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From Preaching to Printing
Bob Hodgson

Jesus lived in a Mediterranean culture whose ordinary method of communication was oral. Also, the written texts familiar to us as the books of the Bible go back in many cases to oral traditions. The oral traditions of the Bible are samples of a Bible in a not-yet-text form.

Among the oldest oral traditions in the Bible are its songs. Also, many types of sayings and laws began as oral traditions. Finally, stories, including those told about Jesus and by Jesus himself.

In addition to looking at the written words, we may want to think about spoken, heard, and visual traditions of Bible. In what sense was and is the "Bible" preserved and transmitted in those forms and in new forms such computer digitization?

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Jewish teachers like Jesus lived in a Mediterranean culture whose ordinary method of communication was oral. Also, the written texts familiar to us as the books of the Bible go back in many cases to oral traditions. These two aspects of the ancient biblical world raise important questions for modern Bible readers.

The oral traditions of the Bible are samples of a Bible in a not-yet-text form. Initially, many parts of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible existed as oral traditions passed on for generations, in some cases for hundreds of years, before people wrote them down.

Experts say that among the oldest oral traditions in the Hebrew Bible are its songs.

Also, many types of sayings make up the oral tradition of the Old Testament, such as those recorded in Proverbs 31.1-31. Laws and collections of laws in the Old Testament often began as oral traditions, too. Finally, stories such as those telling about Abraham (Gen. 12.1-25.11) first circulated as oral tales before they were written down.

Jesus’ stories and the stories about Jesus in the four Gospels are among the best represented kinds of oral tradition in the New Testament. Other types of oral tradition in the New Testament include: songs and faith statements, sayings of various kinds, including wisdom sayings of Jesus (Mark 4.21) and his legal sayings (Matt 5.17).

As Old Testament sayings, stories, laws, and lists were written down, the importance of oral transmission shifted. The oral tradition continued in the memorization and singing of written texts for worship, and in the preservation of the learned discussions of biblical texts between the rabbis and their students.

"Is the Bible identical with its written or printed text?" If we answer that question "Yes," then our Bible is wherever we have a manuscript or a printed Bible. If we answer "No," then we may want to think about spoken, heard, and seen traditions of Bible. In what sense was and is the "Bible" preserved and transmitted in those forms?

Eventually we must think about what modern computer technology is doing to our definition of Bible and Bible translation. A word processor, for example, can digitize or convert a Bible text into electrons, which in turn become electronic files of textual and audio information.

To return to where we began: When the expert in the Law of Moses asked Jesus, "What do I have to do to have eternal life?" Jesus responded with two questions about the Bible. The first had to do with content: "What is written in the Scriptures?" The second question raised the issue of form and perception: "How do you understand them?" That is our question, too!

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Ancient Parable and Modern Questions

In the parable of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10.25–37), Jesus is shown talking with an expert in the Law of Moses and then shifting from talking to storytelling.

This dialogue and story reveal two aspects of the biblical world. First, Jewish teachers like Jesus lived in a Mediterranean culture whose ordinary method of communication was oral. Second, the written texts familiar to us as the books of the Bible go back in many cases to oral traditions.

These two aspects of the ancient biblical world raise important questions for modern Bible readers.

Questions

Is the Bible identical with its ancient handwritten or modern printed text? Or can the Bible also be "present" in other forms?

How, for example, is the Bible present when its writings are digitized and exist as electrons and pixels that make up audio and text files that can be played through a personal computer— electronic files that can be manipulated and changed?

Is the Bible also present orally, for example, when we tell a Bible story from memory, or even paraphrase it? Is the Bible present aurally when we listen to it read from a pulpit?

In what sense is the Bible present visually in early Christian artistic depictions of, say, the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den ( Dan 6.16–28), or in a modern comic book publication of the story of Moses? In what sense is the Bible present sonically when we listen to a musical composition based on a Bible story, such as Handel’s Messiah?

In short, where is our Bible today? And where will our Bible be in the twenty-first century?

Oral Traditions in the Bible

The oral traditions of the Bible are samples of a Bible in a not-yet-text-form, and they give us a glimpse of a stage in the development of the Bible in which biblical material came packaged as the words, sounds, images, gestures, and emotions that constitute oral tradition.

The Bible as oral tradition provides a good vantage point for thinking not only about such questions as raised above, but about a whole host of others as well.

For example, to what extent can we call the oral tradition a Bible at all? Did the hearers think of oral tradition as an "unalterable scripture" with a fixed meaning? Did they hear the stories in Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic, and what shifts in meaning took place in each language of performance? How often and when and where were oral traditions passed on?

Old Testament

In the beginning, many parts of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible existed as oral traditions passed on for generations, in some cases for hundreds of years, before people wrote them down.

Experts say that among the oldest oral traditions in the Hebrew Bible are its songs. There are, for example, the Song of the prophet Miriam ( Exod 14.20–21) and the Song of the prophet Deborah ( Judg 4.4, Judg 5.1–31). The first goes back to the period of the Exodus (twelfth–thirteenth centuries B.C.) and the second to the time of Israelite Settlement of Canaan (eleventh–twelfth centuries B.C.).

Many of the songs or hymns that have come down to us in the Book of Psalms are said to be composed and performed by David, the early tenth-century B.C. king of Israel. Perhaps the best known of David’s songs is Psalm 23. According to one story, David would play his harp for King Saul ( 1 Sam 16.14–23), and these occasions were times when he could have performed his songs as well.

Many types of sayings make up the oral tradition of the Old Testament. One common type is the wisdom saying, examples of which are recorded in Proverbs 31.1–31.

Laws and collections of laws in the Old Testament often began as oral traditions. Experts point especially to the Ten Commandments ( Exod 20.1–17) and to parts of the book of Leviticus known as the Holiness Code ( Leviticus 17–26).

And finally, stories such as those telling about Abraham ( Gen 12.1–25.11) first circulated as oral tales before they were written down.

In contrast with such biblical texts that began as oral traditions, we can point to biblical texts that began as written documents, for example, historical books such as 1 and 2 Maccabees.

New Testament

The New Testament contains many of the same kinds of oral traditions found in the Old Testament. There are, for example, songs and faith statements. In the New Testament, the songs praise Jesus ( Phil 2.6–11) and God ( Rev 4.8). Among the faith statements that go back to early Christian oral proclamation are two in the writings of Paul: 1 Corinthians 15.3–7 and 1 Thessalonians 4.13–18. There are several in the book of Acts, for example, Acts 2.22–24.

Sayings of various kinds also made up this oral tradition. Some are recorded as wisdom sayings of Jesus ( Mark 4.21) and others as his legal sayings ( Matt 5.17). Early Christian prophets like the apostle Paul are responsible for sayings such as 1 Corinthians 15.51–52.

The first Christian legal precepts circulated orally, and many of the most familiar are collected in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matt 5–7). Other examples include the rules for widows ( 1 Tim 5.3–16) and for eating meat offered to idols ( 1 Cor 10.25–33).

Jesus’ stories and the stories about Jesus in the four Gospels are among the best represented kinds of oral tradition in the New Testament. Scholars break these stories down into various types, for example, parables ( Mark 4.1–9), healings ( Mark 3.1–6), and exorcisms ( Mark 5.1–20).

Where Did This Oral Tradition Go?

Over the centuries, oral tradition became less visible and played a different role than at the formative stage of the Bible, but it never fully disappeared.

As Old Testament sayings, stories, laws, and lists were written down, the importance of oral transmission shifted. So, for instance, when Jeremiah the prophet asked his friend Baruch to write down his prophecies, Jeremiah produced a written document that stood side-by-side with the tradition of memorizing and performing his messages.

The same thing happened on a larger scale when over the course of the centuries a Hebrew canon or official list of writings for the Hebrew Bible developed. Here, too, oral tradition adjusted its role. Replaced as a primary method for preserving and transmitting biblical material, the oral tradition continued on in the memorization and cantilization or singing of written texts for worship as well as in the preservation of the learned discussions of biblical texts among the rabbis and their students.

Both forms of oral tradition continue in modern Judaism.

Experts say that oral tradition in early Christianity flourished from about A.D. 30–70, although during this time it shared the stage with forms of writing such as the drafting of letters and the compilation of anthologies of Jesus’ sayings.

With the beginning of Gospel writing in the late 60s A.D. and the gradual formation of the Christian canon in subsequent centuries, the role of oral tradition shifted. No longer the primary workhorse for passing on teachings of Jesus and his first followers, oral tradition took on new roles. It evolved, for example, into the cantilization of some Bible portions in worship and the memorization of others for missionary activity.

Here, too, both forms of oral tradition continue today, exemplified in the tradition of learning memory verses among many Christian denominations.

So, Where is My Bible?

The answer to this question will be different, depending on how we answer the fundamental question "Is the Bible identical with its written or printed text?"

If we answer that question "Yes," then our Bible is wherever we have a manuscript or a printed Bible. And we can point to the long tradition of considering the Bible just so, a tradition not only enshrined in such familiar phrases as "Holy Writ" and "Sacred Scripture" but also in such ancient terms as "Pentateuch," which refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and means "five scrolls," or "Ketuvim," which refers to the third major portion of the Hebrew Bible and means "Writings."

We can even note that the English word "Bible" derives from a Greek word to biblion that originally meant a strip of byblos, "papyrus," the most commonly used material for writing in antiquity. To biblion eventually came to stand for "book," and the plural form ta biblia for the place where books were kept, namely, a library.

On the other hand, if we answer "No," then we may want to think about oral, aural, visual, and sonic traditions of Bible and in what sense "Bible" was and is preserved and transmitted in those forms.

But whether we answer "Yes" or "No," sooner or later we will have to think about what modern computer technology is doing to our definition of Bible and Bible translation. A word processor, for example, can digitize or convert a Bible text into electrons, which in turn become electronic files of textual and audio information. The audio file can be played back over the system’s speakers, while the text file appears on the screen of a personal computer.

In such an electronic world, where is our Bible? In the computer!

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

The second question raised the issue of form and perception: "How do you understand them?"

Our question about "Where is My Bible" is a modern twist to Jesus’ question about form and perception. We too could say, "How do you understand the Scriptures?"