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Where does the word "Bible" come from?
Greek words ta biblia, meaning "The Books"
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Three divisions of Old Testament according the Jewish tradition
- the Law
- the Prophets
- the Writings.
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Definition of Torah
Teaching
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Definition of Nevi'im
Prophets
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Definition of Ketuvim
Writings
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Other names for the Old Testament
Hebrew Scriptures or Tanak (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim)
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How many books are there in the Old Testament?
- 5 (the Torah) according to the Sadducees at the time of Jesus
- 46 according to the Catholic tradition
- 39 according to Protestant traditions
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When and by whom was the first list of books of the Bible made?
In the late-4th century by local councils.
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What was the council that listed, formally and definitively, the books in the Catholic canon?
Council of Trent in the 16th century
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What are the 7 apocryphal or deuterocanonical books according to Protestants?
Judith, Tobit, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach), Wisdom
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What are the divisions of the Old Testament according to Christians?
- Pentateuch or Torah
- Historical Books
- Wisdom Writings
- Prophets
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Books in the Pentateuch (Torah)
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
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Historical Books
Deuteronomic History: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings
Chronicler’s History: 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah
From the Greek Septuagint: Judith, Tobit, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees
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Wisdom Writings
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes (or Quoheleth), Song of Songs (or Canticle of Canticles)
From the Greek Septuagint: Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach) and Wisdom
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Prophets (Major and Minor)
- Major Prophets:
- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel
- Minor Prophets:
- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
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Literary Tools for Old Testament Study
Textual Criticism (Lower Criticism)
- Higher Criticism:
- -Source Criticism (Literary Criticism)
- -Form Criticism
- -Tradition History Criticism
- -Rhetorical Criticism
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Textual Criticism (Lower Criticism)
The science of detecting what is wrong with the text and either looking for a better and more accurate manuscript, or suggesting a better reading by means of trained guesswork. It aims at establishing the "corrected" text - the best and most accurate possible.
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What are the challenges of Textual Criticism?
- o Ancient Hebrew lacked vowels
- o Complications posted by manuscript transmission – copying by scribes
§ Some lines may be skipped
§ Dittography or “writing twice”
§ Confusion of words that sound alike
§ Sloppy handwriting
§ Running words together or dividing single words
§ Intentional additions or changes
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"Categories" of interpretation
eisegesis – reading into the text what one wishes to see
exegesis – reading from the text
Three major “families” of text traditions by the time of Jesus: Babylonian; Palestinian; Egyptian
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Masoretes
“Interpreters” who put vowels into the text, and thus “fixed the words in a definitive form. However, they lived a thousand years or more after the major writing of the Hebrew Scriptures, and many words has changed their meaning and grammatical shape over the centuries. Such later generations simply did not understand the proper meaning of a passage.
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“Masoretic Text”
the standard Hebrew text that resulted from the decisions of early rabbis (1st century AD) who selected one text for each part of the Bible in order to end the confusion of having variety of copies of the Hebrew Old Testament
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Ancient translations of the Old Testament
- Septuagint (Greek): used by New Testament authors and early Christians
- Peshitta (Syriac)
- Vulgate (Latin): solidified by St. Jerome
- Targum (Aramaic): was not a strict translation
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What are several literary tools of Higher Criticism?
- Source Criticism (Literary Criticism)
- Form Criticism
- Tradition History Criticism
- Rhetorical Criticism
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Definition of Higher Criticism
The interpretation of the corrected text. It is the process of getting behind the finished Bible to the older layers of thought.
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Source Criticism
It stresses the earliest literary sources and studies the problem of whether there are written documents behind our present text.
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Form Criticism
It streesses the earliest oral units, sees literary forms as the building blocks of an oral society, and attempts to uncover the setting in life to which each type of story, tradition, or communication belongs.
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What are the questions asked by form critics?
- Who is speaking?
- Who is the audience?
- What is being said?
- Where is it said?
- What is the purpose?
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What are the steps in Form Criticism?
- 1. Defining the unit. (paragraph, headings)
- 2. Naming the form used. (genre: lament, letter, saga, etc.)
- 3. Describing its setting in life. (social context)
- 4. Identifying its purpose. (function)
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Tradition History Criticism (Transmission History)
It traces the use and reuse of biblical materials from their earliest forms and settings in the life of Israel down through all the stages of being written and rewritten. It also stresses the adaptations and re-workings of the text and pays attention to the role of scribes, wisemen, priests, prophets, and editors in handing down the literary units.
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Rhetorical Criticism
It (1) accents the wholeness and unity of many chapters and books, (2) appreciates the rhetorical effect of devices such as repetition, dramatic force, stylistic beauty, and (3) stresses harmony and value of the finished work.
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