Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 verse 1 in the Authorised Version reads: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days”. Many other versions render the verse in similar words, several speaking of sending grain across the seas and seeking financial rewards (is this an early case of ‘bread’ signifying money?). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) probably comes nearest to expressing the thought behind the verse: “Be generous, and someday you will be rewarded”. A good illustration of this is seen in the book, ‘Biggles Sweeps The Desert’ (reissued as ‘Biggles Defends The Desert’).

Biggles had been holding four German prisoners, including their leader Hauptmann von Zoyton. They escaped into the desert where they were miles from their headquarters and likely to perish from heat and thirst. Biggles, arguing that, “it’s one thing to shoot a man in a scrap, but a horse of a different colour to drop him in the sand and leave him to the mercy of a haboob”, sent a radio message to the German headquarters:

‘From officer commanding R.A.F. to officer commanding Luftwaffe, Wadi Unbo. Haboob coming your way. Pick up four prisoners lost at point approximately thirty miles south-east your position. Prisoners include von Zoyton. Confirm signal received. Message ends. [Confirmation was received].’

Later, when Biggles and his friends were caught in a sandstorm in a captured German car, they received a radio messaage:

‘Hauptmann von Zoyton, Oasis Wadi Umbo, to Squadron Leader Bigglesworth in Luftwaffe car Z 4421. If you need water, there is reserve tank in rear section. Tap under medical chest. I look forward to shooting you. Message ends.’

Biggles replied:

‘Squadron Leader Bigglesworth operating Luftwaffe car Z 4421 to Hauptmann von Zoyton. Message received. Have your guns ready. Will be calling shortly. Message ends.’

Biggles commented to his team, “You’ll sometimes find that if you throw a crust of bread on the water, you get a slice back”.

(Inevitably, Biggles and von Zoyton met in air combat. Of course, Biggles won; von Zoyton parachuted to safety within reach of a rescue party. As Biggles circled above the German they exchanged salutes. Biggles encountered von Zoyton again after the War in Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.)

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“What is Narrative Criticism? A New Approach to the Bible”

This book by Mark Allen Powell provides a clear guide to the subject, with emphasis on the New Testament. N.T Wright, in a foreword, comments, “the Bible in general, and a good bit of the New Testament in particular, is emphatically not simply a list of doctrines to be believed or commands to be obeyed. It consists, at a far more fundamental level, of stories and narrative.” In “The Art of Biblical Narrative,” Robert Alter expounds the theme as it applies to the Hebrew Bible (not, he stresses, the “Old Testament” of the Christian Church). Alter is the author of other books on the subject. He is also co-editor of and contributor to “The Literary guide to the Bible,” the other editor being Frank Kermode.

This monumental work consists of: a general introduction, introductions to the Old and New Testaments, detailed essa,’ on all books of the Bible and the following general essays: ‘The Hebrew Bible and Canaanite Literature’, ‘The New Testament and Greco-Roman Writing’, ‘Fishing for Men on the Edge of the Wilderness [an anthropologist’s demonstration of a personal style of Biblical exegesis]’, ‘The Canon’, ‘The Characteristics of Ancient Hebrew Poetry’, ‘Midrash and Allegory’, and English translations of the Bible [not, except incidentally, modern versions but early versions pre-dating the Authorised Version].

Although the subject of Narrative Criticism is relatively new, there are early precursors in Benjamin Jowett’s recommendation (in his 1860 contribution to ‘Essays and Reviews’) to read the Bible like any other book, and in works such as ‘The Bible Designed to be Read as Literature’, edited by Ernest Sutherland Bates in 1935.