DOCSLIB.ORG

CODE: THO 3160 TITLE: Pentateuch and Historical Books CREDITS: 3 Cr

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CODE: THO 3160 TITLE: Pentateuch and Historical Books CREDITS: 3 Cr CODE: THO 3160 TITLE: Pentateuch and Historical Books CREDITS: 3 cr. TERM: Fall 2012 PROFESSOR: Yvan Mathieu After addressing a few introductory questions (What is the Bible? What is the difference between Old and New Testament? What is exegesis? Diachronic and synchronic approaches), we will read a few chosen texts from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible): Prehistory (Gen DESCRIPTION 1-11), Abraham (Gen 12:1-25:11), the Exodus event (Ex 1:1- 15:21), the Sinai Covenant (Ex 19-24). We shall conclude with a brief survey of the deuteronomistic history (Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings). We will address the major questions raised by exegetes regarding the composition of the Pentateuch. - Introduce students to the Bible, to its different parts and to the need for a critical reading. - Introduce students to the different exegetical methods so that they will be able to apply them to a given text. OBJECTIVES - Understand certain difficult texts of the Pentateuch that have an incidence upon our choices in life as believers today. - Discover that the Old Testament is essential to a correct understanding of the New Testament. It is a not an optional reading for Christians. - Three short papers (4 pages each). Each paper is worth 20% of the final mark. WORKLOAD - Due dates: beginning of the fifth class: October 4 beginning of the eighth class: November 1 st . beginning of the twelfth class: November 29 - Final exam (oral or written) EVALUATION - Papers: 60 % (3 x 20 %) - Final exam: 40 % REQUIRED An annotated edition of the Bible TEXTS RECOMMENDED SKA, Jean-Louis, Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch , TEXTS Wynona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 2006. /2 THO 3160 Pentateuch and Historical Books Saint Paul University, Ottawa Fall 2012 Bibliography The Pentateuch in general ACHENBACH Reinhard, “The Story of the Revelation at the Mountain of God and the Redactional Editions of the Hexateuch and the Pentateuch,” in OTTO Eckart / LE ROUX J. (ed.), A Critical Study of the Pentateuch. An Encounter Between Europe and Africa (Altes Testament und Moderne 20), Münster, Lit, 2005, p. 126-151. ––––––––, “The Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Torah in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E,” in: LIPSCHITS , Oded - KNOPPERS , Gary N. - ALBERTZ , Rainer (eds), Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. , Winona Lake, Indiana, Eisenbrauns, 2007, p. 253-285. AITKEN , James K., “The Significance of Rhetoric in the Greek Pentateuch,” in: AITKEN , James K. - DELL , Katharine J. - MASTIN , Brian A. (eds.), On Stone and Scroll. Essays in Honour of Graham Ivor Davies (BZAW 420), [Berlin – New York], De Gruyter, 2011, p. 507-521. ALEXANDER T. Desmond, From Paradise to the Promised Land. An Introduction to the Main Themes of the Pentateuch , Grand Rapids, Baker, 1995, 22002. ALEXANDER , T. Desmond (Editor); BAKER , David W. (Editor), Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch , Downers Grove, IL; Leicester, U.K.: InterVarsity, 2003. BARTON , John, “Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,” Communio viatorum 51/2 (2009), p. 126-140. BEDENBENDER Andreas, “The Place of the Torah in the Early Enoch Literature,” in: BOCCACCINI Gabriele - COLLINS John J. (eds), The Early Enoch Literature (JSJ.S 121), Leiden / Boston, Brill, 2007, p. 65-79. BLENKINSOPP Joseph, The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible , New York, Doubleday, 1992. ––––––––, “Introduction to the Pentateuch,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible. A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Volume One. General Articles on the Bible. General Articles on the Old Testament. The Book of Genesis. The Book of Exodus. The Book of Leviticus , Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1994, p. 305-318. ––––––––, “Deuteronomistic Contribution to the Narrative in Genesis-Numbers. A Test Case,” in SCHEARING Linda S. / MCKENZIE Steven L. (eds), Those Elusive Deuteronomists. The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, 268), Sheffield, Sheffield University Press, 1999, p. 84-115. ––––––––, “The Pentateuch,” in BARTON John (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (The Cambridge Companion to Religion), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 181-197. ––––––––, “Was the Pentateuch the Civic and Religious Constitution of the Jewish Ethnos in the Persian Period?,” in WATTS James W. (ed.), Persia and Torah. The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch (Society of Biblical Literature. Symposium Series 17), Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2001, p. 41-62. BLUM , Erhard, “Pentateuch-Hexateuch-Enneateuch? Or: How Can One Recognize a Literary Work in the Hebrew Bible?,” in: DOZEMAN , Thomas B. - RÖMER , Thomas - SCHMID , Konrad (eds.), /3 Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings (SBL.AIL 8), Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2011, p. 43-71. BRETTLER Marc Zvi, The Creation of History in Ancient Israel , London / New York, Routledge, 1995. BÜCHNER , Dirk, “ Ἐξιλάσασθαι . Appeasing God in the Septuagint Pentateuch,” Journal of Biblical Literature 129/2 (2010), p. 237-260. CAMPBELL Antony F. / O’BRIEN Mark A., Rethinking the Pentateuch. Prolegomena to the Theology of Ancient Israel , Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. CARR David M., “The Rise of Torah,” in: The Pentateuch as Torah. New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance, KNOPPERS , Gary N. - LEVINSON , Bernard M. (eds), Winona Lake, Indiana, Eisenbrauns, 2007, p. 39-56. ––––––––, “ ‘Empirical’ Comparison and the Analysis of the Relationship of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets,” in: DOZEMAN , Thomas B. - RÖMER , Thomas - SCHMID , Konrad (eds.), Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings (SBL.AIL 8), Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2011, p. 73-95. CHERRY , Shai, Torah through Time: Understanding Bible Commentary from the Rabbinic Period to Modern Times , Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2007. CLINES David J.A., “God in the Pentateuch: Reading against the Grain,” in CLINES David J.A., Interested Parties. The Ideology of Writers and Readers of the Hebrew Bible (Gender, Culture, Theory 1), Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1995, p. 187-211. CRAWFORD , Sidnie White, “The Use of the Pentateuch in the Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document in the Second Century B.C.E.,” in: KNOPPERS , Gary N. - LEVINSON , Bernard M. (eds), The Pentateuch as Torah. New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance, Winona Lake, Indiana, Eisenbrauns, 2007, p. 301-317. CROATTO José Severino, “The Function of the Non-Fulfilled Promises: Reading the Pentateuch from the Perspective of the Latin-American Oppressed People,” in KITZBERGER Ingrid Rosa (ed.), The Personal Voice in Biblical Interpretation , London, Routledge, 1999, p. 38-52. DAVIES Graham, “Covenant, Oath, and the Composition of the Pentateuch,” in MAYES A.D.H. / SALTERS R.B. (ed.), Covenant as Context. Essays in Honour of E.W. Nicholson , Oxford et alii, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 71-89. DE LANGE , Nicholas, “The Celebration of the Passover in Graeco-Roman Alexandria,” in: BATSCH , Christophe - VÂRTEJANU -JOUBERT , Mădălina (eds), Manières de penser dans l’Antiquité méditerranéenne et orientale. Mélanges offerts à Francis Schmidt par ses élèves, ses collègues et ses amis (JSJ.S 134), Leiden / Boston, Brill, 2009, p. 157-166. DE TROYER , Kristin, “When Did the Pentateuch Come into Existence? An Uncomfortable Perspective,” in: KARRER , Martin - KRAUS , Wolfgang (eds), Die Septuaginta - Texte, Kontexte, Lebenswelten. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 20.-23. Juli 2006 (WUNT.1 219), Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2008, p. 269-286. DE VILLIERS Gerda, “Gilgamesh, Africa and the Pentateuch,” in OTTO Eckart / LE ROUX J. (ed.), A Critical Study of the Pentateuch. An Encounter Between Europe and Africa (Altes Testament und Moderne 20), Münster, Lit, 2005, p. 184-192. EMERTON John A. (ed.), Studies in the Pentateuch (Vetus Testamentum. Supplements 41), Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1990. ESKENAZI , Tamara Cohn - WEISS , Andrea L. (eds), The Torah. A Women’s Commentary , New York, URJ Press - New York, Women of Reform Judaism, 2008. /4 FANTALKIN , Alexander - TAL , Oren, “The Canonization of the Pentateuch: When and Why? (Part I)”, ZAW 124/1 (2012), p. 1-18. FELDMAN Louis H., “Rearrangement of Pentateuchal Material in Josephus’ Antiquities , Books 1-4,” in: FELDMAN Louis H., Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered (JSJ.S 107), Leiden / Boston, Brill, 2006, p. 361-411. FEWELL Danna Nolan (ed.), Reading between Texts. Intertextuality and the Hebrew Bible (Literary currents in biblical interpretation) , Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992. FISCHER Georg, “The Need for a New Vision of the Torah,” in OTTO Eckart / LE ROUX J. (ed.), A Critical Study of the Pentateuch. An Encounter Between Europe and Africa (Altes Testament und Moderne 20), Münster, Lit, 2005, p. 62-73. FREEDMAN David Noel, “The Pentateuch,” in DUNN James D.G. / ROGERSON John W. (ed.), Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible , Grand Rapids/Cambridge, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003, p. 25-31. FRETHEIM Terence E., The Pentateuch (Interpreting Biblical Texts), Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1996. FRIEDMAN Richard Elliot, Commentary on the Torah with an English Translation, San Francisco, Harper San Francisco, 2001. ––––––––, “Three Major Redactors of the Torah,” in: COHEN , Chaim - HUROWITZ , Victor Avigdor - HURVITZ , Avi - MUFFS , Yochanan - SCHWARTZ , Baruch
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Historical Books of the Bible
    Historical Books of the Bible Prepared by Elaine Cooney Lesson Overview Lesson Details This is one of the most popular units of the year Subject area(s): Religion, Sacred Scripture for most students. We use the Breakthrough Bible extensively, and use the DVD of music Grade Level: High School, Middle School from The Story by Nichole Nordeman to reveal what these stories mean to us. A worksheet of Resource Type: Close Reading/Reflection, directions and progress checking is given. Game/Contest/Activity, Video (attached). Should be able to cover two historical books/day. After copying the Special Learners "headlines" explain the story headlines in narrative form. Follow this by playing the track This resource was developed with the following that goes with the book. For example, after special learners in mind: talking about Joshua and the Walls of Jericho, watch the Music DVD "Take Me Home" Traditional Classroom (Joshua) , and have students make notes on their prayer cards about the main message of Standards Connection the song. They absolutely love these and the music DVD is amazing! The teacher who prepared this lesson determined that this lesson meets the following After all the cards are completed, we play standards: charades. I pull a random headline out of a box, and two students are responsible for acting out ccss.ela-literacy.rl.8.1 that headline without using words. The rest of the class tries to guess (using their own cards for reference) which headline is being acted, what characters are involved, and what book of the Bible the story comes from.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Books Syllabus
    Northern Seminary OT 302A – THE FORMER PROPHETS (MATM, Online) Fall 2016 Jason Gile, Ph.D. Affiliate Professor of Old Testament [email protected] Students must log in to Moodle before the first day of class. To access the online forum, go to student.seminary.edu > My Northern > “Moodle.” All registered students will be enrolled in Moodle automatically the week before the quarter begins. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will acquaint students with the history, theology, and critical study of the Former Prophets of the Hebrew Bible: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The focus is the proper interpretation of its message to Israel and its abiding significance for the church. OBJECTIVES After this course students will be able to: 1. demonstrate a basic understanding of the history and theology of the Former Prophets of the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. 2. reflect on the Old Testament as an ancient document and its implications for interpretation. 3. understand the goals and methods of biblical historiography in its ancient context. 4. be familiar with the literary and artistic qualities of biblical narrative. 5. summarize the issues associated with writing a modern history of Israel. 6. understand how the exile and restoration of Israel serve as background for understanding the life and work of Jesus Christ. REQUIRED TEXTS These books will also be used for Part B of the course. 1. The Bible in a modern translation, e.g., the NRSV, ESV, or NLT. 2. Goheen, Michael W. A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. Baker, 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • List Old Testament Books of History
    List Old Testament Books Of History Zak is thinly graven after Romish Fergus theologising his Rangoon focally. Diatonic and neurovascular Zolly blats some Shiism so verbally! Adulterate Rab usually avulses some tetras or poussetting tetanically. For faith without worrying about their restored state university, finishing with what amounted to list of old testament books history List of parallels between the Old Testament and fell Near Eastern artifacts. THE ORDER matter THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE Divisions. How We seen our name Testament Christian History Magazine. Summary of History writing the Bible. The you Testament Books Middletown Bible church. The Major Divisions of the superior Testament CBNcom. Historical periods 16th-13th Century BC 11th Century BC 10th to 9. The prophet tended to become dominated by different canons representing the group of. Of mad King James Bible in 1611 and the addition following several books that were. Here's public list on the complete Testament books in chronological order require the traditional approximate dates History Law Prophets Date Genesis. The walls of moses, his parents saw his head through interpreting the altar, and many wives who are indeed, people would today strengthens the books of revelation of a quest of. Early efforts to stand the historical authenticity of stories in the Bible have long walk way beyond a. The Bible is composed of 66 books by 40 different writers over 1500 years yet it. How many historical books are in one Old Testament? Here proclaim it? 4 The Historical Books Bibleorg. THE BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT including The Book Abraham's people Moses.
    [Show full text]
  • The Use of Hebel in Ecclesiastes: a Political and Economic Reading
    HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422 Page 1 of 10 Original Research The use of hebel in Ecclesiastes: A political and economic reading Author: A hermeneutical cloud still dominates ongoing discourse on the meaning and application of 1,2 ,hebel), a crucial weaving thread in the book of Ecclesiastes. The Hebrew Qoheleth) הֶבֶל Joel K.T. Biwul Affiliations: presumably the disguised author, proposes the theological ideology of hebel as the totality of 1ECWA Theological Seminary, human existence in this book. What does Qoheleth intend to achieve by asserting and dismissing Nigeria everything in human experience as hebel (vanity, meaningless, worthless, not beneficial, absurd and enigma)? This article proposes a political and economic reading of Ecclesiastes, holding 2 Old and New Testament, that the author, from personal observation, saw and addressed life from the point of view of Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, ivory tower aristocrats who sought to control their environment by every means to their South Africa benefit. It suggests that a political and economic reading of Ecclesiastes locates another perspective on Qoheleth’s purposes for the use of hebel. As such, it argues that the Qoheleth uses Corresponding author: hebel as a literary rhetorical device as an evaluative grid to critique and indict the negative Joel Biwul, [email protected] behaviour of the politically powerful and the wealthy, to caution against the reckless abuse of political and economic power to their benefit by those who live in privilege in society, and Dates: lastly to give counsel for an appropriate application of such privileged power for the good of Received: 27 Mar.
    [Show full text]
  • Bible Overview Handouts for Core Series
    Bible Overview is a teacher’s dream. It is a beautiful book with informative content and BIBLE OVERVIEW summaries. It stirs a passion to read the Bible. —Retha Groenewald, Sunday school teacher Most people need a little help understanding the Bible. Bible Overview provides a box top to the puzzle so the reader can easily see how the pieces fi t together. Excellent resource that I recommend for every Bible student. —Bill Perkins, president of Million Mighty Men, and teaching pastor at Coast Hills Community Church, McMinnville, Oregon Whether for personal study or class study, for doing a survey of Bible books, you will be hard pressed to fi nd a better resource than this one. —Keith Lassiter, music minister and Sunday BIBLE school teacher “The Rose Bible Overview is the kind of product that changes lives. Beautifully conceived, it combines textual insights with archaeological evidence, maps, and charts. A goldmine for Sunday school teachers—and a gift to any believer who wants to grow in Christ.” —Paul Carden, Executive Director, The Centers for Apologetics Research (CFAR) The Bible has 66 books, more than 1,000 chapters, and was written by about 40 different authors. And Bible Overview will help you get a grasp of each book quickly. With a 4-to-6 page explanation for each book, you get a clear overview. Includes full-color maps and time lines. AT A GLANCE, YOU WILL FIND: The purpose of each book The theme and how it fi ts in with the rest of the Bible Author, date, audience, and brief history of that time period Key verses Outline of each book so you can fi nd important stories fast Maps, time lines, charts, and full-color photos Archaeological discoveries that give insight into the culture of the time How Jesus can be seen in each book Application for God’s people today Bible Overview is an excellent companion for Bible reading plans, individual and group Bible studies; or use it as a quick reference book whenever you need it.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 and 2 Samuel, by Robert Vannoy, Lecture 1
    1 Dr. Robert Vannoy, Samuels, Lecture 1 © 2011, Dr. Robert Vannoy and Ted Hildebrandt What I want to do in a series of four lectures is speak about the books of First and Second Samuel and see how what is contained in these two important Old Testament books fits into the storyline of the whole of the Bible. So, this is the first of four lectures on First and Second Samuel. When one reads the Old Testament, I think one of the first things that needs to be considered is the literary character or the genre of the material being read. The books of First and Second Samuel, to which we will be giving our attention in these lectures, find their place among what is generally known as the historical books of the Old Testament. Because historical books have a different literary character than, for example, the law books or the poetic books or the wisdom literature, they require a reading strategy that is appropriate to their literary character. So, in these four lectures on First and Second Samuel, I want to begin by saying something about the nature of the historical writing of the Old Testament. I do this because the way in which we understand the nature of Old Testament historiography has a very important influence on the way in which we read and understand the narratives of First and Second Samuel. So let me start by asking a general question: What kind of history writing do we find in the Old Testament? And how does a proper assessment of the character of Old Testament historiography help us to read and understand the narratives of the Old Testament in an appropriate way? I then want to go on to say something more specific about how a proper understanding of the nature of Old Testament historiography helps us to read and understand the books of First and Second Samuel in an appropriate way.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecclesiastes “Life Under the Sun”
    Ecclesiastes “Life Under the Sun” I. Introduction to Ecclesiastes A. Ecclesiastes is the 21st book of the Old Testament. It contains 12 chapters, 222 verses, and 5,584 words. B. Ecclesiastes gets its title from the opening verse where the author calls himself ‘the Preacher”. 1. The Septuagint (the translation of the Hebrew into the common language of the day, Greek) translated this word, Preacher, as Ecclesiastes and thus e titled the book. a. Ecclesiastes means Preacher; the Hebrew word “Koheleth” carries the menaing of preacher, teacher, or debater. b. The idea is that the message of Ecclesiastes is to be heralded throughout the world today. C. Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. 1. Jewish tradition states Solomon wrote three books of the Bible: a. Song of Solomon, in his youth b. Proverbs, in his middle age years c. Ecclesiastes, when he was old 2. Solomon’s authorship had been accepted as authentic, until, in the past few hundred years, the “higher critics” have attempted to place the book much later and attribute it to someone pretending to be Solomon. a. Their reasoning has to do with a few words they believe to be of a much later usage than Solomon’s time. b. The internal evidence, however, strongly supports Solomon as the author. i. Ecc. 1:1 He calls himself the son of David and King of Jerusalem ii. Ecc. 1:12 Claims to be King over Israel in Jerusalem” iii. Only Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem; after his reign, civil war split the nation. Those in Jerusalem ruled over Judah.
    [Show full text]
  • Hebrew and Christian Bibles: a Comparative Chart
    Jewish and Christian Bibles: A Comparative Chart HEBREW BIBLE Orthodox Christian OT Catholic Christian OT Protestant Christian OT (a.k.a. TaNaK/Tanakh or Mikra) (based on longer LXX; various editions) (Alexandrian LXX, with 7 deutero-can. bks) (Cath. order, but 7 Apocrypha removed) Torah / Books of Moses Pentateuch Pentateuch (Law) Law (Pentateuch) 1) Bereshit / Genesis 1) Genesis 1) Genesis 1) Genesis 2) Shemot / Exodus 2) Exodus 2) Exodus 2) Exodus 3) VaYikra / Leviticus 3) Leviticus 3) Leviticus 3) Leviticus 4) BaMidbar / Numbers 4) Numbers 4) Numbers 4) Numbers 5) Devarim / Deuteronomy 5) Deuteronomy 5) Deuteronomy 5) Deuteronomy Nevi’im / Former Prophets Historical Books Historical Books Historical Books 6) Joshua 6) Joshua 6) Joshua 6) Joshua 7) Judges 7) Judges 7) Judges 7) Judges 8) Samuel (1&2) 8) Ruth 8) Ruth 8) Ruth 9) Kings (1&2) 9) 1 Kingdoms (= 1 Sam) 9) 1 Samuel 9) 1 Samuel 10) 2 Kingdoms (= 2 Sam) 10) 2 Samuel 10) 2 Samuel 11) 3 Kingdoms (= 1 Kings) 11) 1 Kings 11) 1 Kings Nevi’im / Latter Prophets 12) 4 Kingdoms (= 2 Kings) 12) 2 Kings 12) 2 Kings 10) Isaiah 13) 1 Chronicles 13) 1 Chronicles 13) 1 Chronicles 11) Jeremiah 14) 2 Chronicles 14) 2 Chronicles 14) 2 Chronicles 12) Ezekiel 15) 1 Esdras 13) The Book of the Twelve: 16) 2 Esdras (= Ezra + Nehemiah) 15) Ezra 15) Ezra Hosea, Joel, 17) Esther (longer version) 16) Nehemiah 16) Nehemiah Amos, Obadiah, 18) JUDITH 17) TOBIT Jonah, Micah, 19) TOBIT 18) JUDITH Nahum, Habakkuk, 19) Esther (longer version) 17) Esther (shorter version) Zephaniah, Haggai, 20) 1 MACCABEES 20)
    [Show full text]
  • The Septuagint As a Holy Text – the First 'Bible' of the Early Church
    HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422 Page 1 of 9 Original Research The Septuagint as a holy text – The first ‘bible’ of the early church Author: This article acknowledges the fact that historically there are two phases in the emergence of the 1 Johann Cook Septuagint – a Jewish phase and a Christian one. The article deals first with methodological Affiliation: issues. It then offers a historical orientation. In the past some scholars have failed to distinguish 1Department of Ancient between key historical phases: the pre-exilic/exilic (Israelite – 10 tribes), the exilic (the Studies, Faculty of Arts and Babylonian exile ‒ 2 tribes) and the post-exilic (Judaean/Jewish). Many scholars are unaware Social Sciences, University of of the full significance of the Hellenistic era, including the Seleucid and Ptolemaic eras and Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa their impact on ‘biblical’ textual material. Others again overestimate the significance of this era; the Greek scholar Evangelia Dafni is an example. Many are uninformed about the Persian Corresponding author: era, which includes the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanian eras, each one of which had an Johann Cook, impact on Judaism. An example is the impact of Persian dualism. Another problem is the [email protected] application of the concept of ‘the Bible’. The notion of ‘Bible’ applies only after the 16th century Dates: Common Era, specifically after the advent of the printing press. Earlier, depending on the Received: 18 May 2020 context, we had clay tablets (Mesopotamia), vella (Levant-Judah) and papyri (Egypt) to write Accepted: 06 July 2020 on.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of 1 Enoch on Ethiopian Literature
    423 THE LEGACY OF 1 ENOCH ON ETHIOPIAN LITERATURE Bruk Ayele Asale University of KwaZulu Natal 29 Golf Rd, Scottsville, PMB, 3201 E-mail: [email protected] (Received 07/07/2014; Accepted 13/10/2014) ABSTRACT 1 Enoch disappeared centuries ago from the Jewish and the Christian world where it originated, and from where it spread widely gaining canonical authority. It survives in its entirety in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewhahedo Church (EOTC) to date. Hence, it is to be expected that traces of the book’s legacy can still be detected in the church. Evidently, the book has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention in the last hundred years, more specifically since the landmark discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, its legacy in the EOTC and its influence on the community that is credited with honouring it for many centuries, keeping its original authority and usage intact, have been largely omitted from the discussion. This article, therefore, asks what traces the influence of 1 Enoch has left in Ethiopia and in what its legacy consists. In its attempt to respond to these questions, the article focuses particularly on the literary influences the book has on Ethiopian literature. Though the influence and legacy of the book is not limited to the literary realm, the article limits itself to it alone. Subsequent discussions may go beyond this to consider ways in which the book may have contributed to the making of Ethiopia at large. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE In spite of 1 Enoch having disappeared from the regions where it originally emerged and developed, the book has gained “canonical” authority, maintained its momentum and survived to date in its entirety in Ethiopia.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORICAL BOOKS and POETRY Joshua Through Song of Solomon
    HISTORICAL BOOKS AND POETRY Joshua through Song of Solomon Homer Heater, Jr., Ph. D. Revised 2008 Historical Books and Poetry—Heater—Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Joshua ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Judges ................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Ruth ....................................................................................................................................................................... 34 First Samuel .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Second Samuel ..................................................................................................................................................... 66 First Kings ............................................................................................................................................................ 89 Second Kings ...................................................................................................................................................... 114 First and Second Chronicles ............................................................................................................................... 138 Ezra and Nehemiah ...........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Books Syllabus
    Northern Baptist Seminary OT 302-OL The Former Prophets (Online) Spring 2015 Jason Gile, Ph.D. Affiliate Professor of Old Testament [email protected] Students are expected to log in Moodle before the first day of classes. To access the online forum, go to www.seminary.edu and click on Moodle (under Current Students). All registered students will be enrolled in Moodle automatically the week before the term begins. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will acquaint students with the history, theology, and critical study of the Former Prophets of the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The focus is the proper interpretation of its message to Israel and its abiding significance for the church. OBJECTIVES The student should leave the course with the following abilities. He or she will be able to: 1. demonstrate a basic understanding of the history and theology of the Former Prophets of the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. 2. reflect on the Old Testament as an ancient document and the implications of this observation for interpretation. 3. understand the goals and methods of ancient (Israelite) historiography. 4. discuss the literary and artistic qualities of biblical narrative. 5. summarize the issues associated with writing a modern history of Israel. 6. understand how the exile and restoration of Israel serves as background for understanding the life and work of Jesus Christ. REQUIRED TEXTS The Bible in a modern translation, e.g., the NRSV, ESV, or NLT. Dutcher-Walls, Patricia. Reading the Historical Books: A Student’s Guide to Engaging the Biblical Text. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014.
    [Show full text]