what it means”
  • What it meant: Jesus’ audience and Mark’s readers saw Jesus calming the storm as evidence of His divinity
  • What it means: We are more like Mark’s readers than Jesus’ audience in that we did not see the storm calmed, but we read about it and see how it elevates Jesus above mere mortals
• Bottom levels have a point. Middle levels also have a point.  Both contribute to the upper-level points of God creating the world, humans sinning, and God sending a savior.
  • Bottom-level point: Jesus could calm storms
  • Middle-level point: Jesus was the son of God
  • Upper-level point: Jesus can save us from our sins because He was God.
• Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth, 74ff.

 

Response

• Share your response to this class:
  • What about this class is helpful?
  • What about this class is life changing?

 

• Share a passage in Mark which is misunderstood. Tell of how you used the following study guides to sort it out:
  • What is the bottom level, what is the middle level?
  • How does it fit into the top level?

 

Week 5—Two literary points

• Know the genre of the Bible passage
• Know the figures of speech

1. Know the genre of Bible passage

• Genre means the form or class or type of literary work.
• We recognize genre all the time: Tell me what genre or category is being used here:
  • Here’s Johnnie (Johnny Carson comedy)
  • Come on down (Price is right game show)
  • Look! Up in the sky!  It’s a bird?  It’s a plane.  …. It’s Superman! (Adventures of Superman, TV show)
  • Yabba dabba doo (Flintstones, TV show)
  • Your mission, should you choose to accept it (Mission Impossible, TV show)
  • Space, the final frontier (Captain Kirk, Star Trek, TV show)
  • Sorry about that, Chief (Maxwell Smart on Get Smart, TV Show)
  • In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories. (Law and Order, TV show)
  • It’s going, going, gone. It’s a … (baseball, sports)
  • Today’s top stories include a fire on the south side and a visit from our state senator (local news)
  • My daughter is staying out late and she is sassing me all the time. Can you tell me what I need to do?  I need your help?  (Dear Abby, advice column)
  • A boy is getting ready to kick a football. A little girl is holding the football for him.  As he runs toward the ball to kick it, she yanks it away (Charlie Brown comic strip, comics)
  • Reliable and fuel-efficient! Low mileage, clean interior, and excellent condition. Power windows, AC, and AM/FM radio. Perfect for commuting or running errands. $8,500 OBO. Call 555-1234. (Ad for a used car, advertising)
  • When Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep collide in a desperate heist, the only thing more explosive than the safe is the dark secrets buried in their past. (movie promo)
  • ENG 101: Introduction to College Writing. This course develops students’ critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through analysis of various texts and genres. Emphasis is placed on clear and effective communication. (college catalog)
  • First, carefully remove all pieces from the packaging and identify them using the included instruction sheet. Next, connect the body and head securely, then attach the arms and legs following the numbered steps provided. (toy instructions)
  • To get to the OKC Zoo from Forest Park, head west on NE50th for 2.4 miles, then turn left onto Remington Place. The OKC Zoo will be on your right. (directions)
  • Do not use while sleeping. Keep the unit away from water. Avoid contact with wet skin. Unplug when not in use. (warning on hair dryer)

We understand the sentence because we know the genre

• We know Johnny Carson not a college professor
• We know Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep are not really robbing a bank
• We know Charlie Brown and Lucy are not real people
• We know Dear Abby is not a professional counselor
• We know the instructions on the toy are not medical advice about connecting body parts

Knowing the Biblical genre helps us understand the Bible

• Genesis through Deuteronomy is called law
  • The word law can refer to several genres
    • Oklahoma law about stop signs
    • Legal rules about borrowing money
    • NCAA rules about sporting events
    • None of those genres fits Biblical law
  • Law in Gen-Deut
    • Much of this material is narrative
    • Law in Gen-Deut is more of instructions and examples about how to live life in relationship to God
    • We should not impose other definitions of law on this genre
  • Sometimes we reduce law in Gen-Deut to works righteousness
    • Keep these laws and God will save you…maybe
    • Break these laws and you will be punished
    • List of dos and don’ts
  • Gen-Deut filled with grace and promise
    • God gave them the blessing
    • God saved them from Egyptian slavery not because they were good, but because God was good.
    • God gave them the promised land

 

• Joshua through Esther is called history
  • It is history, but not how we define history
    • Not great man, great events
    • Not everything we consider important is covered
  • It is theological history, a history of God’s relationship with his people
  • It is not primarily
    • List of dates to remember
    • About human history, but God’s history with humans
    • Not a list of dos and don’ts
  • Josh-Esther
    • Story of loving God interacting with his people
    • Examples of people who obeyed God and prospered and those who did not obey God and suffered

 

• Dealing with narrative
  • Pay attention to the context and to repeated words
  • 40% of Bible is narrative
    • Books which are mostly narrative: Gen, Josh, Judg, Ruth, 1 and 2 Sam, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chron, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jonah, Haggai
    • Books with considerable narrative: Exod, Num, Jer, Ezek, Isa, Job, Matt, Mark, Luke, John, Acts
  • Narrative parts
    • Characters (often God himself)
    • Dialogue
    • Plot

• Job to Song of Solomon is called poetry or wisdom
  • Hebrew poetry has a rhyme of meaning not sound
    • Synthetic Parallelism
      • Same thoughts repeated in different words
      • Psa 24:1  “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

• Antithetic Parallelism
  • Opposite thoughts presented in different words
  • Pro 10:1  “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.”

• Synthetic Parallelism
  • Each line adds to the previous line
  • Psa 1:3  “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

• Hebrew wisdom offers directions on life, not commands to be obeyed
  • Proverbs—brief, pithy reflections on life
    • Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
  • Philosophy—extended reflections on life
    • Proverbs 7:6-24 ⁶ For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, ⁷ And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense, ⁸ Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house, ⁹ In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.  ¹⁰ And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.  ¹¹ She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home; ¹² She is now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner.  ¹³ So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him:  ¹⁴ “I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.  ¹⁵ “Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.  ¹⁶ “I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.  ¹⁷ “I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.  ¹⁸ “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses.  ¹⁹ “For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey; ²⁰ He has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home.”  ²¹ With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.  ²² Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, ²³ Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.  ²⁴ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
    • Psalms—prayers to God
      • Types of Psalms (Fee and Stuart, 175ff)
        • Individual lament (3, 22, 31, 39, 42, 57, 71, 120, 139, 142)
        • Communal laments (12, 44, 80, 94, 137)
        • Individual thanksgiving (18, 30, 32, 34, 40, 66, 92, 116, 118, 138)

• • • • • Communal thanksgiving (65, 67, 75, 107, 124, 136)
        • Salvation history (78, 105, 106, 135, 136)
        • Celebration and Affirmation
          • Covenant renewal (51, 81, 89, 132)
          • Royal (2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 144)
          • Enthronement (24, 29, 47, 93, 95-99)
          • Zion (46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122)
        • Wisdom (1, 36, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127)
        • Trust (11, 16, 23, 27, 62, 63, 91, 121, 131)

 

• Techniques of this genre
  • Parallelism
  • Acrostics (Prov 31:10ff)
  • Alliteration (Ecc 3;1ff)
  • Numerical sequences (Prov 30:15-31)
  • Similes/metaphors (Job 32:19)

 

• Prophecy—Isaiah to Malachi
  • Not all predicting our future
  • God’s PR men
  • Apocalyptic literature
  • Massive use of poetry
  • Thus says the Lord

 

• Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  • Narrative
  • Teaching of Jesus
  • 3 audiences
    • People Jesus is talking to
    • People to whom book was written
    • Readers at a distance

 

• Acts
  • Theological history
  • Not all history

 

• Epistles—Romans to Jude
  • Letters written in first century about early churches and Christians
  • Form
    • Greeting
    • Prayer
    • Theology
    • Application

 

• Revelation
  • Apocalyptic literature
  • Apocalyptic means “revelation
  • Use of symbols to describe theological concepts
  • Focus on end times

 

• God chose many genres to tell his story
  • Narrative
  • Chronicles
  • Laws
  • Poetry
  • Proverbs
  • Oracles
  • Riddles
  • Drama
  • Biographical sketches
  • Parables
  • Letters
  • Sermons
  • Apocalypses

 

• Epistles
  • We have thousands of secular epistles which date from NT times, Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth, p. 44)
  • Greeting (writer/recipient/grace), prayer (summarizing main points), theology, application, final greetings to individuals and farewell
  • Two kinds
    • Tracts for whole church—James, 2 Peter
    • Occasional epistles addressing issues which may now be unclear
  • Read/reread whole epistle in one setting Fee & Stuart, 47
    • Identify recipients and their lives
    • Determine point of view of the of author
    • Note specific matters
    • Note natural divisions
  • Divide into paragraphs and determine the point

 

2.  Know the figures of speech

•  Simile—comparison using the word “like”
• • Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth”
  • Hosea 6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
  • Deuteronomy 6:6-9 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

• Metaphor—a description of one thing that represents another thing
  • Jn 6:35 “I am the bread of life” (listeners did not understand it was a metaphor in Jn 6:52)
  • Jn 8:12 “I am the light of the world”
  • Parables are extended metaphors in which one thing represents another
    • Mark 4:1-10—seed is the word of God; path is Satan; rocks are persecution; thorns are distractions
  • Psa 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd”

 

• Allegory—uses events, characters or object to represent abstract ideas; allegories are extended metaphors in which multiple items have a secondary meaning
  • Mark 4:1-10—kinds of soils
  • Gal 4:24—Hagar and Sarah
  • 2 Sam 12:1-4—neighbor’s baby lamp

 

• There are other figures of speech (merism, puns, alliteration, euphemism, hyperbole)

 

• Key Point: Determine if a passage is a figure of speech or literal
  • Ask: Is this a figure of speech? If not, it is likely literal
  • Psa 78:2 “I will open my mouth in a parable”
  • 22:28-30 donkey speaks
  • Prov 8:3 Wisdom is a woman
  • Matt 5:29 cut off your hand

 

Homework

• Read Mark (do *A?E)
• Find one passage (paragraph or unit)
  • Identify the genre (narrative in Mark) or a figure of speech
  • Show how knowing the genre or figure of speech helps you know what it meant and what it means