A quote from Back Door Introduction to the Bible was, “So J. K. Rowling doesn’t feel it necessary to say, “Hey folks, this is fiction” at the start of every Harry Potter novel. She assumes her readers know that.” It put things into perspective for me that the Bible is a compilation of works from people of different backgrounds and from different times. Passages in the Bible are not necessarily in the order they were written, nor do the authors of each passage clearly state what they are writing is either fact or fiction. So, assuming the Bible is one genre may cause some confusion when interpreting the text for one’s self. The story of Adam and Eve speaking to a talking serpent and eating the forbidden fruit reads more like one of Aesop’s fables than a historical document. The compilation of authors in the Bible assume the reader knows the difference between a fable and reality
I found it interesting in Valiant or Virtuous? that English translations of the Bible like to use different words when describing men and women opposed to Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible. Whether or not this is a result of differing societal gender roles imposed by each translation’s respective culture would require extensive research best suited for a project outside of this blog. Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible use the same adjective to describe valiant men and women (chayil in Hebrew and andreia in Greek), but the adjectives change in English translations when describing women. Changing valiant to ‘distinguished’ or ‘excellent’ when describing women.