Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Bill,
> <LM>
> What literary classification would you assign it then and why?
>
> <Bill>
> Prophetic history?

This is not a literary genre.

It runs on a continuum with the rest of the record of
> God's activity in creation and redemption of man. There is no point at which
> the account goes - "okay, that was a parable, now we'll start talking about
> things that really happened". Each account dovetails into the next so we are
> presented with an orderly account of events of interest to those who want to
> know their Creator and His dealings with men.

Nice try, but show me a place in the Hebrew Bible where such a
statement IS made.  Instead, we have examples such as 2 Kings
14:9-10 where Jehoash offers a little parable to Amaziah and
moves straight into what he's illustrating.  Another example is
Isaiah's song of the vineyard in chapter 5.  The texts commonly
flow from illustration into "literal" material and back again without
explanation.  That's where genre comes in.


Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"Éist le glór Dé."