Intro. to the Hebrew Bible

Study Guide for Quiz #1

Spring 2004

Reading

Bible: Genesis 1-24
Web: Ra & the Serpent, Enuma Elish
The Other Bible, pp. 3-14 (extracts from 2 Enoch & Jubilees)
The Old Testament Story, pp. 1-69, 461-467

Terms

allegory
ambiguity / ambivalence
anthropomorphism
cosmology / cosmogony
eponymous ancestors
Penteteuch
Septuagint (LXX)
Talmud
Tetragrammaton
Torah
Translation / interpretation

Primary vs. secondary literature

secondary becoming primary
myth

Historical vs. theological inquiry

problems of faith vs. atheism in approaching the material
BC[E] / CE
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

Canon

Historical development
Torah (~450 BC)
Babylonian Captivity
Ezra
canonization of Torah (~450 BC)
Prophets (~200 BC)
Hellenistic period
canonization of Prophets (~200 BC)
Alexander the Great
Greek as Lingua Franca
Septuagint (LXX)
Diaspora
Letter of Aristeas (story of 70 translators)
Writings (~90 - ~180 CE)
canonization of Writings (~90 - ~180 CE)
borderline books:
Esther
Ecclestiastes
ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus)
Song of Songs
Enoch
criteria for inclusion:
thought to be written before 400 BC
written by famous or prophetic characters
theologically appropriate
Christian canon reflected larger Hellenistic Jewish canon
includes 'Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals
maintained in Greek but not in Hebrew
Jerome and the Vulgate
wanted to exclude Greek only books (A/D) from the Vulgate
Pope insisted so they were included
Protestant Reformation
Luther put questionable "Apocrypha" in an appendix and recommend not be used for doctrine (not normative)
Puritan's exclusion of Apoc. form Bible
Council of Trent (Roman Catholic)
Response to Protestants
reaffirmed sanctity of "Deuterocanonicals"
Different forms:
Hebrew Bible
Catholic/Orthodox Bible
Protestant Bible

Source Criticism

Traditional Mosaic authorship
Documentary hypothesis
Astruc's clue (Ex 6:2)
YHWH / Jehovah (=LORD)
Elohim/El Shaddai (=God/God Almighty)
Wellhausen/Graff
Various documents merged into one by a redactor or redactors
redactor = editor
JEDP (+dating)
'J' = Yahwist/Judah (south), 10th-9th c.
'E' = Elohist/Ephraim (north), 9th-8thc
'D' = Deuteronomy, 7th c.
'P' = Priestly writer/Babylon, Exilic
'R' = Redactor, R1: 7th c, R2: Exilic
Note that Torah (as we know it) comes into being in 6th c. BC (Exilic)
Deuteronomy is earlier (7th c)

Biblical Creation / Adam and Eve

Special terminology
ish / isha (man / woman)
adam / adama (human / ground)
2 creation stories
6 day creation (P)
Adam & Eve (J)
6 day creation (first story) (P)
emphasizes cosmos
humans created "male and female"
excursus on sexist language in translation
"Us" passages, possible interpretations:
Trinity (Christian interpretation)
Royal 'we'
God and heavenly host (e.g. angels etc.)
Reflects earlier polytheistic version
"Dominion" & "Image"
Harmonizing the two stories
Source Critical view
2 different stories put back to back by editors
Overview in 1 vs. Detail of day 6 in 2
No need to harmonize, all allegory anyway