Why G-d decided to write the Torah in a non-linear, non-chronological manner that is so unlike narrative writing with which we are familiar in our day and place is a question that will take us too far afield and require a learned treatise of its own. Suffices to say that this is the most efficient way to encode more information than a linear text alone would bear. A careful reader armed with exegetical keys that he received by tradition will be able to mine depths of inherent meaning that no text by itself can carry. Some suggest that it is an extension of a style that replicates "the language of men"; in other words, the Torah is written in the manner in which people speak and write. As such, it does not follow the literary conventions of 19th century novel but a style that was in wide use at the time that it was given. Ellipsis, allusion, proximity, echoing language etc - all these can be made to encode meaning that for those in the "know" may be quite easy to access.
An example that makes this clearer is how understanding Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac depends on the interpretative tradition and basic philosophic assumptions from which one proceeds. Whereas for Jews who come to it with the awareness of tragic and inspiring history of the nation that carried God's banner through horrific persecutions and oppression, the Akeida is first and foremost about sacrifice and obedience; for a secular person it raises issues of autonomy and limits of authority. A Christian, on the other hand, sees in it the central myth of his or her own religion. There are even feminist interpretations of this Biblical narrative. Clearly, for a believing Jew must reject interpretations such as these but one has to be aware of the influence of the commentator's background and religious tradition to be able to do so definitively. On the other hand, assuming a certain background allows one to understand how the Torah can contain much more than what it appears to contain at first glance.
Thus, when the Oral Law (and shared cultural background) can be relied on to provide keys to interpetation, writing in a non-linear manner is the most efficient way to encode much more than the words themselves can carry.
by Samuel Bak, Interpretation, 2003 copyright by the artist
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