Alrighty folks, today I’m going to offer up some concluding thoughts on the topic we’ve been immersed in over the past couple of days about how best to read the Bible, especially the OT or as I like to put it the “Only” Testament.
Keep in mind that everything I’ve said about how the Scriptures emerged from an oral culture also apply to the New Testament as well.
All societies (not some, but ALL) were based on verbal communication which is totally different than the text-based society we live in today.
Hence, if anything was ever written down, it was written for the purpose of it being delivered out loud.
This is quite unlike the purpose behind why a novel or academic textbook is written.
Novels and textbooks were meant to be delivered in silence even though audio books seem to be all the rage these days.
So since the Bible was meant to be delivered by speaking it out loud, we’ll find a whole bunch of literary devices being used in Scripture to accomplish this purpose better such as the following:
ALLITERATION
RHYMES
SONGS
ASSONANCE
(similar to rhyming but just involving a series
of words instead of just one word)
Come to think of it, if we’re dealing with a text-based system where what is written will be read in silence, then none of the above devices are necessary.
But if we’re dealing with a system where the primary content delivery method is verbal, then the above devices serve a useful purpose indeed.
So keep that in mind as we move forward in the book of Joshua.
The way traditions, history and laws were handed down were via word of mouth.
Imagine families chilling around a blazing campfire after having a satisfying meal sitting spellbound as they listened with full attention to a Hebrew elder as he recalls what happened on that terrifying night when the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt.
Or imagine just how captivated his audience would be as retold how Hashem worked through Moses and split an entire ocean into two halves.
It was through this form of exciting storytelling that Scripture was passed down through the generations.
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