LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Ecclesiastes and Job as Imaginative Literature
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (Ed. D) Department of Christian Leadership and
Church Ministries
By
Mary Gracias
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
Ecclesiastes and Job as Imaginative Literature
This article interprets the wisdom story in Prov 7:6–23 as a fiction that the wisdom teacher
specially composed to communicate to young men in a particularly potent way the dangers
inherent in the powerful allurements of folly. Making extensive use of the language,
conventions, and strategies of imaginative literature, the author endeavors to awaken the
moral imagination of those who otherwise would be prone to succumb to the lure of folly
rather than adhering to the way of wisdom.
Although this study has focused on one wisdom story, its conclusions may well have
broader implications for other OT wisdom texts. On a larger scale, it could be that the
autobiographical discourse in Ecclesiastes signals the use of an accepted fictional convention; in
other words, the book is an exemplary tale writ large.49 This would be compatible with
Longman’s identification of the genre of Ecclesiastes as framed wisdom autobiography,
although it would not necessitate his specific literary connection with fictional Akkadian
autobiographical texts.
A difficult interpretive question for the book of Job is the relationship of the narrative to
factual history. Does this book record the literal account of a calamity that overwhelmed Job at
a specific time and place, along with the transcripts of the actual words spoken by Job and his
friends as they endeavored to come to terms with this tragedy? Or is the book a māšāl that
“illumines some enduring condition or recurring experience/situation by way of analogy”?52
The historicity of the book of Job must not be rejected on a priori grounds. The biblical allusions
to Job in Ezek 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 do not state that he was a fictional character, but
rather they refer to him just as an historical figure would be indicated. The question of the
historical factualness of the book of Job, then, has to be decided by a careful consideration of
the textual data in the book.
The opening paragraph of Job uses a literary pattern that finds close parallels both in
historical narrative (1 Sam 1:1) and in imaginative parable (2 Sam 12:1). What is intriguing is
that the author sets the book outside of Israel in the land of Uz, and he introduces Job as a man
who is not in the covenant family. The introduction proceeds to describe Job’s family and
possessions in ideal terms. Job himself is portrayed as the epitome of righteousness (1:1), an
assessment that is twice endorsed by Yahweh (1:8; 2:3). Although the evidence is not definitive,
the details of the initial verses of the book hint that the opinions of the Babylonian Talmud
tractate Baba Batra 15a and of Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed III:22) that Job is a parable
could well be indicative of the genre of the book.
Additional internal evidence comes from the poetic dialogues that constitute the major
section of the book of Job. The artistic qualities of these poems appear to be explained better
by conscious craftsmanship rather than by artful spontaneity, which leads Archer to conclude
that “the main body of the text reads like a poetic and highly artistic composition, employing
language which would not normally be used by persons speaking extemporaneously in a real
life situation.” The intricate design discernable in the dialogues suggests that the book is not a
transcript of actual, unprepared conversations between Job and his friends. The book of Job,
rather, may well be explained better as a divinely-inspired work of imaginative literature, in
which the author explores the lofty theme of the problem of evil by setting forth an ideal case
study and then by constructing a series of speeches that represent the best efforts by humans
to resolve the issue. By this means, the book of Job is able to transcend the necessary
limitations inherent in any actual human example in order to focus on the theological issue in
its most comprehensive dimensions.
This article demonstrates that the wisdom story in Prov 7:6–23 is best viewed as a fictional
narrative that exploits to great effect the conventions of imaginative literature in order to
persuade the reader in an unusually vivid way. In addition, it suggests that the wisdom books of
Ecclesiastes and Job may well be read best as examples of biblical fiction crafted to teach
theological truths that could not be expressed as well if the authors had been limited by the
constraints of actual historical experiences.
The relationship between literature and truth is an ancient and complex question, for as
Lamarque observes, “just how literature intersects with truth, what relevance truth has to
literary value, whether literature is essentially to be conceived as a vehicle for truth, even what
‘truth’ might mean when applied to works of fiction: these questions go to the very heart of
literary studies.”54 When addressing the subject of fiction and truth in the Bible, many scholars
allege that the historical narratives of the Bible are full of falsehoods. In light of this denial of
the veracity of the biblical texts, it is understandable that evangelicals who hold to the
truthfulness of the Bible could be prone to consider the idea of biblical fiction an oxymoron.
This essay, however, demonstrates that the term “fiction” can refer not only to what is false,
but also in a literary sense to the genre of imaginative literature. This mode of fictional writing
has a long history from ancient times to the present day, and its distinctives and strategies have
been analyzed and expounded by literary scholars. When clear biblical examples of the use of
the genre of fictional literature are adduced, as for example in the parables of Jesus and in
wisdom stories such as Prov 7:6–23, then the existence of imaginative literature in the Bible
must be acknowledged.
Because of the ambiguity presented by the two senses of fiction and the confusion that can
easily enter into the discussion, biblical scholars and expositors must define precisely what they
mean when they speak of fiction and truth in the Bible. To read historical narratives as though
they were falsehoods is to fictionalize the text. On the other hand, to insist that texts composed
in the genre of fiction (i.e., imaginative literature) must be read as records of literal fact is to
literalize them. Both of these approaches fail to read the Bible accurately because they do not
treat it according to the distinctives of its literary genres. Instead, historical narratives should be
read as reliable records of what actually happened in time and space, but biblical fictions must
be read as the imaginative texts that they are.
How, then, should pastors, students, and scholars approach the fictional stories of the OT
wisdom literature? How should they read, study, and teach to derive the most benefit from
them?
First, stories are composed to be heard as complete narratives, not to be dissected as
though they were logical arguments. When a biblical story is taught or preached, it is important
to tell it as a story and let its literary power work on the audience. Just as Nathan’s parable
brought obstinate David to his knees in repentance, so the stories of the Bible can have the
same life-transforming effect today. This inherent power is diluted when the story is treated as
though it were some other kind of literature.
Second, because familiarity can breed contempt, or at least inattentiveness, it can be
helpful to retell a story like Job in a fresh way. Just as Shakespeare’s plays are often updated
and set in more recent periods, so recasting Job in twenty-first-century terms can produce a
new appreciation of its enduring message. To do this, a preacher or teacher must ask, “If the
author of Job were telling his story today, how would he communicate the same points?” This
strategy can be effective in building an applicational bridge from the ancient text to the
contemporary context.
Third, the OT wisdom stories assume the worldview of biblical wisdom, so they must be
understood within that conceptual framework. Before studying or teaching either the short
fictional stories in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes or a longer narrative like Job, it is important to get
a firm grasp of the themes of wisdom.55 That background will provide a much more profound
understanding of the wisdom story. In order to understand fictional literature, we must enter
into the imaginative world that the author has constructed. To comprehend and appreciate
what C. S. Lewis says in the Chronicles of Narnia, we first have to step through the wardrobe
and assume a different kind of world. Similarly, to grasp the OT wisdom stories, we have to
enter into the conceptual world of wisdom and understand it on its own terms.
Fourth, much scholarly work on biblical fiction remains to be done. Biblical narrative in
general, and biblical fiction in particular, has not often enough drawn on the insights of literary
scholars. It is true that biblical specialists have appropriated insights from some literary scholars
with an interest in the Bible, especially Robert Alter, Meir Sternberg, Leland Ryken, Adele
Berlin, Northrop Frye, and Frank Kermode. A few biblical scholars such as Jan Fokkelman and
Wilfred Watson have crossed over to the discipline of literary analysis and by this means have
developed excellent insights on the biblical texts. Much more must be done, however, in
integrating the skills and insights of biblical and literary specialists. Only when that is done can
we clearly hear the wisdom stories as the imaginative literary texts they are and thus be able to
feel the full force of their messages to us.
