Typescene sounds like a typical technical term scholars use make Bible stories dull 
In this podcast I hope to show you it’s exactly the opposite and that by spending 5 minutes learning about typescenes you can discover a livelyness you may have missed, even in a well-loved story like Ruth. (Other passage you should have ready, or look at before listening are: Genesis 24; 29 & Exodus 2:15ff..)
Gapping, where hearers have to “fill in” information that is missing in the text, is a really significant part of biblical story-telling. So, I’ll need to introduce the idea to next year’s Biblical Narrative class. Normally we “gap” unconsciously, and not just when reading narratives as I hope I’ll show you in this podcast. We’ll also begin to think about what makes gapping more – or less – legitimate. (See 2 Corinthians 11)
Judges is definitely not suitable for Sunday School reading, the bits that are told are firmly censored, and few of us go back to notice what we are missing. But, if we do, what we find is a book chock full of horrid twisted tales, brutal, brutish and sadly not short. Why? Can such a nasty collection of stories be justified, or should it simply be banned?
Twisted tales: or should the book of Judges be censored? [ 4:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadThe puzzle of Jonah’s actions, and other strange goings-on don’t stop in Jonah 1:3, but deepen (pun intended) as we begin to read on… we meet the ship that had plans of its own and hear echoes of Santa Claus in the telling of Jonah’s story…
Continuing the series on Jonah, we rush ahead into the second verse of the book, only to spot yet again possibly more than one meaning. Jonah’s task however is clear.
By the way I am sorry about the long delays recently, I hope to post more regularly again, but not till after enjoying a two week holiday – starting on Sunday.
Stephen suggested I do a ‘cast about the Babel story, so here it is… a first ‘cast about Babel. In this one I’ll begin with points of view and language. Since this will have to be a series we’ll follow up from there later!
For more about “point of view” and “frames” you could see my Introduction to Narrative and Narrative Poetics which is not as technical as it may sound!
Eric Auerbach’s famous quote about Biblical Narrative being “fraught with background” can sound puzzling. Here I’ll try to explain it with reference to some trivial but intriguing details in Genesis 24. Reading the chapter in the Hebrew class we spotted several minor details in the telling that suggest, or hint… well, listen and find out what!
Biblical Narrative: Fraught with Background: Genesis 24 [ 6:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadHere’s a second instalment of Saul’s introduction… if when you are listening you have a Bible handy, open it to 1 Sam 9:11ff.
This is the first of what might need to be a long series! Just to do justice to the introduction of Saul in 1 Sam 9 I’ll need at least 2 posts…
except the “video” version is a bumper compendium edition that merges parts 1 & 2 together…
Humour in the Bible: Part 1: Introducing Saul: 1 Samuel 9 [ 11:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
