Old Testament Literary Forms
by
Daniel J. Dyke
There are two types of literature from the ancient world: those with identifiable literary form and those without.
I. Books with an Identifiable Literary Form
A. That some books in the Old Testament have parallels in ancient literature is an undeniable fact, but this does not mean they are copied from the other piece of literature. All it means is that they were written in the same style so as to convey a particular message. The use of a particular literary form helped the ancient person understand the deeper significance of the work. It is important to note that books are understandable even when one does not know the literary form.B. In our world we do the same. What would you assume if a work began with the phrase "once upon a time?" I would assume that the work was a children's story and was fictitious. A person is to be pitied when they receive a letter that begins with "Dear John." Those of the older generation feared the letter from the U.S. government that began by conveying the greetings of the U.S. government, because it meant they were drafted into military service.
C. The term sui generis is used of a work that has a form peculiar to itself. Not all writers follow the paradigms of their day. The movie Pulp Fiction was confusing to people because it moved constantly backwards and forwards in its chronological framework. Most O.T. books fit into this category. They may have a literary form, but it has not been discerned because of the general lack of period literature by which it can be compared.
D. Examples of Literary Form:
1. Exodusa. This book follows an Egyptian pattern of writing that is found in the period of the New Kingdom of Egypt. It is laid out like the war stela of Thutmose III (ca. 1500 B.C.). Two ideas are presented on Thutmose's stela. The first is that a great war has been fought and the Egyptians won because their god was greater than their enemy's god. The second idea is that a house has been built/rebuilt to commemorate the victory and in which the deity would be enthroned as the king of the god's.2. Deuteronomy was laid out like a Hittite suzereignty treaty form the second millennium B.C.b. This is exactly what is being presented by Moses (1526-1406 B.C.) in Exodus. Yahweh battles the gods of Egypt by unleashing plagues on their people. The plagues were chosen to show that Yahweh controls the forces of nature that are considered to be the domain of various Egyptian deities. In one text it is explicit (Ex. 12:12) that Yahweh is attacking them directly. The second half of the book has the Israelites traveling to the holy mountain of God and building for Him there a great house in which and over which Yahweh will dwell. If one makes a careful study of these two pieces of literature he will see the similarities. What will also be seen is that Moses is making various points by the different elements he includes . . .
(1) In ancient warfare the people of country A would do battle with the people of country B. If country A was victorious over country B then it was assumed that there had been a corresponding battle between the gods of the two countries and that the earthly battle reflected the results of the heavenly battle. In Exodus the Israelites never fight with the Egyptians, but instead Yahweh fights on both levels. He fights both the army and the gods of the Egyptians.(2) In the rituals that followed Egyptian victories there would be a procession to the holy place of the victorious god. The procession would be marked with singing and dancing. In Exodus 15 the Israelites did this as they beheld the Egyptian army's destruction in the Red Sea. The rejoicing quickly turns to complaining. The complaining would have been seen as a totally inappropriate response in this type of situation. The point would be that the Israelites lacked proper gratitude in relationship to their deity.
(3) Amun Ra has a house built for him by Pharaoh in which he dwells. In Exodus Yahweh is seen as dwelling in the house Moses built for him, but He is pictured as dwelling externally from the house. The cloud which is the visible token of divine presence settles upon the house and is visible to all the camp. The point would be that Yahweh is greater than the house and is not confined to it.
3. Job and many of the Psalms are laments.
5. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are classic examples of collections of wisdom sayings, like the works of Ahiqar or Amenemope.
II. Books without Identifiable Form: Obviously the works that are not in the above list.
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