The Bible is Jewish Literature

Over the last few weeks in my Sunday School class, we have been working through important points that help a reader interpret the Bible correctly. First, we spent three works working through the different types of literature in the Bible and understanding we need to know we are reading a story or poem or discourse. Knowing the type of literary genre we are reading is important to correctly understanding God's message.

This past Sunday, we spent time thinking through the truth that the Bible was written 2000 years ago or more. The Bible was written by Jewish men and women. The Bible was written in a Middle-eastern Jewish culture. The Bible was written for a Jewish audience. And the Bible is nothing like 21st century American culture, in its literary style. Understanding the Bible is a piece of art that is Jewish literature is critical for correct interpretation.

Understanding the Bible is Jewish literature that is thousands of years old, there are 4 important points, that I taught to help keep interpretation correct.

First, the Bible being Jewish literature from that place and time, means that it is mediation literature. Psalm 1 (among many other Psalms) point to the way of the righteous. The psalmist makes clear that it is a meditation on the Word of God, day and night, that brings delight, transformation, and fruit (like a tree planted by a fresh stream). The Bible is meant to be a book that saturates the soul. As a person reads from the Bible daily, reading through the Bible yearly, spending their entire life in the Bible, it begins to bear fruit for God. The Bible was written to be meditated on. This means reading it, reading it out-loud, and reading it throughout the day (like muttering the Scriptures to yourself). The Bible as Jewish literature is mediation literature. 

Second, being Jewish meditation literature, means the Bible lacks much of the detail that we in America enjoy and want in our literature. The Jewish literary style did not care about details. Take for example the story of Genesis 3. We are not given the details about; where the snake came from, what the snake looked like, what color hair Adam and Eve had, what type of fruit it was, or even where Adam was, when Eve was tempted (among other details). This means first, the details that are given in the Bible are important to notice. In the story of Genesis 3, the fact that it is a snake that tempts them is important. The fact that the humans were naked is critical. Secondly this means we have to fight the tendency to add detail when detail is not needed. We do not need to know if the snake had wings or legs. We do not need to know if they ate an apple or a plum. Jewish mediation literature only adds the details we need to know and notice. 

Third, an important point for the Bible and its Jewish meditation style, is that the Bible is meant to interpret itself. The Bible is complex book. It is a hard book to understand at times. The Bible has passages (becasue it is God talking) that are somewhat mysterious. Some parts of the Bible though are clear. Some parts of the Bible are simple. Some parts of the Bible are easier to understand. The Bible, as Jewish meditation literature, is written in a way that the harder parts are supposed to be made simpler by the easier parts. The Bible is designed to be interpreted by itself. This means, the Bible does not contradict itself, it is just designed and written by God to be a mysterious book at times. So the person who mediates on the book can take the clear easier parts, that stick through mediation, and use them to interpret the harder parts. We must do the hard work of using the Bible to understand the Bible.

Lastly, the Bible being Jewish mediation literature means it is meant to read the reader as the reader reads it. Reading the Bible in a life of meditation saturates the Bible to the mind and the heart. As a person spends a life time, day and night, reading through the Bible, something slowly and amazingly happens. The Bible begins to read the reader and transform them. As we read through the Bible, we begin to understand God more, we see the human nature (both before conversion and after conversion), and come to know what obedience to God is (a righteous life). As we read through the Bible and it does this to us, it begins to change us. The Bible (becasue it is living and active) begins to read the reader and change their mind, heart, and life. Jewish mediation literature is meant to change the person over a lifetime of meditation.

So understanding these 4 important aspects of Jewish mediation literature, a person can come to a better understanding and right interpretation of the Bible. We can't read the Bible like a 21st century American, because if we do, we will miss apply it and become self-centered and think that God first and only cares about us. The Bible, as Jewish mediation literature is clear, it is God's holy, living, perfect, powerful Word that we must spend a lifetime mediating on so that we learn to submit to God and through His grace be changed into a child of righteousness.