Lectures - Books of the Bible Flashcards
Joshua Key Themes
(3)
- Israel’s theology of warfare
- Outsiders become insiders
- Land distribution
Joshua Reading Strategies
(5)
- Book of Joshua is often ignored (because challenging)
- Used to justify violence against Palestine
- Tendency to bring Joshua into contemporary world (spiritual warfare)
- Faithful reading: don’t place faith in military
- Use bible atlas for land distribution
Joshua Setting
13th or 15th cent
Joshua Authorship Clues
(3)
- Stories may have originated as folk tales
- May have come together around time of King Josiah
- Connected with Deut, Jdgs, Sam, Kgs
Joshua Most Popular Verse
Joshua 1:9
I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go
Judges Key Theme
(1)
Judges Cycle
(6)
1) Going astray
2) People are oppressed
3) Cry to God
4) God raises up Judge
5) Judge rescues people from what oppressed them
6) Judge dies
Judges Reading Strategies
(2)
- Expect everything to go to hell
- Why have monarchy?
Judges Setting
15th or 13th century
Ends in 11th century
Judges Authorship
(3)
- Judges 5 might be oldest in bible
- Part of Deuteronomist history (jdgs - kgs)
- Came together after exile (587)
Judges Most Popular Verse
Judges 6:12
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.”
Ruth Key Themes
(3)
- Friendship
- Immigration
- Hope
Ruth Reading Strategies
Things to understand:
(5)
- Widows
- Threshing floors
- Parenting, levirate marriage, Redeemer
- Feet
- Resolution of book
Ruth Setting
“Time of judges”
12 or 11th Cent.
Ruth Authorship
Counterpoint to Ezra-Nehemiah
Ruth Most Popular Verse
Ruth 1:16
Do not press me to leave you,
to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people
and your God my God.
1st Samuel Setting
Saul and David
1st Kings Setting
Solomon, Israel’s kings, Judah’s kings
1st Chronicles Setting
Adam/Eve, Saul, David
2nd Samuel Setting
David
2nd Kings Setting
Israel’s kings, Judah’s kings, Exile
2nd Chronicles Setting
Solomon, Judah Kings, Exile, Return
Ezra Nehemiah Setting
Return from Exile
Samuel and Kings Authorship
Probably 560-538
Chronicles Authorship
unknown, after 538
Ezra / Nehemiah Authorship
unknown, after 433
Samuel Key Themes
(3)
- Monarchy is necessary evil
- Dangers of power
- Start and re-start
Samuel Reading Strategies
(2)
- Kings more like tribal chiefs than medieval kings
- Expect more than one perspective
Samuel Most Popular Verse
1 Sam 17:47
and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand
Kings Reading Strategies
(2)
- Read with timeline and map
- See it as a theological history
Kings Key Themes
(5)
- More concerned with faithfulness to God than ethics
- David is awesome
- Not many good kings
- Exile slow response to generations of unfaithfulness
- God likely to side with prophets than kings
Kings Most Popular Verse
1 King 19:12
and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence
Chronicles Reading Strategies
(1)
Read like edition of 1-2 Kings
Chronicles Key Themes
(4)
- Same themes as Kings
- Family Lineage
- Levites (priestly assistants)
- Optimistic ending (return from Exile)
Chronicles Most Popular Verse
2 Chr 7:14
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land
Ezra / Nehemiah Key Themes
(4)
- Struggle to survive
- Struggle to rebuild temple
- Struggle to rebuild city walls
- Foreigners, especially spouses, are bad
Ezra / Nehemiah Reading Strategies
(2)
- Literary style matches difficulty of times
- Keep in canonical context
Ezra / Nehemiah Most Popular Verse
Neh 8:10
Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Esther Key Themes
(4)
- Celebrations
- Gender
- Bravery
- Violence
Esther Reading Strategies
(3)
- Expect irony (reversal)
- Look for invisible hand of God
- Know about Eunuchs
Esther Setting
Reign of Persian King Xerxez I
(486-465 BCE)
Esther Authorship
4th or 3rd cent.
Esther Most Popular Verse
Esther 4:16
For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.
Proverbs Key Themes
(3)
- The wise and the fool
- Day-to-day realities
- Emotions and desires
Proverbs Reading Strategies
(3)
- Right word for right situation
- Navigating Gender issues
- Context: less important than usual
Proverbs Setting
Most parts don’t relate to specific time in history
Proverbs Authorship
(4)
- Unknown
- Solomon
- Hezekiah
- Ahur and King Lemuel’s Mother
Proverbs Most Popular Verse
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Ecclesiastes Key Themes
(3)
- Everything is a fleeting breath
- Nothing Endures
- Joy comes from the small things
Ecclesiastes Reading Strategies
(3)
- Expect tensions and contradictions
- Let Qohelet teach the value of humility
- Let Qohelet expand the borders of faith
Ecclesiastes Setting
Not tied to specific time
Ecclesiastes Authorship
the book re-posts the words of someone called Qohelet or “the Teacher”
Ecclesiastes Most Popular Verse
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Job Key Themes
(2)
- The problem of suffering
- God’s unknowability
Job Reading Strategies
(3)
- Prologue and Epilogue easy reading, but great stuff in between
- Take Prologue as “suppose this happened” instead of truth
- Job’s friends are stock characters, not with individual perspective
Job Setting
None given
Job Authorship
Language is very rare
Possibly 6th to 4th centuries
Job Most Popular Verse
Job 1:21
Naked I came from my mother’s womb; naked I will return there. The Lord has given, the Lord has taken, bless the Lord’s name
