How’d You Do That? (6/8/12)

In our last Proverbs post, I looked at what sort of genre proverbs are.  Let me give those comments a context.

When we come to learning how to study the Bible, one of the first steps is to observe the text carefully.  But what should we observe?  I generally consider five categories:

1. Words
2. Grammar
3. Structure
4. Mood
5. Genre

You can observe the words themselves, considering repetition, tenses, number (singular or plural), etc.

You can observe the grammar, considering issues such as sentence structure (subjects, verbs, objects, etc.), pronouns, or prepositional phrases.

You can observe the structure, considering things like comparison, contrast, section divisions, or the shape of the text.

You can observe mood, identifying how the author communicated: excited, angry, patient, personal, etc.

Finally, you can observe the genre.  Primarily, you’ll want to notice whether you’re reading prose or poetry.  If I write of red roses, it’s important that you understand the genre.  On the one hand you might find just what you need in a pinch.  On the other hand, you could create too many giggles.  Don’t mix up genres!

In the case of Proverbs, I discussed the wisdom genre of proverbs.  We should not read proverbs like laws, or even like prophecies.  Proverbs are intended to address many fine details of life.  As we go through the text, we’ll see how this fact plays out.  But by way of introduction, I wanted to draw attention to the significance of genre.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I observed Proverbs’ genre,

Now you can, too!