Episode 50

Chase Replogle

Setup and Payoff in 2 Samuel

The second in our series, Scripture Can Teach You to Write, we take a look at how the author of 1 & 2 Samuel uses setups and payoffs to keep the reader's attention through the story.
The second in our series, Scripture Can Teach You to Write, we take a look at how the author of 1 & 2 Samuel uses setups and payoffs to keep the reader's attention through the story.
00:00 25:40

Show Notes:50. Chase Replogle — Scripture Can Teach You to Write: Setup and Payoff in 2 Samuel

In this episode, we dive into another writing tool I’ve picked up from the Biblical writers, this time from the author of the Samuel scrolls. The story of Samuel, Saul, and David, running from 1 Samuel into the opening two chapters of 1 Kings is one of the greatest stories in history.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time preaching and studying these scriptures. I’m currently working on a book centered around the tension between David’s public and private lives and I’m routinely impressed by the writing craft in these stories.

There are a lot of examples, but I want took look at a particular technique I’ll call the setup and payoff. There is nowhere it’s used to greater effect than in the story of Mephibosheth.

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