Dividing Old Testament Narratives

Richard Pratt provides some helpful advice on getting a handle on larger Old Testament narratives. He suggests that,

“‘Divide and conquer’ is an effective strategy. If a job is too big to do all at once, we can still accomplish it one step at a time. The same is true for interpreting Old Testament stories. Most texts are far too complex for us to handle everything at once."

Pratt goes on to identify three clues to know where you can properly divide a text.
1. Shifts in time.
2. Changes in setting
3. Changes in narrative mode

Richard L. Pratt, Jr., He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament Narratives (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1990), 152–57.