Don’t Imagine, Interpret: Why Hebrew Matters for Reading the Old Testament
The first thing that we do when we come to a Old Testament text should be read it and then begin to make observations based on the Hebrew. The danger is to jump to inference. For example, what happens if we begin to imagine the emotions of Abraham in Genesis 22. Was he afraid, confident, bold, etc.? The narrative gives us very little concerning his emotions But it does give us lexemes, syntax, and discourse structure, and all of that requires interpretation. Remember: Interpretation, not imagination. Notice the rapid sequential action and how the chain of wayyiqtol verbs (built… arranged… bound… placed… stretched out… took…) pushes the story forward with almost no commentary. Notice the delayed explanation, how the narrative withholds explicit interpretation until later (e.g., the “why” of events is not front-loaded; meaning is clarified after tension is created). The author creates suspense in narratives like Genesis. And notice the call from heaven in vv. 11–12, how it breaks the ac...
