Open AccessMOTIFS AND OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY
Author(s) -
Bryan D. Estelle
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
unio cum christo
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2473-8476
pISSN - 2380-5412
DOI - 10.35285/ucc5.1.2019.art2
Subject(s) - motif (music) , intertextuality , narrative , literature , allusion , old testament , new testament , philosophy , art , aesthetics
The article discusses the importance of motifs for understanding Old Testament literature. Motif is defined as the term is used in the biblical studies guild. The article begins by tracing the “clothing motif” in the Joseph narrative. Next, it progresses to a brief discussion of the methods of intertextuality, especially cultivating allusion competence and recognizing how motifs develop in Scripture. The article also demonstrates how this methodology can be applied to one specific motif: the “wilderness” as it unfolds in several early chapters in the book of consolation from the prophet Isaiah. This article demonstrates that studying motifs and their development intertextuality is a method that is beneficial and essential to a deeper description of Scriptural teaching.