Understanding the Characters in Bible Stories Characters and

Understanding the Characters in Bible Stories

Characters and the Plot • Characters determine how a plot unfolds • Plot illustrates the nature of those characters

Types of Biblical Characters § Flat: Have a single characteristic and do not develop (e. g. Nabal, 1 Sam 25. 3) § Agent: Functionaries necessary to move the plot along (e. g. the Cupbearer, Gen 41. 9 -13) § Round: Significant characters given enough space to develop (e. g. Abraham in Genesis 18)

John 9: 1 -23 • The disciples see a man who was born blind. They ask Jesus who sinned—the man or his parents. • Jesus says they are asking the wrong question. • Jesus heals the man. • Those who know the man are unsure whether he is the same man. • The man tells them that Jesus actually gave him his sight • The Pharisees are divided over whether Jesus is from God or not, since he healed on the sabbath. • They question the man’s parents.

John 9: 24 -41 • The man once again says Jesus gave him his sight. • The Pharisees repeat that Jesus cannot be from God. • The man then testifies to his faith in Jesus. • Jesus meets the man again and the man acknowledges Jesus as the Son of Man. • Jesus announces that he came to give sight to the blind, while those who think they can see are actually blind.

Characters in John 9: Disciples • They ask one theological question (v. 2) • Thus, they are ‘agents’. Their question sets in train the whole series of events

Characters in John 9: Jesus • Pronounces, ‘I am the light of the world’ (v. 5) • Gives sight to the blind man (vv. 6 -7) • Asks the blind man if he believes (v. 35) • Says he came into the world so that the blind might see and viceversa (v. 39) • Tells some of the Pharisees that they are blind (v. 41) • Thus, Jesus is a ‘flat’ character. Essentially one characteristic repeated throughout.

Characters in John 9: Blind Man • • • Goes and washes in Pool of Siloam (v. 7) Insists he really is the beggar (vv. 8 -9) Tells people how he was healed (vv. 11 -12) Tells Pharisees how he was healed (v. 15) Says Jesus is a prophet (v. 17 b) Says he doesn't know if Jesus is a sinner or not (v. 25) Asks ‘the Jews’ if they want to be Jesus’s disciples (v. 27) Confesses that Jesus is from God (vv. 30 -33) Believes Jesus is the Son of Man and worships him (v. 38) Thus, the blind man is a ‘round character’. He develops throughout the narrative, e. g. he moves from saying he doesn’t know if Jesus is a sinner to saying he definitely is not.

Which blind man are you? • The one who • says Jesus is a prophet? • is not sure if Jesus is a sinner? • knows Jesus is not a sinner? • is willing to worship Jesus as the Son of man?

Characterisation § Physical description § Inner thoughts § Speech and actions

Physical description • Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. (Judges 3. 17) • When [Absalom] cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king's weight. (2 Sam 14. 25 -26)

Inner thoughts • Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob. “ (Gen 27. 41) • Then she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. " But he did not know that the LORD had left him. (Judg 16. 20)

Interpreting Speech and Action • Why do characters speak or act as they do? • And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. (Gen 4. 4 -5) • When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet. “ (2 Sam 11. 7 -8)

Interpreting Speech and Action • Is the character telling the truth? • Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers said, "What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him? ”So they approached Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this instruction before he died, 'Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you. ' Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father. " Joseph wept when they spoke to him. (Gen 50. 15 -17)

Interpreting Speech and Action • What tone of voice is a character assuming? • Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior. “ Gideon answered him, "But sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? ' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian. “ (Jdg 6. 11 -13)

Characterisation § Physical description § Inner thoughts § Speech and Actions § Contrast

Contrast § Contrast with another character(s) e. g. Judah/Tamar, Gen 38. 26 § Contrast with an earlier/later action of the same character e. g. Judah in Gen 38/Gen 44. 18 ff § Contrast with the expected norm e. g. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac

Alter’s Scale of Certainty § A character’s actions or physical appearance § A character’s direct speech, or what other characters say about him/her § A character’s inner speech/thoughts § The narrator’s explicit assessment of a character’s actions, intentions, etc

Understanding Characters in Bible Stories • Types of characters • Flat • Agent • Round • We get to know biblical characters largely through • • • Explicit assessment by the narrator (rarely) Their physical description (infrequently) Their inner thoughts (infrequently) Their speech and actions (often) Contrasts with themselves and other characters (often)