A Bridge to Understanding

Some years ago, while trying to find educational phone apps that my kids could enjoy, I came across a game about building bridges. The strategy involved using an established balance of funds to construct a bridge across a given span. The choice of materials was critical in the process, since it would determine both the cost and the design possibilities for the bridge. The budget supplied by the game was almost always the bare minimum to construct an efficient structural design. This meant that unnecessary design elements would put the bridge over budget and make it impossible to complete. At times, the budget was too low to afford materials such as steel, cables, or concrete, so the player was forced to design a bridge made almost entirely of wood. In playing the game, one soon develops an entry-level knowledge of the capabilities and costs of the various bridge materials and designs. They learn that certain designs are ideal for specific materials, whether because of material costs or structural integrity. They also recognize that the choice of materials, by necessity, will limit the options for the bridge's structure.

Similarly, the kind of literary genre (discussed briefly in the previous post) that an author uses to communicate his message will significantly impact how the message is “constructed.” We use the term “structure” to describe how the author has organized the communication of his message. All biblical passages have some form of structure, but the structure will vary depending on the genre utilized. And, just as the choice of building materials impacts the structure and design of a bridge, the choice of genre will affect the flow and organization of the author’s ideas. An author communicating his message through a story will organize and convey that message in a very different way than if he were attempting to communicate through poetry or a letter.

This means that we will have to look for different kinds of structural clues when we study, depending on the kind of literature. If we attempt to study all biblical texts in the same way (such as a “verse-by-verse” grammatical methodology), we will probably misidentify the structure of the text. And since structure is so closely tied to the author’s message, we may very well miss the message the author intends us to grasp.

Let’s briefly look at the book of Genesis to illustrate the importance of the structure principle. For many readers, the primary structural division of chapters 1-11 and 12-50 seems fairly evident. While the first section covers hundreds—even thousands- of years in a short number of verses, the second section slows down dramatically, using the remaining 39 chapters to detail events of just a few hundred years. The two sections also differ in their primary settings and emphasis on main characters. Perhaps the most significant distinction between the two is the overarching tone of the narrative. Whereas chapters 1-11 repeatedly demonstrate the depravity of humanity and God’s judgment against wickedness, the second section is filled with hopeful language of God’s promise to bless and prosper Abraham and his kin and the rest of the world through them.  This significant structural shift helps us identify some key elements Moses highlights as he tells the story.

What is unclear to many readers is how Moses has provided a smaller, more subtle structure to those two main “acts” of the story. Within each central division, he has organized stories into sections, marking them with the phrase, “these are the generations of” (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:27; 25:19; and 37:2), as well as some genealogical data. The material between these markers is organized to focus on primary storylines rather than just a strict, chronological account of events. For example, the deaths of Abraham (25:7-8) and Isaac (35:29) are recorded near the end of one of these larger sections, even though some of the events of the following section would have taken place while those patriarchs were still alive. The result is that the reader is encouraged to focus on the unfolding storyline of each section. God’s patient development of Abraham’s faith in His promises, His bending of Jacob’s head-strong striving to a spirit of humble worship, and His faithfulness to bless Joseph despite the evils repeatedly done against him, all work to advance the larger message of God’s determination to overcome humanity’s wickedness and rebellion with His intentional plan to bring blessing. Failing to see the focus this structure brings may leave us meandering in a sea of numerous stories, attempting to understand things like the defiling of Dinah (ch. 34) and Judah’s sin with Tamar (ch. 38) without the anchor of the broader section in which those stories are recorded.

Now, it is essential to remember that finding the structure is only one key step in understanding the message of a text. A bridge is not intended to be a destination in and of itself. It is intended to help us get from one place to another. In the same way, recognizing the structure of a text is just an attempt to follow the organization of the author’s thoughts. We will still need to wrestle with how that organization points us to the message and refines our grasp. But finding the structure of a passage can genuinely be a bridge to understanding.