Biblical Studies 130: Hebrew Bible World and Culture
Schedule
of Assignments: Fall 2007
Reading
and writing assignments in the right-hand column are due at the beginning of
class on the date in the left-hand column of the same line. Additional writing
assignments may be announced on the class day before they are due. Written assignments may be taken up for daily grades without
prior notice.
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Thur.
8/30
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Introduction:
*Translations
*Genre
*History and Story
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Tue.
9/4
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The
Exodus Story
*Interpreting the Hebrew Bible
*Placing the story in historical context
*The Exodus
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Read:
Exodus 1-4; 5.1-12.42; 14.1-15.21
Read: Dever,
“The ‘Exodus’ – History or Myth?” Old
Testament Parallels, “The
Story of Sargon of Agade,” pp. 89-90.
Write a brief response to the questions: What genre do you think
the Exodus story is? Why?
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Thur.
9/6
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Sinai
Covenant
The Wilderness
*Forty Years of Wandering
*The Land
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Read:
Exodus 15.22-17.16;
19.1-20.21; 24; 34.29-35
Numbers 13-14
Read: “I. Geography,”
pp, 407-410 at back of NOAB
Follow Wilderness
learning pathway. You do not have to read all of the linked stories, but
must visit all of the places on the maps and all of the pathway pages.
Write a response to each of the questions at the end of the pathway on the page titled “Learning Exercise.”
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Tue.
9/11
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Occupation
of Canaan
*Conquest stories in Joshua
*The conquest in Judges
*Other Evidence
*Models of the Occupation
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Read:
Joshua 1-4;
6-11; 13;
23
Judges 1
As you read the assigned chapters in the Hebrew Bible,
identify verses that provide evidence regarding the way in which Israel
came to occupy the land of Canaan.
Write down verse numbers and what those verses say about the
occupation.
Read: Dever, “The Conquest of
the Land West of the Jordan: Theories and Facts,” pp. 37-57;
“Megiddo,” pp. 58-60; “Shechem,” pp. 61-62; “Debir,” p. 65;
and “Hazor,” pp. 66-68
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Thur.
9/13
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Tribal
Confederacy
*The Role of Judges
*Strengths and weaknesses of the tribal system
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Read:
Joshua 24
Judges 3:12-30; 4-7; 11-16;
19-21
Write responses to the questions: What were judges
during the tribal confederacy? what did they do? What were the strengths
of this system of government? its weaknesses? Identify particular stories
that illustrate your answers.
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Tue.
9/18
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Samuel
and Saul
*Literary motif of barren woman
*The Ark of the Covenant
*Arguments for and against monarchy
*Different perspectives in the text
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Read:
Judges
8.22-9.57
1 Samuel 1-10; 15.1-19.17;
22.1-2; 24;
31
Write down three reasons found in the books of Judges and Samuel
for having a king and three reasons against having a king. What characters
express these different views of monarchy? Why?
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Tue.
9/20
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TEST
1
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Review
readings, exercises, and class notes to date. Make sure you can answer all
questions and identify all names and terms on the Study Guides
for this unit.
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Tue.
9/25
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David
*The importance of David
*The significance of Zion
*The Davidic Covenant
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Read:
2 Samuel
1.1-2.11; 3.1;
5-7; 11-13; 15.1-18; 18;
24
1 Kings 1-2
Psalms 2; 46; 47; 76; 110;
132
Genesis 14.17-24
Read: Collins, “Promise to
David” and “Excursus: The Royal Ideology of Judah,” pp. 233-239.
Write a response to these questions: What comparisons can you make
between David's covenant with God and the Moses-Sinai covenant? What
sequence of events led to Solomon, instead of one of his older brothers,
following David as king?
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Thur.
9/27
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Solomon
The Division of the Kingdom
*The reign of
Solomon
*Wisdom and Solomon
*The Division of the Kingdom
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Read: 1
Kings 3; 4.7, 20-34;
5.1-8:13; 9.15-11:41;
12
Exodus 32
Proverbs 10-12; 22-23; 31
Read: “The United Monarchy”
and “The Divided Kingdom,” pp. 412-413 NOAB
As you read material about Solomon, write down both positive and
negative aspects of his reign. What factors led to the division of
the kingdom? Make a list of the kinds of issues the assigned chapters in
Proverbs address.
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Tue.
10/2
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Documentary
Hypothesis
*Characteristics
of the texts
*Source criticism and source theories
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Read:
Genesis 6-9
Read: Collins, “The Nature of
the Pentateuchal Narrative,” pp. 47-65 and Old Testament
Parallels, “Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim, pp. 27-32.
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Thur.
10/4
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The
Yahwist Primeval Narratives
*Creation
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Read:
Genesis 2.4-4.15; 11.1-9
Read: Trible, "Depatriarchalizing
in Biblical Interpretation." Journal of the American Academy
of Religion 41 (March 1973), pp. 30-48 (in library Journals stacks) or
online via ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials.
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Tue.
10/9
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The
Ancestral Narratives
*Abraham and
Sarah
*Hagar and Ishmael
*Isaac
*Jacob and Esau
*Joseph
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Read:
Genesis 12-13;
15-16; 18;
20.1-22.19; 24;
25.19-34; 27-33;
35; 37; 39.1-46.7; 47.27-31;
50.15-26
Make a list of themes or types of stories that you find in the
Ancestral Narratives that are also part of the Succession Narrative/Court
History. Be specific about the stories and connections you are making. Note
places in the stories that seem particularly pertinent to the Northern
Kingdom.
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Thur.
10/11
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Prophets
of the Northern Kingdom
*The role of
prophets
*Stories of Elijah
*Amos
*Hosea
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Read:
1 Kings 17-19;
21-22
2 Kings 1-2
Amos 1-2; 4;
5.18-24; 7
Hosea 1-3; 11.1-9
Read: “The Dynasty of Jehu,”
pp. 413-414 NOAB
List characteristics
and actions of prophets.
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Tue. 10/16
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TEST
2
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Review
readings, exercises, and class notes since the first test. Make sure you
can answer all questions and identify all names and terms on the Study Guides
for this unit.
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Thur.
10/18
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Micah
and Isaiah
*Micah's
Critique of Zion Theology
*Isaiah's Temple Vision
*The Impact of Assyria
*The Syro-Ephraimite War
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Read:
Micah 1.1-7; 2.1-5; 3;
5.2-5a; 6.1-8
Isaiah 6.1-7.17
Complete three-level reading guide.
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Tue.
10/23
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Isaiah
- pt. 2
*The Immanuel Prophecy
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Read:
Isaiah 7.18-9.7; 11.1-9
2 Kings 16-19
Follow the Immanuel
web pathway. Write answers to questions on web pathway “Learning Test.”
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Thur. 10/25
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Jeremiah
*Jeremiah's
Call
*Josiah's reform
*The Temple Sermon
*Babylonian Empire
*The Fall of Jerusalem
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Read:
2 Kings
21.1-23.30
Jeremiah 1.1-2.13; 7;
8.18-9.3; 22.1-17; 26;
; 27-29; 30.1-22;
31.31-34; 32.1-15;
36; 38.1-39.10
Read: “The
Age of Hezekiah,” pp. 414-415, NOAB
Write a response to the question: How is Jeremiah similar to and
different from Micah? Isaiah?
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Tue.
10/30
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The
Deuteronomistic Writings
*Deuteronomy
*The Deuteronomistic History
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Read:
Deuteronomy 1.1-5; 4-6;
12.1-14;
17.14-18.5, 15-22;
24.17-18; 26;
29.1-30.20
Review Judges 2:11-23 and 2
Kings 13:1-9
2 Kings 25.27-30
Complete: the three-level reading guide distributed in class. You
can also download the guide by clicking on Deuteronomy
Reading Guide.
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Thur.
11/1
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Second
Isaiah
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Read:
Isaiah 40; 42.1-9;
43.8-21; 44.1-20;
45.1-7, 12-13, 18-22; 49.1-6;
50.4-9; 51.1-11;
52.13-53.12; 55
Read: “The Babylonian
Exile,” p. 415, NOAB.
In writing identify verses in the parts of Isaiah assigned above
that clearly reflect a situation different from that of Isaiah of
Jerusalem. Explain the difference.
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Tue. 11/6
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Job
*Literary structure
*Theological Challenge
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Read:
Job 1-14;
31; 38-42
Read: McKenzie,
“The Book of Job,” pp. 101-109.
Write a brief statement of each friend's response to Job's claim of
innocence. Look at the text of Job, not McKenzie’s analysis, and
identify specific verses that support your points.
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Thur.
11/8
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Philosophical
Wisdom
*Proverbs
*Ecclesiastes
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Read:
Proverbs 3.13-35; 4.1-9; 8; 9
Ecclesiastes (Koheleth) 1.1-9.10;
12.1-14
Read: McKenzie, “Life’s
Real Questions,” pp. 91-101 and 109-117.
In writing, describe ways in which Ecclesiastes appears to
contradict earlier Hebrew Bible texts. Be specific about which texts,
stories, writers, etc., as well as about the verses in Ecclesiastes where
you find the contradictions.
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Tue.
11/13
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Priestly
Materials
*P in Genesis
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Read:
Genesis 1-2.4a; (review
Genesis 2.4b-25); 9.1-17;
17
Go to the Creation
Exercise; download or copy the chart and answer the
questions as you read Genesis 1 and review Genesis 2.
Read: Old Testament Parallels, “Enuma Elish Stories,” pp. 11-20
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Thur.
11/15
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TEST
3
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Review
readings, exercises, and class notes since the second test. Make sure you
can answer all questions and identify names and terms on the Study Guides
for this unit.
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Tue.
11/20
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The
Chronicler's History
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Read: 1
Chronicles 10; 13;
15.1-16, 29; 20;
21.1-6; 22
2 Chronicles 26.1-6, 16-21;
33.1-13; 35.20-27
In groups: Complete worksheet comparing the Deuteronomistic History's
account of the kingdoms (the books of Samuel and Kings) to the
Chronicler's history of the same period. Discuss results with others in
your group. Turn in worksheets as instructed.
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Thur.
11/22
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Thanksgiving
Holiday - no class
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Tue.
11/27
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Priestly
materials
*P in Exodus
*Leviticus
*The concept of purity
Ezra and Nehemiah
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Read:
Exodus
12.1-13; 20.8-11; 24.15-25.40;
29.1-9; 31.12-17
Leviticus 16; 18-19;
23; 25
Ezra 7; 9.1-10.17,
44
Nehemiah 1-2; 4;
6.15-19; 8;
13.23-31
Read: Collins, “Priestly
Theology,” pp. 139-152.
Read: “The
Post-Exilic Period,” pp. 415-416, NOAB
Visit websites on purity laws, Passover, and Yom
Kippur listed in Glossary. Write a paragraph describing three
important things you learned from the websites.
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Thur.
11/29
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Jonah
& Ruth
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Read:
Jonah and Ruth
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Tue. 12/4
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Daniel
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Read:
Daniel 1-3; 6-8; 11.36-45; 12
Read: McKenzie,
“Not the End of the World As We Know It,” pp. 120-137.
Read: “The
Greek Period,” p. 426, NOAB
Write: a brief description of how Daniel is similar to and/or
different from prophetic materials you have read
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Thur.
12/6
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Apocrypha and Canon
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Read:
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
Malachi 3.1-4; 4
Song of Solomon 4-5
Write down any
questions you would like us to address in preparation for the exam.
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Mon. 12/10
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EXAM
at 1:00 pm
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