What is Biblical Theology? The Details Matter

The Details Matter

Ancient Hebrew writers had a literary style that favored brevity and concision over breadth of description. You don’t see many long, florid descriptions as you might in a novel today. The skill and beauty in ancient Hebrew writing was in its ability to say a lot with a little. This means that in the Bible, the details matter—with fewer details, each one carries greater weight. 

Here are three examples of passages whose details you might overlook on a cursory reading, which then turn out to be incredibly important to later biblical writers: 

Things Facing East

In the Genesis account, we learn that the Garden of Eden faced east (Genesis 3:24). Taken alone, the detail might seem insignificant, but as you read on, you come across a few other east-pointing structures or places. The Tabernacle faced east. The Temple in Jerusalem faced east. The New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation faced east. Is it just a coincidence? No. The writers are saying something about the meaning of the temple of God, the meaning of the Garden of Eden, and the meaning of the New Creation, building the links between them with this little detail.

Isaac Carried the Wood

Think of the specific set of details Genesis includes when Abraham is told to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Genesis 22). Abraham is told to sacrifice his only son, and places the wood that will fuel the sacrifice for the burnt offering on his back, and they go up a mountain that God has revealed to them. Isaac asks, “Where’s the sacrifice?” And Abraham’s answer is “God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.” For centuries, the details of the story would have had significance only in relation to the story of Abraham itself, but that changes when you get to Jesus. In the New testament, you see Jesus, God’s only son, carrying the wood of his own sacrifice up the hill, not to be miraculously spared from death by God but to be miraculously put to death by God so that others could be spared. To go back Hays’ theater analogy, as you’re watching Jesus walk towards the cross, Genesis 22 is playing on the screen at the back of the stage as both stories are connected by their details. 

Melchizedek Had No Genealogy 

In Genesis 14, Abraham meets the mysterious figure of Melchizedek. The story of their meeting is incredibly brief—only 58 words long! However, in Hebrews 7, the writer of Hebrews argues that Jesus belongs to a higher priesthood than the family of priests who operate the temple, the Levites, and his entire set of conclusions rests on five details in the Melchizedek story:

1. Melchizedek’s name means ‘king of righteousness.’ 

2. He is king of Salem, which means ‘peace.’

3. Unlike many other figures in Genesis, he does not have a genealogy. He simply appears, and thus, says the writer of Hebrews, we can deduce that he is “like one who lives forever.”

4. Abraham gives him a tithe, not the other way around in the story, and the lesser tithes to the greater, says the writer of Hebrews. 

5. Lastly, he was a priest of God, but his priesthood preceded Levi, who was Abraham’s descendant, thus his priesthood is higher than Levi’s. 

With those five details from a 58 word story, the writer of Hebrews connects the priesthood of Melchizedek to the priestly role of Jesus, who overturns the old law and the old priesthood and provides a way to do what the old law and the old priesthood failed to do, connect the people to God.