Etiological Method

o [“Etiology,” IDB, Supplemental, p.293.] Properly, the study of causes (Gr. αἰτία, cause); the
term commonly used to designate stories which are designed to explain how some existing
phenomenon in nature, custom, or institution came into being by recounting a past event
which is taken to be the effective cause of that phenomenon.
o Gunkel took as his starting point the position that etiological stories are answers to
questions; men look at things and ask why. He proceeds to classify etiological types in
terms of the kinds of questions which he assumes to lie behind the answers embodied in
the narratives. He concludes that there are four basic types:
 Ethnological etiologies, which give reasons for relations among tribal groups;
 Etymological etiologies, which explain the names of persons or places;
 Ceremonial or cultic etiologies, which account for the origin of religious rites and
customs;
 Geological etiologies, which explain the origin of a particular locality or geological
formation.
o Stories explaining other natural phenomena, e.g., the origin and meaning of the rainbow
(Gen. 9:12-17), should also be included in this category.
o Finally, Gunkel observed that in some stories various types are combined, resulting in a
mixed form. Gunkel's typology remains dominant in biblical studies (see LEGEND §§2, 3).
o Recognition of the nature and function of etiological stories was an important step in
tracing the preliterary stage of early Israelite tradition. Serious questions have been raised,
however, as to the propriety of utilizing the etiological motif as the primary key for
interpreting all materials which contain an etiological element. Put simply, should all
narratives which contain an etiological theme, or from which an etiological theme may be
deduced, be interpreted primarily as accounts designed to supply an answer to the question
stated or implied? Are there other factors which are more important than the etiology that
must be utilized by the interpreter? The issue may be put this way: In a narrative which
contains an etiology, to what extent is the etiology itself central; to what extent has it
simply been tacked on as a secondary element; or, to what extent has an earlier etiology
been radically modified for a totally new and different purpose? The answers may result in
widely divergent interpretations of biblical material.
o A classic case study is the story of Jacob's wrestling with the angel (Gen. 32:22'32). Four
different etiological themes have been isolated in this account:
 explanation of a peculiar cultic dance at a particular shrine (vss. 25, 31);
 explanation of a place name (vs. 30);
 explanation of a dietary regulation (vs. 32);
 explanation of Jacob's new name, Israel (vs. 28).
o It is probable that all four existed in the preliterary stage of the material, but the interpreter
must attempt to assess their respective weights in evaluating the present form of the
narrative. In this instance there seems little doubt that the giving of the new name is
primary.