OT 505 Syllabus: 1
Syllabus for OT 505: “Christ in the Old Testament” Winter Session, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Mondays through Fridays, January 6-10, 13-17, 21-23(24), 2020 Instructor: Gordon Hugenberger, Ph.D.
General Comments: This course offers a survey of selected Old Testament messianic prophecies, as well as selected messianic types, particularly those which are identified by the New Testament as predictive of or fulfilled in Christ. The emphasis of the course will be on the interpretation of these texts and types as understood within their Old Testament context. Among the topics to be considered will be many of the following (to be determined according to the available time): Genesis 3, 9, 12, 15, 22, 49; Exodus 17; Leviticus 16, with an introduction to the Old Testament sacrificial system; Numbers 24; Deuteronomy 18; Judges 13-16; 1 Samuel 17; 2 Samuel 7, 12-18; 24; Psalm 8, 16, 22, 69, 110; Isaiah 7, 9, 11, 53; Micah 5; Daniel 2, 7, 9; Jonah; Zechariah 3, 6; and Malachi.
Textbooks: A. You are required to read 45 chapters from the Old Testament (NIV or ESV are recommended, but any translation of your choice is permitted). These chapters are listed on the Reading Report. You do not need to include any reading notes on this Bible reading.
B. In addition, you are required to read and report on about 1000 pages of secondary source material. To receive full credit, at least 660 pages out of the require 1000 pages, should be read BEFORE the Final Exam. Your written reading reports will consist of about ½ to 1 page of typed (or legibly hand printed) notes for every 25 pages you read.
The first eight required articles or books listed below (494 pages) can be read in any order that you wish, but they must be read and reported on before the Final Exam, since you will be briefly tested on them on the Final Exam: 1) W.C. Kaiser, Jr., The Messiah in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995 ISBN 978-0310200307) pp. 13-235. 2) Vern Sheridan Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishers, 1995. ISBN 978-0875523750) pp. 1-153. NOTE: the second half of Poythress’ book (pages after 153) is NOT relevant to this course. So, it cannot be read for credit for this course.
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3) G.P. Hugenberger, “Introductory Notes on Typology” in Gregory K. Beale, ed., The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts? Essays on the Use of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1994 ISBN 978-0801010880) pp. 331-341. A copy of this article will be posted online. 4) G.P. Hugenberger, “Samson and the Harlot at Gaza (Judges 16:1-3),” in D.M. Gurtner and B.L. Gladd, eds., From Creation to New Creation: Biblical Theology and Exegesis (Hendrickson, 2013 ISBN 978-1598568370) pp. 67-83. A copy of this article will be posted online. 5) G.P. Hugenberger, “Some Notes on the Abrahamic Covenant” (8 pp,), “The Seventy “Weeks” Prophecy of Daniel 9: A Comparison of Major Views” (7 pp.), and “Daniel – Abbreviated Time Chart” (3 pp.) - all are unpublished essays, but will be posted online. 6) G.P. Hugenberger, “The Servant of the Lord in the ‘Servant Songs’ of Isaiah,” in Philip E. Satterthwaite, Richard S. Hess, and Gordon J. Wenham, eds. The Lord’s Anointed: Interpretation of Old Testament Messianic Texts (Carlisle: Paternoster; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1995 ISBN 978-0801020872; REPRINT Wipf & Stock, 2012 ISBN 978- 1610979740), pp. 105-140. This reprinted edition is available through the GCTS Book Store. NOTE while you are required to read this entire book for the course (see §9 below), you need to read this essay before the Final Exam. 7) Meredith G. Kline, “The Covenant of the Seventieth Week,” in J.H. Skilton, ed., The Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies in Honor of Oswald T. Allis (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1974 ASIN: B000PRUZXK) pp. 452-469. Available for free at
Be sure to read BEFORE the Final Exam ALL of the above 494 pages of secondary source material, in addition to the assigned 45 chapters of the Bible, since this will be tested.
In addition, you will also need to read and report on 506 pages of secondary source material taken from the list below. For full credit, at least 166 pages of this 506 page total will need to be read before the Final Exam (494 + 166 pages = 660 pages, which is what is required if one reads 60 pages/day for 11 days), although this content will not be tested. The remaining 340 pages can be read after the Final Exam, but before February 4, 2020 at 4:00 PM, when your final Reading Report is due.
9) You may read any or all of the rest of Philip E. Satterthwaite, Richard S. Hess, and Gordon J. Wenham, eds. The Lord’s Anointed: Interpretation of Old Testament
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Messianic Texts (Carlisle: Paternoster; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1995 ISBN 978- 0801020872; REPRINT Wipf & Stock, 2012 ISBN 978-1610979740) pp. 1-104; 141-302. This reprinted edition is available through the GCTS Book Store.
10) You may read from any of the following listed books and articles:
T. Desmond Alexander, “Royal Expectations in Genesis to Kings: Their Importance for Biblical Theology,” Tyndale Bulletin 49:2 (1998 ISSN 0082-7118) 191-212 _____, The Servant King. The Bible’s Portrait of the Messiah (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003 ISBN 978-1573832632) Gregory K. Beale, ed., The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts? Essays on the Use of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1994 ISBN 978-0801010880) _____, “Did Jesus and the Apostles Preach the Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts? Revisiting the Debate Seventeen Years Later in the Light of Peter Enns’ Book, Inspiration and Incarnation,” Themelios 32:1 (2006 ISSN 0307-8388) 18-43. James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Messiah. Developments in Earliest Judaism and Christianity, The First Princeton Symposium on Judaism and Christian Origins (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2009 ISBN 978-0800697587) Kevin S. Chen, The Messianic Vision of Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Press, 2019) ISBN-13: 978-0830852642 Edmund P. Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery (2nd edition): Discovering Christ in the Old Testament (2nd edition; Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2013; ISBN 978-1596388925) John J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Anchor Bible Reference Library 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010 ISBN 978-0802832238) Jonathan Edwards, “Types of the Messiah” in Vol. II of The Works of Jonathan Edwards (reprint; Hendrickson Publishers, 1998 ISBN 978-1565630857) 642-675. Craig A. Evans, “Appendix Six: Messianic Claimants of the First and Second Centuries,” in Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies. A Guide to the Background Literature (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005 ISBN 978-0801046179) 431-443 Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The One Who is to Come (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007) ISBN 978- 0802840134) Graeme Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012) ISBN 978-0830839698 Gerard Van Groningen, Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1997 ISBN 978-1579100490) E.W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008 ISBN 978-1556357398 ) — this is the classic work on OT Christology Richard S. Hess and M. Daniel Carroll R., eds., Israel’s Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011 ISBN 978-1610971454) L.D. Hurst, “Did Qumran Expect Two Messiahs?,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 9 (1999 ISSN 1065- 233X) 157-180 Marinus de Jonge, “Messiah,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992 ISBN 0385193629) 777-788 Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Toward an Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991 ISBN 978-0310371014)
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Meredith G. Kline, “The Exaltation of Christ,” Kerux: A Journal of Biblical-Theological Preaching 12:3 (1997 ISSN 0888-8513) 3-29 Meredith G. Kline, Glory in Our Midst: A Biblical-Theological Reading of Zechariah’s Night Visions (Overland Park, KS: Two Age Press, 2001 ISBN 0-9706418-1-8) 95-129, 219- 240 [available for free download at For your own further study, but not allowed to be read for credit in this course, note that Tyndale House Library Catalogue is an excellent online resource for electronic books and bibliography in the field of biblical studies 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 5 Requirements, Testing, and Grading: You will be graded on a 100-point scale as follows: 1) In preparation for each class period, excluding the first, you will be required to read before class an assigned portion of the English Bible as well as 50 pages from the required secondary sources listed above. For the purpose of grading yourself, “reading” implies a substantial degree of comprehension and should not be equated with “skimming.” You need not read every footnote, however. You will also be required to read some additional material after the Final Exam. You are to keep track of your success in this reading requirement by means of a daily entry in a “Reading Report,” which will be submitted, along with the above- 1 mentioned reading notes ( /2 – 1 page of notes for each 25 pages read), on or before the last day permitted for written work, which is Tuesday, February 4, 2020). NOTE: your Reading Report must be handed in or mailed on or before Feb 4, 2020 at 4:00 PM to my Byington Fellow/Teaching Assistant, C.J. (Cassidy Jay) Gossage, at GCTS Box 121-A, or GCTS, 130 Essex St, South Hamilton, MA 01982; or, less preferably, sent as an attachment via When you submit your Reading Report, you must also submit approx. 1/2 to 1 page of typed or legibly printed hand-written reading notes for every 25 pages of reading that you do. These notes need not consist of complete sentences. They should show me, however, that you read the material in a thoughtful way. For example, they might include the following: 1) a brief summary of the major point(s) of the book or article; 2) a list of some exceptional insights with page numbers; and 3) a list of any difficulties, weaknesses, or places where the author disagrees with material presented in the lectures, again with page numbers. Inadequate quality in these reports will result in an appropriate deduction from the points awarded for this reading assignment. No written notes are required for the Bible reading. 2) In-class participation of students (including occasional written pop quizzes). Students will be informally graded on a daily basis by the instructor (1 pt. per day). Points will be awarded for intelligent relevant questions raised by students, as well as for correct answers to oral questions asked by the instructor. If a student happens to be absent when an oral question is directed to him or her, or if a written pop quiz is given to the entire class, that day’s 1 point will be lost. 10 pts. 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 6 3) A Mid-Term Exam will be given on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 (short answers reflecting class lectures). NOTE: This is a closed book quiz. You are permitted, however, to have a printed Bible, so long as it has no printed study notes, nor any handwritten notes. You will not be permitted to use a concordance. 30 pts. 4) A cumulative Final Exam will be given on Thursday, January 23, 2020 (short answers reflecting all class lectures, especially those since the Mid-term exam, and all required reading up to this point. There will also be a short essay question on this exam that will be worth 4 pts. NOTE: This is a closed book quiz. You are permitted, however, to have a printed Bible, so long as it has no printed study notes, nor any handwritten notes. You will not be permitted to use a concordance. 50 pts. 5) Extra credit (up to 1 ½ pts.) will be given to students for the following: For students who enter this course without any knowledge of Hebrew, extra credit will be given for those who learn the Hebrew writing system (i.e. 1 pt. for the consonants and 1 pt. for the vowels, up to a maximum of 1½ pts.). To confirm this knowledge a brief test will be given with the Final Exam on Thursday, January 23, 2020. Extra credit will be given for any student who indicates on the Reading Report a 1 significant degree of additional outside reading for this course. /2 pt. will be awarded 1 for each 100 pages read (up to a maximum of 1 /2 pts). This reading may be done at any time before Tuesday, February 4, 2020, the deadline for submission of the Reading 1 Report. No reading notes are required for this extra credit reading. up to 1 /2 pts. Grades will be computed on the basis of the percentage of points awarded out of 100 -- so a total of 97 will convert into an “A+,” 93 and above will earn an “A,” 90 and above will earn an “A-.” The lowest possible passing grade will be a total of 60 points, or a “D-.” Plan of coverage: The following is offered as a tentative schedule: Date Anticipated coverage in class 1) Monday, January 6, 2020 Introduction to the course; Genesis 1 2) Tuesday, January 7, 2020 Genesis 1-3; Spirit and Temple; Image of God; tree of knowledge; clothing 3) Wednesday, January 8, 2020 Genesis 6-9, 12; dispensational vs. covenant theology 4) Thursday, January 9, 2020 Genesis 15, 17 5) Friday, January 10, 2020 Genesis 22, 49; Exodus 12 6) Monday, January 13, 2020 Exodus 17; Deuteronomy 17-18; typology; 7) Tuesday, January 14, 2020 MID-TERM EXAM; Judges 13-16; 1 Samuel 17; Davidic typology (2 Samuel 7, 12-18, 24) 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 7 8) Wednesday, January 15, 2020 Isaiah 7, 9, 11 (Isaiah 53) 9) Thursday, January 16, 2020 (Micah 5); Daniel 2, 7 10) Friday, January 17, 2020 Daniel 9 Monday, January 20, 2020 HOLIDAY (MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.) 11) Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Daniel 11-12; Jonah 12) Wednesday, January 22, 2020 Introduction to the OT sacrificial system, Leviticus 16 13) Thursday, January 23, 2020 FINAL EXAM Friday, January 24, 2020 Potential snow make-up day. Tuesday, February 4, 2020 (4:00 PM) Your Reading Report must be handed in, or postmarked and mailed to the Byington Teaching Fellow, C.J. (Cassidy Jay) Gossage, at GCTS Box 121-A, or GCTS, 130 Essex St, South Hamilton, MA 01982; or, less preferably, attached to an email sent to Warning Do NOT allow anyone to share with you the contents of any previous tests or exams for this course. Do NOT accept or use any list of study questions that are based on previous lectures, tests, or exams. Either infraction will be deemed to be a case of cheating, since it is unfair to your fellow students, and it is unkind to you, since it works against your own genuine mastery of the contents of this course. Inclement weather – the main rule: always keep up with homework assignments as if the class had been held. Cancellation and delay announcements will be recorded by 6:00 AM on the campus switchboard (978-468-7111). School cancellations and delays based on inclement weather are also announced on TV on WBZ Channel 4 and WCVB Channel 5; on the radio on WRKO radio 680 AM and WBZ radio 1030 AM; and on the internet: WBZ (channel 4): boston.cbslocal.com/school-closings/ WCVB (channel 5): www.thebostonchannel.com/weather/grid.html WHDH (channel 7): www1.whdh.com/stormforce/index.php You can register online to have school closing/delay information sent to your email account or sent to your cell phone as a text message. If there is more than one snow cancellation, we will have a make-up class on Friday, January 24, 2020 (this would also be used for a Final Exam, if adverse weather is predicted for Thursday, January 23, 2020). Office Hours C.J. (Cassidy Jay) Gossage will be serving as my Byington/Teaching Fellow for this course (January term 2020). If you have any questions or would welcome tutoring help, please 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 8 feel free to contact him at GCTS Box 121-A, or GCTS, 130 Essex St, South Hamilton, MA 01982; or via If I can be of any help, please do not hesitate to seek me out during my regular office hours, which will be posted on my office door in the basement of the library (Rm 125). I may also be reached via e-mail at Extension policy: Students who wish to submit coursework after the last day for written work must receive prior approval from the Student Life Office upon formal petition. 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 9 Additional time will be granted to students who have lost time for unforeseen reasons. Students should consult the full extension petition and policy, located in the Registration Hub in Canvas for detailed instructions. Petitions must be filed before the last day for written work as specified in the Academic Calendar. Students who require ongoing extensions for medical or physical reasons should review the Disability Accommodations Policy outlined in the Policies & Procedures section of the handbook and consult the Dean of Students. The Final Exam Short Essay Question The Final Exam will include one short essay question worth 4 points. This question will invite the student to write a one-and-a-half-page essay on a biblical text on which the professor will not have lectured. The intention of this question is to allow students to show that they have learned how to apply the methods taught and modelled in this course to a disputed messianic prophecy. Students will be allowed on the Final Exam to choose one out of a list of three possible texts on which to write. On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, students will be given the list of three texts, which will then be on the Final Exam, from which they can choose to write. Those three texts will be selected by the professor from the following larger list: Numbers 24 “Jesus Christ, the Star of Jacob” Psalm 2 “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” Psalm 72 “Jesus Christ, Seed of David and Seed of Abraham” Psalm 110 “Jesus Christ, the Priest-King After the Order of Melchizedek” Jeremiah 33:14-26 “Jesus Christ, the Righteous Branch of Jeremiah’s Vision” Ezekiel 34 “Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd and David who was to Come” Hosea 11:1 “Out of Egypt I have called My son” [see Matthew 2:15] Zechariah 6:9-15 “Jesus Christ, the true Priest-King and Coming Branch” 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 10 First Part of Reading Report for OT 505: “Christ in the Old Testament” NAME: Box # You should fill out the relevant portions of this Reading Report on a daily basis. You must complete it, sign it, and submit it, postmarked no later than Tuesday, February 4, 2020. It should be sent to our Byington/Teaching Fellow, C.J. (Cassidy Jay) Gossage, at GCTS Box 121-A, or GCTS, 130 Essex St, South Hamilton, MA 01982; or, less preferably, via an attachment to TOTAL points for the above reading assignments: pts. out of 10 pts. ATTACHED SHEETS: I have attached to this Report approx. ½ page of typed or printed reading notes for each 25 pages I read, which includes information such as 1) a summary of the 11/14/19 OT 505 Syllabus: 11 major point(s) of the book or article; 2) a list of exceptional insights and their page locations; and/or 3) a list of difficulties or weaknesses and their page locations. For Extra Credit (for those who cannot qualify for earning extra credit for learning the Hebrew alphabet, since they have already learned it) I also read _____ pages of additional recommended articles and books. On the back of this sheet I have provided full bibliographic information and the number of pages read in each item. No reading notes are required for this Extra Credit reading. Total points for this EXTRA CREDIT reading: _____ pts. (1/4 pt. for every 40 pages up to a maximum of 1 1/2 pts. for 240 pages) The above record for all the reading that I did for OT 505, both required reading and extra credit reading, and the timing of when this reading and reporting was done, is an accurate and good-faith report of what I actually did. SIGNED: Date: 11/14/19