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The Old Testament:

The Old Testament:. A Very Brief Overview. What ’ s in the Book?. The Old Testament (OT) The Hebrew Bible (HB) Torah ( “ Law ” ) Nebi ’ im ( “ Prophets ” ) Kethubim ( “ Writings ” ) Best Options: “ First Testament ” or “ Hebrew Bible ”.

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The Old Testament:

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  1. The Old Testament: A Very Brief Overview

  2. What’s in the Book? • The Old Testament (OT) • The Hebrew Bible (HB) • Torah (“Law”) • Nebi’im (“Prophets”) • Kethubim (“Writings”) • Best Options: “First Testament” or “Hebrew Bible”

  3. “If Christians continue to use ‘Old Testament’ (and in my judgment that is preferable), they must make clear that the term is not pejorative, but descriptive, serving the purpose of distinguishing the books so designated from the New Testament. In traditional Christian thought the Old Testament is Scripture, just as sacred and enduringly valid as the New Testament.” • Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, p. xxxiv.

  4. Hebrew Bible

  5. English Bible The Structure of the English Old Testament (English 39 = Books) • Pentateuch (5) • Historical Books (12) • Poetry and Wisdom (5) • Major Prophets (5) • Minor Prophets (12)

  6. English Bible

  7. Historical ContextThe Biblical Times

  8. A Brief but Must-Know Timeline • 1250 B.C. Moses and Exodus • 1200-1000 B.C. Joshua: Conquest, Settlement Judges • 1000 B.C. David/United Monarchy • 922 B.C. Division of the Kingdom • 722 B.C. Fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) • 586 B.C. Fall of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) • 538 B.C. Edict of Persian King Cyrus; Return from Exile

  9. PATRIARCHALPERIOD Eden Noah Abraham/Isaac/Jacob Down into Egypt with Joseph & the Tribes (??) (??) @2000 BCE (@1850) @1850 BCE (@1700) Hyksos Period in Egypt- @1650-1550 EXODUS CONQUEST & SETTLEMENT THE UNITED MONARCHY Sinai Desert Wanderings Joshua & the Conquest Era of the Judges Samuel Saul/David/Solomon 40 yrs @1400 (@1250) @1020/@1000/@960 1446 BCE (@1290) Merneptah Stele - @1220 BCE Assyrian Destruction (Shalmaneser V) THE DIVIDED MONARCHY Series of assassinations 745-722 Dynasty of Jehu 843-745 The Omrides 876-843 Jeroboam I 932 BCE 722 BCE Ahab 869 Elijah Jereboam II 786 Hosea & Amos Syro-Ephraimite Wars 734-732 Assyria falls to Babylon-612 BCE Egypt defeated at Carchemish-605 BCE Sennacherib’s Campaign- 701 BCE Moabite Stone - @840 BCE Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin 1st Deportation 609-597 Rehoboam I 932 BCE Jehosaphat 873 Uzziah 783 Ahaz 735 Hezekiah 715 Manasseh 695 Josiah 640-609 Dan Stele - @850 Isaiah Isaiah Jeremiah Jeremiah Micah Nahum THE EXILE THE RETURN 2ND TEMPLE JUDAISM Babylon falls to Medo-Persian Empire- 539 BCE Zedekiah 597-586 Ezekiel Daniel 70 yrs Alexander Hasmoneans336 BCE 152-64 BCE Edict of Cyrus 538 BCE Ezra & Nehemiah 458-398 BCE Malachi Temple Rebuilt 520-515 BCE Haggai & Zechariah 587/6BCE Jeremiah Babylonian Destruction (Nebuchadrezzar)

  10. Historical ContextThe Biblical Places

  11. Where Did These Events Take Place? • Fertile Crescent • Mesopotamia • Euphrates and Tigris Rivers • Fertile yet politically unstable • Assyria Babylon Persia Greece Rome

  12. Where Did These Events Take Place? • Egypt • Nile River • Fertile and stable

  13. Where Did These Events Take Place? Palestine Palestine’s geographic features made isolation the norm

  14. The Zones of Israel

  15. Canaan in the Days of Abraham

  16. Cultural ContextThe Biblical Culture

  17. Thinking Like an Ancient • The ancient world of which Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Paul were a part was in various ways very unlike modern western culture.

  18. 1. HONOR and SHAME • A primary value is honor, life is a secondary value in such a culture. Better to die than to be dishonored or shamed. • Honor was a public and male value in this culture, shame a private, and often female value. • Society was structured such that one got ahead by means of Honor challenges-- in which there were always winners and losers.

  19. 2. Group vs. Individual Identity Ancient Mediterranean persons got their primary sense of identity not from their uniqueness but from the groups and locale of which they were a part-- in particular, • their family group (OT tribe or father, Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah) • ethnic group (Ruth the Moabite) • homeland (e.g. Elijah the Tishbite 1 Kings 17:1)

  20. 3. LIMITED GOOD • In antiquity, goods, services, honor, and the like were all in limited supply. If one person had them another did not. Thus one spent much of one's time trying to protect what one had. • There was not a free market economy. Bartering, trading, stealing, or winning were the chief means of obtaining what one did not have. • One could seldom earn improvement in life, it had to be bestowed and one had to know the right people.

  21. 4. PATRON-CLIENT Relationships • The chief means of succeeding in antiquity was through patronage. • Favors and payback were the order of the day. • Once one entered a patron-client relationship, it was difficult if not impossible to get out. • In such a culture, “grace” was a foreign concept.

  22. 5. A PATRIARCHAL WORLD • The ancient world was highly patriarchal and male-centered. • Not only was it a male dominated world, but the major values of the world were set up to keep it that way. • Ancient literature was almost all written from a male point of view. • Higher Education was basically the provenance of males, and so most ancient literature was written by and for men. • In this world, we should see God’s attempt to modify patriarchy as much more revolutionary than they appear today.

  23. Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) World ViewConcept of Continuity Deity Natue Humanity Nature

  24. The Biblical World ViewConcept of Transcendence God Natue God God Humanity Nature

  25. CONTRASTING WORLDVIEWS ANCIENT NEAR SCRIPTURAL EASTERN 1. Polytheism 1. Monotheism 2. Continuity 2. Discontinuity 3. Role of history= 3. History = insignificant significant

  26. A Theology of Biblical History History is not just facts. It’s interpretation History is not all the facts. It’s selective

  27. A Theology of Biblical History History is linear Beginning, middle, end (Exception: Judges 2:6-3:6) History is purposeful Something (someone) stands behind history, pushing it to a climax

  28. A Theology of Biblical History • History is Relational • God acts not by determinism but in response to our relationship to Him • History is Crisis-Oriented • Leads to a decision for something or someone

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