Everybody knows MOTD, Strictly, Bangers and Cash. Living as we do in the days of smart one-liners, slick editing and honorific titles, we might have expected a major religious faith to be different. But no.
Let’s start with the religious jargon (as some would say) of the labels in the Bible. One word presents no problems. That word is Genesis. It is closely related to our own origins. We talk about DNA even if we don’t really understand it, just as we use words like digital and sub-atomic. No. Genesis comes easily to hand. And hard on the heels of Genesis comes Exodus. This means the way out or going out. It is clearly related to the word ‘exit’ and we can safely make a guess about its meaning. History helps us.
With the title ‘Leviticus’ we are in deep waters. Blame the tribe of Levi in the worship of Israel. There would have been no worship but for them. Fascinating as it may have been when it was coined, the word ‘Leviticus’ is now an impediment rather than an admission ticket. Few are those who are comfortable with the word.
The same is true of ‘Numbers’. This is a hum-drum title for a document that concerns itself with census-taking and can claim a better title: ‘In the wilderness’. Nobody likes tax returns and the threat that is implicit in them. Nobody is entirely happy about our know-all society and its regiments of box-tickers.
With Deuteronomy it is plain sailing. The second law, as it means, is the name of the religious reformation set afoot by King Josiah. The label is a long one but no more difficult than some of the jargon of the motor trade – independent suspension, for example or compression-ratio.
Joshua is no problem. It clearly offers a life-story, just as Robinson Crusoe or Francis Drake does. And with ‘Judges’ we have the promise of one of the best stories in the Old Testament, the story of Samson – a gift for film-makers. But the Samuels, Kings and Chronicles are off-putting, though Proverbs, Song of Songs and Psalms indicate relief is on the way.
Bible labels are not the only problem posed by religious jargon but we have here enough to be going on with. Ezekiel and Daniel are far off and there are prophets, Hosea, Joel and Amos, for example, who were short and to the point. We can hardly do without labels but we need to keep them under review.
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