Old Testament Biru Tamene 2024

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The nature of the Bible

 The word ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek word biblion or biblia, which mean little

books.

 The Bible was originally written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. All

of the 66 books written by 40 or more authors who lived and wrote in different times and

cultures.

 The Bible is divided in to three major divisions: the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha and

the New Testament. The Christian Bible contains 66 books without the Apocrypha and

81 with the Apocrypha.

 It has to be noted that the Hebrew Bible did not include the Apocrypha. However, the

Septuagint (that is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) includes them.

 The Roman Catholic Bible has always included them too.

 In the Bible, you can see God’s progressive revelation. This means that God unfolded or

revealed his plan of salivation in a progressive manner. He first revealed it to the

patriarchs of the ancient Israel, through the prophets, the sage of Israel and then finally in

Jesus Christ. The Christ-event is the focus of the Biblical revelation.

The Old Testament portion in Ancient Jewish Tradition or Hebrew Bible

 The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books. The Hebrew Bible is divided in to three major

sections

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 The English Bible that we have currently is arranged differently from the Ancient Jewish

Bible which is called Hebrew Bible. The ancient Jewish had only the Old Testament and

they did not call it Old Testament rather they called it Hebrew Bible

 The common Jewish term for the Hebrew Bible is TaNaK, an acronym whose consonants

T, N, and K identify the three parts of the cannon

 TaNaK or Hebrew Bible is the Old Testament portion of the Christian Bible. The TaNaK

or Hebrew Bible is a unified three-part collection. The TaNaK refers to (Torah-Nevi’im-

Ketuvim) of the Hebrew collection of the Bible.

1. The Torah

 The word ‘torah’ actually means ‘instructions’

 Torah means the first five books of the Hebrew Bible which are, Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, number and Deuteronomy

 It is called Pentateuch, which is derived from the Greek language and it means “five

books”

 The word “Pentateuch” is a combination of two Greek words:

 “penta” meaning “five” and,

 “teuchos” meaning “scroll”

 It is also called “the law” an English term derived from the English meaning of the

Hebrew ‘torah’

2. Nevi’im- in Hebrew meaning “prophets” this section in the Hebrew Bible divide in to two

sections

 The first section : former prophets, the early or former prophets who are Joshua,

Judges, Samuel and Kings.

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 Second section : Latter prophets which are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the book

of the Twelve. Who are also divided into major and minor prophets.

3. Ketuvim- in Hebrew meaning “writings” [this section is made of books of different

genres.]

 The books of the writings include wisdom and the literature of the ancient Israel, the

poetic books and the apocalyptic literatures. Individually they are: Psalms, Job,

Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastics, Daniel, Ezra –Nehemiah,

Chronicles and Ester.

See the table below;

Torah Nevi’im Ketuvim

Genesis Former Prophets Latter Prophets Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of

Exodus Joshua Major prophets (3) Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations,

Leviticus Judges Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel,

Numbers Samuel Minor Prophets (12) Ezra-Nehemiah, and

Deuteronomy Kings Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Chronicles

Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,

Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah,

Malachi

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Historical Background of the Pentateuch

Composition of the Pentateuch

 In this section we will deal with an introductory issue such as authorship, date, and
purpose of the Pentateuch.
 The challenge for us here is that, many believe that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, but

Moses appears in Exodus. Then, who did write the rest of creation story in Genesis? Or

how did the stories come about? How did their composition happen? There are two

possible answers for this question;

 The stories were inspired by God

 They were written and orally passed on from generation to generation up to Moses

Authorship

 The following questions are issues that surround the authorship of the Pentateuch; who

wrote the Pentateuch? Did the author identify himself in the books? Were there other

authors who contributed anonymously?

 Until the enlightenment period there was only one view about the authorship of

Pentateuch. The Jewish, Rabbinic and Christian writings assumed Mosaic authorship of

the Pentateuch. Thomas B. Dozeman states that, “The author of the Pentateuch is not

identified within the literature. Yet it has become closely associated with Moses because

of his central role in Exodus-Deuteronomy”.

Internal Evidences of Mosaic authorship

Internal evidence means references that are offered in the Pentateuch itself. Especially in
Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy there are plenty of internal evidences of Mosaic authorship.

Moses writes four distinct genres of literature in Pentateuch:

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 prophecy about holy war (Ex. 17:14),

 laws (Ex. 24:4, 34:27-28; Deut. 31:9, 34),

 the history of the wilderness journey (Num. 33:2), and

 A song (Deut. 31:9,22)

External evidences about Mosaic Authorship

External evidence is references that are found in other books of the Bible other than the

Pentateuch. External evidence also includes the testimony of early tradition and church fathers.

 Reference to “the book of Moses” (Neh 13:1;2Chr. 25:4), “the book of the law of Moses”

(Neh 8:1),

 Joshua 8:31-34 identifies the "book of the torah" as the "torah of Moses"

 “It is also clear that Jesus and the early church connected much, if not all, of Torah with

Moses (Matt. 19:7; 22;24; Mark 7:10; 12:26; John 1:17; 5:46, 7:23)

Documentary Hypothesis

 Documentary Hypothesis refers to a theory that is developed by Biblical Scholars. This

theory attempts to identify the author of the Pentateuch by denying Mosaic authorship

and the unity of the Pentateuch

 Documentary Hypothesis holds that the Pentateuch is a compilation of different source

documents. The German scholar named Julius Wellhausen formulated the Documentary

Hypothesis by postulating four such documents, abbreviated J, E, D, and P.

 Yahwist (Yahweh) –J sources

 Elohist (Elohim)- E sources

 Deuteronomist (Deteronomy)- D sources

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 Priestly- P sources

More recently the number of the scholars following this view has been significantly reduced. The

theory of four sources has been widely challenged and either modified substantially or rejected

completely.

Date

Here the question is about time. When was the Pentateuch written? Was it written during the life

of Moses and the wilderness generation of the Israelites?

 Traditional Church and Christian view and most conservative Biblical authors

believed that the Pentateuch was still being written during the time of Moses and the

wilderness generation of Israelites. If one holds this view, he is affirming both the

historicity and authorship of the Pentateuch. The traditional view dates the Pentateuch

around 1400BC (possibly during the time when Moses died).

 However, according to some liberal scholars, the Pentateuch was written 1000 years

later after the death of Moses. That was 400 BC, which is after the Babylonian Captivity.

This 1000 years gab brings a lot of issues on the genuineness of the history and

authorship of the Pentateuch.

Overview of the books of the Pentateuch: Each of the books holds its own
interest and unity.
 Genesis: the origins-the promised blessing of the seed in the land and all of the peoples
through the seed. These headings draw attention to a unique family line that will
eventually lead to the creation of the royal dynasty in Israel, through which all nation of
the earth will be blessed.

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 Exodus: the redemptions of the seed of Abraham out of the bondage and the formation of
this people to be a nation with a constitution. This book explains how God become both
savior and king over Israel.
 Leviticus: Israel’s culture is established by providing a manual of ordinances to help
with their needs when approaching God who is going to live among His people in
holiness (Lev. 26:11-12). Rituals to atone for sin and its consequences are site alongside
instructions meant to distinguish the Israelites from the other nation in manner that is in
keeping with their call to be holy as God is holy.
 Numbers: recounts Israel’s preparation for moving from the wilderness of Sinai into
Canaan. YHWH order of Israel’s walk, but because of fear of those dwelling in Canaan
Israel disrupts YHWH’s order, resulting in a punishment that involves the death of all the
adults who came out of Egypt, apart from Joshua and Caleb. Nevertheless, the promised
blessing cannot be frustrated from within or from without.
 Deuteronomy: finally, Deuteronomy records Moses’s exposition of the covenant
obligations received at mount Sinai about forty years earlier. Moses sets these out to a
new adult generation of Israelites as they prepare to cross over the River Jordan into the
land of Canaan. Moses exhorts them to be more faithful to God than their parents had
been. In short we can say it is the reconstruction of the nation under YAWH to enter the
land through a covenant renewal in legal form.

Theme

Viewed in isolation, the Pentateuch centers on the remarkable transformation of enslaved

Israelites into a holy nation, with God coming to dwell in their midst. Yet, the Pentateuch
was never intended to be read on its own. Deuteronomy concludes the with the nation still
outside the Promise Land and only in the book of Joshua to Kings is there a partial
fulfillment of expectations introduced in the Pentateuch. The rest of S cripture returns to the
foundations here in the Pentateuch, concluding in the New Heavens and the New Earth
revealed in the closing chapters of Revelation.

The opening chapters of Genesis begin with the creation of the whole world, with the

expectation that God will reside on an earth filled with those who love and trust Him.

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Unfortunately, the disobedience of Adam and Eve alienates humanity from God, bringing

them under His curse. The Pentateuch introduces the process of redemption, specifically at

Genesis 3:15, initiating a serious of steps by which God will fulfill His purpose. At the heart

of these is the covenant promise that Abraham will become the father of many nations,

because through one of his descendants, all nations on earth will be blessed. According to

Galatians, the gracious promise announced to Abraham is the same gospel preached by Jesus

Christ and realized through His death and resurrection (Gal.3:8,14). The enduring power of

Pentateuch is not a mystery, but a consequence of its inspiration by the Spirit of God.