Religion Final

Two values the Hebrew prophets frequently emphasized were tzedekah (right-ness) and _________ (just-ness).

Mishpat

What is the term we discussed for how we read (or approach) a text?

Hermeneutics

Which of the following are emphasized by a critical, academic approach to the Bible (i.e., the field of biblical studies vs. Bible Study)? Choose all that apply

social dynamics of the text, Historical processes of the text's development, The history of how a text has been interpreted

Prophets are primarily concerned with predicting the future.

false

The Hebrew prophets were always listened to and respected by the people they were addressing.

false

According to Abraham Joshua Heschel, "the prophet is a person, not a ____________."

microphone

Which historical event did we discuss as the fulcrum of the formation of the Hebrew Bible?

Babylonian conquest of the Southern Kingdom/Jerusalem

In the ancient Southwest Asian context, "good" history strictly reported objective facts.

false

Which agricultural practice best describes the ancient Israelite and Judahite approach to farming?

Dry farming dependent on rainfall

Who destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE?

Assyria

While the Assyrians typically dispersed a subjugated people throughout their empire, Babylon did what?

Deported them as a group to Babylonian territory

In the broader ancient Southwest Asian context, how is prophecy is generally presented?

Intermediation--transmitting divine messages

Most biblical books were composed several hundred years after the events they describe.

true

Prophetic oracles from Nineveh are roughly similar in length and complexity to short biblical prophetic books, such as Nahum or Joel.

false

The Hebrew prophets usually preserved their own oracles, while prophets in the broader context worked with scribes.

true

According to our class session on Tuesday, prophecy is rightly categorized under what other term?

Divination

Which of the following is not one of the common elements of prophecy across cultures?

Historical setting

Divination was a fringe activity in ancient Southwest Asia, called on only in times of extreme distress.

false

Why did kings in ancient Southwest Asia consult diviners (including prophets)?

---

Because they wanted to access hidden knowledge

Which kind of divination involves reading and interpreting material signs/objects?

technical

The biblical authors tend to talk about prophets and diviners as people engaged in practices that are polar opposites.

true

The term inner-biblical interpretation refers to:

Biblical authors citing, revising, and reworking biblical texts

Beyonce's "BLACKBIIRD" was used in class as an example of:

Recontextualization of material to add new layers of meaning

Monotheism emerged early in ancient Israel and without much debate.

false

Classically understood, the defining feature of biblical poetry is parallelism.

true

What is parallelism?

Consecutive lines of Hebrew poetry are governed by some kind of relationship

Which two images did the James reading use for contrasting approaches to reading a poem?

labrinyth and a hedgemaze

According to the Adele Berlin reading (and the lecture), what percentage of the Hebrew Bible is poetry?

1/3

Based on our content from Week 3 (and our review of it this week), how does the Hebrew Bible generally portray technical forms of divination?

As useful but ultimately unreliable forms of accessing hidden knowledge

Based on our content from Week 3 (and our review of it this week), inner-biblical interpretation refers to the long tradition of readers attempts to faithfully interpret biblical texts after the biblical canon was finalized

false

We read Micah 6 in class. To which genre of prophetic literature does this text belong?

covenant lawsuit

According to Isaiah, the kings' political calculations are also religious errors.

true

How does Isaiah's social location differ from Micah's?

Isaiah is closely associated with the leadership while Micah is not

In Micah 6, what role does Yhwh/God play in the court proceedings? (Choose two.)

judge and plantiff

Why is the name of Isaiah's son in chapter 7 significant?

t picks up on the tension between destruction and restoration

Why is the theme of the remnant helpful for the 8th century prophets?

It allows hope to coexist with the reality of destruction

Zion theology refers to the belief that:

God's presence in the temple guarantees Jerusalem's security

zion theology was abandoned after the Babylonian exile.

false

Hosea is closely associated with which metaphor:

Israel as an unfaithful spouse

According to texts like Amos 5 and Micah 6, sacrifice is an entirely meaningless category and should be abandoned.

false

n ancient Southwest Asia, prophecy was predominantly a male role, and Israel was unique in allowing women to prophesy.

false

At the same time, there are no prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible named for women.

true

In the book of Habakkuk, God speaks first and the prophet respond

false

In the book of Zephaniah, the primary target of critique is the leadership within Judah (rather than foreign nations).

true

Which of the following women is explicitly called a neviah ("prophetess") in the Hebrew Bible?

miriam

According to the lecture and the Gafney reading, what is the primary reason it is difficult to reconstruct attitudes toward female prophets in the ancient world?

The fragmentary and ideologically-shaped nature of the sources

Which of the following statements best captures a claim made about gender and prophecy in the lecture?

Every prophetic expression is a gendered expression.

What is YHWH's initial response to Habakkuk's complaint (Hab 1)?

Announces the rise of the Babylonians

What is demonstrated by the pesher from Qumran of the book of Habakkuk?

The reality of inner-biblical interpretation

in the book of Zephaniah, the "day of the Lord" is presented as:

A cosmic event affecting all people

Material culture is important to learn about first and foremost because it confirms what biblical texts say.

false

What makes Jonah unique among the prophetic books? (Choose all that apply.)

It is mostly narrative about the prophet rather than reports of his speech, Jonah rebels, fleeing in the opposite direction, Jonah wants the people of Nineveh to be destroyed

The book of ______ is an oracle about the destruction of Nineveh, which leads to the downfall of the Assyrian Empire.

Nahum

We discussed how Jeremiah's Temple sermon (Jer 7 and 26) is the "single most effective prophetic utterance."

true

ccording to our class discussion, why have Jewish and Christian communities struggled with the book of Nahum?

It is too violently nationalistic.

Everyone experience trauma in their lifetime.

true

Why do we know more about Jeremiah's biography than those of other prophets?

He had a scribe who travelled with him

Jeremiah was nearly executed for opposing the words of the prophet Micah.

false

Jeremiah's thought seeks to merge/blend a covenant of ________ with a covenant of ________.

obligation / grant

Obadiah is the ________ book in the Bible.

shortest

While always conjectural, a common estimation in dating Obadiah places it when...?

Just after 587 BCE

The primary theme of Obadiah is _________  Judah's enemies.

Revenge against

In Psalm 137:3, the captors ask the Judean exiles for _______.

a song

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is mute for a short period of time after the fall of the city of Jerusalem.

false

At the end of the book, Ezekiel envisions a reformed temple in the midst of city that still lies in ruins, as if to suggest that the temple matters more than anything else in Judean society.

false

Which chapters of the book of Isaiah are classified as "Second Isaiah"?

40-55

What big concepts does Second Isaiah combine for the first time within the books of the Hebrew Bible?

Creation and exodus traditions

Who does Second Isaiah refer to as "anointed"?

Cyrus of Persia

he restoration period (when the Judean exiles came back to Jerusalem) was a peaceful period.

false

Why was the return to Jerusalem so complicated?

---

Return meant rebuilding institutions amidst social and political tensions.

What did the returnees do first upon coming home?

Laid the foundation of the temple

Which term do several post-exilic prophets (Haggai, Second Isaiah, and Ezra among them) use to encourage the returnees to stay the course of restoring their community? They say, "you are ______."

the remnant

When we did our close reading of Isaiah 58 (check the slides or consult your Bible if you need to remember this), what did we identify as the primary contrast set up in the text?

Performative piety vs. Ethics of social change

n Isaiah 56, which two groups are used to signify the prophet's desire to open up the community to everyone who wants to be a part of it?

---

Eunuchs and foreigners

Ezra was a ______ and Nehemiah was a _________ in the province of Yehud.

Scribe/priest; governor

In the lecture on Ezra, I said the restoration project was a three-legged stool. What were the three legs? (Choose three, obviously!)

temple, city walls, torah

Persia supports the building of the temple in Jerusalem and the writing of the Torah because they are generous and it is in the best interests of the people of Jerusalem.

false