“What role does literary art play in the shaping of biblical narrative? A crucial one.”

The Bible and Creative Writing

This week, I began a course in Biblical Hebrew. It is a mighty challenge at any time, but especially while undergoing chemotherapy. Still, there is something life-giving about learning a language that has carried sacred words across thousands of years.

In a webinar next week, I will be asked: Why study Hebrew?

One answer is faith. This is the language of much of the Old Testament—the Word of God—and many believe it reflects humanity’s earliest language. Yet there is another reason. I love language. As a student of English literature and creative writing, I am fascinated by the way words create images, shape meaning, and awaken emotion.

The Bible leads me to a striking thought: God is the great Creative Writer.

Consider 1 Samuel 3:3–4:

Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

Two things are happening. The lamp is physically growing dim, but its fading light also reflects the spiritual condition of the nation. Israel’s vision has darkened. Its leaders have lost their way. Yet, before the lamp goes out, God calls a child.

The writing is quiet and restrained. A lamp flickers. A boy lies in the darkness. Then a voice speaks his name. With very few words, the scene becomes filled with expectancy. It offers creative-writing students a powerful lesson: meaning does not always need to be explained. Sometimes an image can carry the weight of an entire age.

We find the same richness in Psalm 8:3–5:

When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—

what is man that You are mindful of him,
or the son of man that You care for him?

You made him a little lower than the angels;
You crowned him with glory and honor.

The universe is vast and expanding, yet the psalmist describes the heavens as the work of God’s “fingers,” as though the moon and stars were delicately placed. The scale is immense, but the image is intimate.

The psalmist knew the darkness of an ancient night sky. I have tasted something of that wonder near the Galloway Forest, a Dark Sky Park. On a frosty winter evening, far from the glare of towns and cities, the stars appear with breathtaking clarity. Under such a sky, it is easy to feel small.

Yet Psalm 8 does not leave humanity lost in the darkness. Human beings are small, but we are not forgotten. Our dignity comes not from our size, strength, or importance, but from God’s loving attention. The One who placed the stars also remembers us.

For creative-writing students, the Bible is more than a source of beliefs or ancient history. It is a treasury of image, rhythm, character, symbolism, tension, and beautifully measured language. It shows how a lamp can represent a nation, how darkness can prepare us for a voice, and how the stars can reveal both our smallness and our worth.

That is why I want to study Hebrew: to move closer to these words in the language in which they were first written. Every new letter is a challenge, especially now, but it is also an invitation—to listen more carefully and to discover how sacred words bring light into the darkness.

Tell me in the comments what verses appeal to you.