Our Fathers Have Told Us: Introduction to the Analysis of Hebrew Narratives

by Jean Louis Ska

Narratology is a recent method of literary criticism adopted by exegetes for the analysis of the Old Testament narratives. The aim of this introduction is to help the student find a way through the forest of new terms used by specialists and to give numerous examples of texts analysed according to this new methodology. The work also contains, as far as possible, references to the origin of the terminology, to basic works in the field, to interesting discussions, and to different schools in literary criticism. Moreover, this manual tries to open a forum for a constructive dialogue between exegetes using more classical methods and those who favour this new way of exploring the well-known landscapes of Scripture.

132 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2000

Reviews

[Reagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful guide on navigating through biblical narrative. This is helpful in regard to listing out tools to understand biblical narrative, as Ska recognizes that these tools are not intended to place the narrative into neat little boxes of categories, rather these are tools of navigation to find your way through the narrative. Helpful for sure, but more explanation with practical examples from the text would be better (similar to Alter’s approach). Ska cites many texts for examples, but rarely walks through a text. When he does walk through a text it is his best work.

Ultimately the list of literary tools itself is helpful and necessary for the exegete to navigate through biblical narrative. One must begin using the tools though to fully recognize their usefulness and the appropriateness of their given need (I.e. repetition tools for Gen 39 versus characterization tools for Gen 38). Ska’s chapter on characterization was excellent, but primarily his section on “Traits” and “habits.”

[Kristian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable introduction to reading biblical narratives. Ska synthesizes a great deal of literature, drawing on both literary studies, literary theory and the application of literary studies to biblical narratives. He also provides rich bibliographies, which especially good for references to French, German and Italian literature in addition to English works.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful concise overview of principles for interpreting Biblical Hebrew narratives. Hebrew is transliterated and there are a lot of references for further reading, so despite the book's brevity it is a good starting place and overview of current views for interpreting Biblical Hebrew narrative. This could be used as a useful book in Bible colleges and Seminaries since the book doesn't assume an extensive knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, and it could be a useful brief reference for pastors as well with some of the exegetical examples given to illustrate certain types of narrative features.