Abstract
This article advocates for an interpretation of biblical stories that takes into account their nature and the way in which they are told. The argument begins with observing the predicament of the biblical interpreter in using contemporary historical and/or literary methods to interpret an ancient text expected to convey a theological message. It then offers a close reading of the Ark Narrative (1 Sam 4:1b–7:1) which exemplifies how theological conclusions can be drawn on the basis of the story alone once its literary structure and dramatic development are identified.
Highlights
The use of ancient Hebrew stories in present-day Christian theological reflection ought to be an issue of concern to both the critic and the theologian
For the biblical interpreter, the issue is further complicated by the assumption that, together with the historical and literary information given, there ought to be a deeper theological meaning that biblical stories carry
The story selected for this hermeneutical exercise (1 Sam. 4:1b–7:1) has been established in critical scholarship as the first part of a so-called “Ark Narrative” (Rost 6-34) and represents literary material presumed to be one of the hypothetical sources behind the “Deuteronomistic History” (Noth 1-110)
Summary
The use of ancient Hebrew stories in present-day Christian theological reflection ought to be an issue of concern to both the critic and the theologian. Language expresses ideas and facts that are familiar to the world and time of the author, and the job of the interpreter is to establish links between the language of texts and the extra-linguistic contexts in which such texts were created In this way the intention an author had in creating a text may be recovered; and since within this approach to interpretation finding what the author of a text meant is the basic condition to interpreting felicitously that text, the value of the meaning the interpreter finds increases or decreases in direct ratio to the amount of information pertaining to the referential context, that is, the extra-textual socio-historical milieu, the interpreter excavates. My proposal to remain faithful to the nature of the telling by analyzing it on its own terms will necessarily identify the manner of the telling and only subsequently note the theological conclusions to which it leads
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