Old Testament Summary

Old Testament

Adam and Eve

  • God created Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman, from Adam’s rib.

  • They lived in the Garden of Eden and were allowed to do anything except eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge.

  • Satan, disguised as a snake, tempted Eve to eat the fruit, telling her it would make her all-knowing like God.

  • Eve ate the fruit and gave some to Adam.

  • After eating, they gained consciousness, realized they were naked, and became ashamed, so they made clothes.

  • God discovered their disobedience and banished them from the Garden of Eden.

  • God cursed the snake, removing its limbs, and cursed mankind because of Eve's sin.

Cain and Abel

  • Cain and Abel were the children of Adam and Eve.

  • Cain killed Abel out of jealousy because God favored Abel's sacrifice.

  • Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd.

  • Abel’s sacrifice (firstborn of his flock) was accepted by God because it was a blood sacrifice, requiring more effort and worth, while Cain’s offering of fruit was not.

Noah and the Ark

  • God instructed Noah to build an ark to save his family and two of each animal from a flood intended to cleanse the world of sin.

  • Noah faithfully followed God’s orders, despite being ridiculed.

  • The flood lasted for 40 days and 40 nights.

  • After the rain stopped, Noah sent a raven and then a dove to find land. The dove returned with an olive branch, indicating dry land was near.

  • God made a covenant with Noah, promising never to flood the earth again, symbolized by the rainbow.

Tower of Babel

  • People built the Tower of Babel to reach Heaven, attempting to become like God.

  • God became concerned about their pride and ambition, fearing they were overstepping their place.

  • God created different languages to prevent them from communicating and scattered them across the world.

Abraham

  • The Covenant: God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and would inherit the land of Canaan (the Promised Land).

  • Abraham and his wife Sarah (Sarai) longed for a child, but Sarah was old and didn't believe God's promise.

  • Sarah offered her maidservant Hagar to Abraham, who had a child named Ishmael with her.

  • When Hagar became pregnant, she disrespected Sarah, leading Sarah to treat her harshly, causing Hagar to flee into the desert.

  • An angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness and told her to return, promising she would have a son named Ishmael.

  • Later, Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac, meaning “laughter,” because Sarah laughed when God told her about him.

  • Sarah insisted that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, which he did at God’s command.

  • The Test: God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac.

  • Abraham was willing to obey God, but God stopped him at the last moment and provided a ram for sacrifice instead.

  • This was a test of Abraham’s faith, proving him worthy of God’s covenant.

  • Abraham is considered Father Abraham in Abrahamic religions.

Job

  • Job was a wealthy and devout man blessed by God.

  • Satan challenged God, claiming Job was only faithful because of his blessings, suggesting God should remove them to test Job’s loyalty.

  • God allowed Satan to test Job, but not because God was pressured or being obedient; God wanted to test Job.

  • Job endured the loss of his wealth, children, and physical health (boils), as well as emotional suffering.

  • Job's friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, accused him of sin, claiming his suffering was a punishment.

  • Eliphaz argued that suffering was a punishment for sin.

  • Bildad claimed that Job’s children must have sinned.

  • Zophar accused Job of deserving even worse suffering.

  • Job defended his innocence and questioned God’s reasons for his suffering but never cursed God.

  • Job’s wife told him to curse God and die, but he refused.

  • Ultimately, Job questioned God, who responded by asserting His divine wisdom and authority.

  • In the end, God restored Job’s blessings and gave him even more than he had before.

Moses

  • Moses was born during a time when the Pharaoh ordered all baby boys to be killed due to a prophecy.

  • Moses’s mother placed him in a basket and set him in the river, where Pharaoh’s daughter found him.

  • Moses’s sister, Miriam, arranged for Moses’s mother to nurse him, keeping his true identity a secret until he was older.

  • When Moses grew up, he killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew and fled to Midian out of fear.

  • In Midian, he married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, and became a shepherd.

  • God called Moses through a burning bush and commanded him to return to Egypt and free the Israelites.

  • Moses and his brother Aaron asked Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh refused, claiming he was God.

  • God sent 10 plagues to Egypt until Pharaoh relented and let the Israelites leave.

  • Pharaoh then pursued them, but Moses parted the Red Sea with God’s help, drowning the Egyptian army.

  • In the Sinai desert, Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mount Sinai.

  • The 10 Commandments are: only one God, don’t have idols, don’t say the Lord’s name in vain, keep the Sabbath a holy day, honor your parents, don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness against your neighbor, and don’t covet.

  • God offered the Israelites a covenant to lead them to the Promised Land if they followed the commandments.

  • The Israelites lost faith and worshipped a Golden Calf, violating the second commandment.

  • As punishment, God made that generation wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and Moses died before reaching the Promised Land.

  • The story of Moses is the basis for Jewish law.

David

  • David was the king of Israel.

  • David and Bathsheba: David saw Bathsheba bathing and desired her. He slept with her, even though she was married to Uriah.

  • Bathsheba became pregnant, and David tried to cover up the sin by calling Uriah back from battle, hoping he would sleep with his wife.

  • When Uriah refused to go home out of loyalty to his fellow soldiers, David sent him back to battle with secret instructions for him to be killed.

  • Uriah died in battle, and David married Bathsheba.

  • God was displeased, and the prophet Nathan confronted David, who realized his sin.

  • As a consequence, the child that Bathsheba had with David died, but later God blessed them with another son, Solomon.

David and Goliath

  • There was a war between the Israelites and the Philistines. David’s brothers were in the war.

  • David was a puny shepherd boy, and one day his dad told him to go deliver food for his brothers.

  • When he got there, he saw a Philistine soldier named Goliath, who was bigger than average, and all the Israelites were scared of him.

  • David went to King Saul and asked if he could kill Goliath. King Saul gave him armor and a sword, but David said that he didn’t need it, claiming that God would protect him.

  • David killed Goliath with his slingshot and a few stones.

Old Testament Archetypes, Symbols, Motifs

Adam and Eve

  • Themes

    • Free will

    • Responsibility

    • Wisdom

    • (Dis)Obedience

    • Sin

    • Temptation

    • Potential for both good and evil

  • Motifs

    • Disloyalty to God

    • Lack of faith

    • Mercy of God

  • Symbols

    • Snake - temptation

    • Apple - pleasures

    • Nakedness - innocence

    • Garden of Eden - Paradise/Heaven

  • Archetypes

    • The fall - main character falls from their previous status to a lower status

    • Initial sin of Adam and Eve makes them less divine

    • Descend from Eden to the lower world

    • Temptress - person that tricks someone into taking a bad action (or one that opposes their goal) through temptation and desire

    • Snake - symbolic to wickedness

    • Paradise Lost - The Garden of Eden

  • Characters

    • Adam and Eve - Represent humanity stuck in between good and evil (God and the snake), The imperfection of humanity

Cain and Abel

  • Themes

    • Jealousy

    • Responsibility

    • Justice

    • Betrayal

  • Motifs

    • Sacrifice

    • Jealousy

    • Blood on soil (represents the growth of something through death)

  • Symbols

    • Lamb - innocence/pure gift

    • Rock - feelings of wrath and rage

  • Archetypes

    • The innocent - Abel - He was ignorant of his brother’s plan for murder. He was honest, pure, and righteous. He did not deserve his cruel death.

  • Characters

    • Abel - pure-hearted and upstanding

    • Cain - wrathful and jealous

    • God - the highest ideal

Noah and the Ark

  • Themes

    • Judgement

    • Mercy

    • Redemption

    • Covenant (trust/faithfulness)

  • Symbols

    • Flood - divine judgement

    • Ark - refuge for safety, vessel for the divine and pure, protection

    • Rainbow - fulfillment of promise

    • Water - destruction and purification

  • Archetypes

    • Flood - purification of an area

Tower of Babel

  • Themes

    • Pride and arrogance

    • The separation between humanity and divinity

    • The human and divine realms should be separate

  • Motifs

    • Scattering of people as punishment for their actions

  • Symbols

    • Tower - attempt to reach heavens, peak of human power, attempt to attain divinity and reach places they are unfit for

  • Archetypes

    • The fall - humanity falls from its highest point due to the scattering of languages, which results in separation and division instead of the unity that they sought, Humanity ends up far lower and farther from divinity before, God sets strict boundaries between the two (Jesus bridges the gap)

Moses

  • Themes

    • Leadership (Moses)

    • Obedience vs. Disobedience

    • Justice

    • Faith

  • Motifs

    • The complaining of the Israelites - represents lack of faith

  • Symbols

    • Burning bush - God can break human laws, The bush does not burn but humans think it should, God is supernatural and is above the world order

    • Ten Commandments - Divine law, divine judgement, Representation of the will of God

  • Archetypes

    • The hero- Moses

    • The wilderness - the desert-Keeps them out of the promised land, tests them

David

  • David vs Goliath

    • Themes

      • Courage/Faith - His courage allows him to beat Goliath while everyone else fears him. Faith grants courage

      • Divine Power - David only has a slingshot and is forgotten yet he relies on divine power

    • Motifs

      • faith in god : David's confidence comes from trusting god, not physical strength.

    • Symbols

      • goliath : evil

    • Archetypes

      • Hero - David fights Goliath to protect his people

      • Monster - Goliath is big and scary so he threatens the people and is only overcome by David

  • David and Bathsheba

    • Themes

      • Abuse of Power

      • Sin/Temptation

      • Repentance and Redemption

    • Archetypes

      • Temptress - David is overcome by his desire for Bathsheba which leads him to engage in immoral activities

Job

  • Motifs

    • suffering of the innocent

    • Job’s lamentation

  • Themes

    • sacrifice

    • loyalty

    • distrust of humans

Abraham

  • Themes

    • Faithfulness/Trust

  • Archetypes

    • test