Abram as head of armies

A literary narrative analysis of Gen 14

Abstract

The narrative presented in Gn 14 is atypical in the saga of Abraham (Gn 12 – 25), as it is the only moment in the story told in which this character is involved in a military conflict, in contrast to his predominant pastoral figure in Genesis. Since few authors throughout the history of interpretation have understood Gn 14 as literature, the problem of this work is to analyze this pericope from a literary narrative perspective. The objective of the study is to verify the elements that emphasize the unity of the text and help to understand the outcome of its plot. The methodology adopted for exegesis is the narrative analysis method, which prioritizes the synchronic aspects of the biblical text based on a careful reading of its narratives through the delimitation of enclosure, translation, plot organization, narrative voice, analysis of characters, space and time and the narrator-reader relationship. As for the conclusions obtained, the narrative structure and sequence and the intratextual indications reveal a progression of the plot based on the theme of descent, which prepares the reader for the succession of events in Abraham's story.