by Kathy Brasby | Jul 26, 2013 | Hope
The Bible contains many examples of excellent writing that contributes to the author’s meaning. As we read, we need to learn how to engage in the writing techniques.
I’m going to examine beginning of Genesis as example.
Here are the first two sentences:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
Look how much information is shoe-horned into two simple sentences:
- We know the time frame: the beginning of time.
- We know the main character: God.
- We know his action: creating.
- We know the setting: heaven and earth
- We also know the problem: the earth was without form and void.
- And a bit of a cliffhanger: darkness was over the face of the deep. Where did this darkness come from? Is it related to the deep? Is it related to the lack of form and void?
The next sentence adds a new layer of intrigue to a mysterious situation:
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
We draw more information with the addition of this new sentence:
- God has a Spirit.
- This Spirit was present on the scene (hovering).
- Water is introduced.
Now, as readers, we have gleaned some information. The next step is to ask some questions:
Why was the Spirit hovering? Was there problem with the waters? Was the Spirit hovering in anticipation of an action by God? Or something unique in the water? Was there something significant in the water?
In three sentences, the biblical writer has given us a mysterious start to the greatest story every told. We’re drawn to learn answers.
We know the value of opening sentences. In Genesis, the writer packed much information into three sentences and each word contributed to the unfolding story.
Expert writing contributes to profound meaning and an alert reader can uncover meaning with good observation and great questions.
by Kathy Brasby | Jul 23, 2013 | Hope
I like dogs and I tend to like precise words. So, when my sister called to tell me that her family had gotten a new dog, I decided to stop by the house and check it out.
Image from Stock.xchng
My nephews met me at the door. Well, they bounced to the front door and shook out their hands while they rebounded like pogo sticks. I let myself in.
“We have a new puppy!” said the five year old.
“He’s our very new puppy. We have a new puppy!” said the four year old.
It seemed there was little more to say about the puppy than that he was new.
They were pointing down the hall to their bathroom. “Um, where is this new puppy?” I asked.
“He’s getting a bath!” said nephew #1.
“Mom is giving him a bath!” said nephew #2.
Oh, good. Whether the puppy was great, these two little boys worked off lunch before it was 2 pm with their jumping. Their feet continued to pound the floor as they did the pogo stick re-enactment in the living room.
“Can I go see him?” I asked them.
“Mom’s giving him a bath!” said nephew #1. “We have a new puppy.”
“New puppy,” said nephew #2, tiring just a smidgen. He was too young to shriek and bounce so he was settling for bouncing.
Their excitement was contagious and I called to my sister. “Are you done? I want to see this cute little guy.”
“Hang on,” she said. “I’m done.”
And the boys found a higher jumping gear at that point, pointing and squealing. “Here he comes! Here comes our new puppy!”
I prepared for the fuzzy little guy. What’s cuter than a thick-legged puppy with thick fur and a baby face?
Through the doorway came this long leg followed by another and then a Great Dane emerged, towering over the boys.
“Our new puppy!” the boys squealed and wrapped arms around each of the dog’s front legs.
My sister followed the dog into the room.
“Puppy?” I said.
She shrugged, wiping off her hands on a towel. “So they say.”
I tend to prefer precise words. In this case, big dog would have worked well. But what can you say to little boys who believe they have a great puppy?
by Kathy Brasby | Jul 19, 2013 | Hope
A literary technique that biblical authors use extensively is the motif. A motif is a recurring theme or distinctive feature woven through a literary text.
A common motif in the Bible is the barren women.
We first encounter this motif in the story of Abraham and Sarah found in Genesis. In that story, Abraham is promised a son who will become the first of many descendants: a great nation.
The problem is that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is too old to bear a child. She has never had a child. She is barren.
However, following the promises of God, Sarah becomes pregnant and delivers Isaac. Isaac in many ways has a significant role on the Old Testament story line. He is the father of Jacob who is the father of twelve sons who become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.
A significant man is born from a barren woman.
The motif continues in Isaac’s life, when his wife, Rebekah, is unable to conceive until he prayers for her. Then she delivers twins. The reader is ready to see if the barren woman motif is incorporated in this story – and it is. One of the twins is Jacob.
Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel, also is unable to have children while Jacob’s other wife, Leah, is prolific. But eventually Rachel produces two sons. The oldest is Joseph, who ends of as second in command in Egypt.
From there, he provides protection for his family during a devastating famine. The family of Jacob moves to Egypt and, during their time there, grows from a family to a nation.
So we have three barren women – Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel – all delivering men significant to the history of Israel.
The motif continues with stories of Samson’s mother, Samuel’s mother, and Obed’s mother (Ruth, who had been married for 10 years without offspring). In each case, the son born to the formerly-barren woman had great significance.
Samson became a judge who helped the Israelites overcome Philistine oppressors. Samuel was the last of the judges and the man who anointed King David. Obed was the grandfather of David.
The motif continues into the New Testament. John the Baptist, the last prophet before Jesus, was born to Elizabeth, a barren woman. Each barren woman conceived through a miraculous touch of God.
Consider the birth of Jesus, born to a virgin who conceived through a miraculous touch of God.
In the Bible, the son born in a miraculous way will become a man of significance. Biblical texts use a motif – in this case, the barren woman – to highlight the theme.
by Kathy Brasby | Jul 16, 2013 | Hope
I have a friend who claims to love doing laundry. She’s still my friend, which, I hope, reveals a ton about my tolerance level.
Who loves doing laundry?
Not me.
My children were all instructed in the operation of our washing machine so that, by the time they could climb, they could do their own laundry. OK, maybe that’s a bit of a hyperbole but it still stands as a standard to attain.
I do admit that the result of requiring the kids to do their own laundry is that they now can use their bedroom dresser drawers for books and computer programs because those drawers never see clothes. They draw clean clothes from the laundry baskets.
At least that’s the theory. Sometimes clean and dirty co-mingle on the floor.
I did mention I’m tolerant, right?
I cannot blame my upbringing for this laundry tolerance. My mother was a Type-A laundrist. A laundrist is someone who takes the chore of laundry seriously. Even to the point of folding and stashing clothes on the same day they were washed.
I remember how Mom resisted changing from a wringer washing machine (see photo) because it cleaned fast and deep. But I’m happy to report that I was the reason she moved into the modern era of washing machines and dryers.
One day she was hanging up clothes in the back yard and I, being about 3 at the time, decided to explore without her supervision. What, I thought to myself, would happen if I stuck this knife blade in the electric socket?
I don’t remember what happened but I do know that Mom got a clothes dryer and that for years we had a butter knife in our flatware drawer with a blackened point.
One day my husband came home with a story about the wife of one of his customers who ironed all her husband’s underwear. I was so pleased I had the strength of character to resist such laundrist temptation. I know it wasn’t a hint. My husband has no illusions about my laundry abilities.
I mean, I don’t even fold my own underwear. Why would I iron his?
But recently our washing machine went belly up and my husband decided he wanted a front-loading set, those new energy-efficient machines that should save water and electricity.
So we have a new set with portholes facing into our laundry room. My husband is still bummed that the dryer doesn’t fold the clothes, too, but he’s adjusting. I’m bummed the clothes don’t come out on hangers. I’m adjusting, too.
But I do have one concern. Our grandson, at 18 months, now likes to stand at the glass windows and watch the clothes tumble.
I’m worried that this might be planting the seeds of a whole new generation of laundrists.
by Kathy Brasby | Jul 12, 2013 | Hope
Authors learn early to do their best not to repeat words. Repeating words is monotonous in our English literature. Rather than use stairs four times in the paragraph, for example, use stairs and steps and pronouns. If you have to, rewrite to avoid repeats.
A useful biblical technique is word repetition and, ironically, we often miss it because our English translations plug in synonyms for the repetitions.
But in doing so, we sometimes overlook the author’s point.
For example, there is a return motif in the Bible. The story of Jacob is about a man returning to his homeland after 20 years of exile. The grand story of the Old Testament is the return of a remnant of people to Palestine after the Babylonian exile.
But the story I want to examine briefly is the return story of Naomi in Ruth 1.
The Hebrew word for return in Ruth 1 is shub, meaning return. It carries deep meaning and rich connotations of the rhythm of life, of people returning to a previous condition, of people going out and coming in.
At times, shub is translated return and at other times synonyms are employed. Those are similar in meaning but we miss the repetition which underscores the theme of return. Here is where shub is used in Ruth 1:
- Ruth 1:6 “…then she started to return with her…”
- Ruth 1:8 “Go back each of you to your mother’s house…”
- Ruth 1:10 “No, we will return with you to your people…”
- Ruth 1:11 “Turn back, my daughters, why would you go with me?”
- Ruth 1:12 “Turn back,my daughters, go your way…”
- Ruth 1:15 “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods…”
- Ruth 1:15 “Return after your sister-in-law…”
- Ruth 1:16 “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you.”
- Ruth 1:21 “The Lord has brought me back empty…”
- Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth.
- Ruth 1:22 …her daughter-in-law who came back with her.
That many uses of shub mean something. Although the translation obscures the repetition of shub, we still can uncover what the author intended. He wrote about Naomi’s return. His repetition clarifies his point.
Naomi was returning to her homeland and to God. She was returning to the fullness she thought God had torn away from her. She was returning to the kindness of God’s plan.
Word repetition set the stage for the author’s intended purpose in Ruth.