The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide

Storytelling in the Bible

Storytelling in the Bible O ur brains seem uniquely adapted to making sense of experience through stories. We tell stories and listen to them not just in our daily conversation but on the news, in the movies, and in novels. Even a sacred text such as the Bible seeks to make sense of the world through stories. Thomas Hardy, the great English novelist, greatly admired biblical stories. “They are written with a watchful attention (though disguised) as to their effect on their reader,” Hardy remarked in his diary on Easter Sunday, 1885. “Their socalled simplicity is, in fact, the simplicity of the highest cunning” (The Mayor of Casterbridge). Hardy is quite right. Biblical stories aim to have an effect on the reader, and we know they have succeeded when they stick with us. Eve chooses wisdom over Paradise and is expelled from the Garden of Eden. Cain kills Abel, whose blood cries out from the ground to accuse him. Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son at God’s request. The Egyptian-raised Moses becomes the greatest prophet of ancient Israel. As children, we’re entertained by such biblical stories; returning to them as adults, we discover their power anew. They offer us a mirror into both a distant time and our own time. Perhaps even more than the stories we tell in our daily lives, a biblical story invites us to reflect on our deepest experiences, whether of God, of our families, of our community, or of the terrors and pleasures of life. In other words, these stories aim to make us think about important, even urgent matters. But rather than telling us how or what to think, they force us to find out what we think and how to respond. If we’re lucky, we are rewarded with insight and perspective we would otherwise miss, engrossed as we usually are in more commonplace matters. Such stories, when studied together or chanted aloud, help join us to others and shape our identity as a community. Of course some biblical stories might be based on events that “really happened.” Many refer to historical events on a grand scale—the appointment of kings, victories and losses in battle, the destruction of the First Temple. But rather than give us an eyewitness account of a historical event, a biblical story reflects on an event and what it might mean for the People of Israel. Biblical stories are less concerned with facts and details than in the “truth” of experience, whether of a moral, spiritual, or psychological nature. They teach us about the human condition and the many ways in which human beings have encountered God. They teach us how we might best respond to God in our own lives. 57 The Jewish Bible 58 Major Narratives in the Bible The following are some of the most well-known stories in the Hebrew Bible, stories that have helped shape Jewish and Christian consciousness and ideas about God. (Note: when a single verse in cited, it is the start of the narrative.) The Beginning of the World The creation of the world and Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:1) The first murder (Gen. 4:1) The great Flood (Gen. 6:9) The tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1) The First Jewish Family Abraham and Sarah leave their native land (Gen. 11:27) The birth of Ishmael (Gen. 16:1) Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:16) The birth of Isaac (Gen. 21:1) The binding of Isaac (Gen. 22:1) Jacob’s dream of the ladder (Gen. 28:10) Jacob marries Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29:1) Jacob wrestles with the angel (Gen. 32:4) Joseph and his brothers (Gen. 37:1) Joseph in Egypt (Gen. 39:1) Slaves in the Land of Egypt The birth of Moses (Exod. 2:1) The Burning Bush (Exod. 3:1) The Ten Plagues and the first Passover (Exod. 7:14) The splitting of the Sea of Reeds (Exod. 13:17) Forty Years in the Wilderness The giving of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 19–20) The Golden Calf (Exod. 32:1) Miriam and Aaron challenge Moses (Num. 12:1) The scouting of the Land and the punishment of wandering (Num. 13–14) Moses bids farewell (Deut. 31–32) In the Promised Land Joshua and the battle of Jericho (Josh. 1–4) Deborah (Judg. 4–5) Samson (Judg. 13–17) Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1–4) The Bible contains...