Old Testament Literature and Interpretation Midterm

What is the Bible the story of?

Redemption

What are the three “p’s” that Epic of Eden uses to describe Israel’s tribal society?

Patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal

What is the definition of “patrilocal?”

Living space is organized around the oldest living male

What does “redeem” mean in the Old Testament?

To restore a family member to full rights and privileges within the family

What is the definition of “fictive kinship?'“

When two people become family based on a legal agreement

What is a suzerain/vassal treaty?

A treaty between a more powerful party and a less powerful party

What are the three big class question for this semester?

Who is God?

What does it mean for God to be with us?

What does it mean to be God’s people?

Why is the location in which the majority of the Old Testament takes place called the Fertile Crescent?

Because it designates a crescent-shaped area of land marked by fertility due to the placement of rivers

What was the significance of Palestine’s location as a corridor for commerce?

Any military activity and trade between Mesopotamia and Egypt had to pass through Palestine

The peoples of Canaan were regularly exposed to the newest technologies of the day

The area was subject to regular military invasion as various superpowers vied for supremacy

Why does the Old Testament focus on the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner?

Each of these classes of people were particularly vulnerable with in the social framework of ancient Israel (didn’t have a bet ab)

What was created on the first day?

Light

What phrase is repeatedly used to evaluate creation?

“It was good”

What was the state of the world before God creates light?

God is there, with the deep waters

For what task does God place the man in the Garden in Genesis 2?

To work/cultivate it and to keep/guard it

Why does God favor Abel’s offering rather than Cain’s?

The text doesn’t say

What shared feature characterizes humanity in Genesis 11:1?

One language

Why did Abraham repeated go down to Egypt?

Due to the flooding patterns of the Nile, Egypt enjoyed relative agricultural stability and often had food when other areas lacked it

Why is syncretism such a risk to Israel?

In ANE society, most gods were in charge of different aspects of life

In a polytheistic society, you wanted to keep all the gods happy

Polytheism was an accepted cultural practice in the ANE

What is “henotheism?”

The belief that one God is more powerful and deserving of worship than all the others