Summer of 2015 Highland Presbyterian Church. Objectives for a OT Survey Class: 1.Review general...

Summer of 2015

OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY

Highland Presbyterian

Church

THEOLOGICAL NARRATIVE AND DEUTERONOMIC HISTORY

(IN OTHER WORDS, NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY)


Church

Objectives for a OT Survey Class:

1.Review general content and explore the literary patterns and the historical and cultural contexts.

2.Give curious parents and grandparents of youth a sense of what we cover in youth Sunday school.

3.Offer some perspective of contemporary archaeology where finds support or contradict assumptions of the Biblical record.

7/12 Session 1 Mythic Storytelling from a Hebrew Point of View:

“The Purpose of Humanity”

7/19 Session 2 Patriarch Legends and Literary Motifs:

“Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob”

7/26 Session 3 Moses, The First Savior:

“Covenants, Contracts, and Community”

8/2 Session 4 Dueteronomic History: part 1

“Joshua, Judges, and Conquest”

8/9 Session 5 Dueteronomic History: part 2

“We Three Kings”

8/16 Session 6 Prophets of the Divided Kingdom:

“Conscience of the King”

“Theological Narrative and Dueteronomic History”(In other words, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.)


Session 2: Patriarch Legends and Literary Motifs:

“Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob”

General Outline of GenesisGenesis 1 The Transcendent God (Elohim) creates in 7 days, giving order to chaosGenesis 2-3 Adam and Eve in the Garden with YahwehGenesis 4 Cain and AbelGenesis 5 GenealogyGenesis 6-9 Noah and the FloodGenesis 10 Genealogy of NoahGenesis 11 Tower of BabelGenesis 12 God calls Abram, Abram and Sarai in EgyptGenesis 13 Abram and Lot SeparateGenesis 14 Lot is captured; Abram rescues himGenesis 15 God Covenant with AbramGenesis 16 Hagar has IshmaelGenesis 17 The Sign of the CovenantGenesis 18 God promises a son to Abraham and Sarah; Abraham pleads for SodomGenesis 19 Sodom shows depravity; Sodom / Gomorrah destroyed; Lot &

daughters story

General Outline of GenesisGenesis 20 Abraham and Sarah and Abimelech at GerarGenesis 21 The Birth of Isaac; Hagar and Ishmael sent awayGenesis 22 The Near Sacrifice of IsaacGenesis 23 Sarah diesGenesis 24 Isaac marries RebekahGenesis 25 Abraham dies; Esau and Jacob are born; Esau sells his BirthrightGenesis 26 Isaac and Rebekah and Abimelech at GerarGenesis 27 Isaac blesses Jacob; Jacob fleesGenesis 28 Jacob’s dream at Bethel; Covenant renewalGenesis 29 Jacob meets Rachel; Jacob marries Laban’s daughters: Leah and RachelGenesis 30 Jacob has children with wives and handmaidens and prospersGenesis 31 Jacob returns home; Jacob and Laban make an covenantGenesis 32 Jacob wrestles with GodGenesis 33 Jacob meets Esau again

General Outline of GenesisGenesis 34 The rape of Dinah and the brothers revengeGenesis 35 The Birth of Benjamin, the death of Rachel, and the death of IsaacGenesis 36 Esau’s descendants and the clans of EdomGenesis 37 Joseph dreams of greatness and is sold by his brothers Genesis 38 Judah and TamarGenesis 39 Joseph and Potiphar’s wifeGenesis 40 The dreams of the two prisonersGenesis 41 Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s DreamGenesis 42 Joseph’s brothers go to EgyptGenesis 43 Joseph’s brothers second trip to Egypt with BenjaminGenesis 44 Joseph detains BenjaminGenesis 45 Joseph reveals himself to his brothersGenesis 46 Jacob’s family relocates to EgyptGenesis 47-50 Famine and the death of Jacob and Joseph

Points to Consider:1.While our Biblical stories stand on their own as

superbly written narratives, by linking narratives together we can often expose a broader story-line with meaning of its own.

2.Our Biblical stories can often be read as relating to or commentary on stories of other dominant cultures.

3.Often Biblical stories rely on literary motif, word play, and literary conventions (ex. type scenes), that would be better recognized by the ancient culture that developed it, than by us in the modern world.

4.Sometimes our Biblical stories tell us more about the time in which they were written/edited than about the time the story takes place.

General (Broad) Outline of Genesis

Genesis 1-11 Primeval MythGenesis 12-22 The Abraham SagaGenesis 24-36 The Jacob SagaGenesis 37-50 The Joseph Saga

The Abraham Saga

The Abraham Saga

Genesis 12: 1-5Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered…..

The Abraham Saga

Genesis 13: 8-9, 14-168 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”……………..

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

The Abraham Saga Gen 15:2-6After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Major Archaeological site in Iraq

1925

The Abraham Saga Gen 16:1-4Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, 2 and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

Gen 17:15-2115God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”

Gen 22:1-2, 9-17 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

……………….9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.

The ABRAHAM SAGA is the 10 chapter epic quest of a human to prove himself faithful to his God, and thus become the father of his God’s people. The “Aqeda” (the binding) of Isaac, is the final and ultimate test of the hero Abraham’s willingness to trust God with the son he had waited so long to get……. in order to fulfill his destiny.



2.Our Biblical stories can often be read as relating to or commentary on stories of other dominant cultures.The quest by a child-less hero for a son of his own is a classic story-line in literature of the ancient world of Mesopotamia:

• Epic Poem of Danel & Aqhat• Epic of Keret

The Jacob SagaWord play

GENESIS 25: 21-27 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”

24 When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25

The first came out red (adom), all his body like a hairy (sear) mantle; so they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet (tam) man, living in tents.

GENESIS 25: 29-34 29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red (adom) stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom (Edom).) 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob……..

GENESIS 27: 11-1311 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy (sear) man, and I am a man of smooth (chalaq) skin. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.”

REVIEW VOCABULARY FROM THE TEXT:

”sear“ סLעLרHair. Esau is described as covered in red hair.

”Seir“ שעירProminent mountain in Edom.

”adom“ אTדLםRed. Esau is described as covered in red hair and likes red stew.

”Edom“ אXדוVםPeople who lived just south of Judah, a traditional enemy of Judah and understood to be the descendants of Esau

REVIEW VOCABULARY FROM THE TEXT:

”chalaq“ חTלTקSmooth. Used to describe smooth skin without hair in Gen 27:11 (word is only used 4 times in the Bible: other uses are in Proverbs 5:3, Proverbs 26:28, Ezekiel 12:24) In every other case “chalaq” is used to describe smooth talking. A related word is used to describe a place in the southern most part of Judah near to the border of Edom where the descendants of Esau are said to live. (Joshua 11: 17, Joshua 12:7)

”tam“ תTם־Jacob is described with Hebrew word “tam” often translated as a “quiet” man in Genesis. This same word is used to describe the King of Gerar in Genesis and Job in the book of Job in a conversation between God and Satan. The other uses of the word carry the meaning of “innocent” or “justified”

The Jacob Sagaword play

literary convention: type scenes

Hebrew literary convention: type scenes

• Husband has his wife claim to be his sister so a ruler does not kill him to get his wife

Abram and Sarai (with Pharaoh of Egypt) Genesis 12Abraham and Sarah (with Abimelech of Gerar) Genesis 20Isaac and Rebekah (with Abimelech of Gerar) Genesis 26

• God comes to a barren woman and announces that she is going to have a baby.

Hagar (mother of Ismael) Genesis 16Sarah (mother of Isaac) Genesis 17Wife of Manoah (mother of Samson) Judges 13Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) Luke 1Mary (mother of Jesus) Luke 1

.

Hebrew literary convention: type scenes “Meeting wives at wells”(The typical type scene: an eligible bachelor leaves his home and travels to an adjacent land and stops at the local watering hole, a well, where he meets a woman (or women) and ends up marrying one of them.)

Jacob and Rachel Genesis 29:1-14Isaac and Rebekah Genesis 24:1-2; 10-26; 42 -51Moses and Zipporah Exodus 2:15-21Saul meets women at well 1 Samuel 9:11-12Ruth meets Boaz at a well Ruth 2: 8-9

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman John 4: 4-18


General Historical Timeline of Hebrew Bible (BCE)

1800-1400? Abraham and other Patriarchs migrate to Canaan (or develop from within)

1400-1200? Possible Exodus from Egypt (if historical)1200-1050? Conquest of Canaan / Period of Judges (if historical)1050-930? First Kings of a United Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon)c. 922 Kingdom divides into Northern Kingdom (Israel/Ephraim); and

Southern Kingdom (Judah)722 Assyria defeats Northern Kingdom and capture capital Samaria586 Babylon defeats Southern Kingdom and capture capital Jerusalem538 Hebrew exiles are returned from Babylonian captivity, when Cyrus of

Persian defeats Babylonia, and begin to restore the Temple334 Alexander the Great captures Palestine and Persia and Hellenizes the

known world


General Historical Timeline of Hebrew Bible (BCE)

1800-1400? Abraham and other Patriarchs migrate to Canaan (or develop from within)

1400-1200? Possible Exodus from Egypt (if historical)1200-1050? Conquest of Canaan / Period of Judges (if historical)1050-930? First Kings of a United Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon)c. 922 Kingdom divides into Northern Kingdom (Israel/Ephraim); and

Southern Kingdom (Judah)722 Assyria defeats Northern Kingdom and capture capital Samaria586 Babylon defeats Southern Kingdom and capture capital Jerusalem538 Hebrew exiles are returned from Babylonian captivity, when Cyrus of

Persian defeats Babylonia, and begin to restore the Temple334 Alexander the Great captures Palestine and Persia and Hellenizes the

known world

BRONZE AGE

IRON AGE

HISTORICAL ANACHRONISMS

Camels – not domesticated until Iron age

Philistines – Gerar – not after until 1100 BCE

Arameans – Laban – not mentioned in Near East texts until after 1100 BCE

Edom – first Kings during time of Assyria (8th century BCE)

Moab / Ammon – enemies of Israel during 9th and 8th centuries BCE

Genesis 19: 30-38 The Origins of Moab and Ammon

30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar and settled in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; so he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the world. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. 34 On the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring through our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger rose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab; he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. 38The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi; he is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day.

What is it about these old narratives that is compelling?

Sometimes as children, we come to think of these characters as either good or bad, but as adults, we can better see the ambiguity. Are there particular characters that you identify with more than others?

Does the potential lack of historicity of these stories diminish the usefulness for us?

How can God speak to us in these texts?

What can we learn from these testimonies of the faith of the ancient Hebrews about the God we worship today?

Summer of 2015



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