There is an old idiom I’m sure you have heard, he is “talking in circles” again. This idiom refers to someone who talks about something in a confusing way, never answering the question directly but instead going around and around.
In the Bible, they also talked in circles, not in a confusing way, but in an actual circular pattern to help the storyteller and listeners understand, follow the storyline, remember, and then retell the story. This circular pattern is not something new or only present in the Bible, but it is also in other ancient writings and artifacts. From ancient Greek prose, Hebrew, and Chinese poetry, Druidic teachings, Mayan literature, we can find this circular pattern. Is it possible, in time, we will find it in the ancient narratives of Inca Khipu? It would not surprise me in the least.
In this study, I am going to give you a Bible story example of this circular pattern you will find throughout the Bible, and then explain why this circular pattern is so important for understanding the Bible.
Most Bible readers and even scholars are unaware of this circular pattern in the stories of the Bible, but to be sure, every time you pick up your Bible and read a story, there is in most cases a circular pattern, unless, for some reason, the story was unfinished or altered.
From the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), let me give you one example of the many circular patterns found in the Bible. Numbers 14:2 reads, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or in this wilderness would that we had died!” Note in the diagram below the circular pattern of this verse starting from the top with the cross and moving to the right until it meets up again at the top: “we died in Egypt” then repeating itself, “in the wilderness we died”. You can find this not only in sentences but also in the story as a whole.
Most ancient people were illiterate and used this circular literary device to help them remember and then retell the story to others. This includes Jesus’ disciples and followers. Why? Because most of them were illiterate and could not read or write. They belonged to an oral culture. They learned by hearing, remembering, and doing. As already mentioned above, the purpose of these circular patterns was to help the storyteller or listener understand, follow the storyline, remember, and then retell the story.
In our next article, we consider how New Testament authors used templates for creating and writing their own literature.
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