Class notes Flashcards
What describes the meaning of the Pentateuch?
order
is the Pentateuch about law, history, or covenant?
all of the above and much more
is the OT just laws?
No
the first laws to not appear until Exodus 20, 70 chapters into the OT
Is the OT just about Israel’s history?
No
Israel’s history did not start until around Gen. 50
Is the OT just about the covenant?
No,
the covenants (abrahamic and Sinai) don’t come till much later in the narrative.
Why do we call it the Old Testament?
because it is about the old covenant.
What does the NT call the OT?
the law, prophets, and psalms or the scriptures (mainly Luke and Paul)
Does the Hebrew bible ever reference itself as the OT?
No, that is a name we gave it.
Where does the new covenant come from?
Jeremiah and Ezekiel
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
what does “all” mean? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
the canon
what does “scripture” mean? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
the graph/writing
the sacred writing, aka the OT
what does “God breathed” mean? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Theopneustos
Theo=God
Pnuma=Breath of the spirit
What is the purpose of scripture?
it is beneficial for doctrine to equip
Where do we get the idea that God’s word is inerrant?
from all scripture being theopneustos
The OT is theological because…
it is God breathed.
How do we discern meaning in the OT?
we read it
What do we find when we read the OT?
we find different genres
Can authors communicate through different genres?
yes!
Are genres and narratives the same?
no
How do genres effect our reading of the text?
we naturally go into a different “reading” mode when we encounter distinct genres.
The only way to understand the authors genre…
is to read it
are narratives personal letters?
no
What do we need to figure out about the authors presuppositions?
we need to know how much the author presumes we as an audience know.
Wrong models for understanding literature: moralizing
Moralizing turns from God to something applicable for you, valuing the contemporary audience over the biblical author.
Wrong models for understanding literature: over historicizing
looks too much at the history and ignores the content or meaning intentioned by the author, telling more about the history than what the author is doing.
Wrong models for understanding literature: Idealizing/allegoricalizing
making less of or explaining away key ideas and intentions of authors by loose or complicated examples.
should we focus on author intentions or audience interpretations?
Author intentions
Good models for understanding lit: ransom note/cut and paste
the scriptures are a section of text pasted together
Good models for understanding lit: photo mosaic
a bunch of small pictures that form one big photo
What is an example of a photo mosaic model of understanding literature?
the books of kings,
the author gathers sources to write kings as the time stand is great. the sources chosen show a specific reason and meaning for the book, but each element and account had to be hand picked from the authors source to create the big picture.
Good models for understanding lit: Text model:
a description of the formation of the Hebrew Bible that adequately describes tis shape (the book isle determines the shape)
What is the first word of the OT?
Reshit
what does Reshit mean?
beginning
specifically, the first of the harvest or chief/head concern
What other words mean beginning?
Tehillah and Reshown
what does Tehillah mean?
first time/first in a series
what does Reshown mean?
specifically the beginning of time or the ordering of numbers.
What does aharit mean?
last
what does it mean that reshit is paired with aharit mean?
it points to a beginning and end, a coming king
reshit marks the beginning in contrast to the end
How does Gen 1:1 open, and Gen 49 open?
Gen 1:1–Reshit
Gen 49–Aharit
what does aharit mean in the future king poems?
in the latter days.
what are the image elements in Gen 49?
king, seater, lion, obedience of the nations, eternity, donkey, priests, lawgivers
Numbers 24 is ____, from a ____ ____, situated in a ____
narrative
main character
poem
Deut 33:21-22 shows…
that the lion king provides the reshit for himself, Judahs lion, and a royal temple
Wha does the lion king do and what is that result?
the lion king provides the reshit, and there he will have his portion
what do the lion poems point to?
they point to a priestly, royal line who makes rules and carries out justice.
What are the passages for the Lion poetry?
Gen 49
Numbers 24: 13-14
Deuteronomy 31: 28-29
Deuteronomy 33: 5, 7, 20-22
What type of verse is Gen 1:1?
indicative statement
What are some proofs that gen 1:1 is an indicative statement?
he does not create in verse 1 and verse 2 predicated v.1 which shows creation already took place.
What are three elements that show unity?
coherence, distribution, prominence
What is the coherence in the lion king section and Gen 1:1
LK–poetry and repetition
Gen–Days
What is the distribution in the lion king section and Gen 1:1
LK–Reshit and aharet
Gen–Evening and Morning
What is the Prominence in the lion king section and Gen 1:1
LK–king imagery
Gen–Creation
What is day two missing in the creation account?
nothing is proclaimed good
What is the skeletal structure of Gen 1?
1) “and God said”
2) “let there be”
3) “and there was”
4) “and God saw”
5) “it was good”
6) “evening and morning, day…”
what do the creation days create?
a crescendo effect
there is a gradual building of size and material resulting in a feeling of importance as the says go along.
What is the narrative symmetry of the creation account?
in days 1-3 God separates, and in days 4-6 God puts in
What does God separate in the first three days?
Day 1–light from darkness
Day 2–seas from the sky
day 3– earth from the sky
What does God put in on days 4-6?
day 4–luminaries
day 5–fish and fowl
day 6—land animals and mankind
what does the language in Gen 1:4 suggest?
the luminaries were made, not created
(already existing, but put together to make a whole)
What are ten factors that accent the sixth day?
1) the most words allotted to a day
2) “very good” rather than just good
3) poetry in the middle
4) terme create used 3x in v.27 (totaling 7x in the chapter)
5) word play between bless and create
6) 1st person deliberation in the Godhead
7) not made after its king, but rather in the image of God
8) given dominion over others
9) gender is a first time issue
10) God spoke to them for the first time
Why is gender established and discussed in Gen. 1?
because Gen 2 discusses marriage
God_____ day 7
sanctified, made holy
how did God sanctify day 7?
there are different verbal and sypetry styles, God did not work or speak (mentioned 3x), and the idea of rest foreshadows the rest readers of the P awaited
What is the meaning/ purpose of Gen 1?
creation, order, land, relationship, etc.
What is the relationship between the creation account into the context of the P?
the Reshit has something to do with the creation/image of mankind
How do we know Gen 1:1-2:4 and 2:5-25 go together?
this is the only way we’ve ever found them, in Gen 2:4, 8/11 words come straight out of Gen 1, there a flipped phrases from 1:1 and 2:1 into 2:4
what are the 4 prohibitions of marriage in Gen 2?
1) polygamy
2) homosexuality
3) beastiality
4) adultery
What is the narrative structure of confrontation after the fall?
1) Chapter introduces serpent, woman, man
2) God adresses man, women serpent
3) God pronounces judgment to serpent, women, man
serpent, woman, man–>man, woman, serpent–>serpent, woman, man
3:15 begins the section with….?
enmity
what does 3:15 show?
an ongoing battle
woman cast in an interesting role through childbearing
no curse on the woman like there was on the serpent
ground and serpent are cursed, not man
What does the name Eve mean?
“hawwa” = Life
man being cast out of the garden is like…
a death sentence
God kicks them out of the garden so that they do not….?
eat of the tree of life and stay in a sinful state forever
What does the rest of the biblical story ask after the fall?
how will man dwell in God’s presence or God in mans?
Where in Gen do we see personal equality?
Gen 1:26-28
both man and women are meant to subdue the earth
Where in Gen do we see positional economy?
Gen 2-3
God has created an authority structure in the house and the church.
God makes man and gives him responsibility first.
What is a linear genealogy?
It goes in a straight down line following one heir rather than a tree.
Seth means?
gift
when does linear genealogy change?
in the 7th year when Enoch breaks the pattern
Does Enoch die?
he does not, he was taken by God
What happens to the genealogy when the 10th son of Adam is born?
there is another divergence and it flattens out to a segmented genealogy
Who is the tenth in the generation and what does his name mean?
Noah, it means rest.
What will Noah do?
he will give us rest and relief from the curse.
How does Noah break the genealogical pattern?
he only has 3 sons
What are the two progenies in Gen 6?
an ungodly line of decedents from cain, and godly line from seth
As man multiplied….
so did evil
what is the wordplay between Noah, Enoch, and rest?
they all share similar Hebrew characters
it relates Noah back with god and Noah, like enoch, breaks the pattern
Enoch, God comfort, Noah, grace, and soothing all use the same characters
what interrupts the Gensis genealogy?
the flood story
what is a word play in chapter 11?
“shem” meaning
1) there
2) shem (the decedent of Noah)
3) name
The genealogy splits with the…
torah
Seth’s bloodline eventually leads to…
Abraham and eventually Eve’s seed and the blessings.
What does the genealogy state about Abraham?
that he can’t have children, meaning the end of the genealogy
What does God promise to Abraham?
A great nation, blessing in decedents (like Noah and shem), a great name
(points back to Shem in the word play)
Where is the first messianic statement?
Gen 12
God will make a great “___” through “___”, “___” in the genealogy of Abraham.
Name (shem)
Shem
There (shem)
what is some of the reoccurring language in the abrahamic blessings?
offspring, land, righteousness, faith, stars, covenant, blessings, nations
Is the covenant based on circumcision?
no, it is only a sign of the cov.
What is the land of the abrahamic blessing?
the promised land of Israel explained in esk,
What is the Hebrew title of Exodus?
“names”
what is the change in the narrative from Gen to Ex?
goes from patriarchal narrative to focusing on Moses. its a new story and a new way of telling the story
Exodus 1:1-5 we see what (Abe. blessing)
the see the blessing of A being gugilled in the 70 sis if Jacob who came down to Egypt and 400 years of multiplication
Who is posed as heroes in the beginning of Exodus for fearing God?
the midwives
what does Moses’ miraculous brith show?
1) Moses as a leader
2) God’s remeberence of the covenant
3) God’s prediction of what will happen
What does “I AM” mean?
I am with you, I am present, yahweh (Jehovah)
What does the “I Am” statement show about God’s relationship to man?
God wants to dwell in the midst of Israel
What is the repletion in Ex. 6-14?
“so that you (Egypt, pharaoh, nations) will know that I am the Lord
What are the four important elements from the exodus narratives?
diliverence, God’s sovereignty, salvation, rebellion
What does God’s deliverance during the exodus mean?
The deliverance and promised land is a reversal of the banishment from the so called promised land of Gen 3.
a bridge between patriarchal narratives and Moses’ eventual entry into the promised land
What does God’s sovereignty during the exodus mean?
God’s sovereignty over nature, man, hearts, and death is a proclamation of God’s name over all the earth
What does God’s promised salvation during the exodus mean?
this event signals God’s commitment to his people and promises salvation.
The exodus becomes a signal to look to salvation and points to eschatological realities of a future messiah
What does Israels rebellion during the exodus mean?
The Exodus narrative brings forward Israel’s rebellion and disbelief.
God delivers them and proves his power, but the Israelites still do not trust him to lead.
Exodus 15 looks towards what?
the future,
the spirit that delivered from the flood,
the promised land,
a future temple
Does the law have an effect on Israel?
no, they continue to disobey and there is growing distance between God and Israel.
