legend

OT scholars use the term ‘legend’ to designate stories as a literary type without regard for historicity. Since most such stories, especially those in the Pentateuch, have acquired their form through a long process of oral tradition, they are often non-historical as they come down to us, but they are not imaginative fairy tales. In some cases ‘legends’ are the accounts of individuals which reflect the migrations of tribes bearing the names of the alleged ancestors. Other legends are intended to explain the origin of a custom or institution (cf. Exod. 12:26). In NT studies the German form critics [[➝ Form Criticism]] used the term for narratives about Jesus which were related in order to provide the communities with information they desired about Jesus and his followers, and although these legends may have had a historical basis, the process of repetition within the Church led to non-historical embroiderings.