It is through the [literary] techniques [in Hebrew narrative] that the meaning of the facts of the narrative is determined. (Shimon Bar-Efrat)31 Communication presupposes a speaker who resorts to certain linguistic and structural tools in order to produce certain effects on the addressee; the discourse accordingly supplies a network of clues to the speaker’s intention. In this respect, the Bible does not vary from any other literary or ordinary message except in the ends and the rules that govern