Sample Analysis: Narrative
How do you “outline” a story?
I have suggested a path towards analyzing the “structure” of a biblical narrative by focusing on setting, characters, and plot. Let’s try this out by analyzing a story that you may have never considered preaching a sermon from – the sordid tale of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38. Our tendency might be to pass this one by as too steamy for a general audience, and maybe not even that important. It appears oddly inserted in the middle of the Joseph story as something of a detour that may be best ignored. Think again. On careful analysis, it may be one of the most important stories in this part of Genesis.
I should state here that, as I have pondered and studied this story through the years, it is difficult to separate in my mind any thoughts that are original from those that I have gleaned from others that I have read, but a significant influence has been Steven Matthewson, who uses this text as one of his running examples throughout his book, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002).
Setting Analysis
We first begin to get a hint as to the story’s significance as we start to analyze the setting. The story-teller gives us some important details in the first verse of the chapter about when and where this story takes place. First, the phrase “at that time” ties this story to what has just transpired, which is the sale of Joseph into slavery (Judah’s idea) and the cruel deception of their father Jacob to lead him to believe Joseph had been eaten by animals. This is the “when,” but the “where” is equally important. Judah has “left his brothers” and has gone “down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.” There he has married the daughter of a Canaanite. These details tell us that this entire story takes place away from fellowship with God and with his people. Judah is on the run from God, at odds with God’s purposes.
The broader literary context confirms this, but also adds more understanding. We have to assume that the insertion of this story in the middle of the Joseph story is no accident, but rather a deliberate choice. If this is the case, what is its purpose? Clearly, Judah is to be seen in contrast to Joseph. In fact, in the very next chapter we find Joseph resisting pressure towards sexual sin in stark contrast to Judah’s solicitation of prostitution. Perhaps even more important, however is what the context tells us about the development of Judah’s character. Which leads us to our next category of narrative analysis …
Character Analysis
Who is the protagonist of Genesis 38? You might want to go with Tamar, who is certainly the more heroic figure. But if we define “protagonist” as the character who undergoes the greatest transformation, it must be Judah. In the previous chapter (37:26) it is Judah who suggests selling his brother into slavery. After the events of this story, we find Judah offering himself as a ransom for a brother (43:1-9). At the beginning of this story, Judah is on a trajectory away from God, stubbornly going his own way. By the end, he is brought to repentance through the example of a humble and righteous Gentile woman who had been more concerned for his own lineage than he.
If Judah is the protagonist, who is the antagonist? Again, we might be tempted to go with Tamar, but on closer examination this also is not the role that Tamar plays in the story. The one creating the tension for Judah in the story is the God from whom he is fleeing, the Lord who puts his two sons to death for their wickedness. Tamar is a foil. Her actions bring out the true character of Judah, and in end the he himself recognizes that she is more righteous than he – the classic role of a foil.
But is Tamar the only foil here? Here’s an interesting question as we analyze the characters in the broader narrative: Is Judah a foil for Joseph, or is Joseph a foil for Judah? From the perspective of how we normally read these stories, we might assume the former. The main message of this final section of Genesis seems to be found in the story of righteous Joseph who persevered with integrity in spite of injustice and trial, ultimately saving his family from starvation. But in the broader story of the Bible, the transformation of Judah overshadows Joseph in importance. It is here that Judah goes from being a scoundrel who feeds and prolongs the dysfunctions of his family to being the father of kings and the ancestor of the Messiah – the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” The child born to Tamar, conceived in his own unrighteousness, is Perez the father of Jesse, the father of David the king.
Plot Analysis
What is left to do in our examination of this text? We need to analyze the sequence of events, or the plot. For most biblical stories, and particularly those in the Old Testament, we can usually identify five key plot movements: Exposition, Rising Tension, Climax, Resolution, and Conclusion:
“Exposition” is the information given in the beginning of the narrative that sets the stage.
“Rising Tension” is the series of events, beginning with an initial problem or inciting incident that chronicles the growing conflict within the story.
“Climax” is the moment when the narrative tension reaches its highest intensity, the turning point of the story.
"Resolution” is the moment of decision, solution, relief when the tension of the story is finally resolved and its meaning becomes clear and perhaps even explicit.
“Conclusion” is the description of life beyond the resolution, and/or the narrator’s evaluation of the story’s outcome.
Some variation is possible, but in Old Testament narratives, these five movements are remarkably consistent. Using these categories, outlining the structure of a narrative can be fairly simple. Here is the plot of Genesis 38:
Exposition: Judah leaves his brothers and marries the daughter of Hirah the Adullamite, who bears him three sons. (38:1-4)
Rising Tension:
Judah gives Tamar as a wife to his firstborn Er, but the Lord puts him to death for wickedness before producing an heir (38:5-7).
The second son Onan, also dies because of his wickedness in deliberately failing to produce an heir for Er.(38:8-10)
Tamar is sent away, Judah neglects to give her his third son Shilah. (38:11)
Tamar poses as a prostitute and seduces and becomes pregnant by Judah, taking his signent, chord, and staff as pledge in place of the payment of a goat. (38:12-19)
The “prostitute” Tamar cannot be found to reclaim the signent, chord and staff. (38:20-23)
When he learns she is pregnant, Judah intends to put Tamar to death. (38:24-25)
Climax: Tamar reveals that she is in fact pregnant by Judah himself. (38:25-26)
Resolution: Judah recognizes that she was more righteous than he. (38:26)
Conclusion: Tamar gives birth to twins (38:27-30)
In addition to this overall structure, this is also a good place to pay attention to some of the smaller structural details that might enrich our understanding. For example, we might notice that this story begins and ends with the birth of sons/son. This not only points towards the importance given here to the lineage of Judah but could also be seen as an indicator of a chiasm, or bookended structure that places the seduction of Judah in the important center of the narrative.
We should also take time to explore any key words or phrases – particularly those that are repeated either within the story or in other surrounding stories. For example, in verses 25-26, we see the same root, translated “identify” or “recognize” appearing in two consecutive verses at the climax of the story:
And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” 26 Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, …” ( ESV)
If we look into this root, we discover that an almost identical construction appears at the climax of the story in Chapter 37 when Joseph’s clothes are presented to Jacob:
And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. (ESV)
The same root appears (though translated as “recognize”) in consecutive verses again later in Genesis 42:7-8 when Joseph recognizes his brothers after they have arrived in Egypt:
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them …. And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. (ESV)
What does all of this mean? At the very least, it points to a subtle way the storyteller has tied these narratives together. In the first story, Judah is the deceiver. In the second, he is deceived. In the third, he is discovered by his brother Joseph who has suffered most from his deception, and who now allows him to suffer a bit as well. These details are not only interesting, but they also provide insight into the intention of the writer to tie these narratives together, confirming the centrality of Judah’s transformation to the overall story.
Exegetical Conclusions
Based on this analysis of the story of Genesis 38, we can draw some conclusions about what the passage meant. This is not yet a sermon structure, or even sermonic statements, but they are an underlying framework drawn from the text that will serve as a foundation as we move towards the sermon:
Central Idea of the Text: The transformation of Judah
Big Idea of the Text: In spite of Judah’s treachery and unrighteousness, God chose to transform him to make him useful for God’s purposes.
Supporting Ideas of the Text:
Judah was on a trajectory away from God, but God had a purpose for his life that would not be denied.
Judah was confronted with his own sinfulness through the desperate action of Tamar.
The trajectory of Judah’s life was radically changed when he realized that this Gentile woman was more faithful to God’s purposes than he was.
