Criswell
Theological Review 4.2 (1990) 313-26
Copyright © 1990 by
THE ROLE OF GENESIS 22:1-19
IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE:
A COMPUTER- ASSISTED TEXTUAL
INTERPRETATION
ROBERT
D. BERGEN
O. Introduction
The
story of Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son Isaac as
recorded in Gen 22:1-19 has caught the interest
of countless students
and scholars in a rainbow of disciplines.
Philosophers, historians, and
biblical expositors have all exhibited an abiding
interest in the peric-
ope.l Recent advances in the
areas of linguistics and technology now
give- occasion for a new generation of researchers to
discover the
passage as well. The following study is an
interdisciplinary one, bring-
ing together insights from
the areas of discourse linguistics and infor-
mation science in an
examination of the text.
1. The
Prominence of Gen 22:1-19 in the Abraham Cycle
Gen 22:1-19 is a crown jewel in the treasure box
of OT narrative.
Expositors
have garnished it with accolades, calling it "one of the
most beautiful narratives in the Old
Testament,"2 "the most perfectly
1 One can find such comments in the writings
of such diverse personalities as
I.
Kant (Religion Within
the Limits of Reason Alone [
175),
and A. Toynbee (An Historian's Approach to Religion [
1979]
26, 39), not to mention all the individuals more directly connected with OT and
NT studies.
2 C. Westermann,
Genesis 12-36: A Commentary
(Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985)
355.
314
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
formed and polished of the patriarchal stories,"3
"consummate story-
telling,"4 and "the literary
masterpiece of the Elohistic collection."5
But what is it, the reader may ask, that sets
this episode in
Abraham's story apart from all the others? What grammatical,
lexical,
literary, structural, and sociolinguistic devices
(if any) has the author
employed so artfully to gain this acclaim? The
answers to these
questions are explored in the present section.
1.1 Conclusions
from a Computer-Assisted Study
Help is first sought from a piece of artificial
intelligence software
entitled DC,6 developed over the past
four years by the present
writer. This program is designed to read and evaluate
sizeable blocks
of linguistic data. It produces summary reports of
relevant text-based
statistics and attempts to identify thematic
centers present within the
data.
1.1.1 Background
of the Computer-Assisted Study
Studies coming out of the recently developed
discipline of dis-
course linguistics have
demonstrated that communicators constantly
manipulate three variables in the language code so
as to express their
intentions. These variables are unit size,
arrangement of information
within a given communication unit, and type of
information within a
unit. An author may designate a certain section of a
text as thematic in
at least three ways: 1) through the placement of
language-specific
"marked" features within that portion, 2) through the
employment of
statistically infrequent features
within that portion, and 3) through
increasing the structural and semantic complexity
of a given portion.
Based
on the premise that authors drop objective, recoverable
hints regarding their communicative intentions within
a text, DC was
developed in an effort to assist text analysts in
the process of identify-
ing and interpreting those
hints. In its present form, DC is designed to
3 G. von Rad, Genesis: A
Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972) 238.
4 D. Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary
(London: Tyndale, 1967)
144.
5 J. Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis (
Scribner's Sons, 1917) 329. The praise is
justified, even if the authorial assignment is not
6 An abbreviated acronym for the Discourse
Critical Text Analysis Program. The
program is currently being "beta
tested," and should be ready for interested individuals
within the next year. Individuals interested in
obtaining the latest version of this and
related programs may contact the author at the
address listed at the front of the article.
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 315
perform high-speed analysis of Hebrew narrative
framework materi-
als. By monitoring changes
in the language code of the nonquotational
aspects of Hebrew narrative text and then
comparing the data with
normal Hebrew narrative patterns, the program is able
to make intel-
ligent judgments about a
variety of textual features. Factors that are
considered in making decisions include clause
length, information
order, subject type, subject frequency, verb type,
verb frequency,
length of quotation associated with a given clause, as
well as relative
location within the text.
In performing the present study, DC analyzed a
prepared data
file based on the BHS Hebrew text extending from Gen
11:27 to 25:11.
The
program was instructed to divide the Abraham cycle into twenty-
one subsections, and then to analyze and compare
each of the di-
visions among themselves. The divisions, along
with an indication of
their essential content, are listed in table 1.
1.1.2 Results
of the Computer-Assisted Study
After the data had been read and evaluated by DC
(a process
taking about three minutes), the results were
displayed. The con-
clusion of DC's analysis was
that division 17, Gen 22:1-19, was the
portion of the Abraham cycle encoded by the
author as the thematic
peak. Abraham was, incidentally, identified as the
thematically central
character. DC rated its degree of confidence
associated with these
decisions as high.
Three primary evidences pointing to Gen 22:1-19
as peak were
identified by the program. First and most
significant, in this section of
the cycle, the thematically central character
occurred as the subject of
a narrative framework verb more times than any
other. Thirty times
throughout these 19 verses Abraham functioned in
this manner, twelve
more than in any other section. The assumption
behind this test is that
the author of a text will normally employ the key
character most
significantly at the most crucial
portion of the story.
Furthermore, the combined number of occasions in
which either
Abraham
or God served as narrative framework verb subjects (40)
also exceeded that of any other portion of the text.
The closest
competitor was division 10 (Gen
25 such occurrences. The operative
assumption behind this criterion is
that the author of OT narrative will normally have God,
the divine
protagonist, on stage during the portion of the
story reckoned by the
author as most important. God's ten employments in the
subject role
(in some instances identified as the theophanic
hvhy
j`xAl;ma) mark him as
particularly significant in the section,
especially when it is noted that
316
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
Table
1: Divisions in the Abraham Cycle
Division No. Location Essential Content
1
2
12: 1-9 Call & Move to
3
4
13:1-8 Abram & Lot Separate
5
14:1-24 Abram Rescues
6
15:1-21 God's Covenant with Abram
7
16:1-16 Hagar & Ishmael
8
17:1-27 Circumcision
9
18:1-15 Three Visitors
10
11
19:1-30 Sodom & Gomorah
Destroyed
12
13
20:1-18 Abraham & Abimelech
14
21:1-7 Isaac's Birth
15
21:8-21 Hagar & Ishmael Sent Away
16
17
22:1-19 Abraham Tested
18
19
23:1-20 Abraham Buries Sarah
20
24:1-66 Isaac Gets a Wife
21
25:1-11 Abraham Dies
Table
2: Narrative Framework Subject Occurrences of Abraham
(Listed by Division)
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 317
in six of the 21 divisions he never has a subject
role, and in four others
he is so used no more than two times.7
A final reason germane to DC's decision to
select Gen 22:1-19 as
the thematic center was the location of this pericope within the
overall expanse of text. A tendency of narrators
in all cultures is to
place the section of story being encoded as most
significant in the
latter 50 percent of the overall text. Clearly
division 17 fits this criterion.
Incidentally,
it should be pointed out that DC identified Gen
22:1-19
as possessing the highest connectivity among the sections of
text occurring in the final half of the Abraham
cycle. The high con-
nectivity value is significant
because it indicates that this pericope
repeats verbs and subjects used elsewhere in the
text to a higher
degree than any other episodes in the likely peak
region. The reuse
here of verbs and subjects used elsewhere in the
Abraham cycle
suggests that division 17 contains a number of
motifs used elsewhere
in the Abraham cycle.
1.2 Observations
from Discourse Linguistics
Beyond the observations that can presently be
made on the basis
of the computer program, numerous other features
within the gram-
matical and semantic code of
the text suggest. that the author intended
the story of Abraham's divine test to be the centerpiece
of his story.
1.2.1 Semantic Prominence Markers
Employment of a
Prominent Geographical Setting--a Mountain
One of the more subtle means by which an author
sets apart an
episode intended to be taken as central is
through the staging of the
event. Quite often the event will occur in marked
settings. The setting
may be highlighted through unusual weather
conditions (e.g., storms-
Noah
[Genesis 7-8], Ezra [Ezra 10], Job [Job 38], Jonah [Jonah 1]) or
through usage of unusual places, especially
mountains (e.g., Moses at
Sinai;
Elijah at
According to the story, God directed Abraham to
go to a moun-
tain. The key events in
Abraham's test actually occurred on that
mountain. The fact that this is the only story in
the Abraham cycle
with such a “marked" setting possessing a
positive connotation in-
creases the conviction that Gen 22:1-19 is
literally to be understood as
7 The six divisions in which God is not
employed as subject of a narrative
framework verb are: 1, 5, 12, 16, 18, and 19. The
four divisions in which God is
employed only one to two times are: 3, 4, 20, and
21.
318
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
the high point of the overall series. The fact that
the mountain chosen
for this event later became
3:1)
would have given added religious prominence, and therefore
significance, to the site for later
Israelite audiences.8
Employment of a Sociolinguistically Significant Temporal Setting-
the Third Day
Not only may an author manipulate the
geographical and meteoro-
logical setting, he/she may also bring
prominence to an episode by its
temporal setting. This may involve placing it at
an unusual time of
day (e.g., night [Ruth 3]) or on a sociologically
significant day
(e.g.,
Jesus' Last Supper and crucifixion during the feast of Passover
festivities).
As noted by numerous commentators, “three days
is the period of
preparation for more important events in the Old
Testament."9 Its
presence, used elsewhere throughout the Book of
Genesis in connec-
tion with significant
events,10 is found in the Abraham cycle only here.
Though
this feature is a subtle one and would have probably com-
municated only on the subliminal
level to the original audience, its
presence in Gen 22:1-19 is telltale.
8 The identification of
extended speculation concerning the date of
composition and historical precision of the
Pentateuch. A common technique in narrative
composition is to use a location con-
sidered especially important by
the intended audience as the setting of the most
important event in a story. With the temple mount
in
important site in monarchic and Judahistic Yahwism, a writer
creating the composition
fro,m the general time period
of 950-450 B.C. could conceivably have borrowed the
prestige of the
narrative. If this were so, the narrator could
then have either modified a tale originally
associated with another site in
never read this line of reasoning in Genesis
commentaries, I suspect it would find favor
from many. Consistent with this suspicion is the
fact that the majority of 20th-century
commentators understand the story of
Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son to be
primarily the product of the “Elohist,"
with minor additions (vv 15-18) coming from a
"Jehovistic Redactor" (cf., e.g., Skinner, 327, 331,
and Westermann, 363).
My personal opinion in this matter differs from
the preceding line of reasoning. I
believe that the events of Gen 22:1-19 happened
exactly as stated and were written
down prior to the period of Israelite monarchy. The
fact that Moriah was later
identified with the site of the Solomonic
temple and, at a still later time, with the
general area of
genius of an OT narrator.
9 Westermann,
358.
Cf. also G. M. Landes, "The 'Three Days and
Three Nights'
Motif in Jonah 2:1," JBL 86 (1967) 446-50.
10 E.g., Gen 31:22; 34:25; 40:20; 42:18.
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 319
Heightened Vividness
through Extended Repartee
When a narrator wishes to bring additional
prominence to a
particular episode, he or she will often do so by
increasing the amount
of dialogue at that point in the story.
Quotations, the content of which
was too trivial to include elsewhere in the
narrative, may be present in
force in the highlighted section, achieving at times
the effect of drama
rather than simple narrative.
Lively, if brief, dialogic exchanges are in
evidence in three sec-
tions of the Abraham test:
22:1-2 (three quotations: two by God; one
by Abraham), 22:7-8 (four quotations: two by
Isaac; two by Abra-
ham), and
Abraham).
These three occurrences of the phenomenon suggest that
the author intended the audience to participate in
this episode more
intimately than in any of the others in Abraham's
life.
Employment of a
Sociologically Significant Speech Act-an Oath
From a sociolinguistic standpoint, perhaps the
most solemn and
significant genre of speech in Israelite
communication was the oath.
The
taking of an oath was always serious business, but never more
serious than when God himself was the one doing
so. The usage of
this ultimately significant speech act within Gen
22:1-19 serves as one
additional indication that the author was intending
this section to be
taken as the climax of the Abraham cycle.
Confirmation of this opinion-
should any be necessary is found in the fact that
reference is evi-
dently made to Yahweh's oath
of 22:15-18 five times in later Scriptures;
three times in the Pentateuch (Exod
the NT (Luke 1:73; Heb
teuch, God never again swears
by himself that he will do something.11
Employment of Dilemma
and Paradox
A common manner of focusing the audience's
attention on a
given section of text is through presenting
confrontations between
contradictory values, ideals, or
concepts. The delicious tensions cre-
ated by such conflicts
heighten interest levels and thus aid an author in
controlling audience focus. Abraham finds himself in
dilemmas more
than once within the Genesis stories--e.g., when he
is forced to
choose between preservation of his life and loss of
his wife, and when
11 Outside of the Pentateuch he is recorded
as having done so in the following
locations: Isa 45:23;
62:8 (swearing by his right hand and mighty arm); Jer
22:5; 44:26
(swearing by his name); 49:13; 51:14.
320
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
he is promised a land for his descendants though
he has fathered nary
a son. However, no conflict is more dynamic, no
dilemma more
wrenching than that experienced in 22:1-19. The
choices were simple
for Abraham, yet excruciating. He could refuse God
and preserve his
son's life, thereby jeopardizing the divine legacy.
Or he could obey
God
and preserve his right to a divine inheritance, yet lose his beloved
heir. This superlative example of dilemma indicates
that the author
intended the story of Abraham's testing to be the
climax of the
Abraham cycle.
Paradox is evident in the fact that the very God
who promised
that Isaac would be the heir of promise (Gen
the one who required the death of childless Isaac
at the hands of
Abraham
(22:2). The curve of human logic trails off into an asymptote
as the gracious giver of the promise becomes the
supreme threat to
the promise.
Employment of
Paronomasia
Memorable-and thus highlighted-sections of text
are also cre-
ated through the utilization
of paronomasia. The artful employment
here of the verb hxr in both the Qal (vv 4, 8, 13, 14) and Niphal
stems
(v 14) serves as one of the most significant examples of this
in all of
OT literature. The pun is sharpened
especially because of the semantic
ambivalence of the final employment of the word
translated "appear
provide." Translators and exegetes alike
have found grist for footnote
mills here.
Inclusion of God's Final
Activities Relative to the Abraham Cycle
God or the Angel of Yahweh occurs as the subject
of a narrative
framework construction ten times during the
"testing of Abraham"
pericope. However, in the remainder
of the Abraham cycle, he never
again functions as the subject of an event-line verb.
This relatively
dense concentration followed by a dearth of
appearances suggests
that this episode contains God's final and,
predictably, most memo-
rable actions.
The final event-line verb of which a divine
being is the subject is
the theophanic utterance
of 22:15-18. A tendency in narrative is to
make a major character's final sizeable speech his
or her most impor-
tant one. The quotation in
vv 15-18 stands as the last in a series of
35
speeches delivered by God or the Angel of Yahweh throughout the
Abraham
cycle and ranks sixth in length. As last in the series, it
possesses a natural prominence that tends to make
it particularly
memorable. The fact that it is contained in the
22:1-19 pericope
serves additionally to confirm the intended centrality
of this section.
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 321
1.2.2 Lexical Prominence Markers
Employment of a Hapax Legomenon
A favored means by which communicators draw
attention to
particular language units is through the employment
of unusual vocabu-
lary. The narrator's usage
of a hapax legomenon in
v 9, dqf, has
certainly accomplished that. In fact, the common
Jewish name for the
entire temptation pericope
is ‘aqedah.
Employment of a Unique
Narrative Clause Structure
Information may also be made to stand out by
expressing it in a
clause whose structure differs significantly from the
norm. Gen 22:13
contains a construction that contains no parallels
anywhere in the
narrative framework of the Pentateuch. A woodenly
literal gloss of
the clause reads "And-behold ram behind
being-caught in-the-bush
by-his-horns." Though
exclamatory clauses are relatively rare in their
own right, no other hn.ehiv clause in the corpus of
Pentateuchal data
contains an adverb in the preverb
field. This information order was
apparently problematic enough to translators to
warrant a textual
emendation, replacing rHaxa
with dHx<; the LXX, Samaritan
Pentateuch,
and Aramaic targums all
accept this modification. The majority of
popular modern English versions follow this
emendation as well.12
Yet on the basis of modern linguistics and
textual criticism's
principle of lectio difficilior, the awkward reading of the
MT seems
preferable. Discourse linguists recognize that
natural human language
patterns predictably contain grammatical
abnormalities in zones of
high thematic interest. In 22:13 it can be argued
that the conveyance
of a once-in-a-universe event, i.e., a ram being
caught in a thicket
behind a man who is just about to sacrifice his
favorite son, required a
once-in-a-grammatical-universe kind of clause.
Employment of Lexical
Variety in Divine References
Within Hebrew narrative, characters are made
more prominent
through increasing the number of means used in
referring to them.
Within
this section of the Abraham cycle, three different words or
phrases are used to refer to God: Myhilox<, j`xAl;ma, and hvhy. The
12 Included among the popular versions
which base their translation on an emended
Hebrew
text are the New English Bible, the New American
Bible, the Jerusalem Bible,
the Good News Bible, the Living Bible, and the New
International Version. Popular
English
versions accepting the MT's reading include the King James Version, the
Revised
Standard Version, the New American Standard Version, and the New King
James
Version.
322
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
diverse referencing of God in 22:1-19 suggests
that the author was
deliberately increasing the thematic
centrality of God, the ultimately
significant divine character, at this point in the
story.
2. The
Role of Gen 22:1-19 in the Abraham Cycle
In spite of the generous praises accorded Gen
22:1-19, no con-
sensus exists as to its
function within the Abraham cycle. The majority
of 19th and 20th century scholars have preferred
instead to interpret
the story as though its essential message was
derivable apart from any
consideration of its immediate
literary context.13 Thus it has been
variously perceived as an explanation for the
absence of human sacri-
fice in Israelite religion,
an etiological legend, and an edificatory tale
depicting model obedience.14 By most
accounts, its "true" purpose
cannot be known anyway, since the story was supposedly
repeatedly
transformed by the OT community of faith to meet her
changing
spiritual needs.
The recent expansion of the biblical scholar's
role to include that
of literary critic promises to bring with it a
reevaluation of prevailing
conclusions, or at least a redirecting of efforts.
With the advent of
canonical criticism, reader-response criticism,
and the like, the biblical
scholar is free to examine a text as it now
stands. The following
conclusions are based on an evaluation of the story
as it is found in
the MT.
The thesis of this paper is that Gen 22:1-19
functions as the
thematic crux of the Abraham story, bringing
together in climactic
fashion seven different motifs developed
throughout the whole. Each
of these motifs is discussed below.
2.1 The
Climax of the "Abraham Tested" Motif
The unambiguous intention of the biblical
narrator is that the
19
verse pericope of Genesis 22 be understood as a
divine testing of
Abraham.
If it is valid to say that the events of this chapter are the
only ones in Abraham's life explicitly called a
"test" (Heb. hs.Ani), it is
equally valid to note that this is not the only
test within Abraham's
life. In fact, at several points in his life Abraham
faces significant tests.
The
testing motif begins with God's call for Abraham to leave coun-
try, nation, and family (12:1). It continues with
the test of famine in
13 Impetus and justification for this
surgical removal of text from context comes,
arguably, from biblical scholarship's
preoccupation with source identification.
14 Cf. Westermann,
354; Skinner, 3.32.
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 323
the promised land (
continuing test of faith in God's promise of an
heir (15:4-6).
But
the concluding and obviously climactic test of Abraham's life
was God's call to take a final journey, one
parallel in some ways to his
journey of chap. 12. As in his first expedition,
Abraham did not know
his destination when he set out; as in the original
journey so many
years before, Abraham was called to separate himself
from his
people in this case his only son. As the last test in
the series, the
journey of 22:1-19 holds the position of natural
prominence.
2.2 The
Climax of the Abrahamic “Heir Denied" Motif
That concern for a proper heir for Abraham would
be a central
issue in the story of Abraham is implied in the
genealogical note of
11:30.
Even before the readers learn of Abraham's promises
they are
informed of his problem: Sarai
is barren. The thread of Abraham's
concern for a proper heir is woven more
consistently into the fabric
of his story than is any other. Would nephew
way for his own lack of offspring (cf. 13:14-16)?
What about Eliezer
of
(16:2-10;
17:8, 18). Do not make me laugh, God! You mean Sarah is
going to bear the child that will be Abraham's proper
heir (
18:10-14)?
One questions whether Abraham himself believed
God's promise.
No
sooner had the Lord given the astounding assurance of effete
Sarah's
impending motherhood than Abraham imperiled it all by
giving Sarah in marriage to another man (20:2-13).
Nevertheless, God
rescued Sarah and delivered on his promise
(21:1-7). Now in chap. 22
the child whose birth was hinted at twelve chapters
previously (
the one for whom Abraham had waited a lifetime and
whom he loved
above all others, was to be given up to God as a
childless burnt
offering (22:2). This most prominent theme--that
of Abraham's search
for a proper heir--ties the diverse stories of the
Abraham cycle
together more securely than any other.
2.3 The
Climax of the “Abraham the Altar
Builder" Motif
Abraham's pious devotion to the Lord is
evidenced by the altars
he built and the sacrifices he offered. On three
occasions throughout
his story the narrator depicts Abraham as
constructing an altar dedi-
cated to Yahweh (12:8;
narrator note the actual offering of a sacrifice.
In the previous instances
Abraham merely “called on the name of the
Lord" (12:8; 13:4, 18).
324
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
The
extra detail provided in the altar sequence of 22:1-19 clearly sets
this event above the others.
2.4 The
Climax of the Abrahamic “Separation from Family"
Motif15
Abraham's life is the story of a series of
familial schisms. In
addition to the events of Genesis 22, Abraham is
pulled away from his
Mesopotamian
ancestral roots (12:1); he parts company with his be-
loved wife Sarah on two occasions (
Hagar
(16:6; 21:14); he breaks ties with nephew
separates from his firstborn son Ishmael (
Each of these previous experiences, however,
pales in comparison
with Abraham's divinely appointed separation from
his favorite son
Isaac.
Here Abraham is called to break the deepest of genetic and
psychological bonds, that of father
and son, father and future. The
barrier being erected between them is not, as in
the other cases, one
of altered marital status or geography--it is the
wall of death.
2.5 The
Climax of the Abrahamic Faith Motif
The majority judgment of 20th-century biblical
scholarship is that
the speech of
story of Abraham's test.16 However, a
literary and thematic analysis
suggests that far from being an awkward appendage
to the story, it is
in fact the keystone. In this four-verse section,
three themes of funda-
mental significance not only to the story of Abraham,
but also to the
Pentateuch
are brought to a climax. The first of these is the
theme of
Abraham's sacrificial, obedient faith.
Abraham's obedient faith was demonstrated at
crucial moments
throughout his life: in his movement from
his trust in God's promise of countless offspring
(15:6); in his joyous
acceptance of God's assurance of a son from Sarah's
womb (
(22:3-14).
But only in the last-mentioned event is the Lord actually
quoted as commending Abraham for his faithful
obedience. With this
added touch at the climactic moment in Abraham's
life, the narrator
sets the final act of obedience on a pedestal above
the others, giving it
15 My appreciation is expressed to Prof. J.
H. Walton for the suggestion to include
this section.
16 Westermann,
355, 363; Skinner, 331; von Rad, 242-43. But see W. Brueggemann
(Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching [
186), for an alternative position.
Robert
D. Bergen: GENESIS 22:1-19 IN THE ABRAHAM CYCLE 325
a prominence that was apparent even to the NT
writers centuries later
(Heb 11:17-19; Jas 4:21).
2.6 The
Climax of the Abrahamic Blessing Motif
In his speeches to Abraham, God used a form of
the word "bless"
seven times.17 The first five were
utilized in God's first recorded
statement to Abraham; the sixth and seventh
occurrences were found
in God's last words to Abraham. The concluding theophany affirmed
the essential twofold thrust of the blessing
statements of 12:2-4: Abra-
ham would be blessed by God, and all nations on
earth would derive
a blessing from him. The promise, so bright in
the beginning, had
been preserved untarnished through Abraham's
incredible obedience.
2.7 The
Climax of the Abrahamic "Possess the Land"
Motif
A pivotal theme in the story of Abraham, and
certainly in the
Pentateuch
as well, is that God would give the promised land to
Abraham's descendants. The concept first
appeared in 12:7 and was
repeated by God on four additional occasions
within the Abraham
cycle (
phant of these passages is
the final one. Though brief, the reference is
clear and pointed: reception of God's gift of the
land would require
the use of force on
but God had already settled the outcome of the war.
3. Implications
of the Study
Results of the previous study suggest two
truths: first, that nar-
rators have at their disposal
a number of means by which they may
guide the attention of their audiences. Skillful
employment of these
means permits writers to maintain a significant
degree of control over
the messages which their audiences receive from the
texts. Incumbent
upon a writer is the responsibility to drop hints in
the text sufficient to
permit a literate audience to retrieve the intended
messages being
deposited by the author. A primary responsibility
of the audience is to
identify and correctly interpret the lexical,
grammatical, and semantic
clues left by the creator of the text.
Second it is clear that the use of artificial
intelligence resources
presently available today can yield contributions
to the science and
art of interpreting the Bible. While the role that
artificial intelligence
17 Gen 12:2, two times; 12:3, three times;
326
CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL
REVIEW
plays is at present small and supportive, the
potential within the
foreseeable future looms large indeed. As the fields
of language,
philosophy, and psychology continue to clarify the
marvelous mechan-
ics of human communication,
computer programs utilizing these in-
sights can be written that efficiently read and
interpret language. And
we need not fear these probable inevitabilities.
Rather, let us eagerly
await these hearing aids, await them as a race of
hearing-impaired
sinners desperately needing to hear the voice of
God in his Word.
This
material is cited with gracious permission from:
The
www.criswell.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
thildebrandt@gordon.edu