Perfilado de sección

  • The course “Old Testament 1” includes the general introduction to the Old Testament (OT) as well as the special introduction into individual books of the Old Testament. The general introduction in this course covers the following areas: the languages and the text of the OT, historical and geographical context, basic introduction into interpretation and approaches to the Old Testament, the questions related to the OT canon. The special introduction covers the books of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets. Students will acquire the following knowledge and capabilities:

    • Practical knowledge of individual writings of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets; acquaintance with their literary characteristics: structure of each individual book, contents and literary features of the books and their respective parts (literary forms, genres), knowledge of literary-theological motifs, knowledge of the canonical context of given biblical books, introductory knowledge of the historical context and the theories of origin (authorship) of the books, knowledge of main approaches to, and interpretation of, the books of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets.
    • Students will be able to work with the assigned text of the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets, that is, after reading it they are able to recognize its literary forms and genre, and identify characteristic expressions and main motifs, they are also able to place the text in the broader context of the given biblical book


    • Course Requirements

      The final exam consists of three parts, student must successfully pass each of the three parts of the exam:

      I. General introduction to the Old Testament, namely: the basic concepts and terminology, historical and geographical context, the languages of the Old Testament, the text of the Old Testament, the issues relating to the OT canon.

      II. Special introduction to the Old Testament, covering the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets. This part of the exam requires the knowledge of the content of individual books of the Old Testament, knowledge of their structure, literary characteristics and theological emphases; it also includes basic orientation in the hypotheses of origin of the books and their collections, and of possible specific issues relating to individual books.

      III. Critical interpretation of a biblical text. For this part of the examination the student prepares the critical interpretations of selected biblical studies by recent authors, as given below under individual biblical books. Students are expected to get acquainted with all of the assigned studies. They will be asked about one or two of them during the exam.

    • Literature

      Students will find most of the required information in the three introductory textbooks.

      Kaminsky, Joel S., and Joel N. Lohr. The Hebrew Bible for Beginners: A Jewish and Christian Introduction. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2015.

      Rendtorff, Rolf, The Old Testament: An Introduction, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press 1991.

      Ska, Jean Louis. Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2006.

       

      Other reading is assigned from supplementary literature below, this concerns mostly the issues of general introduction to the Old Testament / Jewish Bible:

      Bandstra, Barry L. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 4th ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2009.

      Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. New York: Paulist Press, 1984.

      Brotzman, Ellis R., Old Testament Textual Criticism, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker 1994.

      Brueggemann, Walter, and Tod Linafelt. An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination. 2nd ed. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

      Coogan, Michael David. The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

      Freedman, David Noel, ed. Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

      Goldingay, John, An Introduction to the Old Testament: Exploring Text, Approaches and Issues, Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic 2015.

    • Organization of topics

      1. Introduction to the Bible and the Old Testament
      2. Old Testament historical and geographical context
      3. Text of the Old Testament, ancient versions
      4. The biblical canon(s)
      5. Introduction to the Pentateuch
      6. Genesis
      7. Exodus
      8.  Leviticus
      9. Numbers; Deuteronomy
      10. Joshua; Judges
      11. The Books of Samuel
      12. The Books of Kings
      13. Pentateuch; Deuteronomistic History: the origins and the canonical form

    • Documents
    • OT1 - Course Guide Archivo
    • Bibliography Archivo
    • OT1 Vocabulary Archivo
    • OT1 Syllabus Archivo