Old Testament Literature (BCM 101) Lecture 1 (1/19/17)—Ted Hildebrandt

Is there a God?  Why would I believe that?
                Teleological Argument: design/order; Jolly Green Giant argument,  Intelligent Design

                Pascal’s wager

                Jesus: liar, lunatic, Lord—legend? Jn 10:33

                 Personal testimony

                 Predictive prophecy, miracles

Old Testament Overview:   P-PEW C-JU D-ERA
Primeval History: Adam/Eve, Noah/Flood, Babel
Patriarchs:  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
Exodus: Pharaoh, Plagues, Moses, and Red Sea
Wilderness: Sinai Covenant, 10 commands, Tabernacle, Manna, 40 years in desert

Conquest:  Joshua/Jericho, tribes get land
Judges:  Deborah/Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Samuel
United Monarchy:  Saul, David, Solomon

Divided Monarchy: Kings north all bad (Ahab); Kings of South some good (Uzziah, Hezekiah,
                                Josiah), Prophets Assyria and Babylon (enemies)
Exile: Judah to Babylon 70 years, temple destroyed, Daniel, Ezekiel
Return:  Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jerusalem walls and temple rebuilt
Apocrypha: Maccabees and Antiochus Epiphanes, Persianà Greekà Rome

Five OT Dates to know for OT Lit:
                2000 BC                Abraham
                 1000                     David
                   722                     Northern kingdom scattered (Assyria)
                    586                    Judah exiled [temple/Babylon]
                    400                    end of OT

Bible-Robics: Genesis 1-25

Where & how did we get the Bible? 4 Step Process from God to us
Inspiration: God speaks to prophets, prophets speak to people, written down
Canonization – community collects sacred writings
Transmission – scribal copying
Translation:  Hebrew, Aramaic, Greekà Eng.

Does the Bible claim to be from God? Inspiration
2 Tim. 3:16 God-breathed

                2 Peter 1:21 origin in God not man

External Corroboration

Moral Quality:  Love God, love neighbor, 10 commandments, yet not simplistic, interfaces with
                                culture yet deep values on human life—what you’d expect of God

Historicity:  camels? Hittites? David? Balaam, Omri, Sennacherib

Archaeological Confirmation:   Bullae: Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the Scribe.
                Jeremiah; incl. Jaramael, Seriah & Gemaryaha (see Jer.36:26, 22, & 10-12)

Canonization
Immediately authoritative deposited;  Dan 9:2-Jeremiah

                                 Peter of Paul 2 Pet 3:15f

                Certain books not accepted--which?  why?

Criterion of Canonization
                Is it inspired by God?   -- Thus saith the Lord (Isa. 7:7)
                Is it written by a prophet/apostle?
                Does it agree with previous revelation?
                Was it received by the people of God?

Canonization Process
                Antilegomena:  questioned books
                               Proverbs

                                Ezekiel

                               Esther

                               Ecclesiastes

                               Song of Songs

TaNaK: Torah, Nebi’im; Kethubim

Apocrypha Pros/cons

Transmission – Did God use flawed processes to preserve His word?
Copying process not always 100%

                1 Sam 13:1f: KJV/NJKV; ASV/NASB; NIV/ESV, NRSV/ESV

                Mark 16

                 1 Jn 5:7

                How do we correct for that?
                Why didn’t God preserve it perfectly?

Scribal errors: Internal Evidence
                Misreading  Gen 10:4 dodanim/rodanim d / r
                Mis-hearing Ps 100:3; not we/we are his 
                Metathesis:   their
                Conflation:  church of God/ church of Lordà Church of Lord God

Text Criticism: External
Older manuscripts better—MT [Hebrew Masoretic Text], LXX [Septuagint-Greek OT]

                DSS—Dead Sea Scrolls

                Silver amulet of Numbers 6:24ff (700 BC)

Translation Theory
Literal word for word … pros/cons Prov 10:5 –NASB, ESV

                Modified literal… pros/cons-NIV/NRSV/KJV

                Dynamic equivalence:  meaning for meaning… pro/cons, NLT, Message

                Politically Corrected texts… pros/cons  TNIV

                MT à LXXà Vulgateà KJV/NIV/NRSV et al

                Different ways to translate:  which one is right?

                Do translators make mistakes:  Prov 26:23
                                KJV: Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.

New Discoveries:  1 Kgs 6:31 mezuzot –5 recessed – Tel Qeiyafa (BAR Aug 2015)

Does language change:  2 Cor 8:1 KJV: “We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on ….”

Conclusions
Better manuscript evidence than ever before
                No major doctrine affected
                Realistic view on transmission and translation issues
                Confidence in God’s word… benefit of plurality of translations
                God speaks the language of the people