Difference between revisions of "Chronological and Thematic Order/0"
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<p>The Biblical text sets chronological order as the norm, but in many places it is willing to sacrifice it for literary reasons. In several places in Torah, the achronology is explicit in the text.  Time markers such as people's ages, the passage of years, or more rarely, definitive dates, clue the reader into the phenomenon.  More often, though, the true timing of scenes is ambiguous, and for textual or conceptual reasons a case might be made for achronology, but no definitive proof can be found in the text.</p> | <p>The Biblical text sets chronological order as the norm, but in many places it is willing to sacrifice it for literary reasons. In several places in Torah, the achronology is explicit in the text.  Time markers such as people's ages, the passage of years, or more rarely, definitive dates, clue the reader into the phenomenon.  More often, though, the true timing of scenes is ambiguous, and for textual or conceptual reasons a case might be made for achronology, but no definitive proof can be found in the text.</p> | ||
| − | <h2>Two | + | <h2>Two Units Reversed</h2> |
<p>At times, two textual units completely swap places with one another, appearing in reverse order. <b> </b></p> | <p>At times, two textual units completely swap places with one another, appearing in reverse order. <b> </b></p> | ||
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| − | <h2>Three | + | <h2>Three Units, One Misplaced</h2> |
| − | <h2>Overlapping | + | <h2>Overlapping Units</h2> |
| − | When a story takes place over an extended period of time, often some of its components might overlap with the events of surrounding narratives.  Instead of constantly switching back and forth between the two, the Torah often completes one narrative unit before moving to the other. This might take the form of a short epilogue that is brought forward to provide closure to the unit, or several verses which are pushed off to serve as an introduction to a later story.<fn>Thus, the focal point of the unit tends to remain in its chronological place while supporting information and elaborations might be moved either forward or back.</fn> | + | <p>When a story takes place over an extended period of time, often some of its components might overlap with the events of surrounding narratives.  Instead of constantly switching back and forth between the two, the Torah often completes one narrative unit before moving to the other. This might take the form of a short epilogue that is brought forward to provide closure to the unit, or several verses which are pushed off to serve as an introduction to a later story.<fn>Thus, the focal point of the unit tends to remain in its chronological place while supporting information and elaborations might be moved either forward or back.</fn>  The misplaced piece might be only one verse long or several chapters.  Several examples follow:</p> |
| + | <ul> | ||
| + | <li><b>Death notices</b> – The lives of the main protagonists discussed in Sefer Bereshit often overlap with those of subsequent characters.  Nonetheless, the text is organized so that it focuses on only one leader/forefather at a time, and tries not to interrupt his story with mention of an event which is only related to a different figure.  As a result, each narrative unit closes with a statement of the death of its main character, even though this only happened later, during the life of the next protagonist discussed.<fn>For examples, see the the death of Noach in Bereshit 9:29, Terach in Bereshit 11:32, Avraham in Bereshit 25:8, and Yitzchak in Bereshit 35:19.</fn> </li> | ||
| + | <li>Epilogue to the Manna Story – Shemot 16 focuses of the story of the manna's first arrival, but extends to the fortieth year in the desert</li> | ||
| + | </ul> | ||
</page> | </page> | ||
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Version as of 13:26, 27 January 2016
Chronological and Thematic Order
Introduction
When deciding how to arrange a historical narrative, an author must balance the competing elements of chronology and thematic order. Should events be told in the order that they occurred or based on their relationship to one another? When should one component be preferred over the other?
The Biblical text sets chronological order as the norm, but in many places it is willing to sacrifice it for literary reasons. In several places in Torah, the achronology is explicit in the text. Time markers such as people's ages, the passage of years, or more rarely, definitive dates, clue the reader into the phenomenon. More often, though, the true timing of scenes is ambiguous, and for textual or conceptual reasons a case might be made for achronology, but no definitive proof can be found in the text.
Two Units Reversed
At times, two textual units completely swap places with one another, appearing in reverse order.
- Laws of Sacrifices in Vayikra 1-5 and 6-7 – Vayikra 1:1 teaches that the national laws of sacrifices discussed in Chapters 1-5 were all said to Moshe in the Ohel Moed. In contrast, the directives of Chapters 6-7, aimed at the priests, were given earlier at Har Sinai and relate to to the sacrificial ceremonies surrounding the Tabernacle's consecration (see Vayikra 7:37 and 9:1). It is possible that the written account flips the order due to the differing needs of the desert generation and the future nation. In the desert, Moshe first transmitted the laws relating to priests since these were necessary for them to fulfill their immediate tasks. When writing for generations, however, it was more important to begin with those laws which are relevant for all times, and only afterwards to include directives related to one time events.
Three Units, One Misplaced
Overlapping Units
When a story takes place over an extended period of time, often some of its components might overlap with the events of surrounding narratives. Instead of constantly switching back and forth between the two, the Torah often completes one narrative unit before moving to the other. This might take the form of a short epilogue that is brought forward to provide closure to the unit, or several verses which are pushed off to serve as an introduction to a later story.1 The misplaced piece might be only one verse long or several chapters. Several examples follow:
- Death notices – The lives of the main protagonists discussed in Sefer Bereshit often overlap with those of subsequent characters. Nonetheless, the text is organized so that it focuses on only one leader/forefather at a time, and tries not to interrupt his story with mention of an event which is only related to a different figure. As a result, each narrative unit closes with a statement of the death of its main character, even though this only happened later, during the life of the next protagonist discussed.2
- Epilogue to the Manna Story – Shemot 16 focuses of the story of the manna's first arrival, but extends to the fortieth year in the desert
