Midterm

Question 1

Ancient Near East

Answer 1

The Ancient Near East is often referred to in modern terms as the Middle East. However, geographically, it is nearest east to Europe. The historical Near East had significant influence on the Hebrew Bible and the nation of Israel as a whole.

Question 2

Ancient Israelite Cosmology

Answer 2

Ancient Israelite Cosmology refers to how the ancient Hebrews viewed the Universe. The ancients divided the world into four different parts: Heaven, Earth, Sea, and the Underworld. The sky was viewed as a resting vault, the world was seen as disk floating on the waters, and underworld was a prison from which no one came back from.

Question 3

Ancestress in Jeopardy

Answer 3

Ancestress in Jeopardy describes the story of Abraham and Sarah when they are in Egypt and Abraham lies about Sarah being his wife. He covers up and says she’s his sister for fear that they would take her for themselves. We also see this story again with Abraham and Sarah and the Philistines. In Philistine, Abraham prays for the women’s wombs to be open. Interestingly, Isaac and Rebekah share a similar story with the Philistines.

Question 4

‘El’ Elyon

Answer 4

Abraham’s encounter in Genesis 14:18 references the “most high God” or ‘El’ Elyon when he encounters Melchizedek. This illustrates a perfect reference to the Oneness of God and Apostolic insight. During Abraham’s time, there would’ve been differing opinions about who/ what God was. Two of these are monotheism and monolatry.

Question 5

Parallelsim

Answer 5

In the Hebrew Bible there are many accounts of Parallelism. Parallelism is a form or repetition found in most Hebrew poetry. While parallelism does not recount the story verbatim in the second part, it advances the first part of the story in a significant way.

Question 6

Myth

Answer 6

Academically, a myth is defined as “a story that includes God or gods.” Genesis 1 technically falls under that definition. However, the word myth here is recognized as a genre type for Genesis 1.

Question 7

Genre

Answer 7

Genre can effect both prose and poetry. Genre can help the reader identify a reading strategy. The definition of genre is a method by which a group of text can find similarities with one another. It is a, “category type of literature, music, film, etc.”

Question 8

Type Scene

Answer 8

A type scene has been defined by Robert Alter as, “ a literary convention that appears so often that readers/viewers are familiar with it.” These conventions make sense to a specific culture because of the continued exposure of those conventions. An example of a type scenes is a male figure doing a heroic act in front of or for the heroine. This simple type scene is found in Isaac and Rebekah (with a proxy), Jacob removing the stone, and Moses runs off all the male shepherds.

Question 9

Ruth

Answer 9

The book of Ruth has beeExn said to be the “lull in the midst of the storm.” The book is nestled in between the book of Judges and Samuel. Although the placement of the book has engaged debate, it’s most common placement is found where the English order places it. According to Longman, the book of Ruth is connected to Pentecost. The heroine Ruth exemplifies the ethical themes that can be found throughout the book: loyal, honest, and kindness.

Question 10

The Holiness Code

Answer 10

The Holiness code is found in Leviticus 17-26. The chapters are named for their repeated use of the word “holy”. These Scriptures were instructive for the Old Testament to consecrate and sanctify themselves unto the Lord. The Holiness Code also helps us identify the sacred and the profane (everyday ordinary, not the holy.)

Question 11

The Holiness Code

Answer 11

The Holiness code is found in Leviticus 17-26. The chapters are named for their repeated use of the word “holy”. These Scriptures were instructive for the Old Testament to consecrate and sanctify themselves unto the Lord. The Holiness Code also helps us identify the sacred and the profane (everyday ordinary, not the holy.)

Question 12

Sacred and Profane

Answer 12

Through the study of religion we can identify the definitions of The Sacred and Profane. The sacred allows us to separate and consecrate ourselves unto God and know what is good and what is bad. The profane can be defined as the everyday ordinary, which is not the holy.

Question 13

Sacred and Profane

Answer 13

Through the study of religion we can identify the definitions of The Sacred and Profane. The sacred allows us to separate and consecrate ourselves unto God and know what is good and what is bad. The profane can be defined as the everyday ordinary, which is not the holy.

Question 14

Noahide Laws

Answer 14

The Noahide laws are also referred to as the Laws of Noah. Since Noah preceded Abraham, these laws are often referred to as the laws that apply to the Gentiles who are not Jews. Some of these laws might be shared with both Jews and Gentile and are good ethical laws for societies to live by.

Question 15

Numbers

Answer 15

The book of Numbers covers two censuses. The first is found in Numbers 1. This covers the travel of the children of Israel leaving the wilderness and entering the Promise Land. The second censes covers the 40th year of the children of Israel’s wilderness wondering. The Apostolic insights we can take away from Numbers is found in Numbers 11:14-17 when Moses cries out for help to lead the people, and God anoints laymen to help bare the burden of the people with him.

Question 16

Priestly Blessing

Answer 16

The Priestly Blessing is found in Number 6:24-26. The priest would say this blessing over the people while holding their hands in the shape of the Hebrew letter Shin. This is reference is often quoted in weddings over the couple.

Question 17

Tefillin

Answer 17

In Deut 6:6-8, the Lord instructed the people to take the laws to heart, teach them to their children, recite them, and bind them on their hand and forehead as a sign. The headware and binding were called the Tefillin. You would see men and their children wearing these as a sign of obedience to this command.

Question 18

The Little Credo

Answer 18

The Little Credo is known as a mini history of Israel. This passage is found in Deut. 26:1-3 and is Israel preparing for the conquest. The Little Credo prepped the Israelites for the blessings that they would inherit in the Promise Land. It also encouraged them to recite and remember their history.

Question 19

Foreshadowing

Answer 19

Foreshadowing can be found in the story of Abraham and Sarah when they are in Egypt and Abraham lies about Sarah being his sister. Plagues come upon the people and then they both leave with riches. This sounds a lot like the Exodus story with the children of Israel. This is an example of Foreshadowing. Abraham is also prophesied that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt, which he has already experienced.

Question 20

Documentary Hypothesis

Answer 20

The Documentary Hypothesis is a Hypothesis of how the Torah was written. This hypothesis suggest that there were four different sources of authorship for the Pentateuch: J, E, D, and P. One of the reasons scholars started thinking this hypothesis was possible is because Moses dies at the end of Deuteronomy, suggesting that he didn’t write the end of the book. This is different from the deuteronomistic history.

Question 21

Deuteronomistic History

Answer 21

The Deuteronomistic History is not synonymous with the Documentary Hypothesis. It really has nothing to do with it. The Deuteronomistic History covers Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. The thought here is that there were editors, most likely from the Deuteronomistic School, that wrote Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Gives us the central history of Israel.

Question 22

Deuteronomistic School

Answer 22

The school, connected with the monarchy, is suspected to have put together and edited the Deuteronomistic history of the Hebrew Bible. These editors were tasked in making sure Israel knew what was going on in history.It’s possible these editors were from the Northern kingdom and moved down to South when they could. In this time, there were only a small group of people that could read, so it’s possible this school arose from that.

Question 23

Nephilim

Answer 23

The Nephilim are referenced in Genesis 6:4 and their identity can raise question. Their identity is not clear in Scripture, besides they were the sons of God having children with the daughters of men. Some would allow Greek mythology to influence this verse, implying that Angels came down and had children with women. It’s possible that they were a group of people from Mesopotamia who were considered heroes.

Question 24

Tower of Babel

Answer 24

The Tower of Babel relays the story of a people unified to build a tower up to the heavens. Their pride and love for power displeased the heart of God, so he separated them by diversifying their languages. The Tower of Bible also has Apostolic insights. At the Tower of Babel God confused the people’s language dispersing them and in the book of Acts, he unifies the people again by speaking in tongues (different languages.)

Question 25

Date of the Exodus

Answer 25

According to the Merneptah Steele, the suggested date of the Exodus is believed to have taken place during the time of Rameses the Great. While the date of the Exodus is unclear, scholars have estimated a timeline of the Hebrew children’s time in Egypt and then their settlement in the land of Canaan. The timeline starts with The Hykos losing power in 1507 BC and ends with Hebrews in the land of Canaan.

Question 26

Balaam

Answer 26

Balaam is a prophet not from the children of Israel. When King Balak is threatened by the children of Israel as they approach his land, he calls on Balaam to curse them. However, instead of cursing them, Balaam blesses them only by God’s intervention. Unfortunately, Israel continues to disobey and worship the idol Baal instead.

Question 27

Wilderness Wondering

Answer 27

The Wilderness Wondering was a time where God prepared His people to serve Him and to properly prepare for the upcoming conquest. He gave Moses the Law by which the children of Israel were to live to be consecrated unto Him. He instructed Moses how to bulld The Tabernacle in oder to have a physical place for Him to dwell, and then He gave specific commandments in preparation for the upcoming conquest of the Promise land.

Question 28

Traditional Historical Approach

Answer 28

The Traditional Historical Approach is used in place of tracing individual, literary sources. Instead, it takes smaller portions and identifies the bigger narrative complexes. For the book of Joshua, most of the stories gathered here center around the man Joshua. Most who believed this approach felt like the stories were based on the locale and then authored and edited from there.