Exam 3

The Hebrew word hokmah in the OT can have multiple meanings. What are they?

-A craftsman (skill) -A shrewd person (intelligence) -A devoted follower of God (godly)

Enactment prophecies

-At times, God asked the prophets to illustrate His message through symbolic actions which would reinforce visually the spoken message

Strategies and approaches for interpreting the Law

-Canonical- Grasping the meaning of the Law in its bigger OT picture -source-critical- Grasping the meaning of the Law through its block materials -Form-critical- Grasping the meaning of the Law through smaller units embedded in narrative -Historical- Grasping the meaning of the Law through comparison with other ancient people' Laws -Intertextual- Grasping the meaning of the Law through comparisons with other contexts in which the same laws are found -Theological- Grasping the meaning of the Law in relation to other theological themes woven throughout the OT

Casuistic Law

-Case-by-case laws which contain conditional elements - usually in the 3rd person with a scenario whose conditions must be met and applied to a particular situation -describes what may happened and what ought to be done if it does happen -This type of law is directed at Israel's civil religious and ethical life; much of the 613 laws are casuistic laws and are not repeated in the NT

Dialogue

-Dialogue characterizes the characters -provides a significant clue to the meaning of the narrative -dialogue emphasizes the points of the narrative through summary statements

Apodictic Law

-Direct commands, usually in the 2nd person imperative commanding Israel to 'do' or 'do not do' a certain action and thus fulfill their side of loyalty to their covenant God - these commands were never exhaustive but served as a paradigm and model for application to various other scenarios; still they are prescriptions of what should be done every time by everyone -Thus, specific commands were examples of principles that applied to other similarly-related situations and persons; the greater principle was then to be applied by the covenant-keeping people -Therefore while these laws were limited in wording, they are comprehensive in spirit; in the NT Jesus combats those who want to obey only the Law's letter and not its spirit

Poetry prophecies

-Due to the large-scale illiteracy rates, prophets employed poetry in their oracles to aid with remembrance; many portions of prophecy are poetry and some whole prophetic books are only poetry.

Purpose/function of the Psalms

-Each psalm served the purpose of connecting the worshipper to God -Each psalm is intended for an individual or corporate worship experience - On the whole, the Psalms have little historical anchor; this permits their fluidity of use across time

Three major elements of plot structure

-Exposition(presentation of the context of the story) -Conflict/crisis(Precipitated by a disorder or incompleteness in the story setting or unfulfilled desire(s) of the character(s) -Resolution(solving the conflict through a series of events and phases

Prophecy

-Foretelling- Predicting what is to come; typically in their near future, what is already past to us; minimally in their distance future, what is still to come for us -Forth-telling- to function as God's spokesperson; to proclaim God's Word to humanity; calling the people to repent; warning of the danger of disobedience

Hebrew poetry

-Found throughout the OT but mostly in the Psalms -Demonstrates both poetic and prosaic tendencies -Characterized by short lines of text that are related to each other -The Psalms specifically are a collection of inspired Hebrew prayers and hymns; they are God-inspired worship lyrics to God; they express prayers to God and praise about God

Three types of character development in the plot

-Full-fledged (round characters who are complex and fully human, we see their strengths and flaws;3D -Types(flat, 2D characters, often used to portray kings who conquer nations -Agents(accessories to the plot; they keep the plot moving in the right direction and play subsidiary roles)

Unconditional prophecy fulfillment

-God's word will come to pass irrespective of human response

Characteristics of Historical Narratives

-Historical, artistic, entertaining, anthological, selective, unified, realistic, revelatory, response-evoking, theological

Guidelines for interpreting wisdom literature

-Interpret the wisdom text in its context -Interpret the wisdom text in light of all of Scripture -Interpret the intent of the proverb correctly -Interpret your own times and situations and apply the corresponding piece of wisdom literature appropriately; this is the application of godly wisdom

What is the relationship of the Law to Israel?

-It was never intended to save anyone; nor did it save anyone in the OT -It was God's good gift to Israel to show them their need for a Savior who could fulfill the Law since they couldn't -It was God's good gift to Israel to show them how to love their God and love their neighbor -It was intended to benefit/bless Israel as well as set them apart -It was therefore not exhaustive; it served as a model or paradigm for how Israel should remain loyal to God in their relationship; thus if the laws were broken, their loyalty would be called into question and the relationship marred/severed

Types of prophecy

-Judgment -Woes- -Lawsuit- -Salvation -Enactment -Messenger -Poetry

Literary types of Psalms

-Laments (60+) largest group of Psalms; expressing deep trust in God but also disappointment or suffering to God -Thanksgiving (16) opposite of laments; expressing great joy for the good times of blessing from God -Praise (16) honoring God for who He is without reference to a particular lament; extolling God for his greatness and beneficence toward His people and His creation -Salvation-history (5) recounting God's saving work among His people with particular reference to the exodus from Egypt -Celebratory/affirming- Psalms intended for a particular celebration or festival -Wisdom (8) psalms praising the merits of wisdom and the life lived wisely -Imprecatory- Psalms verbalizing the psalmist's anger at something or someone to God; The psalmist does not sin by acting on that anger toward another person; the Psalm beckons God to act and restore justice by punishing perpetrators.

Books of prophetic literature

-Major Prophets (Isa, Jer, Eze, Dan, -Minor Prophets (Hos-Mal) -Collections of oracles and prophecies by the prophet, not necessarily meant to be read/heard all in one setting; often there is no historical anchor connecting the prophecy to a chronological sequence in relation to the other prophecies

Judgment prophecies

-Most common among prophetic speeches; follows a pattern of 3 elements; if a judgment speech deviates, focus on the change to see how the prophet highlights a theological point -Accusation- the reason for the coming judgment; the offense committed by Israel -Announcement- the prophet announces that he is speaking on God's behalf; thus the assessment of the situation is accurate and the coming judgment just based upon the character of God -Prediction- how the divine judgment will unfold

Structures of Hebrew Poetry

-Parallelism -Inclusio- the repetition of a significant word, phrase, theme, etc. at both the beginning and ending, demarcating a section of text -Merismus- a poetic device of placing two extremes side-by-side to express totality -Chiasm- a succession of themes or words is treated and then repeated in reverse order drawing special attention to the center of the structure -Acrostic- the initial letter of all the poetic lines within a literary unit begins with a letter of the alphabet and continues through the alphabet until completion -Individualistic- a Psalm was written to stand alone and carry its own literary integrity; thus each line must be interpreted in the context of the entire Psalm and not individually parsed.

Interpreting proverbs

-Proverbs are not legal guarantees from God; they are probabilities not promises -Proverbs must be read as a collection -Proverbs are worded to be remembered not to be accurate -Proverbs must be translated at times because the custom is no longer in vogue

Wisdom genres

-Proverbs- Pithy statements about general truths; a short sentence relating a truth based upon long experience; general insight captured in witty statements which compare objects in order to help a person gain mastery over life in some area -Dialogue- a conversation which takes place between two or more persons whereby a problem is presented, a dialogue ensues to analyze and discuss the problem from various perspectives, and then resolution is brought to the problem through a proposed solution by one of the participants; the key to this type of genre is not only knowing what wisdom is, but how to appropriate wisdom correctly to any situation (e.g., Job) -Reflection- The sage departs to the readers his own reflections and insights on life based upon his experiences and observations; these reflections are usually prefaced by "I saw" or "I said in my heart" or "I gave my heart to know" phrases; these reflections are more personal in nature rather than generic like the sentence proverbs -Lyric- Poetry in the form of a song/psalm that communicates wisdom about a particular topic

Perspective

-Psychological- the author expresses insight on the mental and spiritual development of characters (e.g., 1 Sam 16:14) - Evaluative/ideological- the author comments on the text giving insight for the reader (e.g., Joshua 9:14) - Spatial- the author moves in and out of the geographical setting to develop the story (e.g., Mark 15:37) -Temporal- the author speeds up and slows down time to provide evaluative comments on the narrative -Phraseological- the author employs a word or phrase that signals a shift between perspectives (e.g., Gen 22:1)

Reader/Hearer

-Reader- a person or group who reads the narrative at any given time in history -Implied reader- the specific person/group the narrative was originally intended -Narratee- person or group addressed by the author; most times the reader or implied reader but sometimes not

Prophet

-Received a calling from God; - spoke on God's behalf; -was given supernatural insight regarding the events of the day; -was commonly referred to as a 'seer', 'watchman' or 'messenger' as God's spokesperson, -their message were not their own but God's

Sequential prophecy fulfillment

-Sometimes the prophecy is not a simple cause/effect; rather some prophecies are fulfilled through a progessive process; this is often done through foreshortening, whereby the prophet speaks of two events but the prophecy doesn't reveal the lapse of time between the two events -Another form of sequential fulfillment is found in the sensus plenior, the fuller meaning; this takes place when the prophet's message is partially fulfilled in the OT and further fulfilled in the NT

Lawsuit prophecies

-Speech that resembles language borrowed from a court of law; the prophets submit evidence against Israel to indict them and then calls upon witnesses. -God is portrayed as the plaintiff, prosecuting attorney, judge, and bailiff against the defendant, Israel -Summons to trial- calling the people to take heed of the charges laid against them -Calling of witnesses- putting forth those who've seen the sins committed by Israel; often inanimate objects or God -Indictment- the charge or accusation leveled against the guilty party -Testimony- the speech of God demonstrating how an offense against Him has been made

Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry

-Structure -Sound -Rhythm -Imagery

Different parallelisms in Hebrew poetry

-Synonymous- two lines of poetry expressing the same idea with different but equal words -Antithetical- two lines expressing contrasting ideas -Synthetic- two lines whereby the second line adds additional information to the first line -Stairstep- two lines whereby a part of the first line is repeated in the second line -Emblematic- Two lines whereby a metaphor expressed in the first line is followed by a more literal statement in the second line

Principles for interpreting prophecy

-Textual -literary -historical -theological -analogy

What is wisdom?

-The ability to make godly choices in life; ability to discover, maintain, and cultivate balance through reason and reverence toward God

Conditional prophecy fulfillment

-The bulk of prophetic literature is conditional in nature; the future judgment/blessing will come about dependent upon Israel's (in)action -Conditional prophecy/promises make sense of God's 'changing His mind' it is not that He does something He said He would not do, or vice versa, but rather that, after the unfolding of events, we realize His words to Israel were conditional in nature

Musical poems

-They're lyrics addressed to the mind through the heart by way of their highly emotional language They employ metaphors regularly; rather than press the metaphor strictly to dissect all its component parts, listen to the overall thrust the metaphor conveys

Messenger prophecies

-This type of speech formulae occur alongside any number of other types of prophecy as a reminder that the prophets themselves are spokespersons of God and should be heeded

Sounds of Hebrew Poetry

-To appreciate fully the sounds of Hebrew poetry, one needs a working knowledge of the original language; however, a sound reading of the technical commentaries will help translate that repetition of sounds into meaning for the modern audience -Assonance- repetition of similar vowel sounds in a series of words -Alliteration- repetition of similar consonant sounds in a series of words -Paranomasia/wordplay- repetition of a similar sound in two words which carries different meanings

Types of Prophecy fulfillments

-Unconditional -conditional -Sequential

What is the relationship of the Law to Christians?

-Understanding the OT Law is a covenant assists in our understanding of (1) the later prophetic literature with calls to repentance, (2) God's story of blessing and disciplining Israel, and (3) our role in that story as it leads to the new covenant. -The OT Law is still God's Word for us even if it is not God's command to us -Those OT Laws which are renewed in the NT form the "law of Christ" (the ethical standard of speech and conduct He expects from us because we are in relationship/identify with Him)

Helpful guidelines for viewing the Law

-View the OT law as God's Word for you but not His command to you -View the OT Law as the basis for God's covenant with Israel and the explanation of Israel's history -View the OT Law as showing us the character of God and His high expectations on living in community with others -View the OT law as an incomplete paradigm for expected behavior -View the OT Law as not a salvific mechanism but as a sign pointing to a Savior -Grasp the spirit of the Law and not its letter; apply where possible -Whatever OT laws are reinforced in the NT are binding on you today

Woe prophecies

-a declaration of the imminent death of persons as judgment upon them from God - woe- the declaration of the woe is announced -Offenses -Prediction- how the divine judgement will unfold

Historical narratives are not

-allegories or make-believe stories filled with obscure meanings -written primarily to communicate moral lessons

Salvation Prophecies

-an oracle of restoration and blessing which will follow a judgment from God - indicative of an oracle that contains a reference to the future in which the future landscape/condition is drastically different from the current state of events due to the blessing of God

What are the different celebratory/affirming psalms?

-covenant renewal- liturgical worship guidelines designed to lead Israel into a ceremony of renewal of her covenant with God -Royal/kingship- prayers of lament or thanksgiving by the king who functions as a mediator for the nation -Enthronement- songs utilized during the coronation of a king; perhaps used annually during a celebration as a remind of the king's enthronement by God -Zion/Jerusalem- songs drawing attention to the holy city which God chose to reveal Himself to Israel

Types of styles in biblical narrative

-cycles- revolving blocks of material, which derive from or build upon one another; weight might be placed on the final cycle -Irony and Satire- jolts the reaer for an unexpected twist forcing him to think beyond common experience -Repetition- sameness in time, place, character, narrative technique, word, phrase, motif, etc. Can shape the structure of the text and highlight the importance of the content which is repeated; sometimes repetition resumes an earlier narrative which had been temporarily broken off or there are stereotyped repetitions like those commencing and concluding the reigns of the kings - Inclusion - a method of demarcating a unit of thought by the repetition of a word, phrase, or theme at the beginning and end -chiasmus- a method of arranging smaller units of thought throughout a symmetrical fashion whereby a sequence of events is repeated in reverse order with a central focus point (e.g., A,B,C,B,A) thus the former sequence foreshadows a greater fulfillment in the repeated sequence

Guidelines for interpreting Hebrew Poetry

-determine the parameters of the text to demarcate the unit of thought -divide the unit of thought by the various forms of parallelism to understand the relationship of each line to the next -Experience the text by immersing yourself in the imagery of the pot -Don't parse the singular lines of poetry in the Psalms without taking into account their role in the entire Psalm -Use the Psalms as a formal guide to lead you into worship; learn how to appropriately express praise, petition, anger, etc. to God through these inspired words -Through the lens of the psalmist, learn how to process God's character and His working in your life through meditation and reflection.

Historical narratives are

-intentional stories retelling factual historical events intended to give meaning and direction for the present audience reading it -like all stories, it has character, plot, and resolution

The term "law" is used in various ways in Scripture and refers to different aspects of Genesis-Deuteronomy. Law could refer to

-plural 'laws', the 600+ rules that God gave His people to keep -singular 'Law' , a word used to reference all the laws collectively -singular 'Law', the corpus of literature that Moses penned (pentateuch) -singular 'Law' the entirety of the OT Theology -singular 'Law', the interpretation of the OT theology by the rabbis; in the NT Jesus often combats their wrong understanding of the Law

Different types of Proverbs

-sentence(descriptive)- an indicative, proverbial sentence describing reality based upon observation of nature -Instruction (prescriptive)- this proverbial command encourages a specific kind of behavior whether formulated in the negative or positive and usually addressed directly -Better- a contrast between two circumstances in life in which neither is optimal but one is preferable; the key is to apply this type of wisdom structure to ambiguous situations when neither option is ideal

Imagery of Hebrew Poetry

-similes -metaphors -Metonymy- substituting a word or idea with one closely associated with it -Synecdoche- referring to the whole by use of the part -personification- attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object

What is the Law?

-the gift of God's guidelines for His people to teach them how to live in relation to Go, in community with each other, and in relation with the nations around them; obeying the Law was a stipulation for them to remain God's covenanted people

Character development

-the scene is focused on the development of the character -characters are often characterized by their profession or status rather than their physical appearance; if it mentions appearance, then pay attention -They are often contrasted

What percent of the OT is narrative?

40%

Unified aspect of historical narrative

All the historical narratives have as their central character God who remains unchanged in His redemptive pursuit of His people

What are the two types of Laws?

Apodictic and Casuistic Law

External elements of biblical narrative

Author, reader/hearer, perspective

What is the largest section of historical narrative?

Genesis-Esther

Poetic

High degree of style with a terseness

What is the most common genre of literature in the Bible?

Historical Narratives

Rhythm of Hebrew Poetry

Recurring pattern of sounds grouped into a rhythmic sequence; sequences are determined by counting accents and/or syllables

Internal elements of biblical narrative

Story setting, plot structure, character development, dialogue

Wisdom is the application of God's truths to life situations.

The Bible teaches less about how to be wise and more about how to gain wisdom- by implementing God's truths in His creation

Spatial setting

The geographical elements of the story including, local, climate, topography

Response-evoking aspect of historical narrative

Woven throughout, and especially at their conclusion, the narrative compel the audience/reader to respond on moral, ethical, and spiritual levels; they provide implicit principles for living (e.g., 1 Corinthians 10:6,11)

Historical aspect of Historical narrative

analysis of the real events by real humans facing real situations which are then interpreted and arranged for the reader in a didactic compositional chronological dates relative to one another form the framework for the narrative and anchor it in history (e.g., Jeremiah 1:1-2)

Entertaining aspect of historical narrative

captivating the audience through a series of narrative twists and turns while teaching a valuable lesson (e.g., the left-handed Ehud slaying King Eglon on the throne)

Story setting

spatial, temporal, social setting

Revelatory aspect of historical narrative

the authors interpreted the historical events through divine direction and intention to yield a narrative that was God's Word to humans; not just history about God but history through the lens of God (e.g., Genesis 50:20)

Temporal setting

the indication of time whether a chronological date, sequence of events, general time periods, or customary occasions

Anthological aspect of historical narrative

the narrative can be derived from a host of pre-written literature such as genealogical records, personal itineraries, chronicles of kings, etc (e.g., Joshua 10:13; Esther 10:2)

Plot Structure

the narrative is oriented around scenes of the story rather than the character.

Selective aspect of historical narrative

the narratives are not comprehensive but selected by the inspired author to move the plot of God's redemption along to its climatic end (e.g., Genesis 25:1-2)

Theological aspect of historical narrative

the primary character in the biblical narrative is God; thus biblical narrative is history recorded in a theological orientation (e.g., even in Esther)

Social setting

the realm of human interaction whether with God or other people including a working knowledge of their religion, politics, customs, and family relations

Artistic aspect of historical narrative

the skillful and artful way the author presents his characters' development throughout the plot (e.g., Joseph)

Realistic aspect of historical narrative

unlike many ancient mythical tales, the biblical narrative recount the real-life situations of real persons and expose their faults and failures (e.g., David's adultery events; Moses's murder; Abrahams's dilemma)

Author

written from the perspective of an all knowing author, tells the story from a divine point of view

Prosaic

written in ordinary form with a certain style or meter