Myth and History in Biblical Narratives: A Hermeneutical Perspective

Perspektywa hermeneutyczna

Abstract

The historiographical tradition of the ancient Middle East contains a mixture of history and myth. This means a combination of events unfolding on a timeline and what can be called a mode of historical thinking that incorporates mythical motifs. Therefore, today’s attempts to separate myth and history may mean stripping the latter of an essential element of meaning. From a socio-anthropological perspective, the Bible cannot be used as a direct source or testimony of the past of ancient Israel, but must first be culturally decoded. The triumph of reason that began with the Enlightenment meant that biblical narratives ceased to be theological myths, infallible and beyond criticism, and were assigned to their own historical context. However, the shift towards memory in the hermeneutics of history itself meant that biblical texts began to be treated as records of memory, which in turn is always alive and constitutes an inexhaustible reservoir of current identity. Interpretation conceived as the revival of memory corresponds to God’s command, addressed by Moses to the people (Deut. 5:15; 7:18; 8:2, 18). The command to “remember” is not motivated by curiosity about the past and an overwhelming desire to reconstruct it, but by the desire to be (identity), in which the question “who am I?” resounds. In order for the answer to be relevant to future generations of readers, it must take the form of a narrative in which myth and history are inextricably intertwined.