Old Testament Final

ban/herem

Means to devote to destruction (Deut 20)
Why does God command women/kids, etc. to be killed?

View Points on ban/herem

Fictional-it didn’t happen, the problem goes away
Whirlwind-we don’t know the mind of God
Hyperbole-common in the ANE to describe killing of everyone, even if everyone was
not killed
Context-common in ANE to kill many people, not just soldiers
Punishment-Canaanites were being punished for their wicked behavior
Remnant-some Canaanites were protected and not killed

Josiah’s Reform

Took place in 623 BC, found in 2 Kings 22-23, match the language of Deuteronomy

Definition of Hebrew Poetry

Type of elevated discourse, composed of terse lines, employing a high degree of parallelism an imagery

Deuteronomistic history (the books that make it up and what it is)

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings
These books were compiled during exile to explain God’s judgment
Theory developed by Martin Noth in 1943 that these books were a literary unity
brought together in exile to explain God’s punishment

Type of conquest

Both immediate and total and gradual and partial in Joshua

Samaria (as a capital)

Omri, a general moves the capital of Israel (the northern tribes) here
Serves as the final and longest serving capital of the northern kingdom

Define a judge (Judges)

Regional, military leader who arises when there is a need

Shiloh (as a religious site)

Housed the tabernacle and served as the most important religious site in Israel
before David made Jerusalem the capital

Authorship of Proverbs

A compilation brought together over time

“Fear of the Lord”

The theme of wisdom literature, found especially at key points in Proverbs

Manasseh

Wicked king of Judah (689-640), reigned about 50 years, who exile is blamed on his
actions in 2 Kings
In Chronicles, he repents!

Jereboam

King of Israel, allied with the northern tribes and broke away after the death of
Solomon
He established worship sites at Dan and Bethel
The Golden Calf language will also condemn him (These are your gods, O Israel)

Rehoboam

King of Judah, who followed after Solomon
He reigned from Jerusalem and is in the line of David

Omri/Omride Dynasty

Military general who usurped the throne and moved the capital to Samaria
(northern tribes)
Omri established a dynasty that only grew worse after him

Parallelism

Dominant feature of OT poetry
Read lines as couplets and see how the second line echoes, expands, or intensifies
the first line

Edict of Cyrus

A Persian king, who, in 539 BC, decreed captive nations could return to their
homelands and rebuild (“I restored to them their dwellings”)

How to Interpret Proverbs

As context sensitive, taking account of timing and situation, realizing that they are
not universal truths.

Martin Noth

Scholar who theorized the idea of the Deuteronomistic History

Division of Proverbs

Prov 1-9, long poems
Prov 10-31, more independent proverbs that don’t always link with other proverbs
before and after it

Hezekiah

Good king of Judah (715-689) who removed high places from throughout the land
The prophet Isaiah was a contemporary of Hezekiah

Importance of Psalm 89

Serves as the climax in the book of Psalms
Raises the question about the faithfulness of God to the Davidic covenant
Psalms 90 and later will affirm that God is faithful

Esther/no mention of God

The book of Esther does not mention the name of God
It is a way of showing God is present even when it feels like he isn’t

Ezra/Nehemiah

Both push against the issue of intermarriage (Jews with non-Jews)

Qohelet

The Hebrew title for the book of Ecclesiastes

Retribution Principle

Connected to covenantal curses and blessings, first introduced in Deuteronomy
DtrH holds to delayed retribution
Chronicles has an emphasis on verifiable retribution

Amenemope

Egyptian wisdom of Amenemope. A large section of Prov 22-24 has a number of
parallels to Amenemope. It shows that wisdom literature is international and
not restricted to the Bible

Symbolism of Solomonic Temple

Symbolizes the world over which God rules

Royal psalm

focus on the life of the earthly king (ex: Psa 2)
NT interprets these psalms messianically

Praise Psalm

A focus on praising God

Thanksgiving psalm

Gives a reason for praising God

Lament Psalm

The psalmist is in despair, but the lament almost always moves from lament
to praise

Torah Psalm

A psalm that focuses on the goodness of Torah/law

Wisdom Psalm

A psalm exploring the problems and possibilities of life before God and how
best to live that life. These psalms often sound like reading Proverbs.

Zion Psalm

A focus on God being in the midst of Jerusalem and that it will be protected.

Problems with Solomon’s Reign

High taxation, budget deficits, dissatisfaction of conscripted labor gangs, worship
of his many wives’ other gods/tolerance of religious beliefs

Elijah/Elisha

Prophets that ministered to the wicked Omride dynasty
Elijah (“my God is YHWH”) came first and served as a precursor to the Messiah as he
was taken to heaven in a whirlwind.
Elisha was his successor

Dan/Bethel

Places of worship established by Jereboam I, when the kingdom divided in 930
Both are set in northern tribal areas

Nebuchadnezzar

The Babylonian king, under whose reign, had Jerusalem destroyed in 586

Setting of Job

The place names suggest an Edomite setting

“the Satan”

Figure in Job 1 who dialogues with God.
It is a title, not a proper name in Hebrew

Judges as political literature

Northern tribes are portrayed negatively
Judah is regarded highly
Gibeah, in Benjamin, is heavily critiqued

Cyrus the Great

Persian leader who allows Jews to go back to their land and rebuild

Chronicles-purpose and focus of the book

Focus on priesthood, temple and worship
Idealizes and presents David and Solomon as very pious

Tel Dan Inscription

Archaeological artifact which mentions the “house of David,” about 100 years after
David’s time

Types of Wisdom Literature

Proverbs-affirms that life follows rationally understood order
Job/Ecclesiastes-examines life when it makes no sense

Depiction of Saul in Samuel and what were his failings

Saul is the first king of Israel and he is depicted in a negative manner
Saul is a tragedy; He leads a burnt offering (rejection of his line for future kings),
takes a rash vow in front of his troops, does not put Amalek to the ban
(rejection of Saul himself as king), and consults a witch

Importance of Hannah’s song

Introduces themes we see in 1 and 2 Samuel
Namely, the rising and falling of people’s fortunes and fates

David’s choice of Jerusalem (Jebus)

Does not want to appear to favor Judah
Gives the Benjamites a “consolation” prize
Keeps a close eye on Benjamin
Neutrality of the site-hadn’t meant much to any tribe previously
Defensively protected and is easier to defend

Which 3 cities mentioned in Joshua as being physically burned

Jericho, Ai, Hazor

Order of world empires

ABPGR-Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman

Depiction of David in Chronicles

Very positive and idealized, nothing bad is said about him

Movement of Psalms from lament to praise

In books 1-3, laments dominate. Books 4-5 have more praise psalms

Pre-monarchy prophets

Prophets before there was a monarchy-Examples are Moses and Deborah

Pre-classical prophets

Prophets that primarily ministered to the monarchy. They served after the pre-
monarchy prophets and before the classical prophets (about 1000-800 BC) Examples: Elijah and Elisha

Classical prophets

Prophets with books named after them. Time period is 700’s and later.

Examples: Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, etc.

Dynastic Succession of David

David has an affair with Bathsheba and his family life crumbles

Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar

Absalom, avenges the death of Tamar and is then exiled by David

Absalom, even though exiled, builds support to be king and tries to overthrow David

Davidic kings (which part of the kingdom they ruled)

They ruled over the southern area of Judah and Jerusalem

Joshua-his role and comparisons

Led Israel into Canaan after the death of Moses

He is compared to Moses as a new Moses and Josiah is also compared to Joshua

Types and definitions of poetic uses of language

Alphabetic Acrostic-letters in order to form structure (ABCDEF, etc.)
Alliteration-repetition of the same, opening sound
Assonance-repetition of similar sounding vowels
Paronomasia-word play
Chiasm-a structuring device, that looks like the letter X
Face
Voice
Voice
Face

Onomatopoeia-words sound like what they mean

Davidic Covenant-2 Sam 7

Promise of descendants who will sit on the throne
Establish throne/kingdom forever

Structure of the five books within Psalms

Moves from laments to praise

Division of the kingdom, into the north and south

930

Destruction and exile of the northern kingdom, at the hands of the Assyrians

722

Destruction and exile of the southern kingdom, at the hands of the Babylonians

586

End of exile for Judah

536

The beginnings of the Second Temple

520

The Second Temple is now complete

515

Rise of Alexander the Great

333