“When I See … I Will Remember”
Exploring the Memorability of Rainbows and Stars in Genesis through Mnemonatures
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21453381 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emma M Austin (0000-0002-6148-0007), Emma Jane Austin (0000-0003-1995-2602, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 184-198 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Biblical Theology Bulletin Journal of Bible and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0146-1079 • E-ISSN: 1945-7596 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01461079251364240 |
| OpenAlex | W4414774018 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 59 |
The authors of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible (OT/HB) interweave the text with references to the natural world, creating cognitive links between nature and the text which aid memorability. Twenty-first century readers, chronologically and often spatially removed from this natural context, risk missing the mnemonic function of these references to nature, and the interpretative insights that may flow from them. To bridge this gap, I develop and implement an approach that I term “mnemonature,” which highlights the way that the natural world aids memorability. Then, to test its applicability, I apply mnemonature to two case studies in Genesis, which links a rainbow to God’s covenant with Noah (9:12–17) and the stars with God’s promise to Abram of abundant descendants (15:1–6). Mnemonature is a tool for exploring the biblical authors use and nuance references to the natural world, the memorable qualities of nature in realia, and the role that references to nature play in aiding the text’s memorability
Bridge (graph theory) · Function (biology) · Mnemonic · Natural (archaeology) · Stars · Term (time) · Categorization, perception, and language · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
The art of Biblical narrative
Remembering and Forgetting in Early Second Temple Judah
An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome
The Riddle of the Rainbow
Flags, Color, and the Legal Narrative
Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics
The impacts of nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health
Wisdom sits in places
Reading Mark’s Gospel as a Text From Collective Memory
Josiah at Bethel and the “Monument” to the Unnamed Prophet from Judah
Which of the Bible stories do you best remember? The significance of selected Bible stories for early childhood education students
Creation, humanity and hubris in the Hebrew Bible
Landscapes of the Song of Songs
Re‐Imagining Nature
Memorial space and its mnemonic function
Moments to be Had’
Gender and Immortality
Time in Ancient Stories of Origin
Jacob and Joseph, Judaism’s Architects and Birth of the Ego Ideal
Moses the Egyptian
Revisions of the Night
Arts of Memory, Ancient Manuscript Technologies, and the Aims of Theology
The Rainbow in the Cloud
A semiotic theory of memory
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |