Chapter 3
"Problems" with the Hebrew Bible
- Impossibly long lives to the early leaders of the Hebrews - Coopt stories from other ancient near eastern cultures as if they had occurred uniquely to the Hebrews - No archeological evidence of God's covenant with the Hebrew nation
In the course of the Tanakh, the Hebrews are depicted as the _______, but that status conferred more obligations than rewards.
..."chosen people"...
The Hebrew Bible was written over the course of________.
....a thousand years.
The Neo-Babylonians destroyed the Temple at Jerusalem and drove the Judaeans eastward into the Babylonian Captivity (ca. _________).
...539 BCE.
As developed by the Documentary Hypothesis, the "P" author is thought to have been responsible for the first chapter of the Book of _________.
...Genesis.
The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the third century BCE because___________.
...Jews in the Near East spoke only Greek.
The God of the Yahwist (J) is always YHWH in Hebrew (which English-language Bibles represent by the all-capitals word ________).
...LORD.
The ________ text of the Bible was compiled in Hebrew in the 2nd century CE.
...Masoretic...
The development of a Jewish apocalyptic tradition hinged on the approach of a(n) ________.
...Messiah.
Of the 150 prayer-songs that make up the Bible's Book of __________, tradition ascribes most of them to David's own pen, although modern scholars generally believe he was responsible for the first 40.
...Psalms...
The first Temple was built by_________.
...Solomon (David's son).
Three entire chapters of the book of I Kings are devoted to describing the Temple built by _________.
...Solomon.
A partial religious ________, or a union of doctrines, occurred when Judaism made contact with and adopted certain characteristics of the dominant Zoroastrian faith of the Persians.
...Syncretism...
Some of the intense moralism of _________ can be detected in passages like Isaiah 30.
...Zoroastrianism...
According to Hebrew tradition, Abram and his family set out on a trek__________.
...along the course of the Fertile Crescent, from east to west.
The development of a(n) ___________ tradition, with its tenets regarding the approach of a deliverer, merged with mainstream Judaism in the Second Temple period.
...apocalyptic..
The People of the Land resented the return of the exiles because the exiles__________.
...assumed religious authority over them.
The Second Temple period resulted in__________.
...conflict between priests and rabbis.
The "scattering" of Jewish people, at various points after the destruction of the First Temple around 587 BCE, was called in Greek the _________.
...diaspora.
Most Biblical scholars hold to the so-called __________, which posits that the texts as they survive result from the intertwining of several writers' work.
...documentary hypothesis...
Touching the carcasses of proscribed animals, acquiring a bald patch in a beard, or developing a rash on the skin could render one ritually unclean and in need of purification or cleansing, but not ___________.
...having lust in one's heart.
Among the urgent questions being asked in the years after the destruction of the First Temple was whether a Hebrew indentured to a Persian employer should obey his boss's commands ____________.
...on the Sabbath.
The _____ warned the Israelites of God's displeasure, and called them to a moral life.
...prophets...
During the exile, the rabbis became_________.
...religious judges.
A group of 72 Biblical scholars gathered in Alexandria to produce a Greek version of Scripture called the Septuagint, the Latin word for ________.
...seventy.
The reigns of kings David and Solomon are remembered in Jewish history as__________.
...the Golden Age.
Exile in Babylon and __________ forced the Jews to question where the authority of priests now lay.
...the destruction of the temple...
Hebrew women had the right to_________.
...to own property.
One of the central questions that concerned those returning from exile in Babylon in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE was__________.
...what role the traditional priestly leadership should have, in a Jerusalem without a Temple.
Tanakh
Common name for the canonical Hebrew Bible--an acronym based on the letters: T (Torah), N (Nevi'im), and K (Ketuvim)
True or False?: After the exile, rabbinical law was discarded in favor of the written Torah.
False
True or False?: All Jews returned to Palestine after the end of the Babylonian captivity.
False
True or False?: Hebrew society restricted the autonomy of women more than most ancient societies.
False
True or False?: Hebrew tribes living in the hilly south of Palestine called themselves the people of Israel, while the northern-based tribes took the name of Judah.
False
True or False?: The Hebrew scriptures promised that good deeds would be rewarded after death in She'ol.
False
True or False?: The Priestly author (P) most likely set to work before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.
False
True or False?: The earliest Biblical texts date to between 250 and 200 BCE.
False
True or False?: The individual authors of the Bible who have been identified, following the Documentary Hypothesis, include: "J", "E", "D", "P", and "M".
False
True or False?: The version of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint is considered more authentic by Jewish scholars.
False
True or False?: There are no historical problems with the text of the Hebrew Bible.
False
Yahwist Author (J)
Mystery author of the Hebrew Bible that's believed to be the first author that wrote most of Genesis, especially to those parts relating to Abraham and his descendants (950 BCE)
Elohist Author (E)
Mystery author of the Hebrew Bible that's believed to have written a part of Genesis, as well as the tale of Joseph; "patchiest" author that reflects an oral as opposed to written tradition (750 BCE)
Priestly Author (P)
Mystery author(s) believed to have written interwoven priestly ordinances throughout the first book of the Bible as well as Leviticus and the first ten chapters of Numbers (550 BCE)
Rabbi
Originally teachers of Jewish law, but became leaders of the exiled Jews (Babylonian Captivity) and refined the laws of governing Jewish life
______ was the Biblical underworld, and yet the Hebrews did not believe in separate places of reward and punishment in the afterlife.
She'ol...
_________ was credited with writing the Song of Songs, which celebrates married love in all its emotional and physical intimacy.
Solomon...
Torah
The first group of books in the Tanakh, meaning "instructions", which is attributed to Moses
Judges
The leaders of each of the twelve tribes of Hebrews who moved into Palestine around 1,200 BCE, after being delivered from Egypt
Nevi'im
The second group of books in the Tanakh, meaning "prophets", which is attributed to the prophets Joshua to Malachi
The "T" (Torah) in the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, means______.
..."instructions".
The ritual demands of communal Jewish worship could be observed by_____________.
...intermittent journeys to the Temple in Jerusalem.
In their texts, the Hebrews claimed that the land promised to them was already inhabited by_________.
...the Amalekites, the Amorites, and the Philistines .
The Diaspora, or exile, began with________.
...the Babylonian captivity.
The Hebrew Bible's principal concern is to document_______.
...the development of a relationship between a people and a transcendent deity.
The incremental growth of the body of rabbinical law—analogous to the ______ law of modern societies—came heavily to influence Hebrew life and identity.
...tort....
Women were banned from entering the Temple when they were menstruating or immediately after giving birth, times when they were labeled __________ ("impure" or "unclean").
...tumeh...
"Men of the Great Assembly"
According to Hebrew tradition, a group that established, ordered, and canonized the entire set of books in the Hebrew Bible around 450 BCE
Babylonian Captivity
After the Chaldeans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 587 BCE, they took many of the surviving Jews back east as slaves, where they remained until they were released in 538 BCE by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great (576 BCE - 530 BCE).
True or False?: In the aftermath of the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon, relations between the local population and the returnees remained tense.
True
True or False?: Judges in early Hebrew society held political, military, and religious authority.
True
True or False?: Syncretism planted some aspects of the Zoroastrian tradition into Judaism.
True
True or False?: The Hebrews are depicted in the Tanakh as the "Chosen People", but not in the sense of always being a favored race.
True
True or False?: The Priestly author (P) of the Bible set to work after the fall of Jerusalem to the neo-Babylonians around 587 BCE.
True
True or False?: The Prophets introduced the idea of a moral life as its own reward into the western tradition.
True
True or False?: The Yahwist author of the Bible (J) is believed to have been the first, and his writings can be identified by his use of the term YHWH to stand for God.
True
True or False?: The population of Judah before the Babylonian Exile had been perhaps as low as 30,000, one-quarter of whom were sent into captivity.
True
The Documentary Hypothesis states that the Hebrew Bible was the work of ______ authors?
...four...
The development of an apocalyptic tradition in Judaism resulted from exposure to____________.
...Zoroastrianism.
As the tradition developed, the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt established their special _______, or contract, with God.
...covenant...
Archaeological evidence places the Hebrews in Palestine about________.
...1,200 BCE.
Inspired by their prophets, the Jews rebuilt their Temple in about twenty years, and the new building was dedicated around ________.
...515 BCE.
As many as 50,000 Jews resided in Hellenistic __________.
...Alexandria.
Abram is traditionally considered to be the patriarch of both the Jews and the___________.
...Arabs.
The Jews were released from captivity in Babylon by__________.
...Cyrus the Great.
The choice of Jerusalem for the new capital of _____'s kingdom showed his shrewdness, given its central location as a watchtower for the northern and southern tribes.
...David's...
The "D" or ________ author of the Bible insists on the absolute centrality of allegiance to Torah and worship in the Jerusalem Temple.
...Deuteronomist...
Upon return from exile in Babylon, _______ condemned all mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews and declared them formally dissolved.
...Ezra...
In the Biblical book of Lamentations, the writer despairs that "The Lord has laid waste without pity All the habitations of _____; He has razed in His anger Fair Judah's strongholds."
...Jacob...
The Hebrew Bible is commonly known as the ________, an acronym based on the letters for the "Instructions", the "Prophets", and the "Writings".
...Tanakh...
Abram's story was thought to have begun in ______, near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
...Ur...
True or False?: A revolt by the Jews in exile in Babylon forced Cyrus to release them from captivity.
False
True or False?: The Philistine conquest led to the unification of the tribes under a monarchy.
False
True or False?: The Torah makes provision for a girl's being forced into marriage before puberty, and she had no right to refuse a marriage partner proposed by her father.
False
Deuteronomist Author (D)
Mystery author of the Hebrew Bible that's controversially believed to write only the book of Deuteronomy or having influence throughout the Bible (may be some evidence to suggest this) (650 BCE)
Judah
One of two Hebrew kingdoms (937 BCE - 721 BCE), this one being in the south of Palestine and centered on Jerusalem
Israel
One of two Hebrew kingdoms (937 BCE - 721 BCE), this one in the north of Palestine with Shechem as its capital
YHWH
The term for "God" used by the Yahwist author of the Torah, which is seen in today's Holy Bible as "LORD"
Ketuvim
The third group of books in the Tanakh, meaning "writings", which is attributed to the remaining writings that's not under the first two headings