It is important to keep the genre in mind when studying the Bible because the genre influences how a passage is meant to be understood. During observation knowing the genre helps when asking 5W1H questions and following the flow of the text.
Every sentence is written in a particular genre. Typically a book is written in one genre but sometimes there are multiple genres. For example Daniel is historical, biographical, and prophetic. Luke is primarily biographical but also contains poetry.
- Historical
- Biographical
- Poetic
- Proverbial
- Prophetic
- Letter/Epistle
- Combination