Much of the Bible is propaganda. Biblical authors took existing narratives and changed them to support their agenda. In this post, I explain the various ways that the Biblical authors achieved this. I’ll update this page as I learn more techniques.
Changing The Context
Instead of deleting or denying the original narratives, Biblical authors would take elements from those narratives and change the context around them in order to change the meaning to something that was more in line with the author’s agenda. However, the change couldn’t be drastic so as to alert the reader to the change. Biblical authors provided the original reader with a plausible misunderstanding. By creating ambiguities in the narrative, Biblical authors could trick the original readers into thinking they had misheard or misunderstood the original narrative, thereby accepting the Biblical narrative. The techniques listed below are all some variation of changing the context of the original narrative:
The Redundant Lie
Probably the most common and easiest technique to spot, The Redundant Lie is a false claim that the Biblical authors repeated often but was unnecessary in the narrative. It could be repeated with the same word/phrase or explained in various ways. “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is often attributed to the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Biblical authors seem to have this principle in mind when using this technique. This technique also highlights what was the most important part of the narrative that the author was trying to change. Examples:
The claim that Abraham and Isaac were father and son is often repeated and explained in various ways, the most common being Abraham and Isaac calling each other “father” and “son” in almost every verbal exchange.
David is repeatedly claimed to be the son of Jesse. This is not only claimed by the narrator but several characters in the narrative also make the claim. Furthermore David is described as doing activities of that family. (e.g. the family sacrifice).
The Literal/Figurative Switcheroo
Biblical authors would take literal descriptions from the original narrative and make them figurative or vice versa. They would also take figurative language and change the figurative meaning of it. Examples:
Euphemism - In the Samson narrative, “plow with my heifer” originally referred to someone having sex with Samson’s wife-to-be but is changed to refer to the wedding party extracting the answer to his riddle. In the Jael narrative, “tent peg” and “between her feet” originally referred to sex between Jael and Sisera but is changed to her killing him.
Simile - In the Davidic Abigail narrative, “like a king’s feast” was a king’s feast in the original narrative. Naaman’s flesh “like the flesh of a child” returning to him was his flesh (daughter) returning to him in the original narrative.
Metaphor - Ruth describes herself as a slave to show humility towards Boaz, but in the original narrative, she was a slave of Boaz.
Hyperbole - Samson says he is so thirsty, he could die, but in the original narrative, he did die (and came back to life).
Personification - In the Cain narrative, abstract things may have been characters in the original narrative, such as “The earth opened her mouth to swallow the blood of Abel” and “sin crouching”.
Gene Splicing
Biblical characters were spliced into different family lines for various reasons, including legitimizing a kingly line, changing tribal origins and changing an inheritance to a different person. Examples:
The following kings were all spliced into different family lines: Saul, David, Solomon and Rehoboam. This was done to legitimize their kingly line or to make their origins from an appropriate tribe.
In the original narrative, Abraham sacrificed Isaac. The Biblical author prevents this sacrifice in order to splice Jacob into the Abrahamic line. Similarly, in the original narrative, Joseph died (fell into well? killed by an animal?). The Biblical author prevents his death in order to splice Ephraim and Manasseh into Jacob’s line.
The Devious Disqualifier
Biblical authors would disqualify people in the original narrative in order to replace them with someone they preferred. Example:
Saul was disqualified from being king because he didn’t totally destroy the Amalekites. This opens the way for David to become the legitimate king.
Firstborn Fabrication
Biblical authors would replace the firstborn in order to give the firstborn benefits to someone else. Examples:
Rueben is disqualified as the firstborn for sleeping with Abraham’s concubine.
Jacob replaces Esau as the firstborn by having him stick his arm out of the womb first, then getting Esau to sell his firstborn right.
Combining Identities
Identities were combined in order to assimilate tribes or religions. Examples:
Jacob/Israel - Jacob and Israel were two different people in the original narrative. These two were combined in order to have a united Israel
Joseph/Zaphnath-Paaneah - Joseph and Zaphnath-Paaneah were originally two different people but were combined in order to assimilate Ephraim and Manasseh into Israel
Jerusalem/Zion - Zion was originally a mythical city but was combined with Jerusalem in order to assimilate that religion.
The Generic Juke
Characters from an oral tradition were sometimes changed or removed in the Biblical narrative. However, it would have been too obvious of a change to replace the name of the original person to the name of the new person. The Biblical author would instead substitute a generic title to replace or remove a name.
David - In the oral tradition, David was the armor bearer for Jonathan but in order to cover up David’s paternity of Jonathan, the Biblical author replaces David in that part of the story with the generic character/title of “armor bearer”.
Ahab - In the oral tradition, Ahab was not the King of Israel but the Biblical author uses the generic title of “King of Israel” to infer Ahab into that part of the narrative.
Elohim - Yahweh was not originally part of the Northern traditions, but the Biblical author uses the generic name of “Elohim” in order to infer Yahweh into that part of the narrative.
Time Shifting
By changing events from one time period to another, Biblical authors could change the meaning of those events. Examples:
Amos - By moving Amos’ claim of being a herdsman from the end of his career to the beginning, the Biblical author helps change Amos from a failed prophet to a successful one.
Isaiah - By moving the charge of being a “man of unclean lips” from the end of his career to the beginning, the Biblical author helps change Isaiah from a failed prophet to a successful one.
Jesus - Lena Ienhorn proposes that New Testament authors time-shifted the life of Jesus.
Advantageous Adoption
Adopting someone into a family can add benefits for their descendants. Example:
Ephraim and Manasseh are adopted by Jacob, putting them on par with Jacob’s other sons.
The Name Game
The meaning of someone’s name could point to an aspect of a previous narrative that the Biblical author didn’t like. Changing the meaning of the name put it more in line with the author’s agenda. Examples:
Obed means “servant” and pointed to the original narrative that he was the son of a slave. The Biblical author has the neighbors name him to try to distance his naming from Naomi.
Cain means “smith” and pointed to the original narrative that he was the ancestor of smiths. This was changed to mean “acquired” and set in a new narrative.
Eve means “life” and pointed to the original narrative that she was a fertility goddess. She is changed to be the wife of Adam so that she is the mother of life through childbirth.
Noah means “comfort” and pointed to the original narrative that he discovered wine. This was changed to mean comfort from God’s curse of the ground.
Babel means “gateway of God” and pointed to the original narrative that it was a gateway of God. This was changed to mean “confuse talk” to fit in with the Biblical narrative.
Eliminating the Competition
Various people and groups are killed off in the Biblical narrative to eliminate them from competing with those who the Biblical author was promoting. Examples:
Killing Heirs - The Biblical author kills off the sons of Elimelech in Moab so that there was no other claims to the inheritance that Boaz received.
Killing Tribes - Yahweh has Moses destroy the Amorites completely so that no one could claim Amorites lived in that area. Only Israelites.
Begging The Answer
Biblical authors would insert questions into the Biblical narrative. In the original narrative they would have been answered differently, but the new context of the Biblical narrative forced a different answer. Example:
In the Elijah narrative, the woman at Zarephath asks ““What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” In the original narrative, it would have been an emphatic “yes!”, but the Biblical author changed the context so that it’s a “no”.
Painting Prophecies
The context of failed prophecies and even non-prophecies were changed so that they were successful prophecies. Examples:
Isaiah prophesied that Hezekiah would die. The Biblical author adds to the prophecy to say that he would live.
Jeremiah wrote about his negative political assessment regarding Babylon and Jerusalem. The Biblical author changes it to a negative prophecy against Jerusalem.
Elisha prophesied that King Benhadad would live. The Biblical author adds to the prophecy to say that he would die.
A Plausible Ignorance
The original reader would have never heard some of the new claims that the Biblical author made. The author counters this by saying that they hadn’t heard of it because it was secret. Examples:
Secret meetings - Jeremiah met secretly with King Zedekiah to prophecy that Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. Abigail met secretly with David to ask him not to kill her husband.
Secret teachings - The original reader would not have heard about Jesus’ teachings because he told them in parables and the original hearers didn’t understand them but he explained them to his disciples.
Rearranging Artifacts
Biblical authors had to explain why some people were in possession of certain artifacts. Example:
In the original narrative, Gideon was a Midianite and would naturally be in possession of Midianite royal camel crescents. The Biblical author changes it so that he got them after killing Midianite princes.
Hiding In Plain Sight
Biblical authors had to explain why certain people were living in a way that didn’t fit the Biblical narrative. Examples:
Ruth was a slave, so naturally she would work and do things with other slaves. The Biblical author says she wasn’t a slave but Boaz said she could be with his slaves.
Gideon was a Midianite, so naturally he would be in the Midianite camp. The Biblical author says that he was an Israelite but snuck into the camp to spy.
Jesus was a tax collector, so naturally he would eat with other tax collectors. The Biblical author says that it was because he wanted to save them.
Sanitizing Sayings
Biblical authors would take well known sayings and put them into a different context to change their meaning. Examples:
Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” In the original narrative, he said this because he was a tax collector. The Biblical author turns it into a wise saying in response to the Pharisees
People said “They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you”. This was said about Jeremiah’s failed defection to the Babylonians, but the Biblical author changes it to be about the defeat of King Zedekiah by the Babylonians.