Encountering the Old Testament, Chapter 3

Sitz im Leben

German expression (meaning "setting in life") that denotes the historical and sociological setting in which a specific literary genre or form first took shape.

anthropomorphic

Having human-like qualities (in this context, the term relates specifically to biblical terminology used in the presentation or description of God).

genres

Term used by Bible scholars to refer to literary forms or types (French "kind, sort, type"). Form critics group texts in the same genre if they share distinguishing characteristics.

Pentateuch

Term used for the first five books of the Bible, from Greek pentateuchos, meaning a five-book work. The Pentateuch is also known by the Hebrew word torah, which is often translated "law," but really connotes "teaching" or "instruction."

Talmud

Collection of Jewish rabbinical laws, law decisions, and comments on the laws of Moses; refers to the first five books of the Bible as "the Books of Moses."

Documentary Hypothesis

Critical approach to biblical study, frequently called source criticims, which seeks to answer the question, "Who wrote the Pentateuch?" and which holds that the Pentateuch was compiled from four separate sources; its most pervasive protagonist was Julius Wellhausen, and its reconstructions were dominated by antisupernaturalism and philosophical evolutionary thought, denying virtually any historical veracity in the Pentateuch and making no allowance for divine intervention in history or for unique divine revelation.

source criticism

Critical approach to biblical study, frequently called the Documentary Hypothesis, which seeks to answer the question, "Who wrote the Pentateuch?" and which holds that the Pentateuch was compiled from four separate sources; its most pervasive protagonist was Julius Wellhausen, and its reconstructions were dominated by antisupernaturalism and philosophical evolutionary thought, denying virtually any historical veracity in the Pentateuch and making no allowance for divine intervention in history or for unique divine revelation.

literary criticism

Critical approach to study of the Old Testament that developed in the second half of the twentieth century and, like its predecessors, addresses the larger literary issues, although its proponents are often antagonistic to the older source and form critical approaches to the Pentateuch. Literary criticism further emphasizes text-centered, or reader-centered, analysis rather than the traditional author-centered approaches of earlier scholars. Those who use this approach have produced mixed results, but the newer literary criticism seems to hold great promise for significant new insights into biblical interpretation.

redaction criticism

Critical approach to study of the Pentateuch stemming from Wellhausen's Documentary Hypothesis and attempting to explain scientifically how the four separate sources (JEDP) were edited together; this approach has met with little agreement among scholars.

canonical criticism

Critical approach to the Old Testament developed in the second half of the twentieth century that attempted to study the received form of the Old Testament and to expose its theological message. While not totally rejecting the findings of the documentary approaches, scholars using canonical criticism seek to study the final form of the Bible, as this is what has authority for the religious community; they are less concerned with how the text arrived than with the internal message of the canon. This approach provides a helpful corrective to the atomizing tendencies of its critical predecessors.

sovereignty

Biblical teaching that God is in absolute control of all creation and subordinate to none. The Pentateuch begins by emphasizing God's sovereignty through an account of creation that assumes the preexistence and eternality of God, who created the whole universe without assistance from anyone, without using preexistent matter, and without effort, solely by the power of his spoken word. Just as Genesis 1 powerfully establishes God's sovereignty over his creation, so also the subsequent stories of the flood (Gen. 6-9) and Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), as well as his dealings with individuals like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, demonstrate God's supreme dominion. In stark contrast to the gods of the ancient Near East, whose jurisdiction had definite geographical limits, the scope of God's dominion is universal.

tradition criticism

Branch of form criticism developed in the first half of the twentieth century that devoted itself to oral tradition, that is, to the oral, preliterary history of the various literary types. This approach was most celebrated by Martin Noth, who believed that writing came late in the development of Old Testament literary sources and that the literary types reflect a long history of oral transmission, so that the pentateuchal sources evolved over many centuries before people wrote them down.

covenant

Hebrew term (běrit) describing binding relationships between human partners, or between God and humans. The concept has a legal background and describes an agreement between two parties, where no such agreement existed by nature. Such agreements had binding obligations on both parties. This is a rich theological concept in the Bible, since God commits himself to covenant relationships with humans in which he accepts obligations.

shalom

Hebrew word meaning "peace." More than the absence of conflict, it refers to a life where wholeness and well-being are present. Shalom-peace was perfectly portrayed in the Garden of Eden before the fall; there, humankind was at peace with God and with the surrounding creation—having ready access to God's presence and enjoying his favor, also capable of enjoying the rich and perfect fullness of creation.

Torah

Hebrew word that literally means "teaching" or "instruction," though sometimes also translated "law." The term refers to the first five books of the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

myths

In modern English, this term usually refers to something untrue and imaginative. But in reference to ancient Near Eastern studies, scholars use it in a more classical sense, though there is no consensus on definition. Myth is the literary instrument by which ancient peoples ordered their world. Myths explained how the world began and provided norms for human behavior. As expressions of theological convictions, these ancient myths occurred outside time and space and were linked to the nature religions. Ancient Israel, however, "historicized" mythology by referring not to a time distinct from world time, but to the history of Israel itself.

creatio ex nihilo

Latin phrase meaning "creation out of nothing." The early church confronted certain heresies that taught God had created the world with preexistent, uncreated matter as his raw material. But the biblical evidence led to the conviction that God created the universe from nothing (Ps. 33:6, 9; Heb. 11:3).

fiat

Latin term, meaning "let it be done" that refers to God's method of creation by decree in Gen. 1. On the six successive days of creation, God created by divine order or command: "Let there be light," "Let there be an expanse between the waters," and so on.

JEDP

Literary sources believed by many scholars to have been used to compile the Pentateuch, as well as the book of Joshua, thus forming a Hexateuch.

form criticism

Popular approach to critical study of the Pentateuch, pioneered by Hermann Gunkel near the turn of the century and emerging shortly after Julius Wellhausen's development of the source theory. It analyzes the various literary types, or genres, found in the Bible and isolates these smaller units. By emphasizing the "situation in life" of the smaller units, form criticism attempts to uncover the "historical kernel" for each literary genre. According to Gunkel and others, these smaller units were later joined into the four sources of the Pentateuch.

Mishnah

Recorded oral conversation of the rabbis as they discussed the proper interpretation and course of action required of Jews with regard to the Mosaic law. It is a commentary, so to speak, explaining the Torah of Moses and often producing legal instruction. The Mishnah accepted Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. The Mishnah is an antecedent to the Talmud.

monotheism

Theological and philosophical position that there is only one God. Such a view was not the accepted belief of other ancient peoples, who were polytheists and henotheists.