The “Read the Labels” technique is an easy way to freshen up your Bible reading. While engaging with the text, you can identify and track the specific titles and descriptions an author uses for characters throughout a story. Many readers form an initial mental image of a character and fail to notice the nuanced ways an author evolves that portrayal. By identifying and using the “Read the Labels” technique, you can significantly enhance your scriptural understanding.
Just as food labels help consumers make informed decisions, authors use labels to provide essential context for the characters in their work. In linguistics, this is known as “participant reference,” which examines the specific choices an author makes when referring to individuals in a narrative. For example, I carry many labels: Jim, husband, father, Dr. Coakley, and professor. Some are formal, some are familial, and others relate to my professional vocation. While every label refers to me, each one communicates a specific attribute suited for a particular setting.
Tracking these character labels provides an inside look at how an author intends to portray specific facets of a person. These identifiers might be familial, such as “David, son of Jesse,” or occupational, like “Simon the tanner.” They can also reveal how characters perceive one another, whether positively, as when Boaz calls Ruth a “worthy woman,” or negatively, such as when Abigail refers to her husband Nabal as a “worthless fellow.” The ability to interpret troubling Bible stories often hinges on these nuances, helping us to see beyond surface-level descriptions.
Also, pay attention to when pronouns are used instead of proper nouns. Pronouns are typically used to make sentences less repetitive by eliminating the need to repeat the same nouns over and over, but sometimes biblical authors use pronouns instead of proper nouns to add a hint of secrecy to dramatic scenes. For instance, in the threshing room incident in Ruth 3 there appears to be the avoidance of the proper names Ruth and Boaz by the narrator after 3:7, because that enhances the clandestine nature of the encounter that Boaz himself knows could be problematic, since he states in 3:14, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
In some instances, biblical authors may use pronouns to add ambiguity to the account to force readers to slow down and try to ascertain which referent that the pronoun refers to. One example is Ruth 2:20, when Naomi exclaims to Ruth: “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead” (NASB). It is not entirely clear to whom the pronoun “his” refers to in this verse: Is it Boaz or the Lord? Evidence could be garnered to support either individual as the referent, and the reader is forced to take time and expend mental effort in trying to figure it out, which may actually be the author’s intent. Other examples where biblical authors may have injected ambiguity to cause readers to ponder are 1 Kings 3:16–28 and 20:35–43.
In contrast, look for when proper nouns are repeated multiple times even though pronouns would be adequate. In Genesis 50, Joseph’s proper name is repeated seven times in verses 22–26, which is the last paragraph in the book. The repeated use of his personal name at the end of the book not only keeps him in focus in the minds of the readers in his last days on earth but also helps to highlight his personal faith in wanting to be included in the land promise given to his forefathers in Genesis 50:24–25. Abel is referred to as “brother” seven times in Genesis 4, even though that information is already known to readers. Its repeated use emphasizes that Cain is indeed his “brother’s keeper,” an implicit answer to Cain’s sarcastic question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9).
Biblical Example – Ishmael
In Genesis 17:18–26, Ishmael’s personal name and status are clearly mentioned. However, in Genesis 21:9–15, there are eighteen references to Ishmael as a character, but his personal name is never used by anyone. Instead, he is referred to with more impersonal labels such as lad, boy, son of Hagar the Egyptian, son of the maid, and her son. Readers should sense this marginalizing of Ishmael by tracking the use of the labels used to reference him. This fits the author’s intent by having Ishmael leave the narrative stage so that readers focus on the child of promise, Isaac.
Biblical Example – Bathsheba
Here is the text containing the account of David and Bathsheba with all the referents to Bathsheba in bold:
Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am pregnant.” (2 Sam. 11:1–5 NASB)
Several observations can now be made tracking all the references to Bathsheba:
1) The author portrays David as objectifying her first by referring to her as just a “woman.” This is seen by focusing on her gender and not any other label that would elevate her personal identity and status. (Samson does the same thing in Judges 14:1–3.)
2) An unnamed court official stated her true identity with her proper name and family identity: “Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” All of this information should have given David pause in pursuing her.
3) The narrator of the account shows her with little control over her situation by simply using pronouns (her, she) instead of her proper name (Bathsheba). This adds to the clandestine nature of the scene in general and clearly makes David the aggressor in this act of adultery.
In Conclusion
Tracking all the labels that are applied to the characters you come across in your Bible reading is a simple but surefire way to energize and enliven the time you spend in God’s Word. Plus, it will provide you with something to direct the focus of your reading that can lead to delightful personal observations.
Adapted from 14 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible by James F. Coakley (© 2023). Published by Moody Publishers. Used by permission.
