old testament literary genres

primeval history

events set in distant, pre-historic past

genesis 1-11

seems to defy historical timekeeping and/or modern human limitations

history

preservable/recordable past events

1-2 kings, 1-2 chronicles, joshua, exodus-deuteronomy, etc

not truly objective

can be story-driven or info-driven

prophecy

isaiah, joshua, judges, etc

many steps involved for a prophet to prepare for and receive God’s message

prophecies originally transmitted orally

often uses sin cycle

apocalypse

prob derived from prophetic genre

very figurative/symbolic (since it’s coming directly from God, it has to be more than we can comprehend)

parts ezekiel, joel, isaiah

mostly focuses on distant future

wisdom

typically poetic, can be prose/narrative

ecclesiastes, proverbs, job

egyptian style → shorter, more poetic, optimistic

mesopotamian → longer, focuses on suffering, prose

wisdom vs folly

hebrew poetry

parallelism plays a major role

chiasm → x, y, z, z, y, x

acrostics

psalms, proverbs 31 in particular

psalms used for personal and corporate worship and express a variety of themes

love poetry

song of songs

can be understood literally or as an allegory for God/people or Jesus/church

very metaphorical

law

prose

some laws are commands (imperative mood), some describe legal scenarios and their consequences

apodictic law → general, universal laws that don’t address specific situations

casuistic law → describe certain scenarios, case-by-case application/basis

ancient laws are inherently situated in their own context, so it is important to be cautious about applying them directly to present day issues

temple building

typically prose, contains elements of narration, lists, instructions, etc based on process being described

not a specific description of temple construction, more of a pattern to be followed

1. circumstances of project

2. preparations (gathering workers, materials)

3. descriptions of construction phase

4. dedication rites and festivities

5. blessing/prayer for leader

6. blessings and curses of future generations

census/genealogy

ritual

hero/epic literature