The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative
There is an unidentified literary convention within narratives of the Hebrew Bible, wherein the narrator portrays the thought process of certain characters. In these episodes, which I coin “thought-scenes,” characters express the motivating reasons for a past, current, or upcoming action. That is, t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Alberta Library
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
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| Online Access: | https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/29665 |
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| author | Arthur Keefer |
| author_facet | Arthur Keefer |
| author_sort | Arthur Keefer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is an unidentified literary convention within narratives of the Hebrew Bible, wherein the narrator portrays the thought process of certain characters. In these episodes, which I coin “thought-scenes,” characters express the motivating reasons for a past, current, or upcoming action. That is, they explain “why” an action, decision, or request is being undertaken. These passages constitute distinctive instances of human reasoning and offer insight into how rationality was viewed in the ancient world, as well as how forms of argumentation were fashioned within biblical literature. I examine the reasoning process of Abraham (Gen 12:10-20) and Joseph (Gen 39:7-10) in detail and supply a full, annotated catalogue of thought-scenes in Genesis, along with representative examples from across the Hebrew Bible.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5551a90d1ba6422faa9cae6061e35cac |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1203-1542 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Alberta Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
| spelling | doaj-art-5551a90d1ba6422faa9cae6061e35cac2025-01-29T09:23:17ZengUniversity of Alberta LibraryJournal of Hebrew Scriptures1203-15422025-01-012410.5508/jhs29665The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew NarrativeArthur Keefer0University of Notre Dame AustraliaThere is an unidentified literary convention within narratives of the Hebrew Bible, wherein the narrator portrays the thought process of certain characters. In these episodes, which I coin “thought-scenes,” characters express the motivating reasons for a past, current, or upcoming action. That is, they explain “why” an action, decision, or request is being undertaken. These passages constitute distinctive instances of human reasoning and offer insight into how rationality was viewed in the ancient world, as well as how forms of argumentation were fashioned within biblical literature. I examine the reasoning process of Abraham (Gen 12:10-20) and Joseph (Gen 39:7-10) in detail and supply a full, annotated catalogue of thought-scenes in Genesis, along with representative examples from across the Hebrew Bible. https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/29665GenesisHuman Reasonrationalityjustificationdeliberationconvention |
| spellingShingle | Arthur Keefer The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Genesis Human Reason rationality justification deliberation convention |
| title | The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative |
| title_full | The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative |
| title_fullStr | The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative |
| title_short | The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative |
| title_sort | thought scene a literary convention of hebrew narrative |
| topic | Genesis Human Reason rationality justification deliberation convention |
| url | https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/29665 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT arthurkeefer thethoughtscenealiteraryconventionofhebrewnarrative AT arthurkeefer thoughtscenealiteraryconventionofhebrewnarrative |