Old Testament "Party" #1 Dr. Justin Walker

Critical Moment #1 

Creation 

Critical Moment #2

Call of Abraham

Critical Moment #3

Exodus

Critical Moment #4

Conquest and Settlement 

Critical Moment #5

Establishment of the Monarchy

Critical Moment #6

Division of the Kingdom

Critical Moment #7

Fall of Israel

Critical Moment #8

Fall of Judah and Exile

Critical Moment #9

Return to the Land and Restoration

1250 BC 

Moses and Exodus 

1200-1000 BC

Conquest, Settlement, Judges

1000 BC

David/United Monarchy

922 BC

Division of the kingdom

722 BC

Fall of north kingdom, Israel

587 BC

Fall of South kingdom, Judah

538 BC

Edict of Cyrus; return from exile

515 BC

Completion of 2nd temple

450 BC

Ezra and the law

Commandment #1

No other gods

Commandment #2

No idols

Commandment #3

No misuse of God’s name

Commandment #4

Keep the Sabbath

Commandment #5

Honor Dad and Mom

Commandment #6

No killing

Commandment #7 

No adultery 

Commandment #8 

No stealing 

Commandment #9

No false witness

Commandment #10

No coveting

Core value #1

Ethical action

Core value #2

Responsible citizenship

Core value #3

Redemptive service

Tanakh

Torah

Nebi’im

Kethubim

Tetragrammaton

4 letters for God

W.M.L de wette

came up with the theory that Deuteronomy was written in 622 BC by King Josiah

Marduk and Tiamat

Tiamat- primordial Goddess 

Marduk- storm God and chief deity of Babylon 

Chaoskampf 

War with chaos; creation as conquering chaos in the divine, natural, social, and political realms

Imago Dei

All humans made in God’s image

The Documentary Hypothesis

developed by Julius Wellhausen; the final form was under Ezra in 450 BC

Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomy, Priestly

Cain

murdered his brother, exiled and toiled, received mark of protection, founding of human cities that ushered in violence of generations (Lamech) 

Babel

Babylonian ziggurat, founded by Nimrod, where there was division of language that was redeemed at Pentecost 

Abraham and Sarah

Abraham- father of multitudes

Sarah- princess 

Abraham and Sarah weren’t perfect by any means but they were a model/source of God’s blessing 

Hagar

Servant who Abraham slept with due to Sarah’s unbelief, Ishmael’s mother, first Human to give God a name (El Roi- the God who sees) 

Isaac and Rebekah

Isaac is Abraham’s son, Rebekah was barren but Isaac interceded and they became parents to Jacob and Esau 

Jacob, Leah, and Rachel 

Jacob had to work for 7 years to marry Rachel but he was tricked into marrying Leah and worked 7 more years to marry Rachel. Leah had 6 sons and 1 girl and Rachel had 2 sons and the concubines had 4 sons. 

Shiphrah and Puah

When instructed to kill all Baby Boys by Pharaoh, they refused because of their fear of the Lord

Merneptah Stela

(13th Century BC) Earliest reference to the people of Israel that we have in the archaeological record

Apodictic Law

absolute law

Casuistic Law

Case by case law

Nadab and Abihu 

Aaron’s sons offered strange fire and God’s fire consumes them in front of everyone; don’t be flippant in God’s presence

Ketef-Hinnom Amulets

Amulets that had the priestly blessing written on it (7th-6th century BC)

Suzerain-Vassal treaties

Treaties from imperial overlords and stipulations for subject nations 

The Shema

Shema= listen/hear

the first commandment in positive (and poetic) form

Genesis 

LXX- Genesis

MT- Bereshith 

Exodus

LXX- Exodus algyptou 

MT- Shemat 

Leviticus

LXX- Leutikon

MT- Wayyiqra 

Numbers

LXX- Arithmoi

MT- Bemidbar 

Deuteronomy

LXX- Devraim 

MT- Deuteronomos 

4 gifts of the OT

Poetry

Honesty 

Theology 

Ecclesiology 

Biblical Interpretation (3 worlds)

Behind- the OT is a complex set of composition, editing, transmission and translation

Within- reading the bible as literature that takes on a life of it’s own 

In front of- we are situated and interested readers; our biases are not all good or bad and we must own them 

Hermeneutics

art/science of interpretation

7 guides 

1. Historical context

2. Genre

3. The details of the text 

4. Literary context

5. Canonical text

6. Ecclesial text

7. Holy Spirit

Composition of Deuteronomy (de wette)

622 BC by King Josiah

Problems with Mosaic authorship

the 10 commandments were written by God, someone at the end had to have written about Moses’s death, texts written in 3rd person alludes to other authors, and certain phrases (i.e. to this day) 

Genesis (Promises/Threats)

God promised land and descendants and threats like outsiders and man trying to take things into their own hands where a few ways the promise was blocked 

2 fold structure (Exodus)

Exodus 1-18: rescue/salvation

Exodus 19-40: relationship/covenant

Sixfold form

1. divine confrontation

2. introductory word

3. commission

4. objection

5. reassurance

6. sign

God and the Tabernacle

1. God’s occasional presence becomes ongoing

2. God’s distant presence becomes close

3. God’s fixed dwelling (Sinai) becomes portable

Tabernacle and Creation

1) the tabernacle is a microcosm of creation

2) the world is a sanctuary of God’s presence 

3) God throughs Israel’s worship and obedience is recreating the world

Two transitions (Numbers) 

1. Geographical transition

2. Generational transition

How do the Suzerain-vassal treaties help? 

evidence for Deuteronomy’s political significance and evidence for possible early or later composition/editing dates