The books of the Bible can be grouped together according to their type of literature, or their genre. A breakdown according to biblical genres looks something like this:

• Historical narrative/epic: Genesis and the first half of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jonah
• Law: the last half of Exodus; also Leviticus, Deuteronomy
• Wisdom: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
• Poetry: Psalms, Song of Solomon, Lamentations
• Prophecy: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
• Apocalyptic: Daniel, Revelation
• Gospel: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and possibly Acts
• Epistle (letter): Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude

These categories are not absolutes, but guides. For instance, large sections of certain books of prophecy are also narrative, such as Haggai. As another example, the book of Revelation is written as an epistle (addressed to seven churches), prophecy, and apocalyptic literature all at once. But, even so, these guides are helpful for giving us an idea of what to expect when we get to each book. As we read through Luke, we can have confidence that Luke intended us to take his account as a factual, historically accurate retelling of the events that he carefully researched about the life of Jesus. Yet, when we read the book of Proverbs, because we understand that its genre does not support an extended narrative (i.e., it doesn’t tell a story), we won’t be disappointed when we find a bunch of disconnected sayings about how to live wisely in this world.

Now, what follows next are a series of extended, detailed examinations into individual passages that fall into specific genres. You will see examples from the Gospels, Epistles, Historical Narrative, Wisdom Literature, Apocalyptic Literature, and Parables. I will not go into extensive detail about how to read each genre, but will let the examples serve as illustrative tools to that end. For more about genres, see the Resources page. Our first foray, into one of the gospels, will be the longest, after which the examples will be much shorter. So don’t be intimidated by the length of this next page.

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