Circles in the Stream: Index, Identification, and Intertext: Reading and Preaching the Story of Judah in Genesis 37–50

By Paul E. Koptak and Rebekah Eklund

Maybe we should read Genesis 37-50 as the story of Joseph and Judah. Both kept their families alive and received major blessings from their father Jacob. Like his brother Joseph, Judah knew how to use words to lead and persuade, primarily by appealing to common experience. His speeches model Kenneth Burke's rhetoric of identification, "inducing cooperation" by showing his listeners how they are consubstantial--that is, where they stand together.
Preachers hope to do the same, making gospel connections between ancient texts and life today. Circles in the Stream shows that the connections are there in the Scripture text, freeing preachers from the pressure to find contemporary illustrations. Adapting Burke's literary-rhetorical approach to reading, Paul Koptak offers ever-widening circles of reading to that end. Indexing a passage and looking for identification there lead to the transformative purpose and life issue. Intertextual study, a combination of both, discovers these connections in the wider two-testament canon.
Circles in the Stream offers both a distinct perspective for reading Scripture and practical steps for in-depth study. Its method can make sermon preparation more efficient and effective. More importantly, it leads to the life-issues that listeners want their preachers to address.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Apr 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666792294

Paul E. Koptak

Paul E. Koptak is professor emeritus of communication and biblical interpretation at North Park Theological Seminary. He is the author of The NIV Application Commentary: Proverbs.

Book preview

Circles in the Stream

Index, Identification, and Intertext:

Reading and Preaching the Story of Judah in Genesis 37–50

Paul E. Koptak

Foreword by Rebekah Eklund

Circles in the Stream

Index, Identification, and Intertext: Reading and Preaching the Story of Judah in Genesis

37–50

Copyright ©

2022

Paul E. Koptak. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-3532-1

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-9228-7

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-9229-4

April 28, 2022 3:03 PM

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright ©

2001

by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©

1973

,

1978

,

1984

,

2011

by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©

1989

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Quotation from Cry of a Tiny Babe by Bruce Cockburn, used by permission from Round Hill Carlin, LLC.

Portions of the author’s articles were adapted with permission:

Identity and Identification in Lamentations. In Doing Theology for the Church: Essays in Honor of Klyne Snodgrass, edited by Rebekah A. Eklund and John E. Phelan Jr., 199

–

215

. Chicago: Covenant and Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock,

2014

.

"Reading Scripture with Kenneth Burke: Genesis

38

." In To Hear and Obey: Essays in Honor of Fredrick Carlson Holmgren, edited by Bradley J. Bergfalk and Paul E. Koptak,

84

–

94

. Chicago: Covenant,

1997

.

Rhetorical Identification in Preaching. Preaching (Nov-Dec

1998

)

11

–

18

.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Image: Circles in the Stream

Story: How I Learned to Read and Preach

Method: Index, Identification, Intertext

Example: Genesis 37

Excursus: A Deeper Dive into Kenneth Burke’s Literary-Rhetorical Criticism

Chapter 1: Index: Judah and Tamar

From Literary to Rhetorical Study

Reading with Kenneth Burke

Indexing Genesis 38

Intertextual Relations

Identification

Moving from Text to Sermon

Sermon: Let’s Try That Again

Indexing Questions

Chapter 2: Identification: Judah and Joseph

Burke and Identification: Appeals to Common Experience

Judah Before Jacob in Genesis 43: Identification with Common Experience

Burke and Identity (Trans) Formation

Judah Before Joseph in Genesis 44: Transformed Identification and Identity

Judah, Identification, and Preaching

Joseph Addresses His Brothers in Genesis 45: Identification and Unity

Joseph, Identification, and Preaching

Moving from Text to Sermon

Sermon: Come Closer

Steps for Spotting Identification

Chapter 3: Intertext: Judah and His Brothers Receive Jacob’s Blessing

Preaching the Two-Testament Canon

Sermon: Answered Prayers

Intertextual Biblical Study

Reading Genesis 48 Backwards and Forwards

Burke’s Intertextual Reading

Reading Genesis 49 in All Its Contexts

Moving from Text to Sermon: Biblical Theology and Preaching

Guidelines for Finding Intertextual Connections

Conclusion

Bibliography

One way in which we acquire a fresh read of Scripture is to read the text through a new methodological lens. This is the work Paul Koptak undertakes in this book. Koptak reads the Joseph narrative in the book of Genesis with reference to the communicative theory of Kenneth Burke. . . . Koptak is fully alert to the artistic wonder of the narrative and takes that artistry with attentive seriousness.

—Walter Brueggemann,

Columbia Theological Seminary

Though the later chapters of Genesis may be familiar to you, Koptak’s application of Burke’s rhetorical approach brings fresh insight and application to a familiar story. This is an important read for anyone seeking to better understand the character of Joseph, his family, and how they fit into the biblical narrative.

—Bill Shereos,

pastor, Evangelical Free Church of America

Like a good docent, Koptak guides us through galleries of Burke’s literary-rhetorical theory. Then, like a good translator, he puts Burke-ology into language and concepts preachers can use for weekly sermon prep. Then, like a good coach, he demonstrates what close reading à la Burke looks like by offering his own sermons on Joseph and Judah (Genesis). . . . Koptak demonstrates that biblical authors, including the narrative artists of Genesis, used rhetoric to influence readers and listeners.

—Jeffrey Arthurs,

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Koptak mines the fascinating work of Kenneth Burke, finding a treasure trove of riches. In a study the field has needed for a long time, Koptak uses Burke’s insights to crack open the meaning and relevance of biblical texts. Preachers, interpreters, and scholars—this is the book you need. Take and read!

—Matthew Schlimm,

University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Anyone who is interested in the art of reading Scripture—or in the art of how to bring Scripture to life—will benefit from this book. At the same time, preachers and teachers of Scripture will find Paul Koptak’s work especially valuable. Students and scholars of rhetoric will find an interesting, accessible, and immediately applicable introduction to the work of literary-rhetorical analyst Kenneth Burke.

—Rebekah Eklund,

Loyola University Maryland

"Paul Koptak’s Circles in the Stream is a gift to those preachers who feel that the burden of creating connections between text and listeners Sunday after Sunday rests on their shoulders. Koptak makes a compelling case that the connections are already there, waiting to be found. . . . Readers of Circles in the Stream will find that applying its methods will allow both text and life to shine light on each other."

—Alyce M. McKenzie,

Perkins School of Theology

To my companions in the journey at Haywood Pathways Center and First Presbyterian Church Waynesville.

Foreword

You will benefit from this book whether you are in seminary, you once graduated from a seminary, or you have never attended a seminary class. Indeed, anyone who is interested in the art of reading Scripture—or in the art of how to bring Scripture to life—will benefit from this book. At the same time, preachers and teachers of Scripture will find Paul Koptak’s work especially valuable. Students and scholars of rhetoric will find an interesting, accessible, and immediately applicable introduction to the work of literary-rhetorical analyst Kenneth Burke.

In Koptak’s guiding metaphor, Scripture is a stone thrown into a river, from which ripples spread out in ever-widening concentric circles. The widening ripples are the contexts and connections that exist within Scripture and that link Scripture to our world today. While Koptak carefully examines the ripples that spread outward from Scripture and eventually flow into our everyday lives, he keeps our attention riveted on the stone.

The great virtue of this book is to invite us to return to, and to dwell deeply within, the center at the heart of the circles: the Scripture itself. In the words of Krister Stendhal, quoted partway through the book, The purpose of preaching is to give the text a little more room to shine. Koptak gives one particular story—the narrative of Judah in the book of Genesis—ample room to shine, and in doing so, he charts a path for how any preacher, or any reader of Scripture, might do the same.

The choice of Judah’s story as the case study that animates this book is an insightful one. The character of Joseph and his narrative arc are familiar enough to most preachers and readers of Scripture, but I would also venture to guess that Judah and his story are also less well-known and less well-preached.

Nuggets of insight abound throughout the study of Judah—for example, a lovely link between Tamar and Jesus’s blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In his introduction, Koptak talks about learning a knack for noticing (a phrase he borrows from Alyce McKenzie). Koptak has a well-honed knack for noticing, and it’s a gift he offers to us.

Importantly, Koptak is also teaching his readers a method. The primary lens that he uses to explore Judah’s story is a type of rhetorical analysis developed by literary analyst Kenneth Burke. Along the way, insights from other scholars are integrated into Koptak’s careful study, but Burke is the main voice.

When someone has truly understood a difficult and sophisticated scholarly argument, they are able to explain it in simple terms to a non-specialist. I can attest that literary-rhetorical criticism does not always make for easy reading, but Koptak demonstrates his thorough grasp of Burke’s work by explaining his approach in a clear, conversational style and then using the story of Judah to show Burke’s methods in action.

Rather than simply lay out the method, Koptak shows how the theory flowers into practice. For example, each chapter contains a sermon along with an explanation of how Koptak constructed it. (If you have ever been curious about how a master preacher goes about crafting her or his sermon, you will be given a rare glimpse into examples of that process.) No doubt many bookmarks will be used to mark the study questions at the end of each chapter, so that readers might return to them to use in their own study of Scripture—for example, Guidelines for Finding Intertextual Connections.

Perhaps a reader might wonder if Burke’s methods or Koptak’s examples apply only to the Old Testament or only to narrative texts. On the one hand, I am gratified by the focus on preaching the Old Testament, and appreciative of Koptak’s focus on how to connect the Old Testament to the New Testament and the gospel. Therefore, I hope that readers will not leap too quickly to wonder how to apply these methods to Matthew or John, but will take up the challenge of teaching and preaching the Old Testament texts. Nonetheless, I am persuaded that the insights in this book could bear good fruit when applied to New Testament texts as well—perhaps especially the Gospels, but also the letters. One virtue of this approach would be to keep those New Testament texts anchored in conversation with the Old Testament, since Koptak insists continually (and rightly) on the intertextual connections among the two.

I will end on a brief personal note. In his introduction, Koptak briefly describes how he taught preaching to seminary students. I was one of those students, and I learned how to preach—by which I mean I learned how to read Scripture carefully and attentively—in part by sitting in Paul Koptak’s classroom. I still remember studying the Joseph cycle in Genesis, a story I assumed I already knew pretty well, and feeling the astonishment of encountering it as if for the first time. I did not realize until many years later that I had actually been trained in classical Aristotelian as well as Burkean rhetoric. Today, I still use the techniques (or perhaps I should say the art) that I learned from Paul in my analysis of Scripture and even in the way that I craft lectures for undergraduate classes.

Paul Koptak was then and remains now a clear and gracious guide into the world of Scripture and how it resonates with our lives. If, like me, you are a former student of Paul’s, you will relish the opportunity to revisit his teaching. If you have never had the good fortune to sit in his classroom, I urge you to take the chance to place yourself into his capable hands and allow him to guide you into the riches of God’s Word.

Rebekah Eklund

Associate Professor of Theology

Loyola University Maryland

Acknowledgments

Writing a page of acknowledgments brings remembrance and gratitude for friendships, many that have lasted for decades. Thanks to the skilled readers in classrooms and churches who joined me in seeking deeper knowledge of Judah, his family, and their God. And to my teachers, friends, and colleagues who found their way into the pages—often, but not always, in a citation. I’m grateful for these gifted preachers who offered feedback on one or more chapters: Riley Covin, Holly Davis, Hon Eng, Fredrick Holmgren, Valerie Landfair, John Martz, Dean Nelson, Bill Shereos, Jonathan Teram.

I have been warmly welcomed into two communities since moving to Western North Carolina: First Presbyterian Church Waynesville, one hundred fifty years strong, and Haywood Pathways Center where I volunteer as chaplain, a residential program for persons seeking life transformation. Friends at both listened generously as I told the story of Judah. And finally, heartfelt thanks to best friend Linda, who has been listening generously every day for nearly forty years.

Introduction

Image: Circles in the Stream

Imagine you are standing beside a river, broad and deep. You watch the calm water as it ambles downstream, and before long you are looking for some smooth, flat stones. You try your hand at skipping them across the surface, trying to get more than two hops before the stone loses momentum and sinks to the bottom. Each time you take that sidearm throw, you watch the circles move outward wherever stone touches water.

I have come to think of biblical study for preaching and teaching as following the circles that spread out from a similar point of contact whenever we read or hear Scripture. The communication acts of writing and reading are like those moments when a stone hits water, sending their energy outward from there to here, then to now. Our eyes move across a page to make sense of written text, or our ears transmit sound vibrations as we listen to someone read aloud. Suddenly, we’ve made contact with people from long ago and far away in another time and place. We meet them in Scriptures handed down through generations by those who found life in these words about knowing God. We realize that the storytellers and poets who wrote in those ancient life situations found the life, true life (Psalm 36:9; John 10:10). We might choose other metaphors to remind us that the act of reading is a transfer of living energy—sparks struck from flint, electricity generated from moving magnets—but the sight of circles moving out from a center of contact reminds us of the ever-widening movement from life then to life now.

I’m borrowing the image from Bruce Cockburn, the Canadian singer-songwriter who has had a long and adventurous relationship with Jesus and Christian faith. It appears in his retelling of the Christmas story, Cry of a Tiny Babe. The chorus reaches for that transcendence of space and time:

Like a stone on the surface of a still river

Driving the ripples on forever

Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe¹

I listened to the song for years without noticing the repetition of surface and the wordplay on ripples and rips. Both point to redemption begun with this baby’s cry: restored relationship, deep connection, intimate belonging with God that rips through the surface of time. So, to talk about the ever-widening circles in the stream of biblical study is to remember what preachers hope to evoke with their words about the text—life issues remembered in writing and recovered in speaking today. We pray for and work toward a message that spreads those circles into the lives of those who hear the Scriptures read and preached. Casey Barton is on to something when he talks about Preaching Through Time. We don’t preach timeless truths; we invite people into God’s drama as it unfolds in time.²

It starts with Scripture and that contact point of reading. The circles are like the contexts we were taught to recognize when we studied interpretation: Read words in sentences, sentences in paragraphs, etc. We follow those ever-expanding circles of contexts to get from life then to life now. Reading Scripture follows these connections within the literary contexts of chapter, book, or testament while, at the same time, connecting us with the life issues we hope will lead to real change. When we teach and preach, we hope that we and our hearers will become recentered, focused on a life of worship and service. We hope we all will come to love God and neighbor in ways never imagined before. We hope we will come