Three Reads - What in the world is Jim asking us to do this week?

What in the world is Jim asking us to do this week?

That's a great question. As part of this study on Jonah, I wanted to make sure that we spent a little time brushing up on our bible study skills. The tricky part of doing that inside a short study of a book like Jonah is that there's no time to do the setup work for the work you'll do between sessions, unless we take one session to review the elements of studying the bible. That would take an extra week, and I really wanted us to keep up the pace we've set in our look at Tales of the Sea.

I also know that for many of you, most of what we'll be doing is something you have practiced in the past, or practice all the time.

So, I thought we'd do things a little differently this time when studying Jonah and I wouldn't burden you with a lot of "instruction" on technique, but just have you jump into the text. I also hope you can enjoy the text as the text, and let it speak directly to you.

These few blog entries will provide a means to give you just a bit more direction if you'd like to have it.

Case in point.
One way to look at bible study that resonates with me is describe in David L. Thompson's book, Bible Study that Works. He reduces the suggestions for bible study down to two questions: 1) "What, as a matter of fact, did the authors intend to say to their first readers?" 2) "What does that have to do with us and our world?"

In answering the first question we have to look carefully at the text. In doing that we'll look at both content and structure.

This week we're looking at the content. And that's the short answer to the question "what are we doing this week?"

The literary read.
Estimates are that somewhere between 40% and 60% of the bible is narrative/history. What this means to us is that narrative is a major approach God has used to reveal himself to us. One of the skills that I hope we are building during our Tales of the Sea study is the ability to get great value of the narratives we're reading.

This is why one of your readings this week should include looking at the story of Jonah from a literary point of view. I had a question from one of our group members about what are we looking for when looking at "narration". Narration is a term that basically means the recounting of the series of facts and events in a story. When we look at the narration we're discovering who the narrator is, what the point of view of the narrator is, and other elements such as the pace of the telling.

Here's a link to an assignment for students to write a literary analysis. It includes a brief introduction to many of the literary elements in a story. Pay attention to the information contained in Step 1.

Still confused?
Send me an email, or add comment to this post. We'll be reviewing this in context as we meet together this week.

And, really, enjoy the book of Jonah this week.

Translations

In the study guide for our first session on Jonah, the fifth session of Tales of the Sea, there's a chart that contains instructions for each reading of the book. In that chart there's an encouragement to read from more than one translation. The idea behind that suggestion is that you will read from translations that are representative of the "translation spectrum".

When translators set out on their task, whether it's translating the bible, or any other text, they have to make decisions about how they will proceed. There are a lot of decisions. The one we read about, and often debate about, is the decision on how closely the text in the target language will match the text in the source language. At one end of the translation spectrum, called formal equivalence, the goal is to preserve as much as possible the original words and wording of the source text. For non-translators, we call this word-for-word. At the other end of the translation spectrum, called functional equivalence, the goal is ensure that the translation provides the same level of immediate comprehension in the target language that a reader of the source language would have. For non-translators, we often call this thought-for-thought.

As the word spectrum implies, all "translations" (as distinguished from paraphrases) fall somewhere between completely formal, and completely functional. In our reading last week, a word for word translation of Exodus 26:22 would have had instructions for the tabernacle that oriented the rear of the tabernacle to the sea, not to the west. This is a simple example of making target language choice for better understanding -- to the original hearers and readers of this verse in Hebrew, seaward meant the west.

So, in this study I want to encourage you to read translations across the spectrum as a part of the study. In their excellent book on translations, How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth, Gordon Fee and Mark Strauss make this comment early on.

And while we think that everyone should have a primary translation of choice, we hope also, in light of the richness of available options, to encourage the frequent use of more than one translation as an enriching form of Bible study.

With all this in mind, here's a diagram that places many translations on the spectrum. You should be able to match the abbreviations for the translations to the suggestions in the study guide.

Translations:
NASB: New American Standard Bible                    KJV: King James Version
ESV: English Standard Version                               NKJV: New King James Version
RSV: Revised Standard Version                              HCSB: Holman Christian Standard Bible
NET: New English Translation                                NIV: New International Version
NEB: New English Bible                                         GW: God's Word
NCV: New Century Version                                    NLT: New Living Translation
CEV: Contemporary English Version                      MSG: The Message (a paraphrase)

Enjoy your reading this week.

Be strong and courageous and study.

Joshua 1:6-9 (NLT) ⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.
⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”


If you have some thoughts on the reading this week, add a comment.

Hear, O Israel.

Our new study catches up with our last study this week. Have you learned anything new since we started reciting shema?


Here's a place for your comments on this topic, and anything else you'd like to discuss.

Better late than never?

So, I was on my way to the blog to create a post for talking about Moses' call, when something came up. What it was, I don't remember. Just like I didn't remember that I was on my way to the blog to create a post when something came up.

Actually, I do remember that the initial distraction was that I was trying to create a post from my cell phone, but didn't have the password to the blog in my memory -- cell or self.

If you would like to start a discussion on any of the facets of Moses' call from the reading last week, just add a comment here.

One statement I found interesting is that the Hebrew people, even in captivity, had elders, who apparently provided leadership to the community. In this case, elders means the older ones. I think it's likely that it took industrialization to reduce the role of elders in a society -- to the point in America, certainly, where youth has power and authority, and seniors ... they get a discount on Tuesdays at K-Mart.

Psalm 19 Extra Reading.

For those of you doing the 52 Readings, Weekly Bible Reading Plan, you may have noticed the extra passages in Psalms to add to your weekly read. If you are reading those Psalms in order, this week would have included Psalm 19. It begins, in the NLT:

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

 
Not directly related to our snow event ... but I'm struck as David was, by God's revelation in His creation.

In the next verses (7-11), David talks about God's revelation in  the Torah. "The torah of the Lord is perfect ..." For David, God's glory is revealed in His: instructions, decrees, commandments, commands, reverence (obedience) for the Lord, and laws. God's glory is described as: perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, pure, and true. And that this revelation brings: reviving of the soul, wisdom, joy, and insight. David's understanding of Yahweh, and the value of His revelation is summed up in verse 10, "They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb."

As David contemplated the God he knew through the cosmos and torah, and the joy this knowing gave to him, he knew that his own imperfections, shortcomings, and sin kept him from a perfect relationship with Yahweh. And he prayed for cleansing, for protection from future sin, and for a God-controlled life.

The final verse of this Psalm (v.14) is familiar to many of us. Here it is, with the thought that as you look out at the snow today, or the rain tomorrow, or the trees, flowers, sun, moon, and stars when you can see them, and most especially as you continue your time in God's word, that this would be the cry of your heart:

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

What would you like to add?

52 Readings -- What do you want to say?

Here's a spot for any comments on the first 2 or 3 sessions of our new study -- 52 readings.

What do you want to say?