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Genesis Overview

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genesis-bibleLast week I explained how to do an overview of a Bible book. Let’s say you’d like to study the book of Genesis. You might begin with the following overview.

Author. Though Christians commonly teach that Moses wrote Genesis, the Bible doesn’t explicitly attribute Genesis to Moses. However, since biblical authors universally treat the first five books of the Bible as “the Book of the Law of Moses” (Josh 23:6, Neh 8:1), we are justified in doing the same. Whether Moses penned the words of Genesis or not, he certainly saw fit to include the book in his collection of laws for Israel.

Audience. According to the ESV Study Bible, “it is reasonable to consider the first audience of the Pentateuch [Genesis through Deuteronomy] to be Israel in the wilderness (either the generation that left Egypt or their children).”[1]

Occasion and Purpose. After reading the book a few times, we can recognize significant themes. To understand the book’s purpose, we take the major themes and ask why this author wrote these things to this audience at this time. For Genesis, I agree with the ESV Study Bible’s assessment that “the theme of Genesis is creation, sin, and re-creation,” involving both “how God created the world” and “the call of Abraham.”[2] When we ask why Moses would give this book to these people at this time, we can identify the book’s purpose as follows: to establish Israel’s national identity by explaining the history of God’s creation and his promises to Abraham and his offspring.

Note that a book’s purpose is similar to its main point. The difference is that the “purpose” is closely tied to the original audience, while the “main point” may be more timeless. I’d state the main point of Genesis like this: to establish the identity of all God’s people by explaining the history of God’s creation and his promises to Abraham and his offspring.

Structure. Genesis 1:1-2:3 opens the book by introducing God, his creative power, and his gracious delegation of authority to humanity. The book then proceeds in two main sections: Early history (Gen 2-11) and the history of Israel’s forefathers (Gen 12-50). Furthermore, the book is structured by ten “These are the generations” statements (Gen 2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:11, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 37:2), which outline cycles of creation-fall-redemption-new creation. Humanity repeatedly fails to submit to God’s gracious rule, and God begins again with new generations.

[1] Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008, p.40.

[2] p.41.

The Book Overview

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I have a child who spontaneously asks, “Hey Papa, do you remember that thing? You know, that thing?” When I request more description for “that thing,” the child gets frustrated. But unfortunately, I have no idea what the question refers to unless I can get some context.

Dennis Irrgang (2008), Creative Commons

Dennis Irrgang (2008), Creative Commons

Similarly, if we isolate a chapter from the literature surrounding it, we’ll skew our observations. Thus, the first thing to observe is the whole book in which we find the passage. I call this step “the book overview.”

We could address many issues during the book overview, but I find four most helpful.

  1. Author: Who wrote the book?
  2. Audience: To whom did he write?
  3. Occasion and Purpose: Why did this author write to this audience at this time? What was going on in their lives?
  4. Structure: How does the book progress? What order is there to the stories or ideas?

The best way to answer these questions is to read the book 5 or 6 times and observe the book’s themes. In addition, you can get more background by searching the entire Bible for names of key people and places connected to the book you want to study. For example, when you study First or Second Thessalonians, you should begin by reading passages in Acts that mention Thessalonica. You can also learn about Old Testament prophets from the books of Kings or Chronicles (e.g. 2 Kings 14:23-27 will help acquaint you with the prophet Jonah).

Sometimes there are also details outside of the text that will help answer the overview questions, so you may want to read a good overview article or Bible dictionary. Just make sure the resource gives the most weight to evidence from within the Bible. For example, many commentaries teach that two different people wrote Isaiah 1-39 and Isaiah 40-66. However, the Gospel of John states clearly that the prophet Isaiah wrote both the first part (John 12:39-40) and the second part (John 12:38). A good scholar will trust such evidence from God’s word.

Now all four questions might not have clear answers. We don’t know who wrote the book of Judges. There’s some debate on the precise audience of Galatians. John leaves no doubt about the purpose of his Gospel (John 20:31), first letter (1 John 5:13), and third letter (3 John 9-10), but with the second letter we can only infer a purpose. There’s usually not one right way to outline a book’s structure.

But if we go as far as we can on these questions, we’ll be able to place the book within its historical context.

When my child asks if I remember “that thing,” I ask some clarifying questions. What thing? When did you see it? Where can I find it? Who was with you?

We should do the same with the book overview.

We Three Kings… Sorta

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Christmas in the Hallman household always comes with an abundance of some of my favorite things, including my mom’s holly candy, incredible Christmas light displays, and, of course, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

One of TSO’s lesser-known songs is this fun tune [link no longer available] about “what really happened” when the three wise men showed up looking for the baby Messiah. It’s obviously a work of fiction but is bound to make you smile knowingly and say, “That’s creative, but we all know that’s not what actually happened!”

3 Kings

Image courtesy of Vectorportal.com

Do we?

Let’s take a closer look at what Matthew records in his gospel to see how our nativity traditions measure up! First, refresh your memory by reading over Matthew 2:1-18. Okay, ready for a quiz?

How many kings were there?

If you guessed “three”, you might be right, but that’s the most we can know. Matthew never tells us how many there were; he only tells us that there were at least three kinds of gifts offered (gold, frankincense and myrrh.) In fact, since these guys could obviously afford to offer some nice presents to young Jesus, they probably also traveled with a large company of servants and/or guards.

Were they actually kings?

Matthew doesn’t call them “kings”. Some translations call them “wise men”. The best word is probably “magi”, but there are many theories about who “magi” actually were.

One possible clue to their identity is way back in Daniel 2:48: “Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men (magi) of Babylon.” It’s entirely possible that Daniel went on to teach these Babylonian magi all about Yahweh and His coming Christ such that generations later, wise men in the east were expectantly watching for the star of the promised King.

When did they arrive?

If your favorite nativity characters happen to be our magi friends, I have sad news for you: they weren’t there!

We know from Matthew 2:7 that Herod asked the magi when the star had appeared. We also know from Matthew 2:16 that Herod, in his rage when the magi do not return to him, has all children under age 2 killed “according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” It seems likely therefore that the magi had noted the star two years earlier but hadn’t made the trip for some time. By the time Mary welcomed these foreign visitors, Jesus was probably a toddler! Also, Joseph’s little family had upgraded to a house during that time (Matthew 2:11).

Application… sorta

So, consider this blog post your permission to have a new “nativity” where 2-year-old Jesus is getting piggy-back rides from a couple dozen Babylonian decedents. It’s at least as Biblical as the traditional nativity scene, and perhaps a bit more fun.

Is understanding a movie different than understanding the Bible?

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Recently a Christian friend said to me, “I’m not able to understand the Bible when I read it.”

I asked, “Are you able to understand movies you watch?”

My friend replied, “Yes, but that’s different!”

Is my friend right? Do we use a different set of skills to understand movies vs the Bible?

There certainly are some differences! You can more easily convey some things in writing than you can in visual media (and vice versa). Also, the Bible generally doesn’t come with a soundtrack nor does a movie come with cross-references.

However, a majority of the skills you use to watch and understand a movie are actually quite similar to how you’d read (and understand, and apply) the Bible. That’s what we’d expect, after all, from a God who desires that His Word be truly knowable.

Consider the following:

#1: The Bible often uses repeated words and themes in order to point out when something is important and should be remembered. Movies do the same thing. How many times has the last line of a movie simply been a repeated phrase from earlier? How many romantic comedies climax with the girl repeating the exact phrase the guy had said back on the first date? Even this memorable movie quote comes as a direct result of repeated words!

#2: The Bible is full of stories about people. As you read, it is expected that you’ll love them (e.g. Jesus, Joseph, Daniel), hate them (e.g. Eli and his sons, the Pharisees, just about all Israelite kings), learn from them (e.g. Paul, Peter, Jethro), empathize with them (e.g. the woman caught in adultery in John 8, the Psalmists) or avoid them (e.g. the “fool”, the sexually immoral, the Judaizers). Movies make heavy use of this same technique. You get drawn in, identify yourself with some character, and are are often meant to change your life as a result. Consider your favorite movie characters. Don’t you in some ways try to be more like them?

#3: The Bible is full of stories about how the world works and what is true. The Bible talks about the worth of life, of family, of work, of rest, and countless other topics. Movies address the same things. For example: What is reality? What is perseverance? What is worth fighting for? What is it to be falsely accused? What is it to sacrifice? The answers to those questions are meant to teach us more about how to live.

#4: After you watch a movie with a friend, you can discuss what the movie was about. While not everything is easily explained the first time through and may require thinking for a while, you know for a fact that the writer, actors, director and producer fully intended to communicate something. They had a main point that they wanted you to understand and wrestle with. So it is with the Bible. The author (and Author) intended it to be understood and applied.

Much more can be said here, but my conclusion is that the friend I spoke of above can indeed understand the Bible. Moreover, as one who watches many movies, I suspect my friend actually knows a lot more about Bible study than either of us even realizes!

The next time you watch a movie, ask yourself how you know what you know about it. Then determine how you knew that, and try the same technique on the Bible.

The Greatest Enemy of Interpretation is Observation

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Interpretation happens when we figure out why a passage says what it says. We fail to interpret well when we fail to figure out why the passage says what it says.

The chief obstacle to excellent interpretation is observation.

Of course I don’t think observation is a bad thing. I’ve already written about how we should value careful observation. (See here for a few common examples of less-than-careful observation.) Careless observation leads directly to incorrect interpretation.

However, when you study the Bible, you can’t stay in observation. It’s easy to feel like you’ve really studied the Bible, when it’s possible that all you’ve done is observe.

For example, people often go to Romans 1:18-32 to show that humanity is sinful. Excellent observation! But why does Paul go to such great lengths to show how sinful humanity is? Perhaps it’s because he wants to tighten the noose slowly and imperceptibly around the reader. “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” (Rom 2:1, ESV).

We find another example in Philippians 4:4-9. This passage is full of beautiful sayings commonly quoted by Christians. We love to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4). We find great comfort in letting our requests be made known to God, with supplication and thanksgiving (Phil 4:6).

These are good observations. But why are these verses here? The Philippian church was experiencing a serious rift between two prominent women (Phil 4:2-3). So Paul sent instructions for resolving the conflict to one of his companions in the church. Read Phil 4:4-9 in that light, and the passage comes alive.

Old Testament narratives make up one last set of examples. As we observe these stories, we might notice all kinds of characters to either imitate or avoid, but we might fail to move into interpretation. Now viewing these characters as examples is not wrong (see 1 Cor 10:11), but it’s all too easy to stop with such observation. Why are the stories there? To show us Jesus, of course (John 1:45, Luke 24:44-47). The trick each time is to figure out how.

Remember not to let familiarity get in the way of your observation. And don’t let observation get in the way of your interpretation.

What to Observe: Four More Tips

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We’ve seen five things you can observe when you study a Bible passage: words, grammar, structure, genre, and mood.  Here is a final hodgepodge of things to observe.

  1. Repeated Words.  I can’t repeat it enough.  Pay attention to stuff that repeats.  This is one of the simplest observations you can make.  Get a Bible that you don’t mind writing in, and highlight repeated words with the same color.  The author’s big ideas will jump right off the page.  For example, Genesis 14 repeats the word “king” more than 20 times.  It’s even built into one of the character’s names (Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”).  The author wants us to think about what a true king looks like!
  2. Comparison and Contrast.  A passage often shows how two or more things are similar (comparison) or different (contrast).  Picking up on that connection can help.  For example, Gen 24, Gen 29, Exod 2, and John 4 all describe interactions between a man and a woman at a well of water.  What is similar and different in each account?
  3. Characters.  Pay special attention to how each character is named in a passage.  Authors will communicate important stuff just by using certain names.  For example, Genesis 21, which has a lot to say about Ishmael, never mentions his name.  He’s always “the son of Hagar” or “the son of the slave woman.”  Why do you think that is?
  4. Connectors.  Words like “therefore,” “in those days,” or “in the same way” draw significant connections between sentences, paragraphs, or chapters.  Notice the connections so you can work to figure out why they’re there.  For example, Genesis 15:1 begins with “after these things.”  How might it affect your understanding of this chapter, if you think about how Abram might be feeling immediately after the events of chapter 14?

What else can we observe?

Observations about Women in Proverbs 31

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On Saturday, the Huffington Post ran a Religion article about what Proverbs 31 says (and doesn’t say) about women.  The journalist makes some excellent observations from the text.

The unfortunate thing is that he concludes that a woman’s value ought to be found in her character and accomplishments, when the Bible claims that one’s value derives from Christ and not self (Col 3:1-4).

Check it out!

What to Observe: Mood

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Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle said, “There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.”  It’s no less true for the authors of Bible books than it is for us.

When you sit down to study a Bible passage, you’ll make great progress by observing words, grammar, structure, and genre.  One further element is important, although more subjective: mood.

What is mood?  Let me demonstrate by writing the same sentence a few different ways:

  1. I’m not upset with you.
  2. I’m not upset with you.
  3. I’m not upset with you.
  4. I’M NOT UPSET WITH YOU!!!

Can you sense a slightly different intention behind each one of those statements?  Can you picture a context in which you might express yourself simliarly?  For example, #1 might be a simple statement, but #4 might come after days of pestering (and it might be followed with, “but I will be if you keep this up!”).

Although ancient literature didn’t have conventions like bold and italic fonts or punctuation, there are certainly other ways to communicate mood.

Look at Luke 2:13, NET: “Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying…”  What sort of a mood comes across?

How might the mood come across differently if Luke had said, “Other angels were present to affirm the message.”

Or, “With a grand chorus, multitudes of angels gave voice to their delight at this new development in world history.”

Or, “Spiritual forces of darkness were able to run rampant around the world that day, because all the good guys had gathered in one place to proclaim what a big deal this little baby was going to be.”

Or, “The shepherds listened with delight to the tune of these humble servants of God.”

The author of a Bible passage is able to communicate not just the details, but how the participants experienced those details.  In doing so, he desires the audience to experience this story similarly.

As far as the mood goes, Luke 2:13-14 should make you think more of “I don’t know what I’ve been told” than “Silent Night.”

Make sure you pay attention to the mood.

 

 

How’d You Do That? (9/16/12)

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From time to time we like to “show our work” and explain what principles drive our Bible study.

In Sunday’s post, we examined Proverbs 1:10, ESV (“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent”) and saw how the Bible commands us to reject easy money.  Here’s how we got there.

Observation

By observing the grammar of the verse, we noticed that the main sentence is a command: “Do not consent.”  Also, we observed the words: the thing we ought not consent to is enticement from sinners.

Interpretation

In my study, I started with a question: what is the enticement from sinners that we ought not consent to?  Is it just anything, or does Solomon have something specific in mind?

Answering that question led me to observe the whole section (Prov 1:10-19) in its context.  This examination led me to observe the final verse (Prov 1:19), which makes clear that the chief enticement Solomon has in mind is toward “unjust gain.”

What is “unjust gain”?  Acquiring money or possessions through any unlawful means.  Since most of the section describes a gang recruiting someone to violence against another person, it would appear that Solomon considers “unjust” any means of gaining money that will hurt other people.

Thus, my conclusion of the main idea: “the pursuit of a quick buck, at the cost of serving others, will always keep us from being wise.”

Application

From here, we merely had to consider what it looks like in our generation to gain more money at the cost of serving others.

The chief heart application is that we allow ourselves to be sucked into money-making schemes (like going into more credit card debt, getting a new car like the neighbor’s, or spending too much time at the office).

By way of head application, we must know which things will tempt us, and we must choose in advance to watch out for them.

For hands application, we should make different choices when the temptation comes.  We should reject easy money.

See here for an explanation of these three types of application.

 

My hope in walking through this process is that you will be able to duplicate it in your own study of the Bible!