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