Old Testament Exegesis

Throughout the Pentateuch, God and Moses have done, before anyone else, what the scribes have always done: they have updated, amended, and supplemented. Through the projection of such characters in the narrated story, characters endowed with their own hermeneutical skill, the scribes have authorized – better, canonized – their own work, inscribing their practice in the texture of the founding events. They have cast God and his prophet as scribes in their own image, so as to become  scribes in Godʼs and Mosesʼs images.

1. Considers alleged deficiencies of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale’s Scripture translations.
2. The Geneva Bible claim (in the preface) that William Tyndale neglected Hebraisms is proven false.
3. The Matthew Bible treatment of Hebraisms is compared with the 1599 Geneva Bible. Approx. 62% of the time, Geneva changed the teaching or interpretation.

This dissertation explores a process of cross-cultural communication that spans centuries of time between two different cultures, that of the Hebrew speaking Israelites of the seventh-century a.C. and the Susu people of Guinea West Africa today. The question is how, given that the two groups operate with completely different worldviews and historical backgrounds, might one translate a Hebrew religious hortatory discourse into Susu in such a way that it would be understood and appreciated as a relevant message to their culture.
The author attempts to do this beginning with an analysis of the Hebrew discourse, first from a rhetorical perspective (Chapter 2), and then from a textual perspective (Chapter 3). The presentation of the message employs a rhetoric dependant upon an understanding of the historical background of the audience. The author crafts the message not only with rhetorical nuances, but also with a textual artistry designed to enhance the overall impact of the presentation.
The author then procedes to use the same process on an analogous discourse from the Susu target culture. Since the Hebrew book of Zephaniah consists of religious hortatory, the same genre was utilized from the Susu culture, a Muslim Xutuba (Friday sermon). Again, the analysis covers the rhetorical component of the communication (Chapter 4) and then the textual structure component (Chapter 5). Having completed an analysis of the rhetoric and the textual discourse structure of a discourse both in the source language and in the target language, the author delves into two possible approaches to the translation of the Hebrew discourse.
The first, “a documentary translation,” focuses on the forms used in Hebrew to express the message in such a way to have a rhetorical and structural communicative impact (Chapter 6). The second, “an instrumental translation,” shifts the focus to forms used in the target language, with the express purpose of communicating the same message with rhetorical and structural devices that would have a communicative impact on the Susu people.
Ultimately, the preferred translation approach depends upon the scopos of the translator. If the objective is to present an ancient document to highlight the “foreign” forms used in the original communication, the documentary approach works well. However, if the objective is to present the message of said document in such a way as to transfer the relevancy of the message to the target culture, an instrumental approach is advantageous.

The murmuring narratives of the books of Exodus and Numbers depict Israel in the desert as constantly complaining. By taking these ten narratives, Walter Bührer shows that and how Israel's murmuring is more and more negatively interpreted – both in canonical terms as well as regarding the formation of the texts, which become increasingly interwoven.

Among the many psalms that refer to creation, Pss 8 and 104 stand out in being entirely devoted to this theme. Whereas Ps 8 highlights the prominent, even exalted, human role in the created order, Ps 104 contextualizes humanity as but one creature among many in a complex intertwined cosmos. Nevertheless, upon closer study, it becomes evident that both psalms share elements of a common worldview, including a remarkably similar view of what constitutes being human, a conception of the world as a cosmic temple, and a rejection of the motif of creation-by-combat against primordial enemies. An exploration of the diversity-in-unity of Pss 8 and 104 yields insights into how their common theological vision may address the human vocation of the use of power in a world understood as a sacred realm over which God is enthroned, yet into which evil has intruded.

For me, Bernd's great commentary evoked two contradictory sayings. The ancient Alexandrian librarian, Callimachos gave us an epigram that became proverbial, "Mega biblion, mega kakon-Big book, big evil." But Epimenides produced a hexameter line which, when emended, may be used to refute Callimachos' proverb: "Alexandrians are always liars, evil beasts, lazy guts."

The primary concern of this study is to understand how curse affects the power of blessing in Genesis 1–11. First, we examine the semantics of blessing and curse in light of their history of interpretation. Second, each blessing (1:22, 28; 9:1–3, 7, 26, 27) and curse (3:14–15, 16, 17–19; 4:11–12; 9:25) that occurs within reported speech in Genesis 1–11 is categorized and examined according to its linguistic pattern and performative character. Third, the role of blessing and/or curse is determined in the development of narrative tension in the various discourse units of Genesis 1–11.
Blessing and curse are shown to be intimately connected to Creation theology: blessing is given to drive Creation toward its intended telos, while curse is pronounced when that telos is threatened. Both are a central part of Yahweh's upholding of the Order of Creation. Curse affects the power of blessing both negatively and positively in Genesis 1–11. Negatively, curse causes hostility and alienation, and can also be held partially responsible for the epidemic of death. But curse does not have the final word. Positively, curse mitigates rebellion by imposing restrictions on the transgressor. Furthermore, curse carries with it a way for life to continue.
The narrative of Genesis 1–11 bespeaks of the power words have in the world. Some create, some commission, some empower; while others punish, others alienate, and others cause death. From the beginning God has intended good for his Creation. Blessings and curses are one way of achieving that end.

This is an abridged version of my "Counting Stars with Abraham and the Prophets" (JETS 2015). Paul’s application of the “seed” designation to both Jews and Gentiles in Christ marks a redemptive-historical shift from an age of promise to an age of fulfillment. Both the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants initially restricted “seed” language to physical descent and marked covenant membership by physical birth. Nevertheless, they also pointed ahead to a day when covenantal, spiritual adoption would replace ethnicity and biology as the foundational mark of the patriarch’s “fatherhood.” The OT’s promised royal deliver would initiate this eschatological and ecclesiological development, which by its nature supports a progressive covenantal flavor of Baptistic new covenant ecclesiology.

This Survey Chart was created for Dr. Andreas Köstenberger and the biblical backgrounds Ph.D. seminar at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for Second Temple Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. This chart surveys the key literature, historical timeline, and information surrounding the Second Temple period as well as offers a select bibliography for each section for further research. This 234 page survey chart is divided into nine major sections: Second Temple History, Greek OT (LXX), OT Apocrypha, OT Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo and Josephus, Targums and Rabbinical Literature, NT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and Greco-Roman literature.

Isaiah 6 is filled with brilliant imagery, passion, and religious depth that stir the calling of God in the souls of believers, especially in the first eight verses of the chapter.  But, the mood quickly changes, as Isaiah 6:9-13 records the Prophet Isaiah’s eighth century declaration of desolation for his homeland, with specific warnings of God’s intent to remove the spiritual awareness of His people. This deadening of spiritual realization becomes critical to first century Jews and Christians as the presence of Christ and His testimony establish the New Covenant of the LORD God with believers. Isaiah 6 clearly warns Judah of the coming desolation and records God's promotion of obduracy, which highlights the relationship between understanding and redemption in the salvation process.

By Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully -- This accessibly written, practical introduction to Old Testament textual criticism helps students understand the discipline and begin thinking through complex issues for themselves. The authors combine proven expertise in the classroom with cutting-edge work in Hebrew textual studies. This successful classic (nearly 25,000 copies sold) has been thoroughly expanded and updated to account for the many changes in the field over the past twenty years. It includes examples, illustrations, an updated bibliography, and a textual commentary on the book of Ruth.

Biblical scholars have long debated the identity of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Most Christians identify the servant as Jesus and interpret Isaiah 53 as a description of Jesus’ unique, substitutionary death. However, Isaiah 40–55 repeatedly identifies God's servant as Israel. Was Isaiah 53 about the unique experience of a future individual, or was the passage about what all of God’s people would experience? The aim of this paper is to determine how best to understand the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 from an exegetical (rather than a modern theological) standpoint. The thesis is that the suffering servant was to be both the forerunner to and the paradigmatic exemplar of the ideal people of God—a paradigm the people of God were called to conform to. Thus, in light of the ancient conception of corporate solidarity, the answer to the question of whether the servant was to be an individual or a group is: “both.”

By K.A. Kitchen -- In a detailed, comprehensive, and entertaining manner, Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East — the Bible’s own world — and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it. Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times, Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquity's inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers.
(This text was made available at the following website: https://www.pdfdrive.com/on-the-reliability-of-the-old-testament-d188582318.html)

What interests me in Job 19:25 is not just its obscurity or the intriguing attempts to identify Job’s gōʾēl. The verse raises the question of how Christians have read and can read the Old Testament. Through this work, I hope to present to Egyptian Christians different perspectives and interpretations of the Old Testament, in order to contribute to an Egyptian Christian environment in which the Old Testament can be understood in its own context.

In An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books, incredible events, amazing love stories, larger-than-life personalities and deep theological implications and themes are just part of the treasure that awaits readers. These books tell the story of the nation of Israel and the God who loves her, punishes her, and always brings this recalcitrant people back to Himself.

In An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books, C. Hassell Bullock, a noted Old Testament scholar, delves deep into the hearts of the five poetic books, offering readers helpful details such as hermeneutical considerations for each book, theological content and themes, detailed analysis of each book, and cultural perspectives.

In An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books, C. Hassell Bullock presents a clear picture of some of history's most profound spokesmen--the Old Testament prophets--and the God who shaped them. Our generational distance from the age of the prophets might seem to be a measureless chasm. Yet we dare not make the mistake of assuming that passing years have rendered irrelevant not only the Old Testament prophets, but also the God who comprehends, spans, and transcends all time.

In An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch, Old Testament expert Herbert Wolf provides layreaders and scholars alike with a strong undergirding of understanding and knowledge in this introduction that reveals both the seriousness and excitement of the Pentateuch. 
(This text was made available at the following website: https://www.pdfdrive.com/introduction-to-the-old-testament-set-of-four-books-prophetic-poetic-pentateuch-historical-d194272786.html)

The lives and relationships between Kings Saul and David from 1 and 2 Samuel are examined in greater depth as symbolic representatives and typological figures.  Saul personifies the Old covenant system, and David personifies both Jesus and the New covenant system.  Attention is given to the New Testament fulfillment of Jesus as the Son of David, to David's ability to drive out unclean spirits of Saul, and to Saul and David's roles as prophets, priests and kings.

PART 1: The hope of the faithful, and the grave from which we are dug. The traditional (patristic and early Reformation) doctrine of heaven and hell.
PART 2: The “Larger Hope” and lesser grave taught in the 1894 Revised Version. The assault on the doctrine of eternal retribution and re-definition of the Hebrew 'sheol.'
PART 3: The treatment of 'sheol' in the 1537 Matthew Bible. Comparing the Geneva Bible, Revised Version, and modern Bibles. The problems with the modern translations.

Presented at SWCRS, Irving, TX, 3/11/2018. Oddities in the characterization and actions of the patriarch Isaac in the book of Genesis have long been noted by scholars, but the typical way of dealing with these oddities has been dismissive, either of the originality of authentic Isaac traditions or of Isaac as character (he is often characterized either as morally problematic or laughable). Without asserting anything about the historicity of Isaac the man, this paper proposes that the portrayal of the character Isaac seems to reflect an ancient traditional understanding of Isaac as a child and a man on the autistic spectrum, but ancient Israel and the classical Hebrew language had no resources for labeling this condition.

The Bible contains a motif often overlooked, but which is highly significant. That is the Absent Master motif. This is just one short article examining the significance of this motif for understanding Biblical Eschatology. I have also produced a series of YouTube videos exploring the subject in deeper detail

The story highlights the upright character of Joseph, as an illustration of the covenant: "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless" (Gn 17:1). And: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gn 12:2, 3).  This outline will focus on the structure of the narrative and give some background information on Egyptian society.  The context, form and structure, theological, technical and hermeneutical notes given in this sermon outline overlap with other sermon outlines taken from the Book of Genesis. This makes it possible to use this sermon outline as a "stand-alone". You can also fit this outline into a series of sermons. Context  An outline of the Book of Genesis. THE CREATION Genesis 1:1-2:3 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Dr. William R. Gallagher does an excellent job of showing the linguistic relationship between the Helel of Isaiah 14 with the Illil in Akkadian and Enlil in Sumerian literature. This paper has been uploaded here to give scholars access to an important paper. Contact me if you feel this paper should not be published here and I will remove it.
Gallagher, W.R. “On the Identity of Hêlēl Ben Sahar of Is. 14:12-15,” UF 26 (1994): 131-146.

Now that the indigenous principle of church planting has operated in
missions for about a century,2 it seems timely to consider leadership transitions. As churches become indigenous, it is vital that there be smooth transition from missionary leadership to national leadership. It is also necessary for the future of the church that all leaders, both missionary and national, understand the process of leadership transition. There is a wealth of literature on leadership, styles of leadership, personalities in leadership, how to train leaders, developing the leadership potential of others and so forth, but in all this literature, there is virtually nothing on the subject of leadership transition. There appears to be an assumption that if you train and develop leaders properly, then the transition to the next generation of leaders will go smoothly. But little has been written on the process of transition itself.

The enemies’ speeches in the psalms reflect a theological controversy: is God really acting in aid of the pious and poor? By inserting its adversaries’ sayings in its own psalmic oration, the “I” of the Psalms arranges a space of relational encounter between ‘himself – the adversary – God’, in which their mutual relations are negotiated. However, in Ps 9/10 and Ps 73 the pious is in danger to adopt the wicked’s sayings and therefore to become wicked himself. Both Psalms can be used to express doubt and to reassure faith.

The story of David and Goliath recounted in 1 Reigns 17 is an iconic tale of good versus evil, the powerless overcoming the powerful. It is a staple of almost every Sunday school class and unfortunately analysis of the text and its meanings often remain at that level. The story of David and Goliath is much more than a simple Sunday School tale and is a rich mine for understanding the economia of God. Historically the text comes at the end of the era of the Judges and forms a bridge to the kingship of Solomon. This places it at around 1020BC with its major themes being the qualities of kingship and a comparison of the qualities of Saul and David and how that affects their relationship to God and in turn Gods relationship to Israel. 1 It is interesting that the actual defeat of Goliath takes only three verses.

Acest studiu s-a născut din nevoia de a înțelege rolul important pe care sângele îl are în general în Biblia Ebraică, iar în mod special în cărțile Pentateuhului. Analiza noastră va fi făcut pe baza textului masoretic, deoarece acest text ilustrează bine mentalitatea semită - care înțelege sângele ca fiind sursa vieții. Pe acest considerent, în prima parte a prezentului articol, dorim să exemplificăm interdicțiile pe care sângele le comporta în societatea iudaică antică. Iar apoi, dorim să subliniem că în Pentateuh sângele apare ca un simbol al vieții fizice, al izbăvirii din calea morții, al curățirii păcatelor și al sfințirii preoților. Toate aceste simbolisme datorându-se faptului că sângele este în primul rând semnul legământului dintre Dumnezeu i poporul Său (Ieș 24, 8). În ultimă instanță dorim să arătăm că taina sângelui din Pentateuh poate fi pe deplin înțeleasă prin raportare la taina sângelui Mântuitorului Iisus Hristos.

In this chapter the question of the role and function of foreign women in the book of Proverbs is asked. It identifies distinct stereotypes in the depiction of women and shows how foreign women have been stereotyped and stigmatized.
It raises and answers the question how the vocabulary already stigmatized people by generalisation and subversive allusions. It looks into the function of how composite figures serve as contrasting views of social groups and stigmatize foreign women as evil and deceiving. Looking into the history of Israel, it is analysed how in a socioeconomic reading the influence of Phoenician trade changed the view of foreigners. Due to Phoenician economic success the Phoenician woman-trader served as a role model for Israelite marriageable women. Therefore, the different religious backgrounds, leading to discrimination in other parts of the books, are led aside for the reason of economic success and the role-model becomes a faithful Israelite.
This study makes a unique contributes to academic research by showing the ambivalence and prejudice towards foreignness. It points out the discrimination of women by overstating and misrepresenting their status and analyses the reasons. Finally, the relevance for today’s society is suggested by reflection on society, observing that already in biblical times a society when it feels threatened for reasons of cultural identity, develops xenophobia.

Debate continues concerning the meaning and implications of Malachi 3:1. In this contested verse, YHWH responds to the complaints and accusations of his people by saying, “Behold, I am sending my messenger, and he will clear a way before me. And suddenly, he will come to his temple; the Lord whom you are seeking and the messenger of the covenant in whom you are delighting; behold, he is coming, says YHWH of hosts.”1 No scholarly consensus exists as to (1) the presence and significance of redactions in the text,2 (2) the passage/s to which the author alludes, and (3) the number and nature of the person/s described in the verse. Each of these individual problems has elicited a variety of proposed solutions, resulting in a plethora of interpretations. In light of the current exegetical gridlock, I will argue that Malachi 3:1 (as it stands) refers to the sending of a priestly, prophetic messenger and the arrival of YHWH himself, depicted as a royal priest. I will make my case in three s...

يناقش البحث اعتراض و تشكيك فى مصداقية الوحى المقدس لسفرى الملوك
و يتلخص الاعتراض فى اسم الملك( سوا) فرعون مصر
ورد اسم هذا الفرعون (سوا) في سفر الملوك الثانى و هو الملك الذى تحالف معه هوشع ابن ايلة اخر ملوك المملكة الشمالية و يجد الناقد هنا ضالته حيث انه لا يوجد ملك لمصر بهذا الاسم و لهذا وجب التحليل اللغوى و التاريخى للاحداث و الاشخاص لايضاح الراى الاقرب للحقيقة