Poet and Peasant, and Through Peasant Eyes: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke

by Kenneth E. Bailey

This volume is a combined edition of Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes , Kenneth Bailey's intensive studies of the parables in the gospel of Luke.

Bailey begins by surveying the development of allegorical, historical-eschatological, aesthetic, and existential methods of interpretation. Though figures like Julicher, Jeremias, Dodd, Jones, and Via have made important advances, Bailey sees the need to go beyond them by combining an examination of the poetic structures of the parables with a better understanding of the Oriental culture that informs the text.

Bailey's work within Middle Eastern peasant culture over the last twenty years has helped him in his attempt to determine the cultural assumptions that the teller of the parables must have made about his audience. The same values which underlay the impact of the parables in Christ's time, Bailey suggests, can be discovered today in isolated peasant communities in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Because time has made almost no impact in these cultural pockets, it is possible to discern, for example, what it meant 2,000 years ago for a friend to come calling at midnight, or for a son to ask for his inheritance prior to his father's death.

In addition to illuminating the cultural framework of the parables, Bailey offers an analysis of their literary structure, treating the parabolic section as a whole as well as its individual components. Through its combination of literary and cultural analyses, Bailey's study makes a number of profound advances in parabolic interpretation.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Religion

447 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

After undergraduate and seminary studies, Dr. Bailey completed degrees in Arabic Language and Literature, Systematic Theology and a doctorate in New Testament. Ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr. Bailey spent 40 years (1955-1995) living and teaching in seminaries and institutes in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus.

For 20 of those years Dr. Bailey was Professor of New Testament and Head of the Biblical Department of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut where he also founded and directed the Institute for Middle Eastern New Testament Studies. From September 1985 to June 1995, Dr. Bailey was on the faculty of "The Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research" in Jerusalem, with the title of Research Professor of Middle Eastern New Testament Studies.

In 1990 Dr. Bailey accepted the additional responsibility of Canon Theologian for the Episcopal Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, residing in Nicosia, Cyprus and returned a third of each year to Jerusalem to continue teaching at the Ecumenical Institute.

Dr. Bailey's area of specialty is the cultural background and literary forms of the New Testament. In addition to more than 150 articles in English and in Arabic, his writings include:

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008)
“Open Hearts in Bethlehem (A Christmas Musical)” (Louisville: W/JK, 2005)
The Cross and the Prodigal [Revised edition] (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2005)
Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel’s Story (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003 )
Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992)
Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, l980)
God Is ... Dialogues on the Nature of God [Revised Edition] (Toronto: FFM, 2005)

Dr. Bailey has authored the scripts for two professionally produced feature length films and has also professionally recorded more than 100 video lectures on a variety of New Testament themes. He has taught at Columbia and Princeton and was for a time an adjunct professor at Dubuque, McCormick and Pittsburgh theological seminaries as well as at Fuller Seminary. Dr. Bailey has lectured in theological colleges and seminaries in England (Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol) Ireland, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Latvia, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and Jerusalem. He is active as a Bible teacher for conferences and continuing education events in the Middle East, Europe and North America. His writings have been translated and published into more than 20 languages. He is a member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and is listed in Who's Who in Biblical Studies and Archeology (Washington: Biblical Archeology Society, 1992). In March 1995, at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Bailey was the Bible teacher for the triennial meeting of the Archbishops of the Anglican Communion. In 1999 he received the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary “Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Academics.” In 2003, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he participated in a Muslim-Christian dialogue conference held in Doha, Qatar.

The Baileys now reside in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Dr. Bailey continues his ministry of lecturing, writing and recording in the field of New Testament. In June 1997, he was installed as Canon Theologian of the Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church, USA.

Mrs. Ethel Bailey was a research assistant to Dr. Jonas Salk at the time he discovered the polio vaccine. She taught microbiology (in Arabic), raised a family, and typed a number of Dr. Bailey's manuscripts. In Beirut she was the recording secretary for the board of the American Community School. While in Jerusalem she was active in the leadership of daily worship at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute and in various other aspects of the life of the community. The Baileys have two children.

Reviews

[Philip Yancey]

Kenneth Bailey, who died a few years ago, wrote two books on the parables of Jesus that changed completely how I understand them. He did his research in Lebanon, among villagers who lived in circumstances much like those from Jesus' day. Bailey makes transparent what before was opaque.

[♪ Kim N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supplemental reading for my Bible study on Luke. An excellent resource.

[Greg Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really a collection of two books about Jesus' parables by Kenneth Bailey. In the first book (Poet and Peasant), Bailey lays out a "literary-critical" methodology for interpreting Jesus' parables, in particular the parables found in the gospel of Luke. The "literary" part of his methodology focuses on literary structures that are common to the parables and how those structures can point you to Jesus' intended meaning. The "cultural" part of his methodology is to look at the parables through the eyes of a Middle Eastern peasant. Bailey spent a significant amount of his life living in the Middle East and found that Middle Eastern peasant culture (even today) provided insights into what the parables would have meant to Galileans in Jesus' day. He also gleaned insight from how Palestinian Christians today interpret the parables. After describing his methodology, the remainder of the first book and all of the second (Through Peasant Eye) discuss many of the parables found in Luke.

The thing that interested me most about his approach is the "cultural" focus. I think we often stray away from the meaning of Jesus' teaching because of the vastly different culture we live in. So I found that aspect of his study of Jesus' parables to be fascinating. Some of it was eye-opening, especially for parables that we find difficult to interpret (e.g. the parable of the unjust steward, Luke 16:1-8). So I found this book to be interesting and enlightening.

One warning: This book leans toward a scholarly approach (especially the first book), so it is not exactly what I would call "accessible" to most people. However, if you have an interest in Jesus' parables and are willing to slog through some dry scholarly stuff for the sake of better understanding, I highly recommend this book. For me, it was well worth it.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started slowly, describing the limitations of parable exegesis over the years, and some of the basis for cultural interpretation. I was reading this on a kindle ediion and, based on the 'location' data, it looked like it was going to be a very long slog! In the end, however, I was left wishing it was longer.

Through sermons of Darryl Johnson, and books by Tim Keller have made the insights of Bailey about he prodigal sons known more broadly, and rightly so, the original is still very much worth reading. It is the climax of the book and amazingly, despite the richness of thought in the Baileys exegesis, there remains room for further understanding. Prior to this, Bailey has explored the parables of teh lsot sheep and lost coin, bringing the three lost parables together to unify and contrat them with one another. The parable of the man at midnigh (luke 11) and the shrewd manager (Luke 16) are also explored in separate chapters, and in both cases helped me understand them as stories illustrating the God Jesus knew (not the exhortations to boldness adn shrewdness that they are often preented as). But unfortunately, these were the only parables presented - if only there were moer to explore!


A further area I appreciated was the idea of parable containing a theological cluster. This contrasts with th 'one big point' view of Blomberg, which sseems too narrow to encompass the richness that is present in many of he stories. Sometimes it is ok, of course, but there are often a number of themes being illustrated, and while analogising everything in a parable needs to be avoided, one idea only utterly fails in some cases. II suspect that the parables of JEus are yet o be discovered in their fullness by modern theology and I hope there will be follow on books like this one which bring them further to the fore.

[Marty Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel completely inadequate in relation to giving a book review for a work of this caliber by Kenneth Bailey. Those who have served as my teachers have continued to recommend him as one of the most respected literary scholars of our day, so I took up the challenge and began my study of his work. I can affirm that his work here is incredible.

Very, very thorough — Bailey takes great time and stay committed to following a similar template of literary analysis. He talks about the dominant and relevant positions of analysis and then interacts with them. He does this all in a way that is not mind-numcbing but incredibly engaging and allow you to get into a rhythm of study.

Very committed to the "literary" of literary-cultural analysis. This is not to say that Bailey doesn't give incredible cultural details throughout, but in a world where it would be very easy to jump ship and start making very arbitrary statements about ancient middle-eastern culture. Bailey stay committed to those conversations that are warranted in and by the Text.

This book blew open my eyes surrounding the literary aspects of the gospel of Luke. It was an incredibly educating read.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvelous resource when preaching through the parables (specifically in Luke). Bailey brings an incredibly amount of historical and cultural background info to the table which will deepen your understanding of the parables (and sometimes challenge what you think a parable is about or how it is intended to function). But the organization of the material was a little difficult to follow at times.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes you to another place and time to understand what words of Jesus

What a wonderful book and so worth a slow and methodical reading. I thought I knew most of the settings and backgrounds of the parables covered in this book, but Bailey truly transported me to the days of Jesus and opened the parables to me as nevertheless before. My only issues were with the amount of time spent at the beginning, laying out the chiastic structure, spend too much time with what so many other scholars said, and the inconsistent layout in the Kindle edition.

[Audrey Gerber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soo useful to better understand the life of Jesus.
Cultural and historical background to walk through The story.
Detailed. Jewish. Meditative.

What I needed to know about Jewish hospiality, the means of a respected Rabbi, the temperature of a summer day in capernaum...to tap into the reality of what happened 2000 years ago.
My main source for Bible studies through the gospels.

[Tristan Sherwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential read for understanding the challenge of Jesus’ parables in his own context.

Within this combined edition Kenneth E. Bailey, through his personal experience of living in the Middle-East for many years, turns his attention upon the parables of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

The main thrust of the first section (Poet & Peasant) is on the identification and classification of the poetic form of the parables, and then turns to the application of this in interpreting a few of the parables contained within the “travel narrative” of Luke (9:51-19:48). These include;

The Unjust Steward (16:18)
The Poem on Mammon and God (16:9-13)
The Friend at Midnight (11:5-8)
The Parable/Poem on a Father’s Gifts (11:9-13)
The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin (15:4-10)
The Father and the Two Lost Sons (15:11-32)

Whereas as the second section (Through Peasant Eyes) analyses the following Parables, using the same literary-cultural approach;

The Two Debtors (7:36-50)
The Fox, the Funeral and the Furrow (9:57-62)
The Good Samaritan (10:25-37)
The Rich Fool (12:13-21)
Pilate, the Tower, and the Fig Tree (13:1-9)
The Great Banquet (14:15-24)
The Obedient Servant (17:7-10)
The Judge and the Widow (18:9-14)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14)
The Camel and the Needle (18:18-30)

Bailey’s literary-cultural hermeneutic is informed by the following components: an analysis of the literary structure/form of the parable itself, his own first-hand knowledge of Middle-Eastern culture and formalities, historical Middle-Eastern translations of the Lucan texts (exploring the reasoning for the translators lexical decisions where variance from a western translation occurs), and engaging the perspectives of other respected scholar’s understandings of the parables -- especially those who bring a Middle-Eastern perspective to the text.

The result of this approach is that Bailey brings to the foreground an understanding of the parables that anchors them to the mind-set of their originally intended audience. Many times this approach clashes with some of the traditional western interpretations that have been breathed into the parables (for example; the parable of the unjust steward and the reason for the master’s praise), but I feel that this is an essential move that saves these stories from over-allegorization, on the one hand, and recapturing the heart-beat of the 1st century context on the other.

For those who are wary of the over use of form-criticism, I share your concerns; especially when it is in regards to detecting a poetic structure with stepped or inverse parallelisms etc. After all, it’s easy to start spotting patterns everywhere without some limitations/rules to guide that process. However, even though Bailey uses form-critical methods in determining the climax, turning point and theological motifs of the parables, I feel that he never goes over-the-top and that he keeps himself fairly restrained. Bailey takes the first few chapters of Poet & Peasant setting out this method and his constraints to it. But even if you ignored everything attached to a specific poetic structure, in my opinion the Middle-eastern perspective alone is enough to securely ground Bailey’s interpretations or, at the very least, challenge the foundations of the Western understandings that we currently attach to them

Overall, I think this book is an absolute must read for anyone wishing to recapture Jesus’ teachings through the parables. It’s not a quick read, and it’s one of those books which requires the reader to give it some time on their first read-through (I got the most out of this when I could read a chapter in one-sitting or by at least giving a minimum of thirty minutes to it each time I picked it up). I feel it’s helped me to grasp some of the parables in a fresher and more authentic setting, and this combined edition will definitely become my first-point of call when studying them in the future.

My only issue, and it is minor, is that the volume as a whole is light (but not entirely absent) on any redaction criticism; i.e. why did Luke record this parable as he does, where he does? How do the parable’s themes fit in with any of Luke’s overarching themes and what he is trying to communicate about Jesus to his letter’s recipient (Theophilus)? Also, could this form-critical approach be applied to the parables contained in Matthew and Mark, and why are there differences where they occur in those sources? I could also add, that although I am currently inclined to agree with Bailey’s conclusions of Jesus being the originator of these poetic constructions, just stating “I see no reason why Jesus didn’t say this” (my paraphrase) doesn’t silence those who would argue that, a) Jesus didn’t say these parables, or b) he maybe said something similar but this is still an early church retrospection and not a reproduction of the historical Jesus.

Of course, none of this is the author’s main intent within this book, and other sources will need to be sought to answer these points. But even with these issues not being explored at a deeper level, I would still stand by what I said earlier: this volume is an essential read for anyone wishing to understand the challenge of Jesus’ parables in his own context.

[Neil Saltmarsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of very few that looks at Jesus through the eyes of the Middle East. It is a valuable edition to have in your library. Great exposition of the parables and Luke's gospel. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in the life of Jesus.

[marcus miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sank in the literary analysis but enjoyed the cultural insights to the parables.

[Ed Creedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. I can see why it is a classic, and his exegesis of Luke 15 offered some wonderful insights.

[Geoff Gobbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that throws great light upon a unique understanding of the parables in Lukes gospel.

[John Hayward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Bought 11/5/94.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suppose the apostle Luke, momentarily transported from biblical Palestine, were to listen in as I told a joke about George W. Bush, Oprah, and a used-car salesman fighting over the last parachute in a plummeting airplane. He would be pretty much guaranteed to miss the unexpected humor of the punchline. I am similarly disadvantaged when I read the parables of Jesus. I don’t know all the things the listeners assumed when Jesus introduced the situation, I don’t know how each character was expected to act and speak, and I am not the slightest bit shocked by the things that shocked his audience.

Kenneth Bailey’s two books Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes, published in the 1970s, were written to help contemporary Western readers overcome these deficiencies. He lived and taught in the Middle East for much of his life, including decades of residence in rural villages. He appears to have written the books in consultation with a large network of Middle Eastern friends and scholars, as well as with his own considerable knowledge and research of ancient Middle Eastern languages and literature.

These books were scholarly, but not at all in an abstract way. Bailey approached the parables of Luke a passage at a time, systematically and thoroughly, teasing out the literary form, the cultural presumptions of the audience, and the response Jesus might have meant to provoke from them.

Because the gospels were not written in the same language that Jesus spoke, and because the existing manuscripts were edited after the evangelists wrote them down, analyzing the original speech of Jesus often involves a fascinating detective quest. Bailey deduces much about the history of the manuscripts simply by analyzing the literary form. Often he includes his own guesses about Aramaic wordplay in the original parable, based on his research of regional languages and cultures. As a literature major and a language aficionado, I found these explorations delightful.

Reading Bailey’s analysis of each parable is intellectually satisfying, but a greater reward is a clearer understanding of Jesus as a person. I was struck when I read the following conclusion to Bailey’s treatment of Luke 16:1–13, in which he rejects textual criticism that would disunite the parable of the unjust steward from the ensuing poem about God and mammon:

Theories that suggest the second block of material to be a gradual collection of early Church comments on the parable prove to be inadequate to the structural and theological nature of the material. The poem is the work of a skilled Palestinian poet in the first century. There remains no reason to doubt that the author was Jesus of Nazareth.

Now maybe I had heard Jesus referred to as a skilled poet before, but if I did I had always gotten the sense that people were repeating things they had always been told were true about Jesus—the party line, so to say—without any supporting evidence. Because he was divine, of course he would be great at everything. Also, these kind of people generally seemed not to know anything about poetry. But with Bailey’s guidance through each passage, with his painstakingly-supplied evidence, I came to a much greater respect for its artistry, and I love the idea that Jesus enjoyed literary wordplay.

What is great about this book is that helps you see for yourself all those well-rehearsed attributes of Jesus: brilliant theologian, quick-witted, subtle, perceptive, compassionate, defender of women and the oppressed, bold, and fascinating. A committed Christian is meant to invest substantial time in getting to know Jesus better, and in fact the main goal of a Christian’s life is to become more like Jesus. But I have always found Jesus very hard to get to know.

Bailey takes the limited, cryptic biblical information we are given and vividly describes the dynamics of each situation. Time after time he brings out Jesus’s criticism of self-righteousness and his teaching of humble reliance on God’s righteousness and mercy. It is one thing to be told that these concepts generate from Jesus’s teaching in a vague, theoretical way. It is another thing to see for yourself how consistent the good news of grace was, and just how boldly and beautifully and surprisingly Jesus proclaimed it.

[M Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to be delighted to have stumbled across Kenneth Bailey's work, especially now that I know he is the friend of a friend. His approach to New Testament studies, based on his long years of experience in the Middle East and his fluency in several of the ancient and modern languages of that region, fits beautifully with the contextual approach I learned from Dr. Harold Songer years ago at seminary.

This book is an omnibus edition of his first two works in this area. Indeed, "Poet and Peasant" reads like an expanded version of a doctoral thesis. There is far more space given to explaining method in both books than in "Jesus Through Middle-Eastern Eyes," the first of his books I read. As a result, I'm downgrading this book slightly -- there is too much here that is really only of interest to the dedicated NT scholar. But there is still plenty for the non-specialist and his exegesis of Jesus' parables is not only brilliant but incredibly useful for the pastor, Bible teacher or interested layperson.

If you are new to Bailey's work, start with "Jesus Through Middle-Eastern Eyes." If you enjoy that book, consider doubling back to these earlier works and be prepared to skim early chapters of both to get to the meat of Bailey's scriptural analysis.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal! Thankfully, it is becoming increasingly common for Christians to consider cultural context when reading the Bible, but this book goes to a level of depth beyond most while remaining accessible to the layperson. His focus is on the parables of Luke, and he pays special attention to both literary form and cultural context. Bailey has a unique perspective having spent decades in the Middle East, and in particular spending a lot of time among traditional peasants in rural areas, whose culture has remained relatively more fixed than that of urban dwellers. This produces some amazing insights, especially on the elements that are unspoken and assumed as background by the hearer of a parable. Some parables, such as that of the Unjust Steward, were quite simply transformed for me by reading this book. He takes some of the most perplexing words of Jesus and makes sense of them like no one I have read before.

At times it requires a little patience if your knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is limited (as mine is), but it is well worth the time. For anyone with a taste for serious study, this will whet your appetite for more.

[Dave Tielung · Rating 5 out of 5]

..it added me more theologian knowledge,...its not merelly simple just like a poem of a peasant. Here Bailey made a great discover of his experience in the middle east and combine it with an expert exegetical examination, by using many early translation and midle east translation, compare with greek...

the theme of this book is always ancored at the mercy of God, and His unfailing love which brought by Jesus as the true revelation of God (the unique agent of God)...

this is a great book.

[Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic for me to understand the parables of Jesus especially in the gospel of Luke. Baily does a great job in comparing the cultural mores of isolated contempory Middle East peasant communities and those of 2000 years ago to give a vivid picture of the background of Jesus' words in the gospel. Likewise he shows how literary criticism can shed light on the meaning of these challenging stories of Jesus to folks of his time and ours.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is "cautiously useful" in that Bailey offers insights from his long and varied experiences in Middle Eastern culture. While he contends this culture is largely unchanged from biblical times, there is certainly the danger of subtle shifts over the two or three millenia since the biblical era--especially in light of later Christian and Muslim influence. Very good ... but not quite great.

[Amy Hardison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my very favorite books. This opens up the parables of Jesus in remarkable ways. Moreover, it is compelling and fun to read. I have seen scholars frequently refer to Bailey's works, sometimes referencing him, sometimes not. This is a definite book to read if you are interested in understanding the culture and times of the New Testament.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually quite a good exegesis of new testament verse. The author examines both the structure and the contextual meanings of passages from the new testament, including discussions of the role of the father in a peasant patriarchy, the values of cunning dealing, and the revolutionary character of traditional stories such as the good samaritan.

[Leonardo]

Kenneth Bailey, en su penetrante explicación de la historia de Lucas, muestra que la manera que tuvo el hijo de marcharse es equivalente a desear la muerte del padre.

El Regreso del Hijo Pródigo Pág.40

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting thoughts and arguments, couched in incredibly technical and detailed terms. Would love to see someone write a "layman's" book based on his work.

[Aaron Carlberg]

Someone who lived in the middle east for 25 years and their take on the parables.

[Phil Aud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book on the parables from Luke's gospel (Travel Narrative).

[Ken]

An excellent resource to understand the cultural context of Jesus' parables as depicted in Luke. VERY HELPFUL!

[David Campton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb culturally-contextualised exegesis of the parables in Luke.

[Patti]

Another slow, but worthwhile read I am working on.

[John Finkelde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Full of insights into first century cultural mores, it's deepens your understanding of the parables.