(Excerpts taken from the book “Kaloob” which one person authoring is my Religion professor, Dr. Arnold Monera)

I had to do this to help me review myself, and I also think that this is an interesting read, so here it goes.

Novels, dramas, poetry, music and films often portray biblical allusions, themes and quotations. The “Noli Me Tangere” br. Dr. Rizal was inspired by the resurrection narrative when Christ told Mary Magdalene “Do not hold on to me… because I have not yet gone back to the Father” (Jn. 20:17). The Bible is a literary book, it did not just come from heaven or some vacuum in space. The literature back then was not In Filipino or in English, it came from Hebrew and Koine Greek (the common greek used).

To understand literature, we must be able to know not only the different genres and styles in that language but also the styles that were vogue the time that the literature was done. The identification of the literary form will help a lot or even be enough to understand the motives or what the author hopes to bring to us. The Bible (Gk. biblion), has varied literary forms. It cannot be denied that it has such characteristic because it came from different traditions, divergent genres, written by different people with different mindsets, motives and ways to deliver their messages. Larger literary genres like the books of Psalms can even be filtered into smaller genre groups like poetry, hymns, etc.

As to the literary qualities of the Bible, the people who made it were not just happy-go-lucky authors who will just write because it is their passion or because they want instant fame and fortune for their writings. They were of course critical and self-conscious literary craftsmen who structured their work on a beginning-middle-end principle. Their stories also contain the basic plot: the setting, the problem, the climax, the resolution and it also manifests the same literary techniques as you would find in the readings that we are reading in this age.

Here are some literary forms that are present in the Bible and some concrete examples:

• Myth - symbolic expression of religious truths or ultimate realities.
  • Genesis 1 and 2
  • Isaiah 11:6-9
• Midrash - imaginative reconstruction of a biblical episode; edifying lessons or meditations on an earlier biblical utterance (McKenzie 1965: 574-575)
  • Infancy narratives (Mt, Lk)
  • Wisdom 11-19
• History - God’s revelation of Himself in the framework of events; it presents the chosen people’s encouter with God and their response to that encounter.
  • Exodus 14
  • 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
  • 1 and 2 Kings
  • Psalms 78, 105, 106
• Fable - a short story embodying a lesson and using animals or inanimate objects as characters and making them act as human beings.
  • Judges 9:7-15
  • 2 Kings 14:9
• Apocalyptic Genre - revelation made by God concerning hidden things employing all kinds of imagery and symbolism which appeal to the imagination of the people.
  • Isaiah 13:9-10
  • Matthew 24:29
  • Daniel
  • Revelation
• Wisdom Literature - proverbs, sayings on proper behavior, also contains reflections on the meaning of life, problems of life, good and evil
  • Wisdom of Solomon
  • Proverbs
  • Ecclesiastes
• Miracle Stories - signs and wonders of God’s presence/messianic salvation
  • OT - the manna and the quails
  • NT - healing of the blind man, multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the casting out of evil spirits.
• Parables -a simple narrative in the form of an extended metaphor which subverts worldy values and invites conversion to the good values.
  • Parable of the Prodigal Son
  • The Mustard Seed
  • The Marriage Banquet
• Poetry - consists of parallelisms, balance, rhythm and makes use of metaphor, similes and other exaggerations.
  • Psalms
  • Isaiah
  • Jeremiah
  • Job
• Allegory - similitude which involves levels of meaning
  • Mark 4:13-20
• Detective Stories - consists of a mystery, suspense, someone unraveling the problem, the evidence pointing to the culprit, and finally the vindication of the innocent or just.
  • Daniel 13:1-64
  • Daniel 14:1-22
  • Daniel 14-23:42
• Aetiology - a story which attempts to explain the origin or a cause of a phenomenon of nature, condition, custom or institution.
  • Genesis 9:12
  • Genesis 19:26
  • Genesis 25:23
• Satire - consists of sarcasm, invective parody.
  • 1 Kings 18:26-29
  • Job 32-40
  • Numbers 22-24
• Irony - a passage with double layered meaning, a mode of speech of which the meanig is contrary to the word.
  • John 9:1-41
  • John 18:28-19:16
• Legal Codes - laws, commandments, rules of conduct, even those governing physical hygiene and dietary regulation.
  • Decalogue (10 Commandments)
  • Exodus 21:1-11
  • Leviticus 6:1-7
  • Exodus 23:10-11
• Prophecy - an oracle or utterance of the spokesman of mouthpiece of God expressing threat, promise, reproach or admonition.
  • Isaiah
  • Jeremiah
  • Ezekiel
  • Amos
• Letter/Epistle - correspondence of an apostle to another person or to a community by a doctrinal or a pastoral matter
  • Pauline Epistles and Catholic Epistles

Wow. Seems like I wrote a lot but it helped me a lot in reviewing for my midterms tomorrow.