BORING???? Not Really, in Fact, Kinda Kool!

I am preparing for a sermon on Amos Chapter 1:6-2:5. It has been lots of fun. Well not really fun in a traditional sense of the word, but fun in a challenging kind of way. Its kinda like a crossword puzzle or one of the those word game challenges.

I was pondering Genres. For those who dont know, a genre in a biblical term, is a literary style. Three primary Genres exist in the bible. There are Narratives, Didactics, and Poetics. Narrative tells a story like an eye witness account. Didactics interpret events or teachings. Paul was a didactic writer. One can expect that a certain amount of interpretation has taken place. Well Poetics tell the story through images and word plays and poetic devices. They paint a picture for the reader to visualize conceptually.

I came across these two examples of Narrative Versus Poetics. Actually, my prof used these passages as example and my eyes lit up. I am a musician and think on the artist side of my brain. Narratives bore me, as I cant maintian focus. I think in images, not specifics. Check out these two passages, written once in Narrative form, and then retold in Poetic form......

Judges 4:17-21 Narrative Account

17 Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.
19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' "
21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Judges 5:24-27 Poetic Account

24 "Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman's hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 At her feet he sank,
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell-dead.

So what do you think? Cool EH? OK so its vote time........
Narrative or Poetic? Cast your ballots now!