THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN IN AN ORAL BASED CULTURE

 

Our culture is a text-based culture – a culture of the written word. Our culture could only be conceived if there is widespread literacy. Widespread literacy leads to widespread production of texts. According to Dr Ben Witherington III (Sacred Texts in an Oral Culture, Biblical Archaeology Review, 2017), “… it may be difficult for us, in a text-based culture, to conceive of and understand an oral culture…nevertheless, it is important that we try to understand oral culture, since all the cultures of the Bible were essentially oral cultures.”

 The literacy rate in biblical cultures ranged from about five to twenty percent. Hence, there was a great appreciation for the spoken word, often referred to as the “living word”. Interestingly, Jesus said to his audiences, “Let those who have ears, listen.” He never said, “Let those who have eyes, read.”

 In addition, no documents in the ancient world were intended for “silent” reading, and only a few were intended for private individuals to read. Dr Witherington believes ancient documents “…were composed with their aural and oral potential in mind. They were meant to be read when delivered at their destination.” For example, when one reads the opening verses of Ephesians, loaded as it is with aural devices (assonance, alliteration, rhythm and various rhetorical devices), it becomes perfectly clear that no one was ever meant to read this silently. It needed to be heard.

 In his letter to the Colossians, Paul confirmed that his letter was a circular. He stated, “after this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). To the Thessalonians, Paul stressed, “I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers” (1 Thessalonians 5:27).

 One must not forget that texts were rare because they were expensive to produce. Papyrus, on which texts were written were expensive. So was ink. Also, it was ultra-expensive to employ scribes. In order to reduce costs, there was no separation of words, sentences and paragraphs. Imagine reading a document with no punctuation and in upper caps. The only way to decipher such a collection of words was to sound them out loudly.

The Bible was not exempt from the literary challenges of the ancient cultures in which it was written. However, the writers were determined to document what they knew. To the writers the information was critical and needed to be recorded on durable material. At times the writers did their own writing. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul stated, “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand…” (Colossians 4:18). Whereas, in his letter to the Romans, Paul’s amanuensis (secretary) identified himself as – “I, Tertius who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord” (Romans 16:22).

 If the process of documenting was so arduous in the ancient world, then why did the writers find it necessary to pursue writing. Well, God instructed the Old Testament leaders to write. For instance, in Exodus, the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it…” (Exodus 17:14). Also, in the New Testament, writers believed God instructed them and they wrote. To the Thessalonians, Paul said, “… when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God…” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

 Biblical writers were not attempting to replace the oral message, they were actually attempting to solidify that message. As mentioned earlier, they even used rhetorical devices to retain the emotions of the oral message. Paul expected specific coworkers to read his letters. The reading ensured the retention of rhetorical effectiveness. In the Old Testament, as Ezra the priest “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read…for all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law” (Nehemiah 8:8-10).

 In an oral culture religious words were believed to have power and an effect on people. Even in some oral cultures today, there is a distrust of written words. The spoken word is still seen as that which is alive – the living word. The Bible affirms the power in the word, but not because of the human life that is inherent in the reading of the material. Rather, it is because of divine life that is built-in to the oral or written word.

 The writer to the Book of Hebrews, said it best – “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The same idea is conveyed in the Old Testament when the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah – “… so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

A LEGACY OF RELIABLE TRANSMISSION

 

The Bible contains nothing written by Jesus. The Gospel writer Luke reports (Luke 4:16) that Jesus read in the synagogue. At times Jesus quoted from the Hebrew Bible, but he never documented his sayings. However, Jesus was frequently quoted in the Gospels. But, from where did the writers get his sayings?

Although three of the disciples of Jesus were credited among New Testament writers, most of the New Testament was not written by disciples. Non-disciples Luke and Paul wrote more than 50% of the New Testament. In some of his writings, Luke mentioned that he was present in some of the reports he provided. In other words, he was providing first hand reports.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul contended that he did not make-up the message of the Gospel. He actually said, “I did not receive (the gospel) from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12). However, in 1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul said, “… for what I received I passed on to you…”. The verbs he uses are technical terms for receiving and transmitting tradition.

Interestingly, Paul was writing this before any of the Gospels was written. In other words, what Paul was saying had a history, other than, and preceding the writing of the Gospels. Luke also alluded to this pre-Gospel history. He investigated what was “… handed down by those who from the first were eyewitnesses…” (Luke 1:1-2).

However, in view of the fact that the earliest conveyors of this information were all Jews, we would naturally expect them to treat the teachings of their master with as much respect as did the disciples of other Jewish teachers. This is all the more likely because of the tragic circumstances under which Jesus died. His death made the need to remember, preserve and defend Jesus against false charges more acute.

We must not forget that disciples in early Jewish settings were learners and reciters and memorizers. That was the way Jewish educational processes worked. Actually, it was the staple of all ancient education – those who passed on the tradition would not have seen themselves as creators, but as preservers and editors.

Because of today’s technology, we often forget that oral recall was far more important in ancient societies than our own. In the absence of today’s technology, ancient societies used a variety of methods to ensure memorization. My studies confirm that there is a growing confidence in the accuracy of oral transmission among ancient societies. This confidence is becoming more apparent within sacred literature.

The Gospels describe Jesus as a teacher 45 times and the term ‘rabbi’ is used of him 14 times. Like rabbis in his time, Jesus proclaimed divine law, gathered disciples, debated with religious authorities, was asked to settle disputes and supported his teaching with Scripture. Jesus also used devices to facilitate memorization. He used parables, exaggerations, puns, metaphors, proverbs and riddles to aid his disciples and audience to retain his teachings.

In his volume, Cynic, Sage, or Son of God, Gregory Boyd emphasized Jesus’ role as a “Rabbinic-like teacher”. As such, “Jesus would have ensured a common Rabbinic practice of word-for-word memorization”. Boyd cites Rainer Riesner as someone who has done a thorough study, both of educational practices with first-century Judaism, as well as the evidence within the Gospels’ tradition related to Jesus and his teaching methods. Riesner concluded “that memory of sacred teachings and traditions was a vital part of both Jewish life in general and Jesus’ teaching program in particular”.

In preparing for this blog, I was reminded that the relationship between Jesus and his disciples was similar to the type of school known as “disciple circle”, and would have used the standard teaching techniques of the ancient world. In the disciple circle, a handful of disciples would gather around a master. The disciples were apprentices who learned by constant attendance. The disciples watched his every action and listened to every word. The disciple circle existed as long as the master remained active and upon his death or retirement, the school died with him. Disciple circles were the normal pattern for higher education in both Jewish and Greco-Roman antiquity.

Contemporary psycholinguistic studies have served to confirm that the techniques that characterized Jesus’ oral teaching methods would have made for “very accurate communication between Jesus and his followers” and would have “ensured excellent semantic recall” (J. Bradshaw, “Oral Transmission and Human Memory,” Expository Times).

Today we handle the Bible with a level of confidence, knowing that we are reading the Word of God. But that confidence is based both in the content and in the process of transmission from oral to written form. We must not trivialise this legacy of the reliable transmission of Scripture. We should heed Paul’s injunction to young Timothy – “Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you” (1 Timothy 1:14 NLT).