UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

GEC RE 001 - GOD’S SAVING

ACTION IN HISTORY, OUR STORY:
FROM ABRAHAM TO JESUS
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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Geography:
The world of the Old Testament, geographically speaking, was much larger than the land of Palestine.
Abraham who was destined to become the ancestor of the nation of Israel was called by God from Ur
in southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq).
■ The history of the descendants of Abraham shows that there are six major journeys of the people
in Old Testament. They marked turning points in the experience of God’s chosen nation.
■ The 1st journey of the patriarch Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan (cf. Gen 11:27-
12:9).
■ Migration of Jacob and his relatives from Canaan to Egypt, to join Joseph (cf. Gen37:28;46:1-34).
■ Exodus of Hebrew from Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land Canaan (cf. Exodus 12:40-41;
Joshua 1:1-9).
■ The Northern Kingdom of Israel was carried away into exile to Assyria in 722 B.C.E (2 Kings 18:9-
12).
■ The southern Kingdom of Judah was taken captive to Babylon in 587 B.C.E. (cf. 2 Kings 25:1-12).
■ Two separate. large groups of Israelites returned from Babylon to their homeland, led by
Zerubbabel in 536 B.C.E. and Ezra in 458 B.C.E. (cf. Ezra 1-2; 7:1-10; 8:1-21).

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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Geography:
Gen. 13:14-15. “To raise your eyes and see” = is a first
step in conquering a territory.
What did Abraham see?
 to the North: the winterbourne, snow-covered
mountains of Lebanon;
 to the South: the semi-arid Negeb;
 to the East: the wide desert; and
 to the West: the Great Sea.
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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Geographically, Israel is situated in the so-called Fertile
Crescent which today is divided among Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.
Two factors of fertility of this region:
1) the flat lands
2) an abundance of waters
Mesos – middle meaning between the
Mesopotamia Potamos – river two rivers

When the Bible speaks of the two rivers, they are

referring to the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates.
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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Economy:
Food production was the basis of ancient economy.
Deuteronomy describes the land as producing “wheat and
barely, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and honey” (Dt.
8:8).
Genesis 43:11 Jacob mentions resin, honey, spices, pistachio
nuts and almonds as some of the choices fruits of the land. It
was a place where they would never go hungry or be ever in
need. Sheep and goats were raised for their milk and meat.
Sheep also provided wool for clothing. Thus agriculture and
pastoralism were complementary occupation.
According to Deuteronomy 8:9, iron and copper were mined
in the mountains of Palestine. 5
The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Lifestyle:
Israel’s ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tents and
led a semi-nomadic way of life, frequently relocating their
settlements.
After the Exodus, the Hebrews from Egypt under the leadership of
Moses were nomads in the wilderness south of Canaan for some
forty years. They continue to live in the tents shortly after they
arrived in the Promised Land. (Cf. Joshua 3:14; 7:21-24; 22:4-8),
while other people were already living in permanent villages and
cities.
In ancient times, it was customary practice that a patriarch could
have more than one wife if his first wife could not provide him
with children. Sometimes, it was even the barren’s wife
responsibility to provide her husband with a second wife. This
happened in the cases of Abraham and Sarah (cf. Gen. 16:1-2)
and Jacob and Rachel (Gen. 30:1-3). 6
The world of the Old Testament Bible:
The Names of the Land: (The ‘Promised land’ has had a variety of names
during the last 4000 years)
 Promised Land – a promise God made to Abraham (cf. Gen. 13:14-15;
15:18-21; 17:7f).
 Canaan – the oldest name used in the OT, a term occurring most
frequently in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Judges. Originally,
Canaan is applied to the land and inhabitants of the coastal plains of
Syria-Palestine. Thus, the Canaanites are associated with the coast,
the valleys and plains. But the term is also used less strictly to include
the whole hinterland as far east as the Jordan (cf. Num. 13:17-21).
After the Israelites entered Canaan under Joshua, “Sea Peoples”
(refers to the Philistines) from somewhere around Crete or Greece
attempted to invade Egypt but were prevented. These Philistines
landed and settled on the coast of Southern Canaan in the 12th
century B.C.E.. These invasions of both the Israelites and Philistines
restricted the original Canaanites to Phoenicia (cf. 2 Sam. 24:7). After
the time of the judges, the term Canaan as the name for the land
seems to have dropped out. 7
The world of the Old Testament Bible:
The Names of the Land:
 Palestine – is derived from the “land of the Philistines”. The
Philistines were people who occupied the coastal areas and
dominated the land until King David defeated them. Herodotus,
the “Father of History”, during the 5th century, referred to the
whole region between Phoenicia and the Lebanon mountains
in the North and Egypt in the south as Palaistine Syria
(=Philistine Syria). From the Greek word Palaistina came the
Latin word Palestina and English “Palestine”. This name
however came into use only after the 5th century B.C.E. It is not
used in the Old Testament. In the OT, the land is often called
“the land of Canaan”.
 The Holy Land – has its origin in Zechariah 2:12, but it did not
become a common designation for the land until the middle
Ages. Today, the land is no longer holy to the Jews alone, but
also to Christians and Muslims alike.
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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
The Chosen People:
1) The people are called Hebrews from Abraham onwards (cf. Gen.
14:13). In Exodus 3:18 and 5:1-3 ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israel’ are used as
synonymous terms.
2) Israel – was the new name given by God to Jacob, grandson of
Abraham (cf. Gen. 32:28) and thus, the descendants of Jacob are
“Israelites”. In the OT, Israel was the first and foremost the name of a
people. It means ‘the land of [the people] Israel’. When the kingdom
divided after the death of King Solomon, Israel became the name of
the independent northern state.
3) Jew – The term commonly used during the New Testament. This
originally referred to a member of the southern tribe of Judah.
4) Semite and Semetic – often used to refer to the Jewish people. In the
modern world, the Semetic family includes the people of Turkey,
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Arabia and North Africa. The word
“Semite” is used more precisely to refer to ancient peoples who
spoke related languages. 9
The world of the Old Testament Bible:
God of Israel’s Ancestors.
Israel’s ancestors had been under the influence of the
religious views that prevailed throughout the Fertile
Crescent.
The exodus from Egypt was not just a flight from political
oppression but also an “exodus” or departure from the
religions of the ancient world.
The ancestors of Israel observed “the service of other
gods’ (signifying henotheism) (cf. Joshua 24).

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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Language:
The two languages of the Old Testament are Hebrews and Aramaic. These are
members of the family of related languages called “Semetic”, a word derived
from the name Shem, one of Noah’s sons.
Early manuscripts of Hebrew contained consonants only; the vocalic
pronunciation was supplied by the reader.
The Masoretes, a group of Jewish grammarians, added the written vowels or
vowel points shortly after 500 C.E. to stabilize the pronunciation of Biblical
Hebrew.
Hebrew words, like the other Semitic languages, are usually based on roots
containing three consonants.
The addition of prefixes and suffixes determine the semantic significance of the
word. ( Example.: some word based on the root mlk are melek “king”, malka
“queen”, malkut “rulership”, malak “he ruled”, and mamlaka “kingdom”).
Aramaic, during the heyday of the Persian Empire (ca. 500B.C.E.), was the
second, if not the first, tongue of the peoples of the near East from Egypt to
Persia. The book of Genesis affirms the close relationship between Hebrew and
Aramaic- speaking peoples (e.g., Gen. 31:47). 11
The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Dress.
Both men and women wore an inner garment called
tunic with a girdle.
Then an outer garment called mantle was used as
shelter from wind, rain, cold, heat, and as a blanket at
night.
They wore turbans for the head; sandals for the feet.
Women had longer tunics and larger mantles; veil which
entirely covered the head in public; and elaborate
ornamentations (earrings and bracelets).
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The world of the Old Testament Bible:
Woman’s Task.
Because of strong patriarchal society, the role of women
always appeared to be subservient to men.
Their place was confined to the household.
Their qualities were indicated by passivity and subordination.
They kept out of sight when visitors were present (cf. Gen.
18:9).
They first served the men in the family during meals.
They ground the grain, wove, made clothes, fetched water,
cooked, cleaned the house, reared and educated the
children, and walked while the men rode.
Children of the home, especially girls, helped in the daily
chores.
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LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
1. Myth
 symbolic expression of religious truth or
ultimate realities
Read: Genesis 1 and 2 and Isaiah 11:6-9
According to Rudolf Bultmann, New Testament scholar
and theologian, proposes a need for
demythologization, a process of interpreting mythology
in terms of understanding human existence. For him, to
demythologize creation myths is to interpret them as
objectified expressions of a person's self-
understanding (Jesus Christ and Mythology, 1958). 14
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
2. Midrash
 imaginative reconstruction of a biblical episode;
edifying lessons or meditations on an earlier biblical
utterance (McKenzie 1965: 574-575).
Read: Infancy narratives (Luke and Matthew) and
Wisdom 11-19.
3. History
 God's revelation of Himself in the framework of
events; it presents the chosen people's encounter
with God and their response to that encounter.
Read: Exodus 14, 2 Sam. 11:1-12:25, 1 and 2 Kings,
Ps. 78, 105,106. 15
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
4. Fable
 a short story embodying a lesson and introducing
animals and inanimate things as actors and
persons. (McKenzie 1965: 266)
Read: Judges 9:7-15, 2 Kings 14:9, 1 Cor. 12:14-21,
5. Wisdom Literature:
 maxims, proverbs, counsel of the sages on proper
conduct; also contain reflections on the meaning
and problems of life, of good and evil.
Read: Wisdom Literature: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Wisdom of Solomon, etc. 16
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
6. Apocalyptic Genre
 revelation made by God concerning hidden things
employing all kinds of imagery and symbolism which
appeal to the imagination of the ancients: visions,
dreams, numbers, colors, fantastic beasts, bizarre figures
(Tos: 37-38).
Read: Is. 13:9-10, Mt. 24:29, The Book of Daniel, The
Apocalypse or Revelation
7. Miracle Stories:
 In the Old Testament, miracles are understood as signs
and wonders of God's presence; in the New Testament,
miracle stories are signs of messianic salvation. OT—the
manna and the quails NT—healing of the blind man, the
multiplication of loaves and fishes, the casting out of evil
spirits, etc.
Read: Matthew 9:1-8 17
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
8. Parable
 a simple narrative in the form of an extended metaphor
which subverts worldly values and invites conversion by a
reorientation to the values of the Kingdom. Examples are
the stories of the sower, the laborers in the vineyard, the
marriage banquet, the mustard seed, the talents.
Read: Matthew 20:1-16.
9. Allegory
 similitude which involves levels of meaning (Ralph 1986:
174).
Read: Mk. 4:13-20 (allegorical interpretation of a parable)
I am the bread of life…..
You are the salt of he earth, the light of the world….
I am the vine you are the branches
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LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
10. Poetry
 consists of parallelisms, balance, rhythm, and
makes use of metaphors, similes, and other
exaggerations.
Read: The Book of Psalms; poetic passages in Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Job.
11. Detective Story
 consists of a mystery, suspense, someone
unraveling the problem, the evidence pointing to the
culprit, and finally the vindication of the innocent or
the just.
Read: Dan. 13:1-64, the story of Susanna, Dan. 14:1-
22, Daniel and the priests of Bel and Dan. 14:23-42,
Daniel and the dragon. 19
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
12. Aetiology
 a story which attempts to explain the origin or the cause of a
phenomenon of nature, condition, custom or institution (Ralph:
77).
Read: Gen 9:12 ff., the origin of the rainbow, 19:26, origin of a
peculiar rock formation, 25:23, ethnological etiology explaining the
enmity between Edom and Israel.
13. Satire
 consists of sarcasm, invective parody, irony, or direct
condemnation which is used as a form of criticism of or a social
commentary on a person or a group.
Read: 1 Kings 18:26-29, Elijah's mocking parody against the priests
of Baal.
 The arguments, complaints, and responses that we read in the
book of Job between him and his friends, and also between him
and God have features of satire.
Read: Job 32-40 and Numbers 22-24, The story of Balaam. 20
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
14. Irony
 a passage with double-layered meaning; a mode of
speech of which the meaning is contrary to the
words.
Read: Ironic presentations in the Old Testament—Jonah
as the absurdity of God, Joseph as the irony of
providence, Jn. 9:1-41, the man born blind, and Jn.
18:28-19:16, the trial of Jesus
15. Legal codes:
 laws, commandments, rules of conduct, even those
governing physical hygiene and dietary regulation.
Read: Decalogue or 10 Commandments (Ex, 20/Dt. 5)
and Laws (Ex. 21:1-11; Lev. 6:1-7; Ex. 23: 10-11). 21
LITERARY FORMS in the Bible:
16. Prophecy
 an oracle or utterance of the spokesman or
mouthpiece of God expressing threat, promise,
reproach, or admonition.
Read: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, etc.
17. Epistle or Letter
 correspondence of an apostle to another person
or to a community on a doctrinal or pastoral
matter.
Read: Pauline epistles and Catholic epistles
ex. “I thank my God whenever I think of you; and
every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy…”
Philippians 1:3 22
Summary:
This has briefly presented the power of the word, particularly the
word of God.
It has also discussed examples of some literary forms in the Bible.
Every literary genre has its own distinctive features and
conventions. It follows relatively fixed formal patterns.
The understanding of literary genre is important in any serious
study of the Bible for it is by identifying the literary form and by
determining its Sitz im Leben (situation in life/historical setting)
that we discover the intention of the author or the message of the
text.
Identifying the literary form facilitates the accurate interpretation
of the text. To misunderstand the literary form is to misunderstand
the meaning.
As McGehee reminds us, "unless we appreciate the genre of what
we are reading, we may make the same mistake as the
hypothetical person who reads the phone book as if it were a
novel "(1991: 10). 23
 The Bible

References:
Bragado, Erlinda H., Monera, Arnold T., “Kaloob :
Interweaving's on the Christian story”, Malate,
Manila, Philippines : De La Salle University
Press, 1998.

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 The End
Thank You
very Much!!! 25