NT midterm set 3

Who was Herod Archelaus (v. 22)? What happened to him?

Herod Archelaus was Herod the Great's son. He ruled Judea, Samaria and Idumaea. He was deposed and exiled to Gaul by Caesar Augustus.

What local ruler killed infants around Bethlehem in order to hopefully kill the baby Jesus (Matt 2:1, 3, 16-18)?

Herod the Great.

To what people did the angels first announce Jesus' birth (Luke 2:8-9)? Why? Define 'Christ' and 'Lord' (v. 11).

Shepherds because everything about Jesus' birth was lowly and poor and the shepherds (and most other people) could identify with that since they were poor. Christ is the Greek word for "anointed one". Lord in Greek means "master, ruler of all."

Describe the oldest list we have of the full 27-book NT canon. Give the year and what the document was.

The oldest list we have is from an Easter Letter by Athanasius from AD 367.

Wise men came to see Jesus up to how many years after His birth? What were magi (wise men)? How many of them came to see Jesus (Matt 2:1-2)?

The wise men came two years after his birth. The magi were wise men, priests and astrologers from the East. We do not know how many wise men came to see Jesus.

Name and describe the four informal tests of NT canonicity.

1) Apostolicity (written by an eyewitness or a close associate of an eyewitness) 2) Orthodoxy (sound doctrine) 3) Universality (wide application) 4) Inspiration (Holy Spirit inspired)

Define: canon, canonicity, pseudepigrapha, orthodoxy, NT apocrypha.

1) Canon: "rod, ruler, rule"; collection of christian scriptures. 2) canonicity: a book's status as to its inclusion in the collection of Christian Scriptures 3) pseudepigrapha: meaning "false title", a collective term for Jewish second temple literature not included in the Apocrypha. 4) orthodoxy: conformity of a given document with apostolic teaching. 5) NT Apocrypha: various writings produced during the subapostolic period that imitate the canonical Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelation. example: the Gospel of Thomas.

Give four statements showing the significance of Jesus' virgin conception/birth.

1) It was unique 2) it shows the incarnation: God became human. 3) It shows only god can bring salvation to humanity. 4) It prevented Jesus from having original (inherited) sin.

What was a caravansary? What was a manger (Luke 2:7)?

A caravansary is an inn. the manger was an animal feeding trough.

What object guided the wise men to the city of Jesus' birth (Matt 2:2, 7, 9)? What are some ways to explain that phenomenon?

A star. It could have been a 2nd class miracle (working within the laws of nature) examples include: 1) comet, asteroid or bright meteor. 2) an unusual lineup of Jupiter and Venus, a planet and moon or a planet and star. 3) a recurring supernova.

Who warned Joseph to take his family and flee the wrath of Herod the Great (v. 13)? Where did they go?

An angel warned Joseph about Herod's wrath and told them to flee. They fled to Egypt.

in what city and location was Jesus born? What is another name for this city (v. 4)?

Bethlehem. The city of David

When Jesus was born, who was the Roman Emperor (Luke 2:1)? Who was the local Jewish king? Who was the Syrian governor that gave the census order (v. 2)?

Caesar Augustus was the Roman Emperor. Herod the great was the local Jewish king. Quirinius was the syrian governor.

What are the three geographical/ethnic sections of ancient Palestine? List them in contiguous order, starting with the northern-most and ending with the southern-most. In which section was Jerusalem? In which section did Jesus carry out most of his ministry? Which section did most Jews (but not Jesus) avoid? Which section had a large Gentile population?

Galilee (north), Samaria (middle), Judea (south). Jersusalem was in Judea. Jesus carried out most of his ministry in Galilee. Samaria was the place the Jews avoided, but Jesus did not. Galilee had the largest Gentile population.

What were the wise men's three gifts for Jesus (Matt 2:11)? Give an example of spiritualizing what the gifts can represent.

Gold (Jesus is King of Kings), Frankincense (Jesus is the Great High Priest), Myrhh (Jesus is the suffering servant).

Upon returning from Egypt, where did Joseph move his family (vv. 22-23)? Why: Give three possible meanings of "Nazarene" (v. 23).

Joseph moved his family to Nazareth. Nazarene could mean: 1) a play on words- 'nezer' ("branch") and Narareth (so, the root of Jesse-- a summary of biblical themes rather than from a specific OT text). 2) slang for a backwoods person. (a hick -- see John 1:49 statement by Nathanael). 3) reference to the Nazarite vow.

Who were: Josephus, and Philo?

Josephus was a Jewish historian who worked for Vespasian. He was considered a traitor by the Jews because he worked for Vespasian. Philo (30 BC- AD 50) was another Jewish historian based in Alexandria, Egypt.

What is the only Gospel to record an event in Jesus' childhood? What was this event?

Luke. When he was left behind at the temple after going to the temple for the feast of Passover when he was 12.

What OT prophet prophesied the exact city of the Messiah's birth (Matt 2:5-6)?

Micah prophesied about the place of Jesus' birth in Micah 5:2.

What is the Jewish feast of Passover? What is a bar mitzvah?

Passover commemorates the 10th plauge prior to the Exodus. A bar mitzvah is when a 13 year old jewish boy reads the Torah aloud in the Synagogue for the first time. It celebrates the boy becoming a man.

Who was Simeon? Who was Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38)? What did Simeon and Anna do concerning Jesus?

Simeon was an old and righteous man who affirmed Jesus' messiahship, and that Jesus did not merely come for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. Anna was an old widow and prophetess, who also affirmed Jesus' messiahship

What is the Diaspora?

The Diaspora was the dispersion of the Jews outside of Palestine, starting with the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC.

How do we know Joseph and Mary were poor (2:24)?

They gave a turtledove offering at the temple, which is the offering that the poor gave.

When was Jesus born? Why was His birth not in AD 1? What does ca., BC, AD, BCE, & CE stand for?

around 4-5 BC. His birth is not AD 1 because we know that Herod the Great died in 4 BC, and Jesus was born while Herod the Great was still alive. ca. means "around". BC means "before Christ". AD means. Anno Domini, "in the year of our Lord", BCE means "before the common era" CE means "common era".

Why was the process of the canonicity of the NT slow?

the canonicity process was slow because communication was slow due to writing materials being expensive thus hard to acquire. Travel was slow. Many noncanonical writings needed to be tested. Some Canonical writings were slow to be accepted such as James, 2 Peter and Revelation).

What were the four ways Luke recorded that Jesus grew (Luke 2:52)?

wisdom, stature, favor with God, and favor with people.