BTS202- Exam 1

Parallel with Instructions of Any

-mid 2nd millennium BC -parallels to father-son approach common in Book of Proverbs

Types of Psalms

1. Praise 2. Lament 3. Wisdom

What are the three categories of parallelism?

Synonymous(correspondence), Antithetic(not opposite), Synthetic(using the same structure, but a further something, cause+effect)

Psalm 118

The Darkest Psalm

Hebrew sages

wise men

Psalm 22

"my God my God why have you forsaken me?"

Hymn to Amon-Re

- 1550 to 1350 BC -Text reflects a tendency of this time to centralize divine power in one god

Parallel with words of Ahiqar

- 6-5 centuries BC -tells story of Assyrian official whose nephew falsey accuses him of treason, but executioner spares his life and he returns to his prominence in king's eyes -parallels Ahiqar's words of wisdom to Book of Proverbs

Why does Job want his case in court?

- With his complaint against God, he seeks to position himself as an accuser to God as defendant. -Job wants God's practices to be called to account

"Babylonian Job"

-"Ludul Bel Nemeqi" (a.k.a. "I will praise the Lord of Wisdom") -the hero, Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan, describes his gods and friends abandoning him. Finally gets promise of restoration under Marduk, the head of the Babylonian pantheon

Problem of Theology of Job's 3 friends ("comforters")

-"Retribution principle":righteous will prosper while the wicked will suffer. Affirmed in Psalms and Proverbs. Friends preach this which is good -Friends also affirm a deduced corollary: Those who prosper must be rightous and those who suffer must be wicked. Scripture does not affirm this -This corollary becomes the basis of friend's accusations against Job

"Wisdom" for Hebrews

-"wisdom" constituted "skill in living" that combined the power of observation, the capacities of human intellect, and application of knowledge and experience to daily life -wisdom literature can be instructional or argumentative -wisdom sought to teach practical moral principles for behavior/ prompted reader to investigate conflicts associated with human experience all from a view point firmly rooted in the "fear of the Lord"

Paronomasia

-"word play", consisted of repetition of words similar in sound, but not necessarily in meaning, to heighten intended impact of the message -also known as a pun

Hymn to Aten

-14th century BC -accredited to Akhenaten, the teenage pharaoh of Egypt's New Kingdom -found on wall of tomb of Ay, an Egyptian official -hymn exalts doctrine of sun god Aten as one true god who created and sustains the world and everything in it

Parallel with Instructions of Amenemope

-1st millennium BV -literary relationship with Proverbs 22-23 -shift in Egyptian thinking to find happiness in humility, integrity, and moral character rather than possesions

Psalms about king and Messiah king

-9 psalms about the king -4 attributed to David -considered messianic psalms and shows the continuum which exists from David through his dynasty to the eventual Messiah King -Many of these psalms ask for deliverance, victory, or a blessing for the king or discuss the covenant that establish kingship

Mesopotamia Wisdom Lit.

-A Man and His God (Sumerian Job) -The Babylonian Theodicy- has friends making speeches to a tormented man whose gods have forsaken him - The Dialogue of Pessimism- reflects on the emptiness and irony of human existence from perspectives of indulgence and abstinence in a similar vein to the Preacher's contrasts of excess and asceticism(severe self-discipline)

Fundamental Difference of Hebrew wisdom and ANE wisdom

-ANE wisdom paid homage to assorted pantheons of deities -Israelite wisdom of OT accredited only one God, Yahweh

Acrostic poem

-Acrostic=verse in which initial letters of consecutive lines of a stanza form an alphabet, word, or phrase. OT has 13 complete alphabetic acrostic poems -served as a mnemonic tool/memory device in ancient scribal schools -converged ideas of order, progression, and completeness within poetic message

Central Contrast of OT wisdom and wisdom lit. of Egyptians and Babylonians

-Babylonian proverbs and fables make appeals to multiple gods while Israel wisdom literature appeals to one God -monotheistic vs. polytheistic

Psalms Divided how?

-Book 1: 1-41 -Book 2: 42-72 -Book 3: 73-89 -Book 4: 90-106 -Book 5: 107-150

Excursus: Devotional Use of Psalms

-Character of God: Praise psalms extol the attributes and actions of God. Wisdom psalms explore means to comprehend God's ways. Lament psalms help us to see God through emotional struggles of believers in crisis - Purpose of devotional reading: to avoid a distorted picture of God/ misleading ourselves with false hopes dependent on misconstrued promises

Smaller Divisions in the whole Psalms

-Davidic Group I: 3-41 - Sons of Korah Group I: 42-49 - Davidic Group II: 51-65 - Asaph Group: 73-83 - Sons of Korah Group II: 84-88 (ecx. 86) - Congregational Praise Group I: 95-100 - Halleluyah Group: 111-117 - Sons of Ascent to Jerusalem: 120-134 - Davidic Group III: 138-145 - Congregational Praise Group II: 146-150

Mortality

-Death: disembodiment/ separation of body and soul/ God's judgment - Intermediate state (between death and resurrection): conscious relationship, involvement, and enjoyments will be better than life in this world -true Christian hope: death is gain for believers, after death we will become closer to Christ. To be re-embodied in the true image of Christ is the Christian hope

Definition of Fear of the Lord

-Fear of Lord= right relationship to God, one of obedience to His covenant stipulations that prompts the right method in thought and right behavior in action -Fear of the Lord= worshiping, reverent submission to God

Prayer

-Fellowship with God: prayer/ why He redeemed us -4 parts of prayer: adoration, petition, confession, and supplication -Petition: people praying humbly acknowledges their need and express themselves as trustfully depending on God to meet it out of his sovereign resources of wisdom and goodness. Most commonly mentioned dimension of prayer in the Bible. Should be directed to the Father. -No tension/ inconsistency between teaching of Scripture on God's fore ordination of all things and on the efficacy of prayer -Holy Spirit's help in prayer becomes known only to those who actually pray.

"Retribution Principle"

-God implies that natural order wasn't established with the retribution principle as operational foundation. It gives evidence of God's sovereign intervention but nature does not automatically enforce it. -"corollary" of this principle He does not necessarily follow -we cannot predict how/ when retribution principle will operate, thus, the corollary must be rejected

God and His creationi: nature reveals His glory

-God's favor/ disfavor was easily inferred from bounty of harvest since Israel was an agricultural society, people were dependent on climate for livelihood and survival -God is not bound by nature like other deities or is identified with forces of nature in the some way -God is the Creator and maintainer of all creation

Job's Hope

-He pleads for the intercession of a mediator and is convinced one will arise. This mediator will serve as a defense attorney in court to afford Job a fair hearing and a just verdict -Reminiscent of kinsman redeemer

Job vs. Mesopotamian response to suffering

-Job: refuses to confess to unknown/ uncommitted crimes to appease an irrational diety. Maintains integrity. Refuses to treat God like an irrational pagan deity. Unwilling to confess falsely as an act of appeasement -Meso: they gave up on ever making sense of life and would confess to unknown/ uncommitted crimes in order to restore favor and blessings

Mediation

-Mediator: a go-between who brings together parties who are not in communication and who may alienated, estranged, and or at war with each other. -must have links with both sides in order to identify with interests of both and represent each to the other on bases of good will -Reconciliation: peace. God did this by sending His Son into the world. Christ achieved this by penal substitution, died on the cross to make peace -Jesus, the Mediator: initiator of a new relationship of conscious peace with God, going beyond the OT arrangements for dealing with guilt of sin -Christ is our messenger of the Word of God, His wisdom

Authors of Psalms (besides David)

-Moses, Solomon, Asaph, Sons of Korah

Almightiness

-Omnipotence: the power to do everything that is rational and moral perfection which God wills to do -NOT that God can literally do everything; he can't sin/ lie/change -Job's testimony: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2)

Main feature of Hebrew poetry

-Parallelism ("rhythm of thought")= balancing of ideas in structured form -Parallelism was elevated with exceptional artistry by Hebrew poets

Egyptian poetry parallels with what in the OT?

-Psalm 104 and sun hymn of Akhenaten -Egyptian Love Songs of the New Kingdom and Biblical Song of Songs -Song 31 from Egypt and Song of Songs 4

"Seam" Psalms

-Psalms that come at the end of each of the first four books Theory speculates these psalms mark transitions from one book to the next, primary topic of each book is distinguished here

General Revelation

-Revelation of the Creator: the goodness of the Creator becomes evident from kindly providences, are known to every human existence -Natural order makes evident that a mighty and majestic Creator is there -right and wrong: everyone receives general revelation just by virtue of being alive in God's world, so to not act accordingly is a sin against knowledge -Special Revelation includes explicit statements of what general revelation reveals

Hymn to Shamash

-Shamash was the Babylonian sun god and god of justice -dates to late 2nd millennium BC -Hymn describes his careful attention to justice in this world, rewarding person of integrity and judging those who practice evil, hymn gives special emphasis to fairness in the business world

Sumerian and Akkadian (Babylonian) parallels to Job

-Sumerian work "Man and His God"= monologue by one who doesn't understand why he is suffering. At the end, he is shown his sin and concludes that there is no undeserved suffering -Akkhadian monologue "Ludlul bel Nemeqi"= man considers himself in favor with chief god of Babylonians, wonders why he is suffering. In the end, his sins are forgiven, so concludes no such thing as a righteous sufferer

Wisdom

-Wisdom in Scripture= choosing best and noblest end at which to aim, along with most appropriate and effective means for it -God's wisdom involves expression of His will in 2 ways: 1. god's will is His decision about what shall happen 2. the will of God= His command, His institution, given in Scripture, as to how people should and should not behave, a.k.a. will of precept

King Solomon's Role in book of Proverbs

-accredited with 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs -stands as patron of arts in Israelite history -popularized wisdom tradition of Hebrews -served as good example of sage and scholar for the future generation

"Babylonian Theodicy"

-acrostic poem; work is a dialogue between a sufferer and his friend -sufferer complains and friend attempts to defend conventional way of thinking of the day regarding suffering in the world

ANE Wisdom Literature

-addresses many aspects of life. Texts wrestle with questions of ultimate justice. Others give instruction regarding interpersonal relationships

Egyptian literature- what characteristics?

-appeal to various deities, focus is praise of deity in some while others, the worshiper asks deity for blessing/ deliverance from a difficult situation

Ugaritic (Canaanite) poetry

-common heritage with OT poetry -written poetry of Ugarit dates to 1400-1200 BC -Vocabulary: word pairs, hundreds of parallel (or A/B) word pairs -usually was superscriptions, or something engraved on the surface of something -all these aspects points to a common W. Semitic linguistic and literary heritage

Alliteration

-consonance(agreement of opinion) of sounds at the beginning of words/syllables -ex= "she sells seashells by the sea shore"

Instructional wisdom centered in what 3 instutions

-family/ clan -royal court -scribal schools

Unified structure of Job

-has a unified structure of a literary composition -argues for the integrity of each section, we believe each section makes a unique contribution to the purpose of the whole

Job's reputation

-has impeccable reputation, has innocence from the start -Job justifies God's policy of blessing righteous people by maintaining his integrity even when he is not being blessed for it

Variety of Literary genres in Job

-includes dialogue, soliloquy, discourse, narrative, and hymn -these genres are common to wisdom literature but are rarely mixed in so skillfully as found in Job

Elihu's Speech

-insists God's governing is just. Affirms retribution principle but then rejects the corollary. In his view, suffering may be preventative as well as punitive. There are reasons for suffering besides punishment for sin.

Wisdom lit. of OT includes:

-instructional books of Proverbs and Song of Songs -speculative books of Job and Ecclesiastes -select wisdom psalms -portions of prophetic books employing wisdom terminology/ themes

Psalm Titles

-main source of information for authorship of psalms -150 psalms total, 116 have titles, 100 indicate an author, 73 attributed to David

Bishop Robert Lowth

-mid 18th century -known for parallelism, or counterbalancing of ideas in phrases -this was a fundamental feature distinguishing Hebrew poetry from prose

Prayer to Ishtar

-mid 2nd millennium BC -Ishtar played important role in Babylonian pantheon as goddess of love and war -begins with prayer to her then she is implored to see worshiper's deliverance

Psalm to Marduk

-mid first millennium BC -worshiper begins by asking Marduk, chief god of Babylonian pantheon, why his prayers have gone unanswered. He confesses whatever sin he might have committed and asks Marduk to restore their relationship

"Sumerian Job"

-no connection to Biblical book of Job, similarities of writer struggling with why he is suffering and whether his god has abandoned him do arise and is the reason for the story "Man and His God" being called "Sumerian Job"

Meter

-not an agreed on feature in Hebrew poetry - ill-defined formal characteristic of this aspect of Hebrew poetry

Practical Benefits of Way of Wisdom

-numerous for those disciplined enough to walk in path of knowledge and understanding -understanding fear of the Lord and finding knowledge of God

Ellipsis

-omission of a word/words that would complete a given parallel construction -distinguishes poetry from prose

Mesopotamia Poetic Traditions included:

-parallel couplets occur in the building inscription of Gudea, Prince of Lagash - Old Babylonian kingdoms canonized earlier Sumerian literature including poetic hymns and prayers like the "Prayer to Any God"

Emphasis on Personal Character

-rather than material prosperity, there is attention to character development as part of benefits walking in way of wisdom - fruits of understanding=discernment, prudence, wise dealing, righteous behavior, justice and integrity

Inclusio

-repeating of keywords and phrases to return to the point in which the poet began with -ex= Gen. 39:2-3 and 39: 21-23 "The Lord was with Joseph and he was successful" "The Lord was with him and made him succeed"

Assonance

-rhythm of sound using correspondence of vowel sounds, often at the end of words -may serve as literary ploy to emphasize an idea/ theme/ to set a certain tone for the poem -ex= "try to light the fire"- that "i"/"y" sound

Date of events in Job

-roughly dated to patriarchal era because the lifestyle and longevity of Job are most similar to those found in Genesis -But, date of composition is unknown

Hymn to Wisdom (Job 28)

-the key for humankind to know wisdom -suggests that true wisdom has not yet had its say -portrays God as the founder of wisdom and as the possessor of all wisdom

Purpose of Job

-to explore God's policies concerning justice, especially regarding the suffering of the righteous

Egyptian Wisdom

-two types/ genres: 1. Instruction: largely the product of Pharaonic court as the king prepared his son to assume administration of the monarchy 2. Discussion/ Speculative: political satire and skeptical treatises on the ironies of life. Parallels to OT (wisdom assembled by the Preacher in Ecclesiastes) because the writings are contemplative, analytical, even pessimistic in tone and mood

Emphasis on proper use of human sexuality

-wisdom of proverbs extols virtue of marriage and warns against folly of sexual license -sages=valid resource for addressing problems of human sin in modern era of sexuality

Emphasis on Divine Attributes in Job

-wisdom, justice, and sovereignty -In Job, broader categories of God's attributes are focused on to reflect who God is instead of what He can do for a particular person

Key Ideas of Proverbs

1. Fear of Lord= beginning of wisdom 2. Way of wisdom leads to life 3. Proverbs illustrate a general principle, not a promise 4. Wisdom leads to an understanding of retribution principle

Difference between authors and editors of Psalms

1. Final composition of whole book didn't take place until sometime after the exile 2. editor is different from author (composer of individual psalms)

2 Levels of Psalm Message

1. Individual: each author has specific purpose for each composition, probable that many compositions were written for public worship needs, or just private devotional thoughts 2. National: some psalms motivated by a historical occurrence. Others for public worship @ various locations nation-wide. -no unified purpose/ message but all come together in David, he is the rightous person who's in need of vindication from God. He is the king of Israel who God made a covenant with

Prologue of Job

1. Introduces characters and sets up conditions in which drama unfolds -audience is made aware of certain details that characters in Job do not know, like how Satan went to God to ask Him if he can mess with Job 2. Introduces philosophical concern of Satan's challenge to God

Emphasis of Use and Abuse of Tongue

1. Words have great power; life/ death are in power of tongue 2. Words can be futile, can't conceal one's inner character 3. Proverbs spring from rightous character and reflect deliberation

4 Basic Leadership Classes of Society

1. kings 2. prophets 3. priests 4. sages

Conclusion Psalms

146-150

Seam Psalms

41, 72, 89, 106

"The Satan" in Job

=the adversary -implies that God's policy of blessing the righteous is counter productive to the development of true rightousness

Why study the Old Testament?

All scripture is God-Breathed for our instruction. These scriptures speak to us with the understanding of Christian life. Every page of the New Testament either alludes, elaborates, or explains the Old Testament. Romans 15.4 helps us cultivate a strong hope, written for us so that we may have encouragement. We fall into the same situations as God's people in the old times and we can be thankful that their times have been recorded for our instruction.

Which is the shortest book in Psalms?

Book 3, also the darkest but it's due to what is occurring in Israel

Difference with Mesopotamia psalms and prayers

Descriptive praise= different nature in Babylonian materials; they simply first attributes and titles of deities -Most Mesopotamian laments (passionate expression of grief/ sorrow) are combined with magical rituals and spells used to persuade the deity to comply with their petition - Israel laments, worshiper usually believes they're innocent and seeks justification -there is no hint of magic/rituals/ manipulation/ appeasement in Israel psalms and prayers

Descriptive vs. Declarative Praise

Descriptive- extols (praise enthusiastically) God for who He is; focusing on the attributes of God Declarative- usually praise of one thanking God for answering their prayer about a specific instance in the past

How is Biblical Poetry different from other kinds of poetry?

Hebrew Poetry does not have meter, but there is parallelism.It ISN'T the same thing but in different terms, but A therefore B.

How is book 4 of the psalms an answer to book 3?

Jesus is the son of David, son of God, celebration of God always ruling and fulfilling his promises. It's not that the Lord reigns but has begun to reign. Moses proclaimed our eternal refuge in Psalm 90.

What's wrong with the hippopotamus/crocodile explanation?

Job 40:24, doesn't work euphemistically but you can capture hippos and crocodiles this way. crocs in Egypt in the nile not the deep sea. behemoth is really a beast, and leviathan is really a sea monster that may resemble a dragon. crocodiles can't breathe fire.

Psalm 113

Principle of Praise

Introduction to the Psalms

Psalms 1&2, tell us what they are and what they are for.

What books of OT are entirely poetic?

Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Lamentations -Plus most of Job -Plus, portions of Ecclesiastes are poetic

Psalm 2: The central message of this Torah

This is post exilic when edited, but the main message of this instruction is that our life is a program that has already begun with David that leads to Christ

What Job is not about

Whether or not suffering comes from the hand of God, because it does. God will however provide us with all things necessary and whatever evil comes upon us we must see that it is to be used for good. Job's complaint comes from his faith and it comes from God's promises because he does promise to bless those who seek Him which we see at the end of Job. The believer must believe that God is present even in our suffering and that he rewards those who seek to do His will. Job was not wrong in his complaint. Whatever we endure is not taken in vain, and this all matters. Job is the epitome of the wise man. We must ask God for wisdom through trials and he'll give it to us so that we can endure our sufferings and realize the joy. We can learn from Job to trust God, and trust that He prepares our steps. God provides us with everything we need through Christ to endure and receive wisdom. We endure suffering for the sake of Christ, and suffering purifies the Church.

How much does poetry comprise the Hebrew OT?

about 1/3

Editorial Purpose of Psalms

deliberate placement of certain psalms and psalm collections

"Teachings of Amenemope"

exhibit remarkable similarities in language and theme with the "Sayings of the Wise" in Proverbs

Psalms 1 +2

has most evidence of editor's work and purpose, intro to whole book

Role of Hezekiah's scribes

in compiling proverbs, he indicates the book could not have been completed before the reign over Judah ended (8th century BC)

"Way of Wisdom" Summary

it is the heart of OT wisdom instruction, includes: -desiring and choosing to learn to apply fear of the Lord -for asking way of darkness/ evil/ death -walking path of integrity, righteousness, justice, and life

Instructional wisdom

purpose was to instruct people in right behavior -also for protecting the poor and needy in Hebrew society

Sages associated with what?

the royal court generally as reflected in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes

Biblical perspective on suffering

this is distinguishable from an explanation of suffering -God's justice cannot be assessed because we can never have enough information to do so, instead his justice must be inferred from his wisdom

5 book structure Purpose of Psalms

to trace history of Israel, especially with regard to Davidic covenant promises

Principles/ Promises

truism of Proverbs are not absolute promises but principles based on careful observation of human experience

Meaning of Theodicy

vindication (proving something=right/justification) of divine attributes; like holiness, justice, and in respect to the existence of evil