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THE NARRATIVE TYPOLOGY
OF THE PENTATEUCH |
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by Doug Ward |
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, collectively
known as the Pentateuch or Torah, are foundational for both Jews and Christians.
For followers of the God of Israel, these books are an inexhaustible source of
instruction and inspiration.
When we begin studying the Pentateuch, we soon encounter one of its distinctive literary features: the repetition of key motifs and themes. This repetition leads us to compare each passage and character in the narrative with those that have already been described and those that are yet to come.
In a previous article [2] I have written about several of the recurring themes in the Pentateuch. Here I will focus on one particular example and reflect on what such examples tell us about the nature of history, the character of God, and the interpretation of God's Word.
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The Exodus Foreshadowed |
One of the pivotal events described in the Pentateuch is the
Exodus, God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. As Dr. John Sailhamer has pointed out [1], several of the events
leading up to the Exodus are foreshadowed in an episode that occurred several
hundred years earlier, during the life of the patriarch Abraham. Here is how
the Pentateuch relates this earlier episode:
"Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, `I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, "This is his wife." Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.' When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. `What have you done to me?' he said. `Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, "She is my sister," so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!' Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD" (Gen. 12:10-13:4, NIV).
There are several parallels between the experience of Abram and Sarai and the later experience of Israel, including the following:
·Abram and Sarai took refuge in
·When they were
getting near
·The Pharaoh in
Abram's time gave Abraham many gifts (
·God plagued Pharaoh
and household with serious diseases because Pharaoh had unwittingly taken
Abram's wife (
·The Pharaoh in
Abram's time sent Abram and Sarai away when he
learned that Sarai was Abram's wife (
·Abram and Sarai left
This list shows that a number of details of Abram's sojourn in
Sailhamer [1, p. 313] observes that one of the more minor details from the above list-the idea of Lot being a type of the "mixed multitude" that left Egypt with the Israelites-seems to have been recognized by Nehemiah in the fifth century B.C. Neh. 13:1-3 describes some Ammonites and Moabites (descendants of Lot) as a "mixed multitude." Since Neh. 13:3 provides the only other instance in which the phrase "mixed multitude" is used in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is an apparent reference to Exod. 12:38. And since Exodus 12 makes no mention of Ammonites or Moabites being part of the mixed multitude of the Exodus, the fact that the two are connected in Neh. 13 suggests that Nehemiah had a typological understanding of Gen. 12-13.
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The Pentateuch's View of History |
With its emphasis on recurring motifs and typology, the Pentateuch
seems to be implying something about the nature of history. We might say that
in the Pentateuch, the past is the key to the future. To find out what lies ahead,
study what has already happened. What has taken place before will occur again
in some way.
That the history of
In the closing chapters of the Pentateuch, it is prophesied
that
"The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you" (Deut. 28:68).
But a return from exile, a new Exodus, is also promised:
"... then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers" (Deut. 30:3-5).
The cycles of history go on. Israel would again face hardship. And God, ever faithful to his people, would again deliver them.
The Pentateuch's presentation of history also supports the validity of the Christian approach to the Pentateuch, which often emphasizes Messianic typology. The Pentateuch encourages its readers to look to the future when it offers prophecies of "days to come" (Gen. 49:1; Num. 24:14). In such settings, the coming of the Messiah is predicted (Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17).
Foremost among types of the Messiah is Moses, who predicts
the appearance of a future prophet like himself (Deut.
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References |
1. John H. Sailhamer, “ The Canonical Approach to the OT: Its Effect on Understanding Prophecy,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30 (1987), pp. 307-316.
2. D.E. Ward, "Déjà vu All Over Again: Learning from Recurring Themes in the Pentateuch,” Grace & Knowledge, Issue 10, 2001.
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On 28 Jan 2007, 15:49.
