Introduction to the Old Testament

I
N
T
E
R
A
T
S
I T
O
N U
A
L
D
Y
C
H
U
R
C
C E
H
N
O
F T
P
R
R E
A
G
U
E
es
Study Centre escrib
tam e nt … d e
International Church of Prague ld Tes for th
Box 91, ℅ IBTS, Nad Habrovkou 3 The O rand vision e world.
ag n th
o f
Jenerálka, 164 00 Praha 6 rmatio
studycentreicp@googlemail.com transfo John Drane
(420) 296 392 338
www.icpstudycentre.cz 44
Contents
Introduction! 1
The Course Programme" 1
Reading" 1
What is the Old Testament?! 2
Where Am I?" 2
The Old Testament Books" 4
Difficulties in Understanding the Old Testament" 5
Why Read the Old Testament?" 5
The Old Testament is…" 6
Old Testament Timeline" 7
Old Testament Palestine" 8
The Old Testament Canon" 9
From Eden to Canaan - The Pentateuch! 10
Reading" 10
What is the Pentateuch?" 10
Basic Plot of the Pentateuch" 11
Themes of the Pentateuch" 12
Importance of the Pentateuch" 12
Understanding the Pentateuch" 13
The God of Covenant" 13
Approaching the New Testament" 14
Assignments" 14
From Conquest to Exile - The Historical Books! 17
Reading" 17
What Are the History Books?" 17
Godʼs Perspective" 18
Themes" 20
Approaching the New Testament" 21
Assignments" 21
Singing the Lordʼs Song - The Psalms! 22
Reading" 22
Introduction" 22
Significance of the Psalms" 22
Poetry " 23
Biblical Poetry" 24
Form and Content" 26
Psalms of Praise" 26
Psalms of Lament" 26
Royal Psalms" 27
Assignments" 27
Thinking Godʼs Way - The Wisdom Literature! 28
Reading" 28
Introduction" 28
Proverbs" 29
Job " 30
Ecclesiastes" 31
Song of Songs" 33
Assignments" 34
Covenant Enforcers - The Prophets! 35
Reading" 35
Exercises" 35
Introduction" 36
Prediction or Application" 37
Exercise" 38
The ʻStoryʼ in the Prophets" 38
Messianic Prophecy" 39
Summary" 39
Assignments" 40

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION and are copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, a
member of the Hodder Headline Plc Group. All rights reserved.
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Assignments Introduction
1. Read Amos 5:4-15.
This course takes place over 12 weeks and Of all the literature that has been
• How does this passage illustrate the principle mentioned above of true faith
gives a basic introduction to the message, form handed down from the worldʼs
and true action?
and relevance of the various types of literature ancient civilisations, none is as
found in the Old Testament. compelling — or as provocative
The course starts with a general introduction to — as the Hebrew Bible. It is one
the Old Testament after which we study various of the great classics, highly
2. Understanding prophecy today
types of literature that we find there. The format esteemed as sacred scripture by
• Read Amos 9:11-15
for the sessions is a mixture of lecture, discussion three of the worldʼs major faiths -
• How would Amosʼ hearers/readers have understood this passage?
and exercises. To gain the most from the course, Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
some work during the week will be needed. Introducing the Old Testament, 11
The aim of the course is not simply to impart
knowledge, but to encourage all of us to a deeper understanding of Godʼs Word
• What do you think the original purpose of this prophecy was?
so that we may be transformed in our everyday lives to be more like Jesus.

The Course Programme

Week 1:" What is the Old Testament?
• Read Acts 15:13-21 Weeks 2-3:" From Eden to Canaan — The Pentateuch
• How does James interpret these verses? Weeks 4-5:" From Kingdom to Exile — The Historical Books
Weeks 6-7:" Singing the Lordʼs Song — The Psalms
Weeks 8-9:" Thinking Godʼs Way — The Wisdom Literature
Weeks 10-11:" Covenant Enforcers — The Prophets
• Today Week 12:" Concluding discussion
• How are we to interpret and apply this prophecy today?
Reading
While we do not have a set book for this course, you will find it very useful to
have a reasonable introduction to the Old Testament. There are a number around
• What clues might this give us as to how we are to deal with prophecies to choose from, one which is easily accessible and covers most of the ground is
concerning Israel today? Introducing the Old Testament; J. Drane. Lion 2000.
Other books which you may find useful are:
• On the Reliability of the Old Testament: K. A. Kitchen, Eerdmans
• An Introduction to the Old Testament; Raymond B. Dillard, Tremper Longman
III, Apollos
• Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: Vanhoozer K. J. Ed.,
SPCK"
• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions;
Tremper Longman III, Baker Academic
• On the Old Testament (A Book You'll Actually Read); Mark Driscoll,
Crossway Books
• Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the
Old Testament; William Sanford LaSor et al., Eerdmans
• Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing
the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible; John H. Walton, Apollos
• New Bible Atlas; J. Bimson ed., IVP
• A History of Israel; J. Bright, SCM
40 1
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

What is the Old Testament? Messianic Prophecy

The Old Testament, the Word of
Where Am I? God written before the coming
Read the quote in the box on the right. of Christ, constitutes over three-
Do you agree or disagree with Tremper quarters of the Bible. However,
Longman? if we are honest with ourselves,
we spend far less time reading
and studying the Old Testament
H o w w o u l d y o u d e s c r i b e y o u r o w n than we do the New. Indeed,
understanding of the Old Testament as you begin many Christians spend no time
this course? in the Old Testament.
Making Sense of the Old
Testament, 11
It is in this story, especially in the promise of salvation, restoration and future
blessing, that we need to place prophecies that we recognise as referring to Jesus.
For many Christians, these are the only prophecies they know anything about.
However, it is important to remember that very few prophecies are directly
Messianic, and even those that we recognise as such refer are only messianic in a
secondary way; their primary purpose was a message to the people of the
prophetʼs own time29. This reminds us that an important principle in understanding
any passage of Godʼs Word is that God speaks intelligibly to us - not in some kind
of code!
We must be careful that we do not limit the Messianic truth in prophecy simply to
a few ʻproofʼ texts, such as Isaiah 7 or 53. “Since Godʼs redeeming purpose
culminates in Jesus Christ, all prophecy somehow must point to Christ. In that
sense, Christ ʻfulfilsʼ prophecy, or rather, prophecy is fulfilled in him.”30

Summary
What major questions do you have which you hope this course will help answer? We might summarise the role of the prophets in the “Prophecy is about
words of an expert in the law when he asked Jesus what speaking of the present
he had to do to inherit eternal life. “'Love the Lord your in the
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all context of the past
your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your and in the
neighbour as yourself.'”31 light of the future.”
There are two points here, first, the true worship of the
one God. The people of God were prone to spiritual
1. Put these events in historical order: adultery (an image used often) and the prophets remind us that if we truly wish to
1. The divided monarchy be Godʼs people, we must be people who worship God and God alone. Second, the
2. The Exodus people were called by the prophets to show their worship of God in righteous and
3. The story of Ruth just living. Simply to claim one but ignore the second is not good enough. True
4. Abramʼs call from Mesopotamia faith, the faith the prophets continually call the people of God back to, will always
5. The exile show itself in the way we act.
6. Nehemiahʼs journey to Jerusalem
7. Samuelʼs rule as judge
8. The story of Daniel

2. On the box on the next page, draw a rough map of Israel and mark the
following towns and cities:
1. Jerusalem
2. Samaria
3. Bethlehem
4. Jericho
5. Bethel

29 For more on this see the exercise in “How to Read…” session 5.

30 Old Testament Survey, Lasor, Hubbard, Bush eds. 230
31 Luke 10:27
2 39
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Exercise 3. What were the following?

Read Leviticus 26:23-29 1. Nineveh
2. Tyre
• How would you sum up the general message God gives in Leviticus? 3. Edom
4. Ur
5. Mesopotamia
• What specific things does God promise will happen if Israel remains 6. Moab
disobedient?
Now read Amos 4:1-13 which was written before Israel is taken into captivity. 4. Put the following prophets in a rough historical order:
1. Daniel
• What is Amosʼs general message? 2. Ezekiel
3. Isaiah
4. Zechariah
• How does this link with what you read in Leviticus? 5. Malachi

• How has Amos used, adapted and applied the Leviticus passage to his own
situation?

• How does this help your understanding of prophecy?

The ʻStoryʼ in the Prophets

Obviously, the prophetic books are not narrative — though sections of them
contain narrative, the most obvious example being Jonah. However, much as we
can see an overall narrative to the history books that repeats the story of the
Garden in Eden, we can detect an overarching narrative within the prophetic books.
This story takes the following shape: the people of God have fallen away from the
demands of their covenant relationship with God; he calls them to repentance and
announces judgement if they fail to do so; he then promises future salvation and
blessing. This can be seen as directly related to the curses and blessings related
to the covenant as expressed in Deuteronomy 28 and 30 (and what we have just
seen in Leviticus 26).
This is important because it shows that the prophets spoke Godʼs words based
on their faith that just as God had acted for Israelʼs blessing in the past, so would
he act for their blessing in the future. The prophets were, therefore, writing
messages of hope and comfort within difficult and troubling times. As we read
them, we need to see them in this ʻpastoralʼ context if we are to apply them to our
own situations and times. Prophecies are not complicated puzzles that need to be
deciphered by people with special understanding or knowledge. They are
messages from a God of grace, holiness and love to his people and aimed at their
comfort and strengthening as the quote from H. H. Rowley above makes clear.

38 3
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

The Old Testament Books • They were Godʼs direct representatives.

Look at the two lists of books below. They were mediating Godʼs message directly from him to his people without
it going through a ʻthird partyʼ. They heard Godʼs words and they spoke
those words, see Hosea 1:1-2 as an example.
Genesis Proverbs Genesis Zephaniah
Exodus Ecclesiastes Exodus Haggai • The message was unoriginal but it was expressed in different forms and words.
The prophets were not creating a new message from God but, as implied by
Leviticus Song of Songs Leviticus Zechariah
the first point above, they were going back to what God had already said and
Numbers Numbers Malachi
applying it to the situation they found themselves in. In the background of all
Deuteronomy Isaiah Deuteronomy
that the prophets speak is the covenant made by God with his people at
Jeremiah Chronicles
Sinai.
Joshua Lamentations Joshua Psalms
We might sum up these ideas by saying that prophecy is about bringing Godʼs
Judges Ezekiel Judges Job
perspective to any given situation. As we saw in our session on the historical books
Ruth Daniel Samuel Proverbs
and the way that Jeroboam II is dealt with, God is interested in different things from
1 Samuel Hosea Kings Ruth
secular historians and writers. What matters is not what we do so much as who we
2 Samuel Joel Isaiah Song of Songs
are.
1 Kings Amos Jeremiah Ecclesiastes
2 Kings Obadiah Ezekiel Lamentations Prediction or Application
1 Chronicles Jonah Hosea Esther H.H. Rowley in his book The Relevance of Apocalyptic says this,
2 Chronicles Micah Joel Daniel
The obsession with the equation of the words of Scripture with the
Ezra Nahum Amos Ezra / Nehemiah
events of our day converts the [prophetical] books into intricate
Nehemiah Habakkuk Obadiah
puzzles for the ingenious instead of spiritual messages for
Esther Zephaniah Jonah
harassed souls.
Haggai Micah
In popular terms, prophecy is about ʻtelling the futureʼ - about predicting events
Job Zechariah Nahum
that are still to happen. While some of prophecy does exactly that, the vast majority
Psalms Malachi Habakkuk
of what we have in the prophetic books is not about predicting the future it is about
applying Godʼs word to the present. Stuart and Fee put it like this,
What differences and similarities do you notice?
Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is messianic.
Less than 5 percent specifically describes the new-covenant age.
Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come in our time.28
The vast bulk of prophecy is about how God speaks to his people through his
The list in the two left hand columns is the one we are familiar with from English chosen messenger to bring them back to a covenant relationship with him so they
(and other) translations of the Bible. We generally consider the books split into might enjoy the full benefits of that relationship. Some of this involves predicting
Law, History, Wisdom, and Prophecy. The two right hand columns show how the what will happen but this prediction is based upon previously revealed promises of
books are collected together in the Hebrew Bible. There are three sections: Torah, God applied to a new situation.
Prophets, and Writings.

What do you think the placing of the book of Joshua in the same section as the
book of Isaiah suggests about how the Jews viewed history and prophecy?

How does this differ from how we view them?

28 How to Read…, 182.

4 37
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Introduction25 Difficulties in Understanding the Old Testament

There are 17 books that we are looking at under Our study of ʻthe prophetsʼ lies Questions
the general title of “The Prophets”. These range in between these two moments
• What difficulties do you think there are in reading and understanding the Old
style and content; from the narrative of Jonah to [ I s a i a h a n d M a l a c h i ] : t h e Testament?
Isaiah, from Ezekiel writing in exile to Malachi after conviction of the individuals that
the return to the Promised Land. In amongst these they had words from God that
books are Daniel, one which is usually considered were urgent, for people then and
under the heading of ʻapocalypticʼ - a particular there; and the collection of the
type of prophecy - and Lamentations, not a prophetʼs words for the benefit of
prophecy as such but has traditionally been new generations, well beyond
• How can we overcome these, at least partially?
attributed to Jeremiah. their own time, right down to us
Much of the prophetic writing is in poetry, so the who still read them and are
same patterns and stylistic devices we saw in the challenged by them.
Psalms and the wisdom literature are found here Exploring the Old Testament,
as well. This is important to keep in mind when Volume 4. xii
attempting to understand, interpret and apply the
Some suggestions:
message of the prophets for today.
The prophets that left writings can be split into two main groups: • History
1. Classical Prophecy • 1000 years of history
• 8th century BC - before the exile, e.g. Amos. • Geography
2. Post-exilic Prophecy • Culture
• 6th century BC, e.g. Zechariah. • Nomadic
In order to understand what the prophets say, we need to consider what their role • Theocracy
in Israel was. Samuel has been considered the transitional figure in the • Exile
development of the classical prophet; he is both the final judge and the first • Language
prophet26 . With the coming of the monarchy, the prophet can almost be considered • Images
to develop into Godʼs voice to the King, or the Kingʼs conscience. We can see this, • Metaphors
not just in Samuelʼs relationship to Saul but also in Nathanʼs interaction with David. • Religion
The prophet becomes one of the main ways that God speaks to his people. • Religion and state
As Stuart and Fee point out in their book27 there are four important points to bear • Priesthood
in mind when considering biblical prophecy: • Idolatry
• Prophets were covenant enforcement mediators. Why Read the Old Testament?
In other words, it was the prophets who God used to bring the people back to
the terms of the covenant he had made with them. Their role was to remind Questions
the people of these terms and then to enforce them. Imagine you are in the synagogue in Nazareth in AD 27 Jesus stands up to read.
• The message they brought was Godʼs message not their own. What does he read?
We have already seen this in our look at Isaiah 6. The prophets were keenly
aware of the fact that they were brining the “Word of Yahweh” to his people.

Imagine you are in Mary and Marthaʼs house in Bethany in AD 38 on a Sunday

morning as the church meets. Lazarus stands up to read. What does he read?
25 Some of this material is repeated from “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” session 5
26
This doesnʼt take into account the role of the patriarchs or - most importantly - that of Moses who is in
many ways the archetypal prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10).
27How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 184f
36 5
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Read each of the following passages from the Old Testament and make a note of Covenant Enforcers - The Prophets
what they bring to mind.
Reading
• Exodus 24:8. • Exploring the Old Testament Volume 4, The Prophets; G. McConville, SPCK
• Deuteronomy 21:22-23 • Handbook on the Prophets; R. C. Chisholm Jr, Baker Academic
• Numbers 19:2-10
Exercises
Read Isaiah 6:1-10. There are three Hebrew words used
• What does Isaiah see? to describe a prophet:
• ‫ראה‬
rōʼeh - seer (emphasis on the divine
Read the following passages from Genesis and write down what they tell us • What is your reaction to what he sees? source of revelation)
about God. • ‫חזה‬
ḥōzeh - seer (emphasis on the divine
• Genesis 1:1 • How does Isaiah react? source of revelation)
• Genesis 1:26-27 • ‫נביא‬
• Genesis 3:8-9 nābiʼ - prophet (emphasis on the
• Genesis 3:21 proclamation of Godʼs message)
• What is Godʼs response?
I Chronicles 29:29
“As for the events of King Davidʼs
• What does God then look for? reign… they are written in the records of
The Old Testament is… Samuel the seer (rōʼeh) the records of
• History Nathan the prophet (nābi) and the
• Events that are rooted in the Ancient Near East and which happened to real • How does Isaiah respond, and why? records of Gad the seer (ḥōzeh).”
people in real places.
• The world behind the text:
• Who was the author?
• What do you think this passage tells us about how prophets viewed their role?
• What event does this refer to?
• When was it written?
• Story
• Begins with the creation, goes through slavery, wilderness, monarchy, exile
to restoration.
Read Malachi 4:4-6
• The world of the text.
• What does God tell his people to do?
• Holy Scripture
• Gives insight to God, humanity and his chosen people.
• The world in front of the text.
• What might this help us understand about the role of the prophets?

• What does God warn through Malachi?

6 35
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Assignments Old Testament Timeline

Do at least one of these assignments this week as a way of delving a little
deeper into the various wisdom books.
1. Proverbs
• One aspect of Proverbs which is difficult to miss is the number of women who
appear in it: from the queen of chapter 31:1-9 to the capable wife of 31:10-31;
from the wife of oneʼs youth in 5:18-19 to the loose woman of 2:16-19 and
elsewhere. Also, Wisdom itself is personified in 1:20-33 as a woman and
again in 8:1-20.
• Why do you think this might be?
• What effect do you think this portrayal of Wisdom as feminine has on us as
readers?
2. Job
• The prologue to Job has the character of ʻSatanʼ, a word which here and in
Zechariah 3 has ʻtheʼ in front of it, suggesting that it is a title, which means ʻthe
accuserʼ or ʻthe adversaryʼ, rather than a name (compare ʻThe Manʼ and
ʻAdamʼ from Genesis 2 and 3). Look up ʻSatanʼ in a Bible dictionary to
discover how it is used and how the concept of Satan as an evil being who
leads the forces of evil has developed.
3. Ecclesiastes
• Read chapter 2:24-26. Using ʻfleetingʼ or ʻbreathʼ rather than ʻmeaninglessʼ as
a translation for hebel, what is the Teacherʼs message in these verses?
• Read chapter 9:7-10 and again write one sentence explaining the message of
these verses.
4. Song of Songs
• It has been traditional in some areas to see the poem
as a song to Solomon and his wife - or one of his
wives. However, it is possible to read the poem in a
way that contrasts Solomon (with his power and many
wives) with the womanʼs lover who is a simple man
from the villages. Look at chapter 3 and consider how
this reading of the poem may help us in understanding
the two sections (1-5 and 6-11).
• Read 4:16-5:1 and consider the imagery used,
especially that of the garden. Then read Genesis 2:25
and 3:7.
• What comparisons and contrasts do you think the
author is making?
• What message can we draw from this about love in Turn your eyes from me
a Christian context? They overwhelm me.
Song of Songs 6:5

34 7
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

similar to that in Job - is that we should simply live out our life before God rather
than trying to control our destiny.
Old Testament Palestine 1
Song of Songs
Once again, the issue of authorship has often taken up much time when
discussing the Song of Songs. Traditionally, it has been held that Solomon wrote it,
as reflected in the NIVʼs opening verse. However, it is also possible to translate this
ʻabout Solomonʼ or ʻfor Solomon. It seems likely that the author has chosen to use
Solomon - who famously had so many wives and concubines - and his attitude
towards women as a contrast to the one that is set before us in the book to admire.
The book has caused problems to commentators down the ages because of the
explicit sexual nature of the poems. This led to an allegorical reading being the
most common where the relationship between the man and the woman was seen
as a picture of the relationship between God and Israel, or Christ and the church.
While an allegorical meaning may be there, we must, firstly, treat the text on its own
terms and read it as it seems to be a poem - or series of poems - about human love
and sexuality.
There are various ways in which the Song of Songs can be understood. It could
be a drama with two, or three main characters and a chorus. It could be a
collection of related songs, an anthology. However we decide to break it down, the
basic message would seem to be that God created sex as he did other aspects of
our humanity. The book encourages us to place our sexuality within its correct
context and to, thus, reject the two extremes that are prevalent in the church and
our culture of either repressing sexual desire or encouraging indiscriminate
satisfaction of that desire. Sex is not about personal needs and desires, or about
power and control; ways in which human sexuality are distorted in our time. Rather
it is about the enjoyment of a gift of God within the context defined “by a good God
who made all things and knows what is best for his creatures.”23
Structure24
Most modern translations give a structure to the poem with their headings. It is
good to remember that this represents only one of several possible structure (as
does the one below). When reading, it is worth thinking through who the characters
speaking may be for yourself.
1:1-17" The Lovers Presented The book [Song of Songs] is an
2:1-17" Springtime in Palestine object lesson, an extended
3:1-11" The Terrors of the Night proverb or parable illustrating the
4:1-5:1" A Man Enraptured rich wonders of human love, itself
5:2-6:10" The Lovers Entranced a gift of Godʼs love.
6:11-7:13" The Dance of Delights Old Testament Survey, 517
Assignment
8:1-14" Love Strong as Death
In no more than 200 words, write your version of “Little Red Riding Hood” and
email it to me by Thursday!

23 NIVAC, 253
1 Taken from http://www.bible-researcher.com/palestine-ot.gif 24 Adapted from NIVAC 256
8 33
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Interpreters have tried to deal with the difficulties posed by the book in a number The Old Testament Canon
of ways. The most common way, though, is what probably prevails today, we Reading
“accept Ecclesiastes in principle… but … ignore it in practice”20 . That seems to me
• The Books and the Parchments; F. F. Bruce, Pickering and Inglis
to be neither helpful nor show much integrity. As part of Godʼs Word, we need to
approach Ecclesiastes with the same openness as other parts of the canon. What is the ʻCanonʼ?
Structure21 ʻCanonʼ comes from a word meaning ʻlistʼ or ʻstandardʼ and is used to refer to
those books that are recognised as “holy Scripture…[and]...supremely authoritative
1:1-11 " Introduction
for belief and conduct.”2
1:12-2:26 " Wisdom, Pleasure and Joy
The books in the canon are not authoritative because they are in the canon, but
3:1-22 " A Time for Everything
are in the canon because they were recognised as authoritative.
4:1-16 " Achievement and Oppression
The books of the Old Testament were recognised as such before the time of
5:1-7 " True Worship
Jesus. They were translated into Greek by the 2nd or 3rd Century BC in what has
5:8-6:12 " The Pursuit of Wealth
come to be known as the Septuagint.
7:1-12 " Wisdom is a Shelter
Discussions took place at times over the inclusion of some of the books,
7:13-29 " The Universe Beyond Our Grasp"
especially Esther (as there is no mention of God), Ecclesiastes (as it appears to be
8:1-17 " Dealing with an Unjust World
contrary to biblical belief otherwise) and Song of Songs (because it is sexually
9:1-12 " Living in the Face of Death
explicit). However, these were discussions about whether they should remain in
9:13-10:20 " The Way of Wisdom
the canon, not whether they should be placed in the canon.
11:1-8" The Mysterious God
The consensus is that the Pentateuch was the first part of the Old Testament to
11:9-12:8 " In the Days of Youth
be recognised as canonical, followed by the Prophets and then the Writings. The
12:9-14 " The Teacher was a Wise Man
Torah was definitely recognised by the fifth century BC when it is clearly referred to
Themes in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g. Nehemiah 8-9).
There are a number of themes we could draw from the book but I wish to A number of other books, called The Apocrypha, have been included in some
concentrate on just one; one which the book is probably most famous for. Chapter versions of the Old Testament. These are “a very varied assortment of Jewish
1: 2 says this, literature of the period 300 BC — AD 100.”3 They include history (e.g. Books of the
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” [The Teacherʼs] insistence on the Maccabees), religious fiction (e.g. Book of Tobit), Wisdom literature (e.g.
Says the Teacher. inscrutability of Godʼs ways Ecclesiasticus) and apocalyptic (e.g. 2 Esdras). They have never been recognised
“Utterly meaningless! underscores the magnificent as fully canonical, even when included in translations of the Bible.
Everything is meaningless.” breakthrough in divine and
human communication which the Discussion
The word translated “meaningless” is the • Read Luke 24:44.
incarnation effected.
Hebrew hebel. In other contexts this is translated, What does this tell us about the Old Testament?
Old Testament Survey, 509
ʻbreathʼ or ʻfleetingʼ22 and emphasises the transient • Read Luke 11:51.
nature of life. One example will suffice, Why is this important for our understanding of the Old Testament canon?
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting (hebel);
But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30).
If we use this translation, we find the Teacher encouraging us to do two things,
firstly to fear God (chapter 12:1-8) and secondly to recognise our own mortality, “Few realise that the Church of Christ possesses a higher warrant for her Canon of
which the Teacher sees as the main obstacle to living well in the world. He targets the Old Testament than she does for her Canon of the New”.
two specific areas where we try to control our life rather than submitting to Godʼs G. A. Smith Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testament, 11 (quoted
will. These are our search for knowledge and our quest for wealth. His message - in The Books… 104)

20 NIVAC, 24
21 Adapted from NIVAC, 43 2 The Books and the Parchments; 95
22See NIVAC 51-52 for a detailed discussion. 3 The Books…, 164
32 9
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

From Eden to Canaan - The Pentateuch Therefore I despise myself

And repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5-6)
Reading Job does not offer simple answers to the difficult question of suffering, something
• From Paradise to the Promised Land; T. D. Alexander, Paternoster Press we should seek to emulate. There are some things in this life which we, as human
• Exploring the Old Testament Volume 1, The Pentateuch; G. Wenham, SPCK beings, will fail to understand. In our world, where control of our circumstances
seems to be so important to us, it is sobering to realise that there are things that are
What is the Pentateuch? out of our control Job, as a book, encourages us to deal with difficulties by an
Hebrew Transliteration Meaning English acceptance, through, faith, of our limitations and of Godʼs overall sovereignty and
plan.
Name
Structure19
‫בראשטת‬ bereʼshith In the beginning Genesis
1:1-2:13 " Prologue: The Testing of Job
‫ואלה שמות‬ weʼelleh shemoth And these are the names Exodus 3:1-31:40 " The Speeches of Job and His Friends
‫ויקרא‬ wayyiqraʼ And he called Leviticus 32:1-37:24 " Elihuʼs Speeches
‫במדבר‬ bammidbar In the wilderness Numbers 38:1-42:6 " Yahwehʼs Speeches to Job"
‫אלה הדברים‬ ʻelleh haddebarim These are the words Deuteronomy 42:7-17 " Epilogue: The Vindication of Job

It is the revelation of God Ecclesiastes

Genesis" God as gracious creator and sovereign" Genesis 1:1 One of the major concerns of modern biblical criticism is to try to discover who it
Exodus" God as redeemer and protector" Exodus 15:1-18 is that really wrote the various books. This can seem a little surprising when many
Leviticus" God as holy" Leviticus 11:44 of the books seem almost to go out of their way to make this a fruitless search.
Numbers" God as faithful" Numbers 23:18-24 Ecclesiastes is one of these. While it starts off saying the book is “the words of the
Deuteronomy" God as lawgiver and covenant-maker" Deuteronomy 5:1-3 Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:1) it is clear that these
It is the foundation of the Old Testament words are recorded by an author - who is anonymous. Whether the author meant
us to believe that Solomon is actually being quoted or not is unimportant to an
• The first five books of the Old Testament, traditionally ascribed to Moses as
understanding of the book. What matters, here and in other works, are the words
their author, which make up what the Jews call the Torah.
and the message.
• The modern English names come from the Greek and Latin translations and
Like Job, Ecclesiastes is a difficult book. In both Whatever truth … Ecclesiastes
traditions. But contrast the Scandinavian tradition where the books are known
Jewish and Christian history it has been has to tell us in the context of
as, First Book of Moses; Second Book of Moses, etc.
questioned whether it should remain in the canon; biblical truth overall, Christian
• Genesis can be divided into two distinct sections: chapters 1-11, which deal
the answer has always been a positive one. This readers know that it will be truth
with prehistory, and chapters 12 onwards, which are concerned with Godʼs
is despite the fact that no important events in that sets us free (John 8:32).
calling of his people.
Jewish history are mentioned; there is no talk of Cherished beliefs that are found
It is an historical document rooted in the Although the books of Genesis to the covenant; and there appears to be a negative not to be true, by contrast, when
Ancient Near East Deuteronomy are made up of attitude towards life with no hope of resurrection. examined by the searchlight of
• Historical criticism asks questions about who very diverse components, which Indeed, the opening question is, “What does man biblical truth, are not worth
wrote it, which events it refers to or reflects, m a y s u p e r fi c i a l l y g i v e t h e gain from all his labour at which he toils under the retaining and can do us no good
when it came into being, what relationship it impression of disunity, someone sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3) It is a book that forces us if we insist on doing so.
has to other ANE texts. has skilfully brought them to struggle with the reality of life, and life is difficult NIVAC, 25
• Its focus is the world behind the text. together to form a narrative plot and complex. It also does not fit in with our
• Who wrote the Pentateuch? which exhibits considerable unity. modern, Western desire for a logical progression of ideas and thoughts. It resists
• Traditional — Moses wrote it all, except I n i t s p r e s e n t f o r m t h e attempts to say that chapter 3:2 is a development from chapter 2:1. It may be, but
for the account of his death. Pentateuch is clearly a unified equally it may not be. As with all wisdom books, we have to engage our brains and
• Documentary Hypothesis — There is work. think carefully when reading Ecclesiastes. But the care will bring great rewards.
very little, if anything, that goes back to From Paradise..., 2
Moses. It is a compilation of various 19 This is adapted from Exploring… 118, where you will find a much more detailed breakdown of the book
10 31
Introduction to the Old Testament
This is a proverb that comes out of observing generalities and much heartache
amongst Christian families could have been avoided if it were remembered that it is
a proverb not a promise. A few verses further on in the same chapter we read,
He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious
    will have the king for his friend. (Proverbs 22:11)
You may have both a pure heart and gracious speech but not have a king for a
friend. What we take from this proverb is a general principle about how we behave
and the type of people that will mean we have friendships with. It reminds us of the
type of life that will be beneficial, it does not give a cast-iron guarantee.
This also helps us understand some of the examples of contradictions in the
book. Experience leads us to realise that one way of doing things is not always the
only way. Take this example from Proverbs 26:4
If any of you lacks wisdom, he
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
should ask God, who gives
or you will be like him yourself
generously to all without finding
Then compare it with the very next verse: fault, and it will be given to him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, James 1:5
or he will be wise in his own eyes.
To understand a proverb correctly, then, we need to always bear in mind that
they lack a context. The two examples above are both true, but they are true in
different situations. We have similar contradictions in English proverbs. “In certain
circumstances the proverb, ʻLook before you leapʼ is an appropriate admonition; in
others ʻHe who hesitates is lostʼ provides a valuable insight.”17
Job
Job is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, of books in the Old Testament. It
deals with the problem of suffering and Godʼs ordering of the universe, topics which
continue to raise issues for believers and unbelievers alike. As with the book of
Proverbs, there are Ancient Near Eastern parallels to Job, such as a Sumerian
poem called Lamentations of a Man to His God from around 2000 BC.
It is difficult to sum up the message of Job in a few sentences, however the
following ideas may help when you next study the book.18
• Grounds for courage in the face of the mystery of suffering
• Suffering can deepen our knowledge of God
• Valuing Godʼs presence for its own sake
• The ʻredemption of Godʼ
• A challenge to human self-understanding
The central passage seems to be Godʼs speeches to Job and his responses in
chapters 38-42. Here, God reveals himself to Job as the one who is both creator
and sovereign; Jobʼs response to this revelation of Godʼs power and glory is,
My ears had heard of you
But now my eyes have seen you
17 Exploring the Old Testament, Volume 3, 95
18These ideas are taken from Exploring the Old Testament, Volume 3, 138-140
30
Introduction to the Old Testament
sources written and edited over a number of centuries, before being
finalised sometime after the return from exile.
• Traditional Revised — Most of the Pentateuch can be shown to go back
to Mosesʼ time but is obviously a compilation of various sources — oral
as well as written— and underwent revision over a period of time after
the settlement of Canaan and perhaps into the monarchy.
Discussion
In what ways, if any, does the question of who wrote the Pentateuch affect our
understanding of it?
It is a story that begins with creation and ends on the borders of the
Promised Land.
• Narrative criticism asks questions of its characters, plot/theme, style, etc.
• Narrative is the primary and framing genre of the Pentateuch but it also
contains law, poetry and other genres.
• Does the genre affect the meaning of a text?
• What do we mean by ʻhistoryʼ, ʻscienceʼ or biography in a world where these
words did not exist?
• If a text is ʻpoetryʼ, does this make it any less important or significant?
• Read Genesis chapter 1.
• What does this tell us about God?
• What does it tell us about the world?
• What does it tell us about humanity?
It is holy scripture and read as such by Jews and Christians alike.
• Theological interpretation relates the text to issues of continuing relevance for
Godʼs people.
• The Pentateuch is our foundational document, providing essential insights to
God, humanity and his chosen people. We are not merely critics, we must be
obedient readers.
Basic Plot of the Pentateuch4
Genesis starts with human beings being created to enjoy a relationship with God
and to exercise authority over his creation. They rebel and are punished by being
expelled from the garden in Eden. The following chapters, up to chapter 11,
describe the consequences of this sin and culminate in the destruction of humanity
(except for one family) in the flood.
From chapter 12 to the end of the book, the mood is more one of hope. God
chooses Abram, starting to recreate that original relationship, and promises him that
he will father a great nation, and that the world will be blessed through him. These
two thoughts, nation (and its related idea of ʻlandʼ) and blessing serve as the driving
force for the rest of the Pentateuch and beyond.
4 This section relies heavily on From Paradise to the Promised Land, 1-5
11
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Genesis ends with the descendants of Abraham in Egypt but with the hope of the
fulfilment of Godʼs promise still very much alive, “God will … take you out of this What four main purposes for the book are given here?
land to the land he promised” (Gen. 50:24).
The rest of the Pentateuch shows how that promise is partially fulfilled. From the
miraculous freeing of Israel from slavery in Egypt, through their wanderings in the
desert to the very borders of Canaan, the promises of land and blessing serve to
steer our understanding of all that happens. The Pentateuch is “the essential
witness to how God brought the nation of Israel into existence, and made its people What do you understand by these?
into his people through the leadership of Moses.”5
Other themes also are involved (see below) but to understand the Pentateuch we
need first to understand the importance of these promises.

Themes of the Pentateuch

Promise
• Nationhood — Genesis 12:2a
• Blessing — Genesis 12:2b
Setting Apart
• Communion — Leviticus 26:12
• Holiness — Leviticus 11:45
Faith
• Genesis 15:6
Importance of the Pentateuch
• Introduces the themes of the whole Bible
• Sin — Genesis 3:4-7
• Salvation — Exodus 15:1-2
• Divine relationship — Exodus 3:8-10
• Covenant — Genesis 9:8-17
• Lays the foundation for Godʼs dealings with humanity
• Sovereignty — Genesis 1:1
• Creation — Genesis 1-3
• Holiness — Exodus 3:4-6
• Love — Deuteronomy 7:6-9
• Grace — Genesis 3:21-24
• Sacrifice — Genesis 4:3-5
• The rest of the Old Testament relies upon, refers to and builds upon the
Pentateuch
• What happens during the book of Judges
• Why certain things happen to David
• Why prophets say what they do
• Why the exile occurs
• Why God brings the people back to the land
Proverbs
The theme of the Pentateuch is
The Hebrew word that we translate as ʻproverbʼ, mashal, could be linked to one
the partial fulfilment — which
which means ʻto ruleʼ or one which means ʻto be likeʼ. In terms of the book of
implies the partial non-fulfilment
Proverbs, the second meaning seems to be the one we should take and
— of the promise to or blessing
understand the proverbs as object lessons which set out the right course of action
of the patriarchs. The promise or
in given situations.
blessing is both the divine
initiative in a world where human
Structure of Proverbs16
initiatives always lead to disaster,
and a reaffirmation of the primal 1:1-9:18" ʻThe proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israelʼ
divine intentions for man.” 10:1-22:16" ʻThe proverbs of Solomonʼ
The Theme of the Pentateuch, D. 22:17-24:22" ʻThe words of the wiseʼ
J. Clines 24:23-34" ʻThese are also the sayings of the wiseʼ
25:1-29:27" ʻThese are the proverbs of Solomon that the officials of
" King Hezekiah of Judah copiedʼ
30:1-14" ʻThe words of Agur son of Jakehʼ
30:15-33" A collection of numerical proverbs
31:1-9" ʻThe words of King Lemuelʼ
31:10-31" An acrostic poem about a capable wife
Potential traps
Unlike many ʻself-helpʼ books of our time, the book of Proverbs is not aimed at
teaching us how to control our destiny. Rather, they are about the working out of
principles that have shown the test of time, all within the context of the fear of God;
of true, meaningful, active faith.
We need to beware that we do not fall into the trap of thinking that if we follow
these rules, everything will be alright. The Proverbs are observations of general
outcomes; they are not to be read and taken as specific promises from God. A
simple example of this is the following proverb:
Train a child in the way he should go
And when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

5Old Testament Survey, 14 16 Taken from Exploring the Old Testament Volume 3, 91
12 29
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Thinking Godʼs Way - The Wisdom Literature Understanding the Pentateuch

• God reveals himself in ways his people can understand
Reading • The stories etc of Genesis 1-11 are similar to other stories among Israelʼs
• Exploring the Old Testament Volume 3, The Psalms and Wisdom Literature; E. neighbours.
Lucas, SPCK • Flood myths (Sumerian, Babylonian, etc.)
• The NIV Application Commentary - Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs; I Provan, • Gilgamesh (theme of death and plant of life)
Zondervan • Sumerian king list
• The Israelites take over the cultural matrix of their time and transform it in the
Introduction light of Godʼs revelation of himself to them.
There are three books in the Old Testament that One of the ways of expressing • Root of evil is humanity, not overpopulation (the flood)
are generally put in the category of “Wisdom what these books have in • Only one God, not many
Literature”. This is despite that fact that they are common is to say that they are all • The story of the earthʼs and Israelʼs beginnings can be compared and
very different from each other. Those three books concerned with ʻwisdomʼ. This contrasted with modern stories (e.g. The Big Bang, evolution, premodernity-
are, Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. For the can be justified simply on the modernity-postmodernity…).
purpose of this session, we will also include Song level of vocabulary. Various
of Songs even though this is not really a ʻwisdomʼ forms of the Hebrew root hkm, The God of Covenant
book. meaning ʻwisdomʼ occur relatively Any attempt to understand the Pentateuch (and, indeed, the rest of the Bible)
Just as the Psalms tend to be associated with frequently in them… Taken without reference to ʻcovenantʼ is doomed to failure. As Gordon McConville puts it,
David (with 73 of them having his name in the title) together, these three books “Covenant … becomes a way of speaking of all life in subordination to a loving
the wisdom literature has always been associated account for the majority of the God.”6 The Pentateuch shows us how God creates a people for himself and the
with Solomon. Whether he actually wrote any of occurrences of the root hkm in way that relationship is described is as a covenant. This is not an idea that only
the books, or even part of them, is not really the Hebrew Bible. occurs in Israel. “Covenants regulated all sorts of behaviour in the ancient world,
important15 , for the value of them lies not in the Exploring the Old Testament notably international relations.”7
author but in what they tell us about life lived as the Volume 3, 79 There are three covenants referred to in the Pentateuch:
people of God. • Noah — Genesis 9
Again like the Psalms, most of the Wisdom books are written in poetry and so the • Abraham — Genesis 17 The purpose of the Bible is firstly
techniques we saw last week apply here as well (as they will when we look at the • Moses — Exodus 19-24 to reveal God to humankind and
prophets next week). All of these covenants are about governing the secondly to reveal how God
Hebrew wisdom literature is not the only example of similar genres in the nations way in which humanity is able to relate to God. deals with them in love, grace
around. We have examples from Egypt and Mesopotamia which have many of the They all have certain characteristics in common: and justice.
same characteristics of the biblical books. There are also two books in the • Grace — it is God who takes the initiative, not
Apocrypha which fall into this category, the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of because of who the people are but because of who God is.
Ben Sira. In the New Testament, the Letter of James exhibits many of the • Election — It is Godʼs choice, not anyone elseʼs. Abraham does not choose
characteristics of Wisdom literature and to read it as such can be a helpful way of God, God chooses Abraham.
understanding it. • Love — God chooses people for a relationship with himself out of love for them
Exercise and for humanity. The covenant God enters into with these people is one which is
Read Proverbs 1:1-7 aimed at bringing blessing to others, not just them.
What does this passage tell us is the basis for all wisdom? • Holiness — Each covenant reflects the holiness of God through the behaviour
expected of those who are part of the covenant.
• Righteousness — The covenant makes possible a relationship with God
because it makes individual and corporate righteousness possible. In the Mosaic
covenant, this is most clearly seen in the sacrificial system.

6 G. J. McConville NIDOTTE volume 1 753

15 If you wish to follow this up, any introduction to one of these books in a good commentary will deal with the
issue of Solomon and his authorship or otherwise. 7 Introducing the Old Testament, 55
28 13
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Approaching the New Testament Send forth your light and your truth,
All of the themes and concerns of the Pentateuch are taken up and developed, let them guide me;
not just in the rest of the Old Testament, but also in the New. let them bring me to your holy mountain,
The most obvious of these is ʻcovenantʼ. But the grace of God as expressed in to the place where you dwell.
election which, through Christʼs sacrifice, brings about a people for himself who are Then will I go to the altar of God,
pronounced righteous and expected to be holy is a working out of the principles to God, my joy and my delight.
expressed in the Torah. I will praise you with the harp,
Here, as throughout the Old Testament, we see that what is foreshadowed is O God, my God.
fulfilled in Jesus. Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Assignments Put your hope in God,
Sources and Texts for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God
Read the following well known story and see if you can discover the sources that
Royal Psalms
underlie it. Look for changes in style and vocabulary especially.
These psalms present us with the king a someone who has a special relationship
Little Red Riding Hood with the Lord, the God of the covenant. Some of these, like Psalm 110, are the
Once upon a time in a house at the edge of a forest there lived a girl with her psalms we are most familiar with as they have been interpreted since the earliest
mother. She was nice and friendly to everybody. She had a Grandmother who days of the church as being messianic; that is, they not only refer to the King who
loved her so much that she gave her a present: a velvet red hat. The girl liked that reigned at any particular point in history, but they also point forward to the coming
hat so much that she wore it everyday. So everybody called her Little Red Riding of Godʼs Messiah, Jesus.
Hood. The King is talked about in two major ways. First, as a ʻservantʼ (Psalm 89:3);
One day red riding hoodʼs mum sent her with some baked goodies to her grand second, as a ʻsonʼ (Psalm 2:7). Though these refer to the King of the day, we can
mother who wasn't feeling well and she stayed on the other side of the forest. As clearly see the link with the New Testament and its description of Jesus.
she was walking through the forest a wolf crossed her path and asked her where
she was headed. The forest, at that time, was known for being a haven for wolves Assignments
and other creatures. He asked her where she was going and she told him that she Do at least ONE of the following:
was going on the other side of the forest to visit her grandmother. 1. Read Psalm47.
And the wolf asked again: "What do you have in the basket?" • What type of psalm is this?
She said: "A cake and a bottle of wine.” • Describe the types of parallelism used in the psalm.
So the wolf, who saw his big chance and wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood, • Can you pick put any specific style that the psalmist uses?
her grandmother and the cake and drink the wine, thought up a trick and said: 2. Read Psalm13.
"Where does your Grandmother live?" Little Red Riding Hood explained the way. • What type of psalm is this?
And then the wolf went on: "Don't you have flowers? You need some if you visit • Describe the types of parallelism used in the psalm.
your Grandmother."   • Can you pick put any specific style that the psalmist uses?
Little Red Riding Hood  answered: "Unfortunately I don't have flowers." 3. Using what you have learned, write your own psalm.
"Why don't you pick some? Look around how beautiful these flowers are. Your
Grandma would like them and they complete your present. What is a cake and a
bottle of wine without flowers?"
Little Red Riding Hood said, "But my mother told me not to get off the way and
not to hang about"
"But she wouldn't mind if you just picked some to make the present perfect."
Little Red Riding Hood nodded, went off the way and started picking flowers, and
with each flower she picked she saw another one and went farther and farther away
from the path.

14 27
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Form and Content When she answered, he quickly bade her goodbye and, taking a shortcut, ran to
There are a number of different types of psalms. The simplest classification the grandmother's house, knocked on the door, pretending to be the
(after Westermann) is: granddaughter.
Praise" all are predominantly ʻpositiveʼ psalms Grandmother asked: "Who is there?"
Lament" all are predominantly ʻnegativeʼ psalms And with a high-pitched voice the wolf answered: "Grandmother, it's me, Little
Other" everything else!! Red Riding Hood, I have a basket with a cake and a bottle of wine." As the old lady
Examples opened it, he threw himself at her and swallowed her in one gulp because he
wanted to eat red  riding hood. Then he put on her sleeping cap, her dress and
Praise" 8, 9
glasses and lay down in her bed.
Lament" 3, 44
As red riding hood was getting closer to her grandmother's house she met a
Other" royal psalms" 47
hunter and told him she was going to visit her grandmother. She got to the house
" didactic" 1
and wondered why the door stood open, but went inside and said, "Good morning"
The list goes on — and many psalms fit into more than one category.
and went to grandmotherʼs room, but her grandmother was looking a bit different.
Psalms of Praise The wolf wore the hat over his face to hide. But she recognised that there was
A typical psalm of praise includes the following basic elements: something wrong. She was astonished at her Grandmother's changed look and
• Call to praise asked: "Grandmother, why do you have so big ears?"  
• Reasons for praise (these can be different types of summons e.g. declarative or "So I can hear you better"
descriptive) "But Grandmother, why do you have so big eyes?"
• Call to praise "So I can see you better"
Example — Psalm 117: "But Grandmother, why do you have so big hands?"  
"So I can grip you better"
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
"But Grandmother, why do you have so horrible big teeth?"
extol him, all you peoples.
"So I can eat you better" and he jumped at her and swallowed her, too. Then he
For great is his love toward us,
ate the cake and drank the wine. Then, feeling tired, he fell asleep.
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
The grandmother's friend, the woodcutter, was passing by and as he peeped
Praise the LORD.
through the window he saw the wolf sleeping on the bed. He got in, cut open the
Psalms of Lament beast's belly and both grandmother and granddaughter jumped out and thanked
These are the most common form of psalm. The basic structure is more their rescuer.
complicated that that of a psalm of praise and contains the following elements (not Little Red Riding Hood said, "How scared I was and how terribly dark it was
all appear in all psalms of lament, and they may appear in a slightly different order). inside the wolf!" The huntsman meanwhile took stones and filled them into the
• Address to God wolfʼs stomach. Then the grandmother sewed the wolf's belly and the woodcutter
• Complaint took him to the local zoo.
• Statement of confidence The Memphite Theology of Creation8
• Appeal to God Read the extract from the Egyptian myth of creation (on the next page). The
• Assurance of being heard actual text dates from about 700 b.c. but the myth itself goes back a further 2000
• Vow of praise years. Compare this with the account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2.
Example — Psalm 43 • What similarities and differences can you see?
Vindicate me, O God, • How does this help you in understanding the world in which the Pentateuch
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; was written?
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
8 Taken from The Ancient Near East Volume 1; J. B. Pritchard Princeton University Press 1958, 2
26 15
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

• Psalm 139:8: “If I go up to the heavens, you are there/ if I make my bed
The Memphite Theology of Creation (Extract) in the depths, you are there.”
• Inclusio — The same word or phrase comes at the beginning and the end
• Psalm 103:1, 22: “Praise the Lord, O my soul.”
• Chiasmus — The pattern of poetry is inverted, abbʼaʼ
• Psalm 2:10; “Therefore, you kings, be wise;/ be warned, you rulers of the
earth.
Exercises
Complete these couplets of Hebrew poetry:
Synonymous parallelism
Psalm 34:1 — I will extol the Lord at all times …
Psalm 9:15 — The nations have sunk in the pit that they have made …
Antithetic parallelism
Prov. 10:1 — A wise child makes a glad father …
Prov. 17:1 — Better a dry morsel with quiet than …
Synthetic parallelism
Psalm 3:4 — I cry aloud to the Lord … (complementary)
Psalm 62:11 — Once God has spoken … (intensification)
Psalm 7:13 — He has prepared his deadly weapons … (specification)
Exercise
What form of parallelism or style is being used in these examples? There may
be more than one at work in any of them.
Psalm 1:5
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psalm 1:6
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 95:4
In his hands are the depths of the earth;
The heights of the mountains are his also.
Psalm 95:5
The sea is his, for he made it,
And the dry land, which his hands have formed.
Psalm 16:1
Protect me, O God,
For in you I take refuge.

16 25
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Biblical Poetry From Conquest to Exile - The Historical Books

Psalm 29:1-6
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, Reading
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. • Exploring the Old Testament Volume 2, The Histories; P. Satterwhaite, G.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name; McConville, SPCK
worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness. • Handbook on the Historical Books; V. P. Hamilton, Baker Academic
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; • A History of Israel; J. Bright, John Knox Press
the God of glory thunders, What Are the History Books?
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. As we study the history books of
As we saw in our first session9, the history
The voice of the LORD is powerful; the Old Testament, it is important
books as we know them are part of both the
the voice of the LORD is majestic. to view them as theological
Prophets and the Writings sections of the Hebrew
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; history. In other words, the
scriptures. As they have come down to us in our
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. ideology that shaped them
Bible, they “form the continuation of a narrative
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, focused on God and his plan for
begun in the Pentateuch.”10
Sirion like a young wild ox. The Psalms are … a prime the world. Thus the Old
source for learning about God, Content Testament presents us with a
Questions
Godʼs will for the world, and life Joshua" Entry into Canaan and the story history of Godʼs redemption of
• How do we know this is poetry? lived under Godʼs claim. of its (partial) conquest. sinful humanity.
• What poetical devices are used? “Psalms” J. C. McCann Jr. in Judges" The generations following Joshua M a k i n g S e n s e o f t h e O l d
Some basic concepts Theological Interpretation of the and the record of Israelʼs failure Testament, 127
1. Parallelism Old Testament, SPCK, 157 to conquer the land.
• A = B Synonymous parallelism Ruth" One familyʼs story during the time of the judges.
• Psalm 34:1: “I will extol the Lord at all times;/ His praise will always be on
Samuel" Record of the last of the judges and the beginnings of the
my lips.
monarchy with Saul and David. Describes the completion of the
• A ≠ B Antithetic parallelism
conquest of Canaan with the taking of Jerusalem.
• Psalm 7:9: “Bring to an end the violence of the wicked/and make the
righteous secure.” Kings" Records Solomonʼs reign and the building of the Temple followed
• Synthetic parallelism by the division of the kingdom. The books document the decline
This is a difficult category to define, so lots of ideas have been suggested of both nations and their being carried off into captivity.
— mainly by people wearing anoraks! Chronicles" This is a selective retelling of the story otherwise recorded in
• Complementary Samuel and Kings. Ends with Cyrusʼ decree for the return to
• Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd/ I shall not want. Jerusalem of the exiles.
• Intensification Ezra/Nehemiah" Return of successive groups of exiles to the land and the
• Psalm 2:9: “You will smash them with an iron mace/ like a potterʼs rebuilding of the Temple.
vessel shatter them.” Esther" Story of one exiled womanʼs role in the court of King Ahasuerus.
• Specification Timescale
• Psalm 8:3: “When I consider the heavens, the work of your
fingers,/ the moon and the stars which you have set in The history books cover a period of roughly 1000 years; from the crossing of the
place.” River Jordan in about 1400 BC to the return of the exiles from Babylon and the
2. Narrativity rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem in about 400 BC.
This is telling a story through poetry. In trying to understand the history books, then, we must bear in mind that the
cultures they were written in vary from the warfare and village-based life of Joshua,
• Psalm 7:14: “He who is pregnant with evil/ and conceives trouble gives birth to
disillusionment.”
3. Style 9 p. 4
• Merismus — Using two extremes to express the whole 10 Exploring the Old Testament Volume 2; 1
24 17
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Judges and Ruth to the beginnings of urban life with the monarchy, through empire Poetry
and on to decline and exile. The world of Zedekiah at the time of the Babylonian What is Poetry?
invasion is quite different from that of Joshua as the River Jordan is first crossed.
14th Century — Piers Plowman (William Langland)
Just consider what has happened in Western civilisation in the last 1000 years!
Who Wrote the History Books In a somer sesun, whon softe was the sonne,
OT Timeline I schop me into a shroud, as I a scheep were;
Only two actual writers are known: Ezra
In habite as an hermite unholy of werkes
and Nehemiah, who wrote most of the two ~1400 BC - Conquest
Wente I wyde in this world wondres to here;

Joshua
books that bear their names. Otherwise,
Bote in a Mayes morwnynge on Malverne hulles
the writers are anonymous.
Me bifel a ferly, of fairie, me-thoughte.
Godʼs Perspective
Biblical history is not just about relating 18th Century — I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (William Wordsworth)
stories of victories and defeats or listing

Judges
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

dates and names of Kings. As part of
Godʼs revelation of himself, it is about how
God acts in that history to bring about his
purposes and plans. There is no
distinction in biblical thought between
Ruth
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
1050 BC - Saul Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Samuel
theology and history. Or, perhaps better,
1010 BC - David
all history is theological. Where modern 20th Century — The Wasteland (T. S. Eliot)
historians may see socio-economic or
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow

Chronicles
political reasons for various events in the
Out of this stony rubbish?Son of man,
history of Israel, the Bible always sees
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
theological ones. That is not to say the 931 BC - Kingdom A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
other reasons are absent, but they are

Kings
divided
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
always subordinate to the overall 870-790 BC - Elijah/
Elisha And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
understanding that historical events tell us
722 BC - Israel in exile There is shadow under this red rock,
something about God. 586 BC - Judah in (Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
Jeroboam II exile And I will show you something different from either
One way to see this distinction is to look Your shadow at morning striding behind you
539 BC - Return to
at a particular King and the Bibleʼs account Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
Ezra/Nehemiah

land
Esther

of his life and actions. I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
" Frisch weht der Wind
Read 2 Kings 14:23-29
" Der Heimat zu
• What do you learn about Jeroboam II? 520 BC - Temple
completed " Mein Irisch Kind,
" Wo weilest du?
445 BC - Final return
Questions
of exiles
• How do we know the examples above are poetry?
• What differences are there?
• What similarities?
• Is there anything that strikes you as interesting or noteworthy?

18 23
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Singing the Lordʼs Song - The Psalms

Background
Reading
Read the text in the box below.11
• Exploring the Old Testament Volume 3, The Psalms and Wisdom Literature; E.
Lucas, SPCK Jeroboam II (‫ )ירבעם השני‬was the the fourteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of
• How to Read the Psalms; T. Longman III, IVP Israel, over which he ruled for 41 years (2 Kings 14:23). Under his leadership,
Israel reached its greatest geographical extent and the height of its economic
Introduction and military power. He even reportedly captured the mighty city of Damascus (2
The 150 psalms in our Bibles are a collection of songs of various types that were Kings 14:28). William F. Albright has dated his reign to 786 B.C.E.-746 B.C.E.,
obviously written over many years. It is, therefore, difficult to reconstruct the exact while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 782 B.C.E.-753 B.C.E.
situations that gave rise to them. Psalm 90 claims to have been written by Moses The son and successor of Jehoash, Jeroboam's long reign, which may have
and others, such as Ps 126 are clearly written after the exile. They, therefore, span begun while his father was still alive but suffering from leprosy, was
the same time period as the historical books: 1000 years of history. However, not contemporary with those of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of
being able to place the psalms historically with any accuracy is not important. The Judah. He was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and reportedly
psalms are expressions of the worship of Godʼs people in everyday life; they remain expanded Israel to the limits indicated during the reign of Solomon, extending
relevant to us because we are still Godʼs people, in Godʼs world, living for Godʼs north into Lebanon, east into the transjordan and south to the Dead Sea. [H]is
glory. “Although the psalms arose out of a historically specific situation, they are reign was the most prosperous that Israel had yet known.
purposely devoid of direct reference to it. Thus it is to work against the intention of A man of great energy, Jeroboam succeeded in developing the northern
the psalmist to interpret a psalm in the light of a reconstructed event.”13 Kingdom of Israel to its greatest extent. The Syrian kingdom of Damascus, since
The 150 psalms are divided into five books: the very first days of the independent northern kingdom established by
Psalms 1-41 The book of Psalms has always
Jeroboam's namesake, Jeroboam I, had been a thorn in the flesh of the northern
Psalms 42-72 had an important place in the
kings. Damascus had been weakened when it was attacked by Assur-dan III,
Psalms 73-89 spiritual life of both Jews and
King of Assyria (773). This enabled Jeroboam to extend the boundaries of his
Psalms 90-106 Christians. The fourth century
kingdom, in accordance with claims never totally relinquished. A note in 2 Kings
Psalms 107-150 Christian leader, Athanasius,
14:28 indicates that Jeroboam conquered Damascus itself, as well as the Syrian
One way of considering the collection of psalms s u m m e d u p o n e i m p o r t a n t city of Hamath. However, some scholars believe he may have had to pay tribute
is to see it as a type of song book, the songs and reason for this when he said that to the rising power of Assyria for its acquiescence in his military expeditions and
hymns that were sung in the Temple as part of the while most of Scripture speaks to conquests, among which were included the Gileadite cities of Lo Debar in Gilead
worship of the Jews. This practice continued us, the Psalms speak for us. and Ashteroth Karnaim east of the Jordan.
amongst the Christians of the first century. Paul, Exploring the Old Testament Samaria, Israel's capital, boasted of beautiful and substantial buildings of hewn
writing to the church in Ephesus, says, “Speak to Volume 3, 1 stone with ivory decorations. Abundance, comfort and luxury reportedly
one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual abounded.
songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.”14
• What does this add to your understanding of Jeroboam?
Significance of the Psalms
• The heart of Old Testament spirituality
• The power of poetry to express the deepest thoughts and highest emotions.
• The heart of Old Testament faith
• Represents the full range of responses to God the king, creator and saviour.
• The heart of worship • What theological point is the text in 2 Kings making?
• Sung and read by Jews and Christians alike.

13 An Introduction to the Old Testament, 216

14Ephesians 5:19. See also Colossians 3:16. 11 Adapted from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeroboam_II (October 7, 2009).
22 19
Introduction to the Old Testament Introduction to the Old Testament

Themes
Continuation
The foundation we saw laid in the Torah is built upon in the history books; so we
find development of exactly the same themes as we met there — themes such as,
sin, redemption, covenant, land, and blessing. These are, as in the Pentateuch, all
linked together. But if we consider “the Land” as central, the history books record
the gradual taking of the land, the glories of the united land, the loss of the land and
the return to the land. All of this happening under Godʼs guiding and sovereign
hand and in response to his covenant with Abraham, Moses and David.
Eden and Israel
Genesis starts with God placing his chosen — newly-created — people in the
Garden in Eden. There they are to enjoy fellowship with God, who walks in the
garden in the cool of the evening12. They, however, fail to live up to the demands of
the covenant God makes with them and so are exiled from Eden.
The broad sweep of time covered by the history books can be seen to follow the
same pattern. God places his chosen people in the Land of Canaan where they
are to enjoy fellowship with him, the God who chooses to dwell in the Temple in
Jerusalem. They, however, fail to live up to the demands of the covenant God
made with them and so they are exiled from the land.
Patterns of Presence
Another unifying theme is that of the
presence of God among his people. The
diagram on the right shows a threefold
division of reality that occurs regularly A B C account of why Israel fell to the Assyrians in 2 Kings 17:7-23. What similarities
throughout the Old Testament when
portraying the presence of God among his
people. This works on a number of different
levels (see the chart below) but one example
will suffice here.
The foundation for this pattern is found in Genesis 1-3. After creating the earth
(A in the diagram) God then plants a garden (C) which is in Eden (B). It is in Eden
that God walks and where the man and the woman are able to enjoy communion
with him. The command in 1:28 to “fill the earth” can be seen as a command to
move out to bring the reality of Godʼs presence to the rest of creation.
As in Godʼs original command to the man and the woman, Israel (the people of
God) were to bring the blessing of relationship with God to others. In this way, they
would fulfil the promise of blessing made to Abram in Genesis 12:2-3. What the
history books show us is that, as in the original garden, instead of the presence of
God flowing to the nations, the people of God allow the outside to enter in and bring
sin (that which is unclean) into his presence. This leads to Godʼs driving them out
of the land and removing his glory from the temple (Ezekiel 10).
Approaching the New Testament
As with the Pentateuch, many of the major themes from the history books are
developed in the New Testament. However, the theme of the land is one which
does not transfer in quite the same way. Along with the theme of Godʼs presence
(as expressed in the Temple) it needs to be reconsidered in the light of Jesusʼ life,
death and resurrection. It is here, and in how this affects us as 21st century
Christians, that the work of discovering eternal principles from the historical and
cultural stories is so important.
Assignments
Please do the first of these assignments for next week. The other ones are there
for you if you wish to explore some of the ideas from this week in more detail.
1. Read Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Compare this passage with 1 Samuel 8 and 1
Samuel 15 and explain why Saulʼs kingship was a failure.
2. Compare the description of Manassehʼs reign in 2 Kings 21:1-18 with the
and differences do you see between the two situations?
3. Consider how you would understand the theme of obedience and blessing as
a Christian. How is our situation different from, and similar to, the situation of an
Israelite during King Davidʼs reign?
4. How does the threefold picture of Godʼs presence relate to the Church?

A B C
The beginning World Eden Garden

The wanderings Wilderness Camp Tabernacle

The tabernacle Courtyard Holy Place Most Holy Place

Israel Gentiles Israel Jerusalem

The Temple Courtyard Holy Place Most Holy Place

12The theme of Godʼs presence amongst his people is a major one in the Centreʼs course, “The Mission
Heart of God”. Babylonian wall panel from the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
20 21