hebrew bible midterm

aaron

moses’ brother, the first high priest of Israel, speaks for moses and helps lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

abel

the second son of Adam and Eve, known for being killed by his brother Cain out of jealousy.

abram/abraham

the patriarch of the Hebrew Bible, originally named Abram, who became the father of Isaac and a key figure in the covenant between God and the Israelites.

adam

the first man created by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, and the husband of Eve. He is a key figure in the creation narrative and the origin of humanity.

baal

a Canaanite god associated with storms, fertility, and agriculture, often worshiped by ancient Israelites through idolatry.

babel

the city where the Tower of Babel was built, meant to reach the heavens. It is noted for the confusion of languages that resulted from God's intervention. god’s continued dislike of cities; human cooperation in contrast with divine command —> punishment

cain

older brother of abel, kills him in jealousy. first murder, fratricide. humans are innately bad

canaan (character)

son of ham, grandson of noah. cursed by noah for ham seeing noah naked, canaan has to serve his brothers and uncles. justifies the israelite takeover of the land of canaan.

circumcision

sign of covenant with abraham.

covenant

agreement/treaty between two parties (God and noah, abraham, jacob, moses/israelites, etc). central theme in priestly source.

d source

deuteronomic, almost entirely the book of deuteronomy. probably discovered in the temple in the 7th cent. bce. northern origin (horeb, prophecy emphasis)

documentary hypothesis

the pentateuch is from four separate hypothetical sources. hinges on the fact that yhwh was used before it was revealed to moses

doublet

two or more versions of the same story, sometimes woven together. examples: gen 1-2 (creation), gen 6-9 (flood), repeated elements like wives as sisters

e source

elohist source. uses “elohim” (“god”) until burning bush (ex 3). fragmented across pentateuch. uses more impersonal, removed god. northern origin (mostly takes place in ephraim, uses horeb). sometimes rolled into “je source”

egypt

place where joseph rose to power, israelites were enslaved. represents bondage, but also temporary safety.

enkidu

character in the epic of gilgamesh. very wild. made by the gods in order to balance out gilgamesh’s tyranny. he gains reason after a prostitute, becomes friends with gilgamesh after fighting him. killed by the gods, which prompts gilg to search for immortality

enuma elish

babylonian creation story, shows marduk’s rise to become king of the gods. tiamut’s body separates the waters, more violent (pagan) version of hebrew story

epic of gilgamesh

story of gilgamesh, a king in uruk. awful guy

esau

older son of isaac, tricked out of his inheritance by jacob (for some food) and not jacob’s biggest fan. jacob pretends to be him for the blessing. rebekkah likes jacob more, isaac likes esau. father of the edomites

etiology

narrative to explain the name of something (usually a place)

eve

first woman, taken out of adam’s rib. only named after her subjection. tricked by the serpent to eat from the tree. you wrote a whole paper about eve you know this girl

form criticism

breaking down the bible into smaller stories to determine the original form of each text. developed by gunkel

god/elohim

word used for god before the reveal of yhwh. god of abraham, isaac, and jacob. idk man it’s god

hagar

slave of sarah, used by her to make a son with abraham: ishmael. she’s cast off in the desert, but saved by god

hardening of pharaoh’s heart

reason why he doesn’t let the israelites go. alternatively performed by himself, god, or no one specified. god repeatedly hardens pharaoh’s heart to push him to extremes, in order to justify killing the firstborns of egypt and proving his might

isaac

son of abraham and sarah, marries rebekkah, father of esau and jacob. very passive patriarch: almost gets sacrificed, easily misled, repeats his father’s actions.

ishmael

son of abraham and hagar. didn’t continue on the covenant, but god blesses him and creates a nation from him too. rescued in the wilderness by god, fathered the ishmaelites

j source

yahwist source. uses yhwh before ex 3. god is anthropomorphized, emphasis on god’s promises to abraham. most complete source. probably southern kingdom (judah). relationship between humanity and soil, separation of god and humanity.

jacob/israel

younger son of isaac. wrestles with god, who renames him. father of the 12 tribes of israel. tricks esau out of his inheritance and blessing with rebekkah’s help. two wives who are sisters and hate each other: rachel and leah

joseph

son of jacob and rachel, interprets dreams which cause his brothers to sell him into slavery. when in egypt, he’s imprisoned before interpreting pharaoh’s dreams and saving egypt from famine. leads egypt, saves his brothers, attributes everything to god.

judah

the southern kingdom of israel, also the third-oldest of jacob’s sons and the one who inherits the blessing (older two are sus)

julius wellhausen

came up with the documentary hypothesis

lord/yhwh

name for god following ex 3 in all sources besides j. revealed to moses in the burning bush.

leah

older, first of jacob’s wives. he doesn’t love her, she’s resentful of her sister. creates a rocky home life

literary approach to the bible

looking at the scripture as a whole continuous story, not just as a collection of historical artifacts

marduk

main character in the enuma elish. son of apsu and tiamut, kills them both and uses tiamut’s body to separate the domes.

masoretic text

oldest hebrew complete old testament, adds consonants etc from older versions. remarkably accurate. basis for all of our translations

mesopotamia

land between two rivers: tigris and euphrates

midian

land of moses’ father in law. named after abraham’s fourth son

moses

obv i know who moses is. hebrew man raised in pharaoh’s house, chosen by god to lead the israelites out of bondage in egypt and give them the law. traditionally, the author of the pentateuch

myth

a story that explains the origins of a phenomena, a group, a people, etc. usually has gods

noah

god saved noah and his immediate family because noah was faithful, chosen to repopulate the earth. builds the ark, saves the animals, god promises never to do it again and shows it with the rainbow

p source

priestly source. emphasis on religious practice/ritual, covenants, genealogies. uses elohim and sinai, so southern kingdom (judah). god never appears. p was the final editor of all other sources, frames the pent. to provide religious law/code

passover

celebration of god sparing the israelites from the 10th plague in egypt (killing the firstborn). combines the lamb sacrifice with the feast of unleavened bread. seder

pentateuch

first five books of the hebrew bible, also called the torah. genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy

pharaoh

general term for the kings of egypt, used in exodus for the one who won’t let the israelites go.

rachel

second/younger of jacob’s wives. he liked her better. mother of joseph and benjamin, dead. sister of leah

rebekah

wife of isaac. does a lot more than he does. abraham’s servant found her at a well. mother of jacob and esau

robert alter

literary approach to the bible. type scenes: well encounter, annunciation, epiphany in a field, pretending wife is a sister

sabbath

the seventh day (sunday), where god and the jewish people rest instead of working. big tenet of judaism, usually ignored by christianity

sarah

wife of abraham. barren, and yet has isaac when she’s old. jealous of hagar, sends her away

septuagint

v accurate, oldest greek translation of the hebrew bible. new testament authors quote from the septuagint. created for mediterranean jews who were losing touch with hebrew

source criticism

looking at the individual sources and history of different biblical narratives

tamar

widow of two of judah’s sons, then has judah’s twins. one of them is the ancestor of david and jsesus. judah admits that tamar is more righteous than him.

tiamat

goddess of saltwater, chaos in mesopotamia. killed by her son marduk, her body is stretched to make the sky

tree of life

tree created by god in the garden of eden. allowed to be eaten from

tree of the knowledge of good and evil

forbidden tree in the garden of eden. when adam and eve eat of it, they become more like god, and are punished

zipporah

wife of moses. midianite, which is weird. saved moses and sons by circumcising them. had two sons