CHAPTER 2 THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

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1 CHAPTER 2 THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT THE BIBLE Bible The word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia 1 a plural word referring to a collection of writings (2 Tim. 4:13) Scripture The word Scripture comes from the Greek word grammata (Latin is scriptura) in the context of the religious writings, these are also called Holy Scriptures (NIV) or sacred writings (NASV) (2 Tim. 3:15 see also Dan. 9:2) The words Bible and Scripture are proper nouns and should always be capitalized 2 The Bible is a collection of writings. The collection is referred to using the singular nouns Bible, Scripture, or Canon. The plural noun Scriptures can also be used to refer to the collection. THE CONCEPT OF TESTAMENTS The concept of testament as a record of God s promise and work comes from Jeremiah "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (NASV) 3 1 In Greek, biblia comes from a word that referred to parts of the Papyrus plant that were used to make the paper-like writing material used in the ancient world. 2 The capitalization of these words is not because of reverence but because all proper nouns in English are capitalized. 3 See also Hebrews 8

2 THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON Canon comes from the Greek (kanon) meaning straight rod, or straight edge, or ruler (Gal.6:16) Refers to those writings that conform to the rule or standard of divine instruction and authority The accepted canon of the Old Testament Jews and Protestants accept thirty-nine books Roman Catholics and some Protestants add 15 apocryphal books (although many Catholics and Protestants do not consider these extra books to be divinely inspired) Apocrypha comes from a Greek word meaning hidden away DIVISIONS OF THE CANON References to divisions of the Old Testament In the New Testament In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12) Jesus answered, Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods? (John 10:34)4 Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you - that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:24) 5 Traditional divisions (see chart on page 14) Law History Poetry and wisdom Prophets Major prophets Minor prophets The Septuagint (LXX) The term Septuagint and the Roman numerals, LXX, both refer to the Jewish legend about how this writing came into existence. The legend is that 72 Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek over a period of 72 days. The story of this legend is told in the 4 A quote from Psalm 82--Jesus linked it with the law. 5 Note the mention of Psalms with Law and Prophets

3 Letter of Aristeas, which dates to about 100 BC. The legend says that Ptolemy II of Egypt ( BC) commissioned the translation. 6 It is important to note that the LXX is a translation from Hebrew into Greek, and that the work was completed by Jewish scholars hundreds of years before Christianity The LXX was the primary Old Testament text for New Testament Christians. Approximately 80% of Old Testament quotations in the New Testament come from the LXX. Divisions of the Old Testament books are different in the LXX from the Hebrew text, and the LXX included the 15 books of the Apocrypha 7 Law History Prophets (divided into Former and Latter prophets) Writings (Job, some of the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs) Masoretic divisions The work of the Masoretes Jewish scholars who gave the final form to the Jewish Old Testament between A.D. 500 and A.D working in the city of Tiberias on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee Developed the vowel and accent point system for Hebrew (in an attempt to preserve the pronunciation of the words) Included marginal notes (for explanation) Were much like scribes Scribe in Hebrew means counter Masoretes counted everything in the Old Testament There are 400,945 Hebrew letters in the Torah The middle word in the Torah is searched (Lev. 10:16) The middle letter was in the Hebrew word belly (Lev. 10:16) The Masoretes arranged the books of the Jewish Old Testament in these categories in order to engage Christian apologists (people who defend doctrinal beliefs) Torah (the five books attributed to Moses) Prophets 6 F.F. Bruce, Transmission and Translation of the Bible, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1979, p The fact that the Apocrypha were included in the LXX demonstrates the rich literary output of the Jews during the Intertestamental period.

4 Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, & Kings Latter Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve (i.e. the Minor Prophets) Writings (Kethubim) In Greek are called Hagiographa or Holy Writings Poetry and Wisdom Psalms, Proverbs, and Job The Rolls (Megilloth) Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther History Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles (1st and 2nd combined) Dead Sea Scrolls First discovered in 1947 (with new discoveries up to 1960) Found in eleven caves on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea near an Essene community called Qumran Includes at least partial copies of all Old Testament books except Esther Includes the complete scroll of Isaiah Date from about 200 BC to A.D. 70 At least two scrolls refer to Moses and the Prophets Qumran Manual of Discipline Zadokite Document The Dead Sea Scrolls have demonstrated the high degree of accuracy of our modern English translations of the Old Testament THE TANAK Our Jewish friends think it is a little presumptuous for Christians to talk about an "Old Testament". For them, there is just one testament. They view the Old Testament as the story of their religion. The English version of the Hebrew Scriptures is called the TANAK. 8 The word TANAK is an acronym for the three divisions of the Hebrew canon: Torah In Hebrew, Torah means teaching. The Torah is made up of the first five books of the Old Testament. The traditional view is that these were all written by Moses. The Hebrew Torah is the same as the Pentateuch. Both refer to the first five books of the Old Testament. 8 The TANAK is published by the Jewish Publication Society.

5 Nevi im Also spelled "Nebi'im". In Hebrew, "b" and "v" are the same letter. The word means "prophets" See the discussion on prophets on page Error! Bookmark not defined. Nethuvim In Hebrew, Nethuvim means "writings". It is interesting to see how the Hebrew canon and the Christian canon arranges these books differently. Of course, Christians view the Old Testament as part of the body of inspired writings that make up the entire Bible. For Christians, the Old Testament and the New Testament are one canon of religious writings THE ANTILEGOMENA There have always been critics of some Old Testament books. The following books were disputed for the reasons given: Song of Songs some think the book is too erotic to be included in the Bible Ecclesiastes some think the book is too pessimistic Esther omission of the name of God Proverbs contains several difficult passages some argue that that verses such as these demonstrate contradictions within the biblical text others suggest that the critics simply do not understand the writers or the cultural settings of the texts Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself. Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes (Prov. 26:4-5) Ezekiel descriptions of the temple in the last ten chapters of Ezekiel differ from those of the Solomonic temple COUNCIL OF JAMNIA Jamnia is thought to be located 13 miles south of Joppa on the Mediterranean coast of Israel Jewish legend suggests that some of their scholars met in Jamnia from c. A.D to settle disputes about the Old Testament canon One concern at these meetings was the Christian use of the LXX. Jewish scholars believed that the Old Testament Scriptures related to their own religious traditions. They were concerned that Christians were reinterpreting the Hebrew writings to advance the teachings of Christianity.

6 MODERN CRITICAL APPROACHES TO OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES THREE GENERAL APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION Literalism - Everything described is historically accurate and to be taken at face value Minimalism - Some event (mostly later historical events) are accurate, but some events are nothing more than legend. Nihilism - The stories of the Old Testament may occasionally correspond with history, but the writings were almost entirely created by later writers or editors, and are not to be taken literally IMPORTANT TERMS Biblical Criticism Defines the broad range of scholarly study of the Bible in which various presuppositions and approaches to the biblical material are used in an effort to determine the origin, development, transmission, and meaning of the text The term criticism should not be taken to mean destructive criticism. The word has more to do with careful analysis and critical thinking. Higher Criticism Refers to a variety of interpretive methods that generally look at the biblical material from a high-level perspective (i.e. the 30,000 foot view of the biblical material). 1. Historical Criticism looks at the biblical material from the perspective of its historical origins 2. Literary Criticism looks at the biblical material from the perspective of its literary forms (genre of literature used by the writers, literary forms and structures, and possible themes. 3. Source Criticism - looks at possible sources from which the writers may have drawn their material (the JEDP Theory is an example of Source Criticism) 4. Form Criticism looks at the various forms that may have been used to transmit the ancient stories until they were written down. Hermann Gunkel is identified with this field of criticism and for suggesting that each biblical passage may have unique origins (such as oral legends, or even religious interpretations of events before the participants understood enough to know what was happening to them).

7 5. Tradition Criticism looks at various cultural and religious traditions that may have influenced the formation of the biblical writings as well as how these traditions may have been affected by the Bible 6. Redaction Criticism looks at the biblical material for evidence of editors who may have collected, organized, or emended the biblical material in an effort to understand how the biblical material came to be in its final form Lower Criticism Also referred to Textual Criticism The term lower 1. Does not suggest a less worthy approach to biblical interpretation 2. The focus of the study is the actual words and manuscripts of the biblical material 3. Seeks to discover which manuscripts are closest to the original writings 4. These search for the ipsissima verba (Latin for the very words ) of the authors 5. Studies age and quality of manuscripts, scribal errors, emendations, etc This approach is necessary because none of the original writings (called autographs) exist Hermeneutics The science of biblical interpretation The term science here acknowledges the importance of scientific fields such as archaeology, anthropology, philology (the study language development), history, etc. Hermeneutical methods Allegorical method views names, terms, and numbers used in the text as suggestive of other realities Historical-grammatical method a literalist approach that accepts the narrative as true and acknowledges that God was able to work through the unique languages, cultures, and historical settings of the authors to tell a true story. Post-modernism a recent and skeptical view of scripture (and of all things thought to be knowable. Post-modernists do not think that anything can be known for certain. This is a denial of all notions of absolute truth.

8 THE DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS OF THE PENTATEUCH An excellent example of how Biblical Criticism was carried out Emerged from observations made in early 18th Century A.D. by H. B. Witter and Jean Astruc Different names used for God in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 Third-person references to Moses in writings traditionally attributed to Moses Different names used for places (Mt. Sinai, Mt. Horeb; Jethro and Reuel) Julius Wellhausen - late 19th Century summary of Documentary Hypothesis J E D P Yahweh is used as the principal name for God - may have emerged in days of Solomon Elohim is used as the principal name for God - may have emerged around 750 BC A history given by the Deuteronomist - thought to have emerged around 550 BC (Reign of Josiah) A history written by priests around 450 BC - legal materials and genealogies added About 400 BC, the JEDP traditions had combined into the Pentateuch as we know it today IMPLICATIONS OF CRITICAL APPROACHES If the Documentary Hypothesis were true, then Moses could be nothing more than one of the editors of the books traditionally attributed to him. So, the question of Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch has become an issue that defines one s approach to biblical interpretation In the Gospels, Jesus often attributed teachings of the Pentateuch to Moses Mat. 8:4; 19:8; Mark 7:10; 10:5; Luke 24:27; John 1:17, 45; 5:46 Franz Delitzsch (c. AD 1890) rejected the Documentary Hypothesis and argued that Moses wrote the Pentateuch CRITICAL VIEWS OF MOSAIC AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH 9 References to Moses in the third person (Num. 12:3) Note the reference to the humility of Moses in Num. 12:3 9 Taken from: Harris, Stephen L., and Robert l. Platzner, The Old Testament, An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2003, pages The views of Harris and Platzner are provided here to give students the arguments held by those who are skeptical of Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.

9 This hardly seems like something that Moses would have written about himself. References to to this day (Gen. 19:37; 22:14; 47:26; Ex. 10:6; Deut. 3:14; 34:6) Note that there are similar references in many other non-mosaic books of the OT. The significance here is that the use of to this day in the Mosaic books suggests that someone much later than Moses must have inserted the remark. Deuteronomy s description of Moses death (Deut. 34) Note the lavish eulogy of Moses in Deut. 34:10-12 This hardly seems like something that Moses would have written about himself. Anachronisms (something out of its historical context) At that time Canaanites were in the land (Gen. 12:6; 13:7) References to territories lying beyond the Jordan suggests that the writer has a vantage point that is West of the Jordan when the narrative has the Israelites still wandering in the wilderness (Gen. 50:10; Num. 21:1) Gen. 36:31 - gives a list of Edom s kings who ruled before any king reigned over the Israelites Gen. 32:32 - in the account of Jacob s encounter with a messenger from God at Penuel we find the statement that since Jacob was wounded in his hip socket the Jews do not eat meat from a thigh muscle to this day - and yet there is no such prohibition in the laws of Moses Duplications in narrative Two versions of creation story (Gen. 1 and Gen. 2) Two versions of flood story (interlaced in one continuous narrative) Three variations of the story of irresistible beauty of Israelite women Abraham asks Sarah to lie to Pharaoh about her being his sister instead of his wife (Gen 12) Abraham asks Sarah to repeat the lie to Abimelech (Gen. 20) Isaac repeats his father s mistake to Abimelech (Gen. 26) Two versions of Jacob s encounter with God and having his name changed to Israel At Penuel (Gen. 32:22-32) At Bethel (Gen. 35:9-15) Two versions of Joseph s capture and journey to Egypt Ishmaelites take him to Egypt (Gen. 37:25-27) Midianites retrieve Joseph from well and sell him to Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:21-25, 28-30) Two versions of God s theophany and revelation to Moses At the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-4:17)

10 I am the LORD [YHWH] (Ex. 6:3) - God (YHWH 10, pronounced Yahweh) says that he was formerly known as El Shaddai (God Almighty) not as Elohim as Ex. 3:6 suggests Note that YHWH is a part of the name used for God in Gen. 2 - long before Exodus 3. Note also that YHWH is the name being called upon by Enosh, Grandson of Adam (Gen. 4:26) Note, too, that Abraham referred to God as YHWH in Gen. 22:14. UNDERSTANDING OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE Preliminary considerations First, it is important to remember that scholars rely upon their own observations and then try to explain what they see in terms (such as used below) they hope will explain what they mean. Humans are limited in our ability to express divine and eternal truth. Terms such as narrative, poetry, synthetic parallelism, and chiasm are not found in the Bible these are terms used to describe literature. They are useful, but we should be cautious in limiting the Bible to any of these categories. The Bible is revealed knowledge about God. There is no category in literature for inspired revelation. Keep in mind that the narrators, editors, and others who contribute to the biblical text did so within a greater work of God. God was at work to tell us things about himself and about our relationship to Him. God needed no help in revealing things about himself to us, but we need a lot of help in understanding these things of God. The Holy Spirit was the one who inspired the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit helps us understand. When we do not understand something in the Bible, it does not mean that something is wrong. It usually means that we have just not arrived at the point where we can understand. Sometimes, we need historians, archaeologists, or others to give us more insight into the circumstances of the text. Sometimes, we must wait for newer manuscripts to be found to give us a better understanding of what was originally written. Sometimes, we need to be educated a little more before we can understand a new concept. All of these things take time and patience. We should be diligent and continue studying in our pursuit of understanding (2 Timothy 2:15). 10 The four consonant name for God is called the Tetragrammaton (meaning four consonants )

11 Narrative A story told by a narrator About 40% of the Old Testament is narrative Perspective refers to the relationship of the narrator to the story e.g. 1 st person, 3 rd person, an observer, or as a messenger The story may be told in poetry, prose, historical narrative, epic, idyll, or other genres 11 Epic a long narrative that focuses on the life and experiences of an individual Idyll a short narrative that focuses on rustic life (e.g. the story of Ruth) Legend A narrative describing events that are understandable within the human experience Legends are usually considered true but embellishments over time can change the truth in the legendary exaggeration The central characters in legends are usually human Myth A narrative describing events that are beyond anything that humans can experience Myths can be legendary, fictional, or supernatural The central characters in myths are non-humans Folktale A narrative about humans in a real-world experience Folktales are presumed to be false Poetry Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and portions of other books Parallelism two lines of verse that contain ideas that together convey an idea Synonymous parallelism The two lines of verse each contains a similar idea E.g. Ps. 19:1; Prov. 9:10 Antithetic parallelism The two lines of verse provide contrasting ideas E.g. Ps. 1:6; Prov. 10:4 Synthetic parallelism 11 Not all of these literary types are used in the Old Testament. These definitions are given to help understand how scholars categorize various types of literature.

12 The second line of verse completes the idea begun in the first line E.g. Ps. 1:3; Eccl. 11:1 Chiasm Definition an organization of words in a piece of literature where the first words or ideas are written in reverse order in the last half of the piece E.g. Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you 12 Chiasm is always analyzed using special notation such as ABBA, or A B B A (see the diagram on page Error! Bookmark not defined.). The purpose of chiasm was to help the listener remember the story (a type of mnemonic device) Example in Gen. 9:6 Wh oever s heds A B C he t b lood f o an m y b an C m s hall is h B b lood e b A s hed Wisdom literature Discursive wisdom literature that tries to understand difficult issues of life often expressed in pessimistic stories (e.g. Job) Instructional or didactic wisdom literature that offers more optimistic teachings about how to live life (e.g. Proverbs) Legal Material Covenant Code Deuteronomic Code Levitical Code DATING OLD TESTAMENT WRITINGS When dating an Old Testament writing, two things must be kept clearly distinct The date (or call it the historical setting) of the story 12 Mardy Grothe, Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You. New York: Viking, This phrase is the title to Dr. Grothe s book.

13 The date when the story was actually written The earliest possible date The latest possible date How to Designate Years BC AD 3 BC Jan. 1 to Dec 31 2 BC Jan. 1 to Dec 31 1 BC Jan. 1 to Dec 31 AD 1 Jan. 1 to Dec 31 AD 2 AD 3 How to Designate Centuries BC AD 300 to 201 BC Third Century 200 to 101 BC Second Century 100 to 1BC First Century AD 1 to 100 First Century AD 101 to 200 Second Century AD 201 to 300 Third Century CHAPTER AND VERSE DIVISIONS CHAPTER DIVISIONS Modern chapter divisions are attributed to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. AD 1228). Langton s work on chapter divisions was completed in AD His work was so popular that even the Jews adopted his chapter divisions for their Scriptures. VERSE DIVISIONS Old Testament verse divisions generally correspond to processes used during public readings. Divisions were created for major sections, paragraphs, and phrases. The texts were marked to show the reader where to end vocalization. Some chapters (e.g. Psalm 119) were written as acrostics using the Hebrew alphabet to begin each verse or stanza Old Testament verse divisions pre-date the process of versification in the New Testament

14 CHAPTER AND VERSE NOTATION References to chapters and verses in the Bible follow a well-established notation Book titles or abbreviations 13 Chapter numbers are always given in Arabic numerals A colon is always used between chapter and verse numbers Verse numbers are given in Arabic numerals. If more than one verse in a given passage is included, use the following notation Comma use a comma followed by a space to denote individual verses within a chapter Hyphen use a hyphen between the verse numbers to denote a specific range of verses The letter f use the single letter f to denote the next one or two verses The letters ff use ff to denote the next several verses Semicolon a semicolon is used to separate passages Passages within the same chapter Gen. 1:3-5; Passages that include more than one book Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15 Passages that included multiple passages and books Ps. 23:1ff; 28:9; Isa. 13:14, Abbreviations for book titles are shown on the chart of canonical divisions on page 18

15 CANONICAL DIVISIONS THE TRADITIONAL DIVISIONS THE HEBREW CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT DIVISIONS ENGLISH NAMES CLASSIFICATION ENGLISH NAMES WITH ABBREVIATIONS OF THE BOOKS FOR THE BOOKS Law Genesis (Gen.) Law (Torah) Genesis Exodus (Ex.) Exodus Leviticus (Lev.) Leviticus Numbers (Num.) Numbers Deuteronomy (Deut.) Deuteronomy History Joshua (Josh.) Former Prophets Joshua Judges (Judg.) Judges Ruth (Ruth) 1 Samuel 1 Samuel (1 Sam.) 2 Samuel 2 Samuel (2 Sam.) 1 Kings 1 Kings (1 Kings) 2 Kings 2 Kings (2 Kings) 1 Chronicles (1 Chron.) 2 Chronicles (2 Chron.) Ezra (Ezra) Nehemiah (Neh.) Esther (Esther) Poetry/Wisdom Job (Job) Latter Prophets Isaiah Psalms (Ps.) Jeremiah Proverbs (Prov.) Ezekiel Ecclesiastes (Eccl.) Hosea Song of Songs (Son.) Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Major Prophets Isaiah (Isa.) Writings (Hagiographa) Psalms Jeremiah (Jer.) Job Lamentations (Lam.) Proverbs Ezekiel (Ezek.) Ruth Daniel (Dan.) Song of Songs Ecclesiastes Lamentations Esther Daniel Ezra Nehemiah 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Minor Prophets Hosea (Hosea) Joel (Joel) Amos (Amos) Obadiah (Obad.) Jonah (Jon.) Micah (Mic.) Nahum (Nah.) Habakkuk (Hab.) Zephaniah (Zeph.) Haggai (Hag.) Zechariah (Zech.) Malachi (Mal.)