Repetition and memory: Components of an oral culture

Day 35: Deuteronomy 4-10

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to live in an oral culture? Imagining myself in an oral culture proves extremely difficult because of the influence of reading and writing in my own background; however, because I have not grown up in a primarily oral culture, I can discover some of the features of an oral culture merely by contrasting them with a predominantly textual one.

One observation has to do with repetition. I teach professional writing courses and one of the things I emphasize is repetition. Students are initially apprehensive about using repetition in writing, but they soon discover the importance of this strategy, especially for readers who may not be as familiar with the subject as them.

In the Bible, the concept of repetition is even more pronounced. In fact, I would argue that one of the primary reasons repetition is emphasized is because they were living in an oral culture. In such a culture, memory was a key component. Adults didn't have texts to read, and children did not have someone to read them stories. However, what they did have was memory: adults could remember the stories told to them and then tell the same stories to their children. Just like storytelling was important, so, too, was singing. Music became an easier way to remember and to pass on stories to others.

So what gets repeated in the passages for today? I find three primary aspects of repetition:
1. Characteristics and explanation about the nature of God.
2. What God did for the Israelites and what he commands the Israelites to do.
3. What the Israelites did in the past.

First, Moses reminds the Israelites about who God is. God is "a consuming fire, a jealous God." He is "merciful." He is "great and awesome." He is "the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments." Moses reiterates the traits of God. The Israelites are reminded about God's nature, and they get to know the Lord better as well.

Second, Moses rehearses the story of the exodus--what God did for the Israelites over and over again since they left Egypt. How he saved them from death, starvation, thirst, and other evils that could have happened. Moses also emphasizes the commands that God gave the Israelites and the importance of following them.

Finally, in telling the story of the exodus, Moses also reminds the Israelites about their behaviors, their actions. He rehearses to them all that the Lord has done for them and then begs them to remember the Lord. Moses is speaking to a new generation of people--people who may not have been around throughout all the years of wandering in the desert. One of his purposes, thus, seems to remind the new generation about the past, about Israel's past of which they are a part. Another of Moses's aims here seems to be to remind the people of the story, to tell the story again and again so that they can remember it and pass it on to their children. The purpose here seems to be connected to orality.

Repetition was and is an important part of oral cultures, and one of the most repeated parts of the Bible is actually in this section:

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ^{[a] 5} Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We, too, can make repetition an important part of our own lives. We can tell the stories of the Bible to ourselves, our children, and our friends. We can repeat what the Lord has done for us through Jesus. We can memorizes verses in the Bible and repeat them over and over again. I'm sure these practices will impact our mindset and therefore our lives. Let's all try to be more cognizant about the role of repetition in our own life, particularly as it applies to becoming more godly and Christ-centered.