Mosaic Weave
Here’s a visual representation of the literary structure of the Bible. Of course, not every book identical in structure, but the use of literary “coordinates” is made plain. The subject matter of each line is thus a multi-faceted symbol, a relationship between the subject of the line, the subject of the stanza which contains it, the subject of the passage which contains the stanzas, and the books which contains the passages.
Click for a larger view.
Of course, the point of this is not art. It is hermeneutics. To attempt to ascertain the meaning of a passage or a line without any reference to its structure or position in the text is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without any reference to the shape of each piece. Thankfully, the Bible comes ready-assembled. Which means a lot of modern hermeneutics involves interpreting each tile of the Mosaic and deliberately ignoring where it is and what is next to it. This is nuts. Structure is a non-optional means of communication for ancient authors. To ignore it is to deliberately read the text in a way that was not intended.
For some very interesting work on the “warp and weft” nature of the Torah, visit www.chaver.com
