Bible Literary Styles

Study Notes

The Bible is a collection of many books that tell a unified story, written in different literary styles.
The Bible can be compared to a bookstore with different aisles of literature, such as history, poetry, and nonfiction, each with different expectations and communication styles.
The main types of literature in the Bible are narrative (43% of the Bible), poetry (33% of the Bible), and prose discourse (24% of the Bible).
Narrative is the most universal form of human communication, and our brains are hardwired to take in information through stories.
Stories help us make sense of seemingly random events in life by putting them in a sequence, allowing us to see meaning and purpose.
Good stories have a character who wants something, explore life's big questions, involve conflict, and usually end with some kind of resolution, giving us hope for our own stories.
Bible characters are often deeply flawed, and we should not emulate them, but rather see ourselves in them, helping us see our lives and failures from a new perspective.
There are different types of narrative in the Bible, including historical narrative, narrative parables, and short biographical narratives like the four Gospels.
Poetry in the Bible speaks through dense, creative language, linking images to help us envision the world differently, evoking emotions and imagination.
Poetry helps us break out of mental ruts and think in new ways, with different types of poetry, including songs or psalms, reflective poetry of wisdom books, and passionate resistance poetry of the prophets.
Prose discourse, making up a quarter of the Bible, focuses on building a sequence of ideas or thoughts into one linear argument, requiring a logical response.
Prose discourse is found in law collections, wisdom literature, and letters written by the apostles, persuading readers with reason and logical thinking.
Each book of the Bible has a unique combination of literary styles, requiring readers to be familiar with each type to read well.
Understanding the different literary styles helps readers know what to pay attention to and what questions to ask.