Midterm

Question 1

John Oswalt

Answer 1

the OT is different than the literature of its neighbors because of its fundamental worldview

• Israel’s worldview: transcendence (God is separate from the cosmos; accounts for time and space relationships between God and man)
• others’ worldview: continuity (God is inseparable from the cosmos; accounts for relationships outside of time and space)

Question 2

History

Answer 2

can refer to both the events of the past and the verbal accounts of the events. (History refers to the events of the past, and historiography/history writing refers to the interpretive verbal accounts of the past)

Question 3

Fiction

Answer 3

Robert Alter: principal means which the biblical authors had at their disposal for realizing history

• can be referred to as historicized fiction or fictionalized history; either way emphasis is on the second term
• usually denotes creativity, but it’s best to shed this term and use something like “artistry” to describe an author’s technique

Question 4

History writing as representational art

Answer 4

-“Representation” simply refers to the representation of the underlying events.
-Biblical narratives can be representational or not, but there are no formal characteristics to distinguish the two.
Aristotle: “the difference between the historian and the poet is not that one writes in prose and the other in
verse…The real difference is this, that one tells what happened and the other what might happen.”

Question 5

Embodied intent of a narrative

Answer 5

-Jesus’ parables recounting the history of Israel
-These parables are examples of artistry but
they are profoundly representational or referential since they are depicting the actual situation.
Clearly then one may use a highly creative or artistic genre in order to represent history.

Question 6

History writing as creative enterprise

Answer 6

two subjective elements: point of view (perspective from which a narrative will be constructed) and aesthetic choices (how it will be composed and how much detail)

Question 7

Three impulses of biblical history writing

Answer 7

(1) The historiographical impulse implies constraint by the subject
(2) the theological impulse implies point of view
(3) literary impulse implies aesthetic choices

Question 8

The ideological level

Answer 8

refers to the point of view by which the events of the narrative are evaluated or judged (in the Bible, it’s the narrator)
-Sternberg: narrator has omniscience equal to but subservient to God

Question 9

Sternberg’s ways the narrator is at work (ideological level)

Answer 9

expositional antecedents, character sketches, descriptions of objects, interscenic summary, retrospects, prospects, genealogies and catalogues, identification, value judgments, telescoped inside views, notes and stage directions in dialogue, instrusions into direct discourse, biographic references, temporal or cultural bridging,

Question 10

Phraseological level

Answer 10

linguistic features in the discourse that indicate whose point of view is being expressed
-Berlin determines them by: narrators voice (aka sternbergs ideological features) and character’s point of view (naming, inner life, the term hinneh, hebrew circumstantial clauses, direct discourse and narration, alternative expressions)

Question 11

Characteristics of successful representation

Answer 11

• simplicity: represent the larger patterns, structures, and meanings behind particular events and facts
• selectivity: when the historian stands at a distance he has a better opportunity to be selective in his details
• suggestive detail: shorter well-crafted accounts rather than longer too-detailed accounts

Question 12

Interpretive approaches of Joshua

Answer 12

1. The conquest (outside Canaan)
2. Peaceful infiltration (outside Canaan)
3. Peasant revolt (inside Canaan)
4. Pastoral Canaanites (inside Canaan)

Conclusions:

(1) K. Lawson Younger, Jr. has shown that Joshua 9-12, in its form, structure, and themes, is identical to the historical/ideological conquest accounts found among the Hittites, Egyptians, and Assyrians.
(2) The Joshua account does report that Canaanites and peoples from within the land become part of Israel (e.g. Rahab and Gibeonites).
(3) This interpretation preserves the understanding of the conquest found in the biblical texts.

Question 13

Evidence for Israel’s origins

Answer 13

1. Merneptah Stele: dated to 1207 BC, “Israel is laid to waste”
2. The evidence of early Shrines at Mt. Ebal and Shiloh
3. The Evidence of Conquest at Khirbet el-Maqatir or Ai
   
   • location fits perfectly; fits all of the geographical and archaeological requirements of Ai in Josh 7-8 (whereas the traditional site of Ai shows no signs of inhabitation between 2400-1200 and no sign of destruction during the period in question)
   • evidence of occupation during 5 phases (most importantly the Late Bronze I; that layer has a fortress with an outer wall that shows signs of being burned)
   • the fortress was originally dated to 1400 by Bryant Wood, but recently an Egyptian scarab was unearthed dated to 1540-1440 and provides an independent date for the fortress apart from the pottery

Question 14

Literary structure of Joshua

Answer 14

Chiasm based on 4 hebrew verbs:
A Israel’s Crossing the Jordan (עבר ;1-5)
B Israel’s Taking the Land (לקח ;6-11)
B Israel Divides and Apportions the Land (חלק ;12-
22)
A Israel is challenged to Serve Yahweh (עבד ;23-24)

These words are largely referring to the action of taking a piece of land. It is clear that the
crossing of the Jordan occurred for one purpose: to take the land.

Question 15

Important themes in Joshua

Answer 15

1. Submission
   a. Israel as God’s son (Israel is to have dominion over Canaan; Israel as new Adam)
   b. Graphic Depiction of Enemy Defeat.
   c. The Conquest as Judgment.
   d. The Land as a New Eden.
2. The Importance of Possessing and Residing in the Land.
   a. The Importance of Land Allotments.
   b. Negative Reports. The problem with Israel’s new state can be seen from the opening chapters.
   (i) Victory depends on faithfulness.
   (ii) These themes of blessing and curse.
3. The Coming Darkness.
   (i) Skeptical about Israel’s Ability.
   (ii) Israel cannot serve Yahweh.

Question 16

Historical issues of Judges

Answer 16

1. Period of Judges (settlement of the land)
2. Point of view (Canaanization of Israel)
3. Aesthetic choices of the author

Question 17

Settlement of the land timeframe

Answer 17

480 years from the Exodus to Solomon’s 4th year of reign

• conquest ends around 1400, period of judges begins around then and goes until 1050 with the crowning of Saul (so 250-280 year period of Judges)
• problem with lower date is that the archaeological evidence is at odds with biblical data
• The higher dates accord with the fall of the Middle-Bronze II cities in the period of the judges (this is what you would expect from the Bible; Joshua’s conquest only destroyed three cities: Jericho, Ai, and Hazor; the period of judges is what’s full of violence)

Question 18

Outline of Judges

Answer 18

I. The Background to the Canaanization of Israel: Israel’s Failure in the Holy War (1:1-3:6)
II. God’s Response to the Canaanization of Israel: The Cycles of Apostasy and Deliverance (3:7-16:31)
III. Climax: The Depths of the Canaanization of Israel (17:1-21:25)

Question 19

Exegesis of Judges

Answer 19

1. Parallels between Genesis 19 and Judges 19
2. The Earlier Sections of Judges
   a. Prologue (1:1-2:5).
   b. The Introductions to the Book of Deliverers (2:6-
   3: 6).
   c. The Introductions to the Deliverer Cycles (3:7, 12;
   4: 1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1).
   d. The Accounts of the Judges (3:7-16:21).
   e. Micah and the Danites (17:1-18:31).
3. Glimmer of Hope in a New Leader

Question 20

Parallels Between Judges 19 and Genesis 19

Answer 20

Thematic:

1. A small group of travelers arrives in the city in the evening.
2. A person who is himself an alien observes the presence of this company.
3. The travelers have a mind to spend the night in the open square.
4. At the insistence of the host, the travelers agree to spend the night in his house.
5. The host washes the guests’ feet (implies in Gen 19:3 after the offer in v. 2).
6. Host and guests share in a fellowship meal.
7. Base men of the city surround the house.
8. The demand of the host that he deliver his male guests over to them that they might commit homosexual gang rape.
9. The host protests this display of wickedness.
10. When the protests prove futile the hosts hand over a substitute female.
    - shared vocabulary
    - limited Number of Unique Features to the narratives

Question 21

Outline of Ruth

Answer 21

I. Act 1: The Crisis for the Royal Line (1:1-21)
II. Act 2: The Ray of Hope for the Royal Line (1:22-2:23)
III. Act 3: The Complication for the Royal Line (3:1-18)
IV. Act 4: The Rescue of the Royal Line (4:1-17)
V. Epilogue: The Genealogy of the Royal Line (4:18-22)

Question 22

Ruth’s placement in the canon

Answer 22

??

Question 23

Books of Samuel and Kings

Answer 23

-most hotly disputed in terms of their historical content (mainly about the united monarchy under David and Solomon)

Question 24

Extrabiblical evidence for the kingdom of Israel

Answer 24

1. Merneptah Stele (1207 BC). First mention of the people of Israel
2. Moabite Stone (Mesha Inscription; 9th BC; 3ft high)
3. Tel Dan Inscription (9th BC; 3m high; Aramaic inscription)
4. Baruch Halpern’s Summary of the Materials

Question 25

Kitchen’s Synthesis of all of the External Evidence for the kingdom of Israel

Answer 25

1. the records of the other major empires are sparse and internal; such data for Israel never existed because there was never an occasion for it
2. 1200-1000 BC Epoch of minor empires. Kitchen uses neo-Hittite texts and traces of or about the Arameans in order to put the profile of the region together.

Question 26

Conclusions about evidence for kingdom of Israel

Answer 26

(1) The Bible (specifically Samuels and Kings) provides a picture consonant with the period in question
around 1200-1000 BC. The super powers of Egypt, Anatolia (Hittites), and Mesopotamia were
not in the Levant at this time, leaving not a “dark age” as some scholars call it, but an
opportunity for minor empires to try their hand at ruling this area. The biblical narratives about
David and Solomon fit the picture of other empires of the time period.
(2) All scholars are willing to recognize three such minor empires: Tabal, Carchemish, and Aram-Zobah, who attempted to take over and rule this whole territory. Kenneth Kitchen then asks, why not a fourth,
Israel, and for almost as brief a time as Aram-Zobah?
(3) The correct theory is the one that encompasses the most data and provides the simplest explanation for it. The minimalists or revisionists do not engage in this kind of detailed work but have clearly put their ideologies before the data.

Question 27

Literary Analysis of 1 and 2 Samuel

Answer 27

1. Hebrew canon: the meaningful patterns are way too intricate to be coincidental; it was put together around 400 BC (well before Qumran), so the nonbiblical texts at Qumran never stood a chance of being Scripture
2. Kingdom through covenant
3. Literary Structure of Samuels
   
   1. Hannah’s prayer (1 Sam. 1:9-11) and Song (1 Sam. 2); Samuel = King Maker
   2. David’s prayer (2 Sam. 24) and Song (2 Sam. 22); David = King of Israel

Question 28

Davidic Covenant tied back to Israelite covenant

Answer 28

2 Sam 7

1. Corporate solidarity: Gen 20:1-5 When king Gerar takes Sarah and his whole people would have been punished for the sins of the king
2. Davidic embodiment of the nation: 2 Sam 19 “we have no portion in David”
3. The suffering servant: Isaiah 53:10 will both embody and rescue the nation

Question 29

2 Sam 7

Answer 29

1. David’s Plan (7:1-3): to build God a House (i.e. a Temple).
2. God’s Promise (7:4-17): to build a House for David (i.e. a Dynasty)
   (1) It cannot mean that this is a literal physical relationship as it would mean in English.
   (2) Remember, that in Egypt, the Pharaoh was the image of god because he was the son
   of god.
   (3) The covenants of the ancient world are also helpful in reconstructing background.
   (4) The metanarrative of the Bible.
3. David’s Response (7:18-29).
   (1) The concept of regional deities.
   (2) Mosaic Torah.
   (3) The Isaianic vision in Isaiah 2:2-4.

Question 30

Later interpretations of 2 Sam 7

Answer 30

1. Psalm 89:30-33: The king must keep the Torah
2. Psalm 89:50: Yahweh swore acts of covenant love to David in the past
3. I Kings 3:6: The promise is fulfilled by both Yahweh and David
4. Isaiah 55:3 (Acts 13:34): Faithful covenant acts of love by David

Question 31

Davidic Covenant

Answer 31

• fulfills Abrahamic covenant
• paves the way for the Messiah and substitutionary atonement
• Christ is a son of David; that makes him a king; as a king, he is our representative; his inheritance is our inheritance

Question 32

1 and 2 Kings

Answer 32

• author was constrained by events surrounding the united, northern, and southern kingdoms
• historical narrative
• midpoint in the canon
• Sinai covenant was the pivotal standard
• what the author did was make explicit what was already implicit in the law (Ex. Naboth’s vineyard; no less than 5 laws were broken, perversion of justice)

Question 33

Three sources author of Kings used

Answer 33

(1) Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41)
(2) Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (1 Kings 14:19-2 Kings 15:31)
(3) The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29-2 Kings 24:5)

These sources are probably the royal annals of the kings and would be considered historical records

Question 34

Exegesis of Kings

Answer 34

1. Solomon and Dominion: Bible has to do with a king and his kingdom; Solomon asking for the wisdom Adam should have
2. Echoes of exodus: tabernacle and idolatry; Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple is messiological
3. The Dive into Exile: Israel and election; election guarantees the survival (and salvation) of the people
4. The Dive into Exile: Judah and David
5. The middle of the story: a ‘shoot’ of hope in exile; viewed as messianic, every last Davidic descendant has to do with the fate of the world

Question 35

Chronicles point of view

Answer 35

• designed to exemplify Israel as the one true church of God and show the temple as a valid part of community life
• focus on Davidic succession and Temple in Jerusalem were center of theocratic worship for Judaism
• this explains many gaps and differences between Chronicles and Kings

Question 36

Critics of Chronicles

Answer 36

The prayer and acts of Manasseh in Chronicles are not in Kings, so Chronicles is not historical because:
(1) The account is theologically motivated and therefore it is suspect. It was composed to explain
why the worst king of Judah also enjoyed the longest reign, 55 years.
(2) The silence in Kings is interpreted as contrary evidence to the story in Chronicles especially
because the theme of divine punishment for covenant breaking would have fit well the story of Kings.
(3) There is no account of Manasseh’s repentance in Assyrian records.
(4) The imprisonment in Babylon (33:11) rather than Nineveh is suspect because the latter is the
imperial capital.
(5) The account of Manasseh is said to be closely analogous to the Chronicler’s programmatic
vocabulary as in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which recurs throughout 10-36.

Question 37

Kelly’s response to Chronicles’ critics

Answer 37

(1) The Chronicler never correlates the length of a king’s reign with his piety.
(2) The fact that Kings does not include this incident is not as significant as first perceived when
we remember that the author of Kings has his own point of view. The repentance of Manasseh did not fit the overall historiographical concerns of Kings
and its audience, while much later this account became important to report.
(3) The absence of this story of Manasseh from Assyrian records only shows how fragmentary that record is.
(4) Actually, the Assyrian texts we have indirectly confirm the account of Manasseh’s restoration
for the Assyrians are known to have reinstated previously rebellious vassals.
(5) Rather than arguing against the authenticity of the account, linguistic evidence supports the
account of his building projects (חיצון” outer”, “outer wall”). What were considered to be Aramaisms or late biblical Hebrew terms are now known to
have been in use long before the exile and at any rate were becoming part of Hebrew. Archaeological evidence has also been adduced in favor of the Chronicler’s report of Manasseh’s
building of the outer wall, not Hezekiah or Josiah.

Conclusion: Kelly’s case cannot prove Chronicles as historical, but he makes a very probable case.

Question 38

Peter William’s support of the historicity of land allotment to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh

Answer 38

(1) Historical framework
i. Hagrite war vv. 10, 18-22 ca. 1000 BC
ii. Census v. 17 ca. 750 BC
iii. Exile vv. 6, 22, 26 ca. 733-32 BC
(2) Stages of Transjordan Occupation: Peter William’s chart shows that Israelite sites allotted to Reuben or Gad eventually became Moabite; shows that Israel probably would not have possessed any of these towns after the Assyrian invasion of the 8th century; (basically confirms biblical data)
(3) Onomasticon (register of names): all the names are appropriate for time and location (nearly impossible for someone to make up)

Conclusion: “Kings is history, Chronicles is theology” is wrong. Both are historiographical with different points of view and theological biases.

Question 39

Message of Chronicles

Answer 39

kingdom through covenant:

• focus on David and his kingdom
• ends on an eschatalogical note looking forward to the restoration and establishment of the kingdom of God

Question 40

Outline of Chronicles

Answer 40

I. Geneological information
II. Rule of David
III. Rule of Solomon
IV. Later history of Judah

Question 41

Exegesis of Chronicles

Answer 41

1. Exile in the Land
2. Chronicles and the goal of history
3. The Davidic House

Question 42

Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah

Answer 42

• end of exile and post exile, life in Persia
• People are out of Babylon, but Babylon is not out of the people; return from spiritual exile will take far longer than 70 years

Question 43

Themes of Esther

Answer 43

• That it follows Daniel reinforces that Israel cannot perish; the kingdom of God will eventually triumph
• Esther’s opposition to Haman (woman against beast; Eve vs serpent, sarah vs barenness, etc). In all of these examples, women of faith are engaged in battle to save God’s people

Question 44

Ezra-Nehemiah

Answer 44

• Placement as second to last in canon is very important: failure of the restoration, end on negative notes
• People are in the land but still in exile
• canon ends with Chronicles so their is an eschatological hope

Question 45

Nehemiah 12 chiasm

Answer 45

A. City walls
B. Repopulation
C. Torah/worship
B. Repopulation
A. City walls

Question 46

City of God is to be restored in two fold manner

Answer 46

(1) maintaining continuity,
legitimacy, and purity in leadership
(2) getting back to the priority of true worship, focused
on the hearing and understanding of God’s word

(This is the message of Nehemiah)