The Banquet Type-Scene in the Parables of Jesus
type: CreativeWork
description: Biblical narratives abound in ancient literary and oral conventions. One such convention is the type-scene. The study of the type-scene originated in 1933 with Walter Arend who studied compositional recurrent patterns and variations in the epics of Homer. Later, the study was developed by Robert Alter inhis treatment of biblical narratives. The type-scene was a narratorial device used by ancient orators and writers in which traditional elements of repetitive compositional patterns were told and retold ininnovative ways to an audience, raising their expectation and sometimes causing surprise. Conventional elements that make up the type-scene were catchwords, motifs, characters, and themes. This study investigated the banquet type-scene in the parables of Jesus in order to find out whether Jesus, and by extension, the Gospel writers were in dialogue with the fixed literary and oral banquet type-scene convention of their time. Narrative criticism provided the framework for the study. Though narrative criticism implies a synchronic approach (the text in its final form) to the exegetical task, the diachronic approach (the text in its historical evolution) was also employed demonstrating that both approaches are complementary. Banquet narratives, banquet images, and general information about banquets in antiquity (ca. B.C.E. 1500 to 300 C.E.) were examined: Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Ugaritic, Old Testament, Jewish Intertestamental, Greco-Roman, New Testament, Early Christian Noncanonical, and Rabbinic literature of Tannaim. It was discovered that at the time of Jesus all banquet-type scenes bore two basic structural elements: the preparation of a banquet and selective invitation. From that point in the structure, the plot of the banquet type-scene branched off into three other plot sequences resulting in the Eminence of Guests type-scene, the Guests and Host Response type-scene, and the Wise and Foolish type-scene. Seven parables were amenable to the banquet…
abstract: Biblical narratives abound in ancient literary and oral conventions. One such convention is the type-scene. The study of the type-scene originated in 1933 with Walter Arend who studied compositional recurrent patterns and variations in the epics of Homer. Later, the study was developed by Robert Alter inhis treatment of biblical narratives. The type-scene was a narratorial device used by ancient orators and writers in which traditional elements of repetitive compositional patterns were told and retold ininnovative ways to an audience, raising their expectation and sometimes causing surprise. Conventional elements that make up the type-scene were catchwords, motifs, characters, and themes. This study investigated the banquet type-scene in the parables of Jesus in order to find out whether Jesus, and by extension, the Gospel writers were in dialogue with the fixed literary and oral banquet type-scene convention of their time. Narrative criticism provided the framework for the study. Though narrative criticism implies a synchronic approach (the text in its final form) to the exegetical task, the diachronic approach (the text in its historical evolution) was also employed demonstrating that both approaches are complementary. Banquet narratives, banquet images, and general information about banquets in antiquity (ca. B.C.E. 1500 to 300 C.E.) were examined: Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Ugaritic, Old Testament, Jewish Intertestamental, Greco-Roman, New Testament, Early Christian Noncanonical, and Rabbinic literature of Tannaim. It was discovered that at the time of Jesus all banquet-type scenes bore two basic structural elements: the preparation of a banquet and selective invitation. From that point in the structure, the plot of the banquet type-scene branched off into three other plot sequences resulting in the Eminence of Guests type-scene, the Guests and Host Response type-scene, and the Wise and Foolish type-scene. Seven parables were amenable to the banquet…
author: Hosein, Fazadudin
keywords: Biblical Studies, Religion, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
date published: 2001-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:53:34Z
provider: Andrews University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Andrews University