Biblical Canon, Texts, and Key Narratives in Religious Traditions

Scripture

Writings that provide guidelines for beliefs and practices of religious communities.

Canon

A list that is agreed upon by people who practice a specific religion that defines what scripture is for that religion.

Bible

The canon of scripture for Christianity.

Old Testament

The story of Israel.

New Testament

The story of Jesus.

Tanakh

The canon scripture of Judaism that the Old Testament is based on. Has 24 books.

Septuagint or LXX (seventy)

A collection of ancient Jewish religious writings in Greek.

Deuterocanonical

Belonging to a second part of the canon. Jewish writings that were a part of the Septuagint that Christians used for their canon but Jews did not use for their canon.

Apocrypha

The way protestants refer to the deuterocanonical books, meaning hidden.

Autograph

Something that is self-written, the original manuscripts of biblical books. We have none left.

Textual Criticism

Comparing biblical manuscripts and identifying their differences in an attempt to reconstruct what the autographs said.

Harmonizing

Changing one text to make it agree more closely with another text.

Formal Correspondence

Aims to translate Biblical manuscripts 'word for word'.

Dynamic Equivalence

Aims to translate biblical manuscripts 'meaning for meaning'.

Inspiration

The belief that God has directly influenced the creation and/or the contents of biblical writings.

Inerrancy

The belief that the original autographs of the Bible were totally free of any factual errors and perfectly expressed the messages God intended.

Source Criticism

The process of attempting to identify the different sources used to compose a text.

Documentary Hypothesis

The theory that the 5 books of the Torah contain material from multiple sources written at different times and later edited together.

YHWH/Yahweh

The personal name of God, replaced by Lord in translation.

Elohim

The generic Hebrew word for a god. Translated as 'God'.

The Enuma Elish

Ancient Mesopotaminan creation narrative written in 1700s BCE.

Emphases of the Enuma Elish

Polytheism, creation of the world is preceded by war among the gods, Marduk proves his worthiness to be king of the gods by the power of his words, the earth is created out of the corpse of a defeated goddess (tiamat), humanity is created to serve the gods, so the gods can rest.

Emphases of the Genesis 1 Creation Narrative

Monotheism, the world as the handiwork of God (Elohim), God brings order out of chaos with his words, humanity created in God's image, humanity as rulers over creation, divine generosity, the goodness of all creation, the importance of rest.

Etiology

A narrative that explains the origin of a familiar aspect of life.

Adam and Eve

Wordplay with the names, one revolving around dirt, and the other with life.

The Serpent's claims

God is unreasonable, God is deceptive, God is selfish.

Curses for Disobedience: The Serpent

Must crawl on its belly, Will be at odds with humans.

Curses for Disobedience: The Woman

Difficulty and pain in childbirth, Will be ruled by her husband.

Curses for Disobedience: The Man

Must struggle against the natural world.

Curses for Disobedience: Man and Woman

Banished from the Garden, Destined to die and return to dust.

Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve's first kids, one is jealous of the favor God shows the other. one murders the other. God curses the murderer and makes him an outcast. However, God protects him from harm.

Noah

God instructs him to build an ark in order to escape a destructive flood.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Ancient Babylonian myth from 1700s BCE that contains a flood narrative featuring the hero Utnapishtim.

The Cursing of Canaan

Ham, one of Noah's 3 sons, commits an offense against his father. Noah Curses Ham's son, Canaan, to be a slave to Noah's other sons.

The Tower of Babel

Humans build a tall tower in an attempt to 'make a name for themselves'.

God's response to the Tower of Babel

Causes them to speak different languages and scatters them.

The Ancestral Narratives

Stories about 4 generations of the early ancestors of the Israelites.

Abram (Abraham)

Summoned by God to move to a new land, the starter of the Israelite nation.

Sarai (Sarah)

Abram's wife, struggles to have a child.

Hagar

Sarai's servant who Abram sleeps with and impregnates.

Ishmael

The son of Abram with Hagar.

Isaac

The son of Abraham and Sarah, name means 'laughter'.

Rebekah

The wife of Isaac, initially unable to have children.

Esau

The older son of Isaac and Rebekah, a hunter.

Jacob

The younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, a gardener/farmer. Tricks Esau to steal his birth right. Then tricks Isaac to give him Esau's blessing.

Israel

Jacob's new name which means 'struggles with God'.

Leah

A cousin of Jacob that Jacob ends up marrying. The wife he loves less.

Rachel

Another cousin of Jacob that he ends up marrying. The wife he loves most.

Joseph

Rachel's first son and Jacob's favorite of all his sons. Has dreams where his family members bow to him. His brothers hate him so they throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery.

Moses

Born an Israelite in Egypt and sent in a basket and floated in the river. Discovered and raised by the daughter of the current pharaoh. Ultimately is the leader of the Israelites and takes his people out of Israel.

Aaron

Moses' brother, because of Moses' worries with his speech problems God helps Moses use him as his spokesman.

YHWH's promises to Abram

To give him many descendants who will become a great nation, to 'make his name great', to bless him, to make him a blessing to all the families of the earth, and to give his descendants the land of Canaan.

Covenant

A binding agreement between two or more parties.

Righteousness

In the Bible refers to innocence/right standing in God's sight.

Circumcision

Removal of the foreskin. What Abraham and all his male descendants must do to hold their side of the covenant, showing they belong to God.

The Binding of Isaac

God orders Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and gives no explanation. Abraham prepares to obey, but an angel intervenes and Isaac is spared. God sends a ram to be sacrificed instead.

Exodus

A mass departure of people from a place.

The Burning Bush

God appears to Moses while Moses is tending sheep on Mount Horeb, God speaks to Moses in the form of a this.

Meaning of Yahweh/YHWH/Jehovah

'The One Who Is'.

The Passover

Prior to the tenth plague, the Israelites smear lamb's blood on their door frames so the angel of death will pass over their houses and not kill their firstborns.

Mount Sinai

Where God leads the Israelites and where they remain for 11 months receiving instructions from God. Where God gives Moses the Ten commandments.

The Ten Commandments

The initial set of ten laws that God gave to the Israelites immediately after they agreed to enter the covenant.

The Covenant Code

Exodus 20:22-23:33, Laws delivered by God to Moses following the Ten Commandments, which Israel agrees to obey as part of the new covenant.

The Law of Retaliation

A principle stating that punishment should correspond directly to the offense, as expressed in Exodus 21:23-25.

Code of Hammurabi

An ancient Babylonian legal code that includes specific laws regarding retribution, such as 'If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.'

The Golden Calf

An idol created by Aaron at the request of the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain, a failing of the covenant.

Tabernacle

A tent where God manifests his presence and where the Israelites worship and offer sacrifices.

Ark of the Covenant

A chest containing the tablets of the Law, placed inside the tabernacle.

The Book of Leviticus

The third book of the Torah, focused on priestly matters and laws divided into three major sections.

Sacrifice Laws

A major section of Leviticus, Instructions concerning when and how to sacrifice animals or crops for religious purposes.

Purity Laws

A major section of Leviticus, Laws concerning unclean animals and conditions that make people temporarily unclean for worship.

Holiness Code

A major section of Leviticus, Laws requiring Israelites to exhibit a high standard of moral and sexual conduct, as stated in Leviticus 19:2.

Book of Numbers

The fourth book of the Torah, named for the census accounts and detailing the Israelites' journey from Sinai to Canaan.

The 12 Spies

Sent to explore Canaan, where ten doubted Israel's ability to conquer, leading to a prolonged desert stay. Only Joshua and Caleb trusted God to deliver them.

Book of Deuteronomy

The fifth book of the Pentateuch, containing Moses' farewell speech and a reiteration of God's commands.

The Shema

A declaration of faith in one God, recited by Jews, found in Deuteronomy 6:4.

Social Justice Issues in Deuteronomy

Laws in Deuteronomy that protect the rights of widows, orphans, slaves, and foreigners.

Obedience and Disobedience

The principle that obedience to God's laws brings blessings, while disobedience results in curses or punishment.

Joshua

One of the two faithful spies from Numbers who became the new leader of Israel after Moses' death.

Sin

Literally means "missing what you are aiming at"

The Destruction of Jericho

God gives the Israelites unusual instructions for conquering this city: march around the city, blow trumpets, and shout. When the Israelites obey, the city walls collapse and the Israelites kill everyone in Jericho except Rahab and her family.

Hērem

("Devoting to destruction"), God-ordained Israelite practice of completely destroying enemy populations, livestock, cities and possessions.

Achan

An Israelite who violates the policy of hērem by looting at Jericho. Because of his disobedience, Israel is defeated in battle at Ai. When his sin is discovered, he is stoned to death with his family members and livestock. After his death, the Israelites conquer Ai and eventually all of Canaan.

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

The line of Joseph received two tribal territories, one for each of Joseph's sons. The priestly tribe of Levi did not receive a territory, but was given cities within the other territories.

Shiloh

Where the Tabernacle was centrally located, became the first capital of Israel.

Ba'al

Israelites began worshipping this god, the Canaanite god of storms and fertility.

Cyclical plot of Judges

Israelites disobey YHWH and worship other gods. God punishes the Israelites by allowing other nations to oppress them. Israel asks God for help. God raises up a judge (military and political leader) to defeat the Israelite enemies. Israelites remain faithful until the judge dies, at which point the cycle begins again. The pattern occurs 12 times in Judges.

Deborah

Israel's only female judge, also a prophetess.