Old Testament Study Guide Unit 3

Poetic and Wisdom Books

List the historical books (English Bible)

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuels, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra Nehemiah, and Esther 

What is the Hexateuch?

Genesis – Joshua (1^st 6 books of the Bible)

Describe the Deuteronomistic History? 

What do we know about Joshua?

1^st appears in Exodus 17 where he led Israel's army to victory over the Amalekite. 

Was at the foot of Mount Sani when Moses received the law 

One 1 /12 men that were sent to spy out the land in Canaan  

God spared Caleb and Joshua because of their faith 

Led the Israelite's into the promise land 

What is the subject of the book of Joshua? 

The book is about the Isrealite’s’ conquering and entering the promise land of Canaan

How the promise land is split up between the tribes

The renewal of the covenant

How do we know that Joshua was written early? 

Because the early date is supported by the book of Joshua

Models of the conquest 

• The conquest model – W.F Albright 

• The peaceful immigration model  

• The peasant revolution model 

• The Hapiru (Some think these are Hebrews, some think Hapiru are a social class) 

Describe the judges in the book of Judges.

• After Isreal repented from their sins the Lord rose up a judge to deliver them, once the judge died Isreal relapsed. 

• Temporary leaders raised up by God to deliver his people 

List the major judges. 

Othienl, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Jephthah 

What refrain is repeated in the book of Judges? 

“In those days Isreal had no king; All people did what was right in their own eyes” 

What was the time of the Judges like? 

• Desentrailized, 

• Leadership was tribal and patriarchal  

• Activity of most Judges was local 

• Chaos, people did what was right in their own eyes 

• Fratricide (brothers killing brother) 

Describe the cycles of oppression and deliverance. 

• Isreal does evil in the sight of the Lord 

• They are delivered into the hands of the enemy. 

• Isreal serves the oppressors for X number of years 

• Then cries to the Lord  

• The Lord raises up a deliver 

• The Spirit of the Lord empowers the deliverer 

• The oppressor is defeated 

• The land has peace for X number of years 

How is Judges arranged? 

• Ch 1:1-3:6 – Isreal fails to drive out Canaanites 

• Ch 3:7-16:31 – Cycles of oppression and deliverance 

• Ch 17 :21 – Apostasy and Fratricide  

List the main characters in Ruth

Ruth, Neomi, and Boaz 

What does “Ruth” mean? 

Refreshment and comfort 

What was Ruth’s nationality? 

Moabite 

How many verses in Ruth? 

It is 85 verses long  

What is the genre of Ruth? 

Novella, a well-constructed story with a plot. 

What is “levirate marriage”? 

A man who marries his brother's widowed wife 

What is a goel? 

A redeemer, man who can redeem a family by marrying a widow from that family, (typically an extended family member) 

21. Who are the main characters in Samuel?

• Samuel, Saul, and David 

Identify Hannah, Samuel, Saul, David, Eli.

• Hannah – Samuels mother who could not have children, and when she did she dedicated him to the house of the Lord 

• Samuel - Prophet who anointed the first two kings of Isreal, very important figure in Isreal, One of the three greatest classical prophets  

• Saul - first king of Isreal disobeyed and turned away from the Lord 

• David Second king of Isreal, turned to the Lord after disobeying  

• Eli was the priest who raised Samuel, did not instruct his sons to obey the Lord and the Lord held him accountable for that 

What is the LXX title for 1 & 2 Samuel? 

1 & 2 Reigns  

What is the purpose of Samuel? 

• To document establishment of monarchy and dynasty of David 

• 2^nd Is wholly devoted to reign of David 

Where was Saul’s capitol? 

Benjamite city of Gibeah 

Where was David’s capitol when he was only king of Judah?

Hebron and then in Jerusalem  

Where was the sanctuary located in the opening chapters of Samuel? 

Shiloh

Describe the Hebrew text of Samuel. 

1 Samuel 13:1, There are some translation problems due to words not being in the Hebrew text  

In what chapter is God’s covenant with David found?

2 Samuel 7:12 

Describe God’s covenant with David. 

God promised to give David house of descendant's, establish David’s throne forever

What are some of the mistakes David made in his declining years? 

• Commits adultery, his son raped his daughter, rebellion of Absalon, and took and brought judgment on all of Isreal 

• 2 Samuels 1-10 David could do no wrong, after that it seemed his could do no right 

What is the LXX title for Kings?

3 & 4 Reigns  

Whom does the Talmud identify as the author of Kings? 

Jeremiah, (may have more than one author) 

What is the last event recorded in Kings? 

First is recorded in 970 BC, LAST is recorded in 561 BC 

The events of Kings span a period of how many years? 

About 400 years

What is the message of Kings?

• Message is to the exilic community 

• Isreal should learn from the errors of the ancestors and listens to Gods prophets 

• Though God punishes his people he is ready to forgive them if they repent. 

• He still holds hope out for his people regardless of the dire circumstances 

What sources are found in Kings?

• The books of the acts of Solomon  

• The book of the annals of the Kings of Isreal 

• The books of the annals of the Kings of Judah

What is an accession notice?  

• There for every king that comes to the throne, 

• Synchronism (Who was reigning in the other kingdoms when this king came to power) 

• Age of the kings and time of his succession (only for Judah) 

• Length of reign  

• Capital city 

• Name of queen mother 

• Theological verdict 

What happened on these dates, 931, 722, 586?

• 931 – Division of the kingdom 

• 722 – The fall of the northern kingdom (Isreal) 

• 586 – The fall of the southern kingdom (Judah)

Discuss the reign of Ahab and Jezebel 

Jezebel had a strong devotion to baal was a strong-willed woman and tried very hard to have Yahweh replaced by baal 

Discuss the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. 

• Elijah after Yahweh came and consumed the offering with fire, he led Israelite's to slaughter the baal prophets, was from the Northern kingdom, and ascended into heaven in a chariet of fire, led Elisha and mentored him 

• Elisha watched Elijah ascend to heaven 

What is the message of Kings? 

• Shows blessings and curses 

• God’s commitment to the house of David  

• God’s grace and hope for future 

What is the LXX title of Chronicles, and what does it mean? 

• Paralepomenon means things left out 

• Hebrew is Divre Hayammm meaning Affairs of the days 

What things point to a post-exilic date for Chronicles? 

• Decree of Cyrus (36:22-23) permission given to Jews to go rebuild the temple 

• Geneologies go 2 generations beyond Zerubbabel  

What time-frame is suggested for the writing of Chronicles? 

•  Sometime the 2^nd half of the 5^th century  

• 450-400 BC 

Whom does the Talmud suggest wrote Chronicles? 

Both Ezra and Chron have the decree of Cyrus included , have some similarities in vocab 

How is Chronicles different from Kings? 

• Focus is on Judah more, Kings focuses on the northern kingdom 

• Judah was the holy tribe, and included the temple  

• David and Solomon are sanitized  

What are the central focuses of Chronicles? 

• Focus is on Judah more, Kings focuses on the northern kingdom 

• Judah was the holy tribe, and included the temple  

• David and Solomon are sanitized 

• Covers Davidic heritage 

• Centrality of the Temple 

• The role of the Temple 

How does Chronicles view the reigns of David and Solomon? 

View them in a positive way, doesn’t mention any of their wrong doings

Who is Ezra? What does his name mean? 

• Ezra was given permissions to go back to the homeland and was given authority to teach and enforce covenant law  

• Was to rebuild the temple 

• His name means Azariah = Yhwh helps 

Who is Nehemiah? What does his name mean? 

• Nehemiah was there to rebuild walls of Jerusalem  

• His name means Yhwh comforts

What was the post-exilic period in Judea like? 

Surrounded by enemies', people weren't observing the law the way it should, be abuse of tithing, corruption in priesthood, rampet divorce, intermarriage with unbelievers,  

What apocryphal books are named after Ezra? 

• 1 Edras ( last part of chron, ezra, and part of nehemiah) 

• 2 nd Edras 

Who wrote Ezra and Nehemiah? 

Most likely Ezra, but it is likely that both of them wrote the memiors of themselves

What does Esther’s name mean? 

Variation of Babyloneon Ishtar or persian word stara = star 

Where does Esther take place? 

Persian capital of Susa around 483 BC 

What is the feast of Purim? 

Jews read the story of Esther and have a melodrama play 

What does Purim mean?

Lot  

How many time is Esther quoted in the NT? 

Never 

Is Esther found in the Dead Sea Scrolls? 

No 

How many times is the name of God mentioned in Esther?

None 

Who is the villain in the book of Esther? 

Hamen 

Who are the heroes in the book of Esther? 

Mordaci and Esther

What is Esther’s Hebrew name? 

Hebrew Hadasah