Hebrew Bible Midterm

Bronze serpent

After the people had complained and God had given them food and water, God sends serpents to go to bite people. Many people die from snake bites. Some who are bitten go to Moses to repent and Moses in turn prays to God. God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a poleanyone who is bit by a snake and looks at the pole will not die.

Theophany

A visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god.

Abraham:

Abraham (initially called Abram) is the first patriarch. God instructs Abram to set out from Haran to Canaan. God forms a covenant with Abraham; his descendants will inherit the promised land. Abraham has his first son Ishmael with Sarah's handmaid Hagar and later a son Isaac with his wife Sarah.

Child sacrifice

According to Kugel, child sacrifice was practiced in the ancient Near East region, and the story of Isaac could potentially explain the end of this practice in Israel and why Israelites instead sacrificed livestock

According to the Jewish way of counting, how many commandments does the Torah contain?

According to the Jewish way of counting, there are 613 commandments in the Torah.

Cain

Adam and Eve's first child. Cain is a crop farmer. Kills his brother Abel.

Abel

Adam and Eve's son. (younger brother) He is a shepherd, and killed by Cain.

Burning bush

After Moses kills an Egyptian guard for beating a Jew, he met and married Zipporah and became a shephard. One day, God came to Moses in the form of a burning bush. Tells him to go back and free the people. Gives him the magic cane as a sign that speaks on behalf of God.

The prohibition of spilling blood

After the flood, Noah was given a set of laws by god called the Noahide laws. One of these laws included the prohibition of murder or spilling blood

Decalogue

Also known as the Ten Commandments

Casuistic law

Casuistry is a method of case reasoning especially useful in treating cases that involve moral dilemmas. It is also a branch of applied ethics. Casuistry is the basis of case law in common law, and the standard form of reasoning applied in common law.

The Bible's four divisions

Christian bibles reflect the types of books. Law; History; Poetry/Hymns; Prophecy

Covenant (berit):

Covenant just means agreement, and that is what berit means, in Hebrew: a treaty or charter are alternate translations. Often times in ancient Near East, agreements were enacted by the slaughter of an animal, often followed by a feast. For example, to Abram, God's covenant refers to the land that God promised.

clean/pure and unclean/impure animals:

During the flood story, J describes that God instructs Noah to bring seven pairs of every clean animal, male and female, and two of each unclean animal, leaving some alive for sacrifice. Clean animals are good to eat. The P sources describes that there are two of each animal.

Torah

Equivalent to the pentateuch refers to the first five books of the bible (the books of moses). Is the centerpiece of jewish religion. Hebrew Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. It was canonized no later than 200 BCE. Claims: 1) god created the world and established a universal moral order. 2) There is no other god. 3) this is the god of both nature and history. 4) god has a special relationship with the people of Israel. 5) god rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.

Pentateuch

Equivalent to the torah, or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Traditionalists credit these books to Moses.

Ten plagues

Exodus. God brought 10 plagues on the Egyptians to persuade Pharaoh to free the Israelites from salary Demonstrates God's unparalleled power. This is part of the story of Passover/Pesah, but nowhere does the Torah refer to the number 10 or even plagues in Egypt; they are referred to as signs or wonders. Led to the adoption of the Pesah (Passover) sacrifice.

The first born

A theme of Genesis is that younger sons end up overtaking the first born Perhaps this is to show God's own greatness by lifting up the younger less likely son.

Allegory, allegorical reading

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, most often one having to do with politics and morality.

Four Assumptions (Kugel)

. 1) The bible is a collection of books put together by normal human beings . 2) Bible is inconsistent because it is derived from disagreeing sources bible books grew over time . 3) Bible should be interpreted as a historical document of its time in a literary context. MBS don't study the book to apply it to modern life, but study it as a historical text. . 4) Bible is not objective or neutral because it is driven by ideology. Thus, MBS reject the "facts" of the bible and question whether events ever really happened

Old Testament

39 books of the christian old testament are the same as the 24 books of the jewish bible. This is the first section of the Christian bible.

Monotheism

6th century BCE emergence of monotheism: prophets promote the belief that only one God exists. Imageless worship is associated with the movement.

How many human beings were in the ark?

8 (eight): Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives.

Monolatry

8th century BCE emergence of Godalone theology; prophets are champions of monolatry, that Israel is to worship one God, not necessarily a statement about existence of other Gods.

Daughters of Lot

: Both slept with their father Lot one night and conceived a child from him after fleeing from Sodom.

Sodom and Gomorrah

: Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities along the Southern shore of the Dead Sea, and are archetypes of human wickedness because the people of these two cities were incorrigibly evil. The story of the two cities serves as a lesson in which unrelenting sinfulness was ultimately met with just and divine punishment in the form of a cataclysm of "brimstone and fire."

Ur of the Chaldees:

A biblical location where Abraham may have been born and lived until God instructed him to leave his native land for Haran. Albright emphasized archaeological evidence to support the historicity of Abraham's travels from Ur to Haran.

Did the Israelites build the pyramids?

A common view of MBS: some tribes/groups/clans that would later go on to join the Israelites told stories of their miraculous departure from Egypt; the story of these few became the story of the many. Most Israelites were actually of Canaanite stock; their ancestors did not participate in an Exodus from Egypt. Israelites did not build the pyramids.

Eponymous ancestor

A form of etiology. An entire line of descendants is named after one ancestor.

Myth

A myth is a story in which a god or gods are the central characters. A myth differs from an etiology because in an etiology, humans play the main roles. There are remnants of a mythological creation story in the bible, as seen in the interspersed references to God defeating sea monsters.

Circumcision:

A sign of commitment towards God. In return, God promises Abraham offspring and a great nation.

Apodictic law

Apodictic law refers to timeless divine commands and not to "law applied." Thus it is "necessarily or demonstrably true; incontrovertible; clearly established or beyond dispute" since it is divinely revealed).

Assyria:

Assyria was a major Semitic kingdom, existing from approximately 2500 BCE to 600 BCE. It was centered on the upper Tigris river (spanning approximately today's locations of northern Iraq, northeast Syria, and southeastern Turkey). In 720 BCE, Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and relocated the entire population

two by two or seven by seven?

At different points in the story of Noah, it is unclear whether God wants Noah to take 2 of every animal so that they can repopulate the earth or if he wants Noah to take 7 pairs each of the clean animals and one pair each of the unclean animals so that Noah can make sacrifices with the surplus population. MBSs attribute the "seven by seven description to the J source and the "two by two" description to the P source, as priests probably wouldn't have looked upon the idea of an untrained person like Noah offering sacrifices. This is seen as major evidence of the Documentary Hypothesis.

Babylonia

Babylonia is an ancient Semitic state in centralsouthern Mesopotamia, which is the presentday Iraq. Its capital was Babylon. The Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom in 586 BC. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from this region, contains a similar account to the Genesis story of a great flood. This suggests that one of these stories precedes the other that copied it or both were copied from a source before their time.

120 years

Before the flood story, humans lived for many centuries. God decided that after the flood story, humans would not live for more than 120 years.

Cultic figurines

Bible and archaeology show that for a long time, Israelites worshipped more than one God. Israelite cultic figurines are found everywhere in ancient Israelite archaeological sites.

Caleb

Caleb and joshua were amongst the spies sent out to go look at the land of Canaan that God had promised the Israelites. There were 12 spies, each representing a tribe. 10 of the spies slandered about the land because they did not believe God could help them in defeating those who were there. Caleb and Joshua were only two who brought back a good report and believed that God could lead them

Deuteronomy

Fifth book of the hebrew bible

Genesis

First book of the Hebrew Bible.

Hammurabi

First king of the Babylonian Empire that even controlled Mesopotamia. Came up with one of the first written codes called Hammurabi's Code which states...

Menasseh

First son of Joseph and Asenath. Only tribe to settle on both sides of the Jordan.

Numbers

Fourth book of the hebrew bible. The book explains why it took 40 years for the Israelites to reach Israel from Egypt and documents the journey to the promise land. Highlights the theme that rebellion against god brings about consequences.

Judah

Fourth son of Jacob and Leah. He is founder of the Israelite tribe Judah. Brother who suggests they should not kill Joseph but sell him to the Ishmaelites.

Gilgamesh:

Gilgamesh was an ancient sumerian king and the main character of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world's oldest pieces of literature. In the epic, he is noted for his great building projects which allow some of the civilization to survive a Great Flood, similar to that found in Genesis. Many scholars point out similarities between this flood story and that of Noah.

Manna

God gets angry and punishes the people for their grumbling/discontent Moses prays to God to forgive them, sometimes having to temper God's anger. God solves the problem/renegs punishment.

El, Elohim

In Chapter 1, God is referred to as Elohim alone.

YHWH

In Chapter 2, God is referred to as YHWH—the Lord God. It is used until chapter 3. This indicates J. YHWH is anthropomorphic and anthropopathic.

Adam's rib

In Genesis 23 (J), God creates Eve from one of Adam's ribs to be Adam's companion.

Semitic

Language family spoken in the area. Includes Hebrew, Assyrian, Aramaic, and Babylonian

Tower of Babel

In the book of Genesis, this is "Rebellion #4". Following the flood, humans tried to reach god by building a large tower to heaven god did not like this so in order to impede their progress he made them all speak different languages and scattered them around the world. This story explains why different languages exist. The story is of mesopotamian origin.

How long did the flood last

In the flood story, there are two different claims about the duration of the flood. The J Source claims that the flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. The P source claims that the flood lasted for 150 days. MBS interprets this as the bible having two contradictory sources, J source and P source. Ancient interpreters interpret this discrepancy as the flood building up for 40 days and then slowly dissipating until the 150 daymark.

Potiphar

Is a person in the Book of Genesis's account of Joseph. Potiphar is said to be the captain of the palace guard and is referred to without name in the Quran.

Ishmael:

Ishmael is the first progeny born to Abram, via Sarai's handmaid Hagar. Sarai allowed Abram to lay with Hagar to produce offspring since she was barren. Ishmael and Hagar are eventually cast out by Abraham at the bequest of Sarah. He is said to have dwelled in the wilderness and became the father of twelve nations, collectively known as the Ishmaelites.

Moses striking the rock

Israelites have no water and complain to moses. God tells Moses if he goes to the rock in front of all the people and commands it to give him water then there will be water for everyone. Moses instead hits the rock with his rod and out came water for everyone. Perhaps important that Moses did not explicitly follow God's instructions.

Documentary Hypothesis

J one of the authors of the Bible. refers to God as YHWH. E another author. Refers to God as Elohim. P Priestly writer of the Bible D Another author. The Deuteronomist source. R Redactors who combined all the sources to create the Bible. This hypothesis proposes that the Pentateuch was derived from originally independent and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors. It was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries in an attempt to reconcile inconsistencies, combined into their final form by a series of redactors, R. The four sources are J, E, D, and P. J: Jahwist, hypothetically written c. 950 BCE in southern Kingdom of Judah. E: Elohist, hypothetically written c. 850 BCE in northern Kingdom of Israel. D: Deuteronomist, hypothetically written c. 600 BCE in Jerusalem during a period of religious reform. P: Priestly, hypothetically written c. 500 BCE by Jewish priests in exile in Babylon. R: series of redactors who combined the four main sources into their final form. Anthropomorphic, anthropomorphism

The Bible's three divisions

Jewish bibles reflects the people from whom the biblical books are derived. The Torah (derived from the priests), the Prophets (prophets speak the word of god), and the Writings (of the scribes or sages).

Joseph

Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, is taken to Egypt where he is sold to Potiphar as a household slave. Made head of household by Potiphar, but is accused by Potiphar's wife of rape, because he resisted her attempts to flirt and seduce him (was loyal to his master) and is casted into prison by Potiphar.

Etiology, etiological story

The point of the J creation story is to explain why human society is structured the way it is—it is an etiological tale. Why working the soil is so difficult for men, bearing children difficult for women, and more.

Akedah (or aqedah):

Literally means binding. Isaac was bound in order to be sacrificed by Abraham. The binding is particularly important because it can be used to aid both sides in the argument of whether Isaac knew what was about to happen. You can either say Abraham a very elderly man would not have been able to bind a spry Isaac without his submission or you can say Isaac had to be bound because he was struggling or might jump up in the last second when he realized what was going on.

Garden of Eden

Mentioned in the second part of Genesis. He places Adam in a garden that he planted 'eastward in Den.' Out of the ground, the Lord God grew every tree that is pleasant to the sight...et al. Adam could eat off any tree in the garden, except for tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Midrash

Midrash is a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings. It fills in gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at.

Miriam

Miriam was the older sister of Moses and Aaron; she was also a prophetess in her own right. She enabled her mother to nurse Moses until he was weaned and adopted by the Pharaoh's family. Miriam helped Moses and Aaron lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After the parting of the Red Sea she led a female dance/song for the Lord—know as the song of Miriam (Exodus 15:21).

Horeb

Mount Sinai is the mountain in which God hands down the 10 commandments to Moses according to the Book of Deuteronomy

Revelation Sinai

Mount Sinai is the mountain in which God hands down the 10 commandments to Moses according to the Book of Exodus

Noah

Noah was a "righteous man", the man chosen by God to built an ark to save animals from the great flood, along with himself and his family. Noah was instructed to build the ark and to put in the ark seven pairs of all clean animals (according to J) or a male and a female of both the clean AND the unclean animals (according to P).

Aramaic

Of similar line of origin as Hebrew. Some parts of the Bible are in Aramaic

Aaron

Older brother of Moses. Founder of the priesthood, and the first Kohein Gadol (High Priest). He helped Moses lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. Let the Golden calf.

Esau

Older twin of Jacob. Hairy; hunter; See Jacob. Storyteller is also sympathetic towards Esau. doesn't portray him in a bad light; he simply gets duped.

Balaam

Only nonisraelite profit in Hebrew bible. Found in other sources outside the Bible One story with him: Balak wants to curse Israelites but Balaam says that Balaam will only say what God commands. Still God told him to not visit Balak but he goes. On his way there, god puts an invisible angel in front of his donkey and it goes the wrong way 3 different times. The donkey then speaks and asks Balaam why he treats him so poorly. Then the invisible angel appears to Balaam. Balaam goes on to speak what God has said: praising the Israelites unlike what Balak wanted. Dathan and Aviram

Hebrew

Original language of the Bible. "holy tongue"

Grumbling Motif

People complain a lot: complain about their situation (no food, no water), complain about why Moses was chosen to lead them

Mrs. Potiphar

Potiphar's wife, whose name is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible? She wrongly accuses Joseph of raping her, after her failed attempts to seduce him. She ruined the relationship between Potiphar and Joseph and causes him to be casted into prison.

Biblical Inerrancy

Protestant doctrine that claims the Bible is without error in any of its teachings as explained in the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy"

Apotropaic

Ritual that takes a symbolic part of something and destroys it, for the sake of the whole. Circumcision, in a sense, is an apotropaic ritual in Zipporah story: symbolically slaughters her son to save Moses. The Pesah (Passover) sacrifice has apotropaic qualities because of the blood manipulations: first born replaced by lamb or goat.

Hyksos

Rulers of foreign land the western semites who took over Egypt for a period of time. These people were expelled from Egypt and possible explanation for the story of the Exodus.

Exodus (the book)

Second book of the Torah; focuses on the exodus of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

Ephraim

Second son of Joseph and Asenath. Even though he is younger, he gets a better blessing that his brother Menasseh. Joseph says he will become greater than Menasseh. Theme of the younger getting the birthright and being greater.

The serpent

Serpent tricks Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, and God curses the serpent and he needs to walk on the ground.

Tanakh

Tanakh is an acronym for the three divisions of the Jewish bible; it refers to the Hebrew Bible. Consists of three divisions: the torah, the prophets, and the writings.

death of the first born

The 'tenth plague.' Moses foretells the death of every firstborn child as his final threat to the pharaoh in order to convince him to free the Israelites. By wiping the blood of a sacrificed lamb on their doors, the Israelites were spared, thus signifying the superiority and difference between Egyptians & Israelites. After the Pharoah's son was struck down, he released the Israelites.

Covenant Code (Book of the Covenant)

The Covenant Code, or The Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus 20:19 23:33. Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai. This legal text provides a small, but substantive proportion of the mitzvot within the Torah, and hence is a source of Jewish Law.

Navi

The Hebrew word for prophet. Prophets play the role of speaking on God's behalf, theoretically in ancient Israel they were to be respected by Kings and Judges, although this was not always the case. They also the play the role of critiquing society. Examples include; Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Samuel and Job.

The Sabbath

The point of the P creation story is to explain the Sabbath. Priestly writers emphasizing the importance of the Sabbath. Creation story takes in six days.

Exodus

The Israelites leaving Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. After the 10 plagues, Pharoah let the Jews leave, but he changed his mind and they drowned in the sea. It is the etiology of Passover.

The word "Torah" means

The Law

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity.

ark

The ark is the boat God commanded Moses to built in order to save him, the animals and his family from being destroyed in the Great Flood. God instructs Noah in the precise building of the ark and then seals Noah, his family, and all the animals into the ark throughout the duration of the flood.

"Let us make Adam in our image"

The plural in Genesis 1 reminds us of the ANE idea of council of Gods. Mythological relics.This phrase, from Genesis 1:26, is interesting in its usage of the 2nd person plural 'we.' Later Jews would say that the passage refers to God and His angels.

Isaac:

The child that God asked Abraham to sacrifice. He was born to Sarah after she passed her childbearing years and was the last child available to Abraham to succeed him and continue his teachings and practices.

Passover/Pesah

The festival of the slaughtering of the Pascal lamb. It begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar and is celebrated for seven or eight days. Explained in Exodus, in which a lamb was slaughtered and blood painted on the doorposts of the Hebrew's homes to ward off the angel of death (the Destroyer). Its apotropaic quality is still evident in the blood manipulations: first born replaced by lamb or goat.

The Tree of Life

The idea that Adam lived to be 930 years old. Tree of life was to supply the couple with a special fruit every few hundred years to keep them living on.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

The idea that if Adam ate from the tree of knowing good/evil, immortality will be taken away—that you might perhaps be denied access to the "tree of life." That also Adam and Eve became a little like God himself.

Israel

The land promised to the Israelites. West of the transjordan and west of the Mediterranean.

Lex talionis

The law of retaliation, whereby a punishment resembles the offense committed in kind and degree.(i.e. "An eye for an eye")

How many books does the Hebrew Bible contain?

The number of hebrew books in the bible depends on who you ask. The christian bibles are 39 books divided into 4 parts, and the Jewish Bibles are 24 books divided into 3 parts.

Moses

The only prophet who spoke to God face to face. He was born to Hebrew parents, but raised as an Egyptian in the Pharoah's household. Moses fled to Midian after he killed an Egyptian while defending a Hebrew slave. God appeared to Moses during the burning bush episode and chose him to lead the people out of Egyptian slavery and to the Promised Land (Exodus Chs. 34). With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses spoke to Pharaoh and triggered the plagues against Egypt (Ex. Chs. 412). He then led the people out of Egypt and across the sea to freedom, and brought them to Mount Sinai, where God revealed the entire Torah to Moses and the people accepted it (Ex. Chs. 1224).

The bow in the sky

The rainbow in the sky shown after the flood is intended to represent noah and god and between god and future generations of man. Shows the theme of a covenant between the Israelites and god.

Cosmic monism

The view that one true God is in charge of everything. Rabbinic Judaism will carry forward cosmic monism.

Leviticus

Third book of the Hebrew Bible.

Levi

Third some of Jacob and Leah. He is the Preistly tribe.

"The sons of God with the daughters of men"

This is taken from a passage in Genesis 6 it is what professor Cohen calls "Rebellion #3 of Genesis". The sons of gods (divine beings) took wives from the daughters of men against god's will. This miscegenation between divine beings and humans angered god and sparked the coming of the flood in which noah was pardoned.

Cosmic dualism

This is the idea that some hostiles force (Satan, elements, etc) is in command of this world and that God's full power is manifest only in the next world. Christianity will carry forward cosmic dualism.

Tetragrammaton

This is the referring of God by YHWH.

Patriarchs:

Typically refers to Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. They are three male leaders described in Genesis, with whom God had substantial interaction. With covenants and revelations, God founded Israel through them.

Matzah

Unleavened bread. A component of the ritual meal associated with celebration of Passover. Not enough time to rise idea that God wanted Israelites out of Egypt. Eating of matzah gets historicized in Exodus 12 apparently agrarian, origins and meaning unclear.

Golden Calf

When Moses went up on Mount Sinai the people complained that he wasnt coming back and/or talking to God. Aaron tried to appease them and had everyone give him their gold and he built a golden calf from it

"Hermeneutics of Suspicion"

When one reads the Bible under the "hermeneutics of suspicion," this simply means that they do not assume correctness, continuity, or single authorship about the Bible when they read, but rather they are suspicious of the author(s)' intents and read the Bible similarly to any other piece of literature.

Polytheism

Worship of many gods, in addition to or instead of YHWH.

Jacob

Younger twin of Esau. WIth Rebecca's help steals his brothers blessing. perhaps reinforces the idea that the covenant between Israel and God is not natural but constructed. Jacob is not portrayed as evil. In fact storyteller is defensive about Jacob getting birthright telling the story three diff times in Genesis).

Enoch

appears in the book of genesis. He is an ancestor of Noah. Genesis tells us that these preflood patriarchs lived for many centuries. "God took Enoch" instead of killing him. Some traditionalists say he was "taken away" before he could be corrupted by the bad people around him.

What was the forbidden fruit eaten by Eve and Adam?

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