1. History of old Testament development JEDP J, Jahwist E, Elohist D, Deuteronomist

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1 Lecture 2. Intro to the Bible, Canon, Biblical Languages. 1. History of old Testament development a. Context of literacy in the Middle East i. Hittite capital library tablets in 8 languages ii. Gilgamesh epic is recorded b.c. iii. Chinese dictionary with 40,000 characters iv. Ikhnaton (Amenhotep IV) institutes monotheism in Egypt setting up Aton in 1385 b.c. The next ruler Tutankhamen reinstates polytheism. v. Destruction of Troy (-1193) vi. Semitic alphabet is developed in contrast to Hittite cuneiforms vii. Paleo-Hebraic was akin to Phoenician script b. Moses first author of books that would lead to formation of religious body of teachings, and eventually the Bible. i. Born in BC (7 Adar 2368, according to Talmud). By led Israel out of Egypt. ii. The 5 books were written in the wilderness by the time of Conquest in 1273 BC iii. Deuteronomy describes death of Moses edited by scribes in the later years iv. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy v. Book of Job is attributed to Moses being the editor of the story. vi. Pre-Moses times oral tradition more God s Revelation. c. Yahweh vs. Elohim writings (example Genesis 1 & 2). hypothesis (Julius Wellhausen ( )), suggests there were 4 (four) sources for what we know as the Torah: JEDP i. J, Jahwist; written -950 bc (Davidic) in the southern kingdom of Judah, 1. first identified in 1753 by the French physician, Jean Astruc ( ) in his Conjectures sur les mémoires originaux dont il paraît que Moïse s'est servi pour composer le livre de la Genèse ("Conjectures on the Original Memoirs Apparently Used by Moses to Compose the Book of Genesis") 2. describes a human-like God Jehovah (Yahweh) LORD, who repented from the evil he thought to do when Moses dissuades him (Exodus 32: 14), God of the Covenant, and is a personal Deity of Judah ii. E, Elohist; written -850 bc (post divided kingdom) in the northern kingdom of Israel. 1. Elohim plural form gods or divinity, not anthropomorphic, frequently involves angels, talks about sons of God beyond Judah. 2. Creator in Genesis 1. Jacob s ladder God. God of Abraham until he was revealed to Moses as YHWH. 3. story of snow-white Miriam that superficially appears to be a condemnation of racism (Numbers 12) iii. D, Deuteronomist, written -621 BC in Jerusalem during a period of religious reform of king Josiah when the high priest Hilkiah found the book of the Law and centralised the religious practice (2 nd Kings 22-23) 1. Combines Yahweh & Elohim and uses together the LORD God. 2. It is suggested that books from Deuteronomy to 2 nd Samuel are later edition

2 iv. P, Priestly; written after the exile by 450 BC by priests. Uses a different dialect/form of Hebrew. v. Jeremiah 36 writing, adding and rewriting example. vi. The editor who combined the sources into the final Pentateuch is known as R, for Redactor, and might have been Ezra the scribe. d. Already in the wilderness Moses placed writings beside the Arc of the Covenant. Deuteronomy 31:26 Colossians 2:14 e. The language of Moses and ancient Hebrews was significantly different from what is known today as Hebrew. (Nehemiah 8:8). Biblical (Classical) Hebrew is the language of the exile mid-6 th century BC. f. Prophetic writings Elijah (1 Kgs 17-19; 2 Kgs 1-2) Israel 850 Ahab of Israel (869-50) Micaiah (1 Kgs 22) Israel 850 Ahab of Israel (869-50) Elisha (2 Kgs 2-10) Israel 825 Amos Israel 750 Jeroboam II of Israel (786-46) Hosea Israel Jeroboam II of Israel (786-46) Isaiah Jerusalem Jotham of Judah (742-35); Ahaz of Judah (735-15) Micah Judah Hezekiah ( ) Manasseh (687-42) Nahum Jerusalem Zephaniah Judah Josiah of Judah (640-09) Jeremiah Judah Josiah, Jehoahaz (609) Jehoiakim ( ) Habbakuk Judah Jehoiachin (598-97); Zedekiah (597-87) Ezekiel Babylon Nebuchadnezzar (556-39) Haggai Jerusalem 520 Zerubbabel of Judea (520-18) Zechariah Jerusalem Jonah Nineveh 500 Malachi Jerusalem Joel Jerusalem Obadiah unknown unknown g. Law & the Prophets main Body of the Hebrew Scriptures. i. Already in Isaiah 8:20 it is used as a classification ii. Gospel writers quote Jesus use the term Law & the Prophets for Scriptures. Matthew 5:17; 7:12; 11:13; 22:40; iii. Luke 24:44 quotes Jesus include Psalms with the Law & the Prophets as a separate section the Writings h. The Prophets consists of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel (which are one book in the Jewish Scripture), 1&2 Kings (also one book in the Jewish Scripture), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Hosea through Malachi are called the Book of the Twelve and are combined into one scroll. i. The Writings consist of 1&2 Chronicles (one book in the Jewish texts), Ezra and Nehemiah (one book in the Jewish text), Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Daniel.

3 j. Daniel major section is in Aramaic (2:4-7:28) written in Babylon i. Judaism does not count Daniel as one of the 55 prophets, since the prophetic mission is seen as calling people in their time to repentance, having a transforming mission to the present. Writing visions of the future designed for future generations are Wisdom and are placed in the Writings section k. Books of History i. Joshua, Samuel edits the Judges, Ruth and 1 st Samuel 1-24 ii. Prophets Nathan & Gad 2 nd Samuel iii. Editorial by court historians before the captivity 1 st & 2 nd Kings iv. Ezra, after the exile gives chronology in 1 st & 2 nd Chronicles, his own book describes return and rebuilding of the Temple with two sections in Aramaic (Ezra 4:6-6:18; 7:12-26) v. Nehemiah book describing restoration of the city walls vi. Unknown authorship book of Esther, roots of Purim celebration. Not found among the DSS vii. Development of Scribal guild court secretaries and lawyers during the time of monarchy for record keeping. l. Books of Wisdom include Psalms of David as a compilation m. Exile & post-babylonian developments i. The Work of Ezra, the Scribe was to reorganize Judaism after the exile around the 2 nd temple. The Canon was decided on by 450 BC n. Missing books not lost, but not needed Book of Covenant (Exodus 24:7, 2 nd Chronicles 34:30) Book of wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14) Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18) Book of Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41; Books of Nathan, Prophecy of Ahijah, Visions of Iddo (2 nd Chronicles 9:29) Book of Shemaiah (2 nd Chronicles 12:15) Book of Jehu (2 Chronicles 20:34) Acts of Uzziah written by Isaiah (2 Chronicles 26:22) Sayings of the Seers (Hozai) (2 Chronicles 33:19) References are made also to the secular writings Esther 10:2, the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia, the official diary and record of the Persian court. o. Greek Influence & Inter-Testamental literature i. From 320 BC Greek dominance and Seleucid invasion into Palestine. ii. Septuagint translation into official language of the world 1. tradition that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars translated the Torah into Greek for Ptolemy II Philadelphus, BC, attested by the Letter of Aristeas. 2. Origen, a Christian scholar in Alexandria, completed the Hexapla,in 235 AD - a comprehensive comparison of the ancient versions and Hebrew text sideby-side in six columns with Greek and critical comments. a. Hebrew b. Hebrew transliterated into Greek characters

4 c. Aquila of Sinope, from Pontus, a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba produced a literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 AD. Main use in synagogues. d. Symmachus the Ebionite, late 2 nd century AD produced an opposite to Aquila paraphrastic translation to make an elegant Greek rendering, preferring idiomatic Greek constructions instead of preserving Hebrew construction, thus frequently softening anthropomorphic expressions. Produced for use by an early Jewish Christian sext in Palestine who insisted on a universal necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites, revered James as the head of the Jerusalem Church and rejected Paul of Tarsus, they placed a special value on religious poverty. e. Septuagint f. Theodotion a Jewish scholar from in Ephesus, completed translation by 160 AD. Quted in the Shepherd of Hermas and Justin Martyr. 3. Philo and Josephus ascribed divine inspiration to the authors of the Septuagint. Gospel writers, and apostle Paul use Greek text of the LXX (Matthew 3:3). All old translations of the Bible used Septuagint as the basis of text. iii. Maccabees history of the revolt and restoration of Judaism (Hanukkah) 1. founded the Hasmonean dynasty, established Jewish State BC 2. Books of their history are translated in Septuagint collection iv. Qumran finds scrolls dated back to 150 BC by radiocarbon and paleography 1. discovery in 1947 of nearly 900 scrolls 2. almost complete collection of Old testament fragments 3. Midrash (Commentaries) on all Biblical prophets. 4. Apocalyptic literature expecting the Warrior Messiah 5. Books of Enoch, Jubilee, Giants. p. The Bible Jesus read i. Jesus quoted extensively from the Old Testament. Examples: Genesis -- Matthew 19:4-5; Isaiah -- Matthew 13:14; Exodus -- Matthew 22:32; Daniel -- Matthew 24:15; Leviticus -- Matthew 5:43; Hosea -- Matthew 9:13; Deuteronomy -- Matthew 4:4; Jonah -- Matthew 12:40; I Samuel -- Matthew 12:3; Micah -- Matthew 10:35; I Kings -- Matthew 12:42; Zechariah -- Matthew 26:31, Psalms -- Matthew 21:16; Malachi -- Matthew 11:10; q. Old Testament is the foundation on which the New Testament is built! i. Amputating the Old Testament from the Bible is like building on sand ii. Neither of the Testaments is enough by itself. r. Masoretic Bible produced around 950 AD, by a group of scribes in Palestine & Babylonia for the vocalization and accentuation for both public reading and private study. s. Introduces vowels in form of dots and dashes around the consonants #r,a'h' taew> ~yim;v'h; tae ~yhil{a/ ar'b' tyviareb - Masoretic #rah taw ~ymvh ta ~yhla arb tyvarb - normal

5 2. New Testament writings a. Chronology of the New Testament books 31 Crucifixion, resurrection and Ascension of Jesus 34 stoning of Stephen, spread of Christians to diaspora 35 Paul s conversion on the Road to Damascus 45 letter by James, the brother of Jesus, the president of Jerusalem church 47 Barnabas take Paul on first missionary journey 52 1 st Thessalonians first known of Paul's letters. Written from Corinth after Timothy returned from Macedonia. (Acts 18:1-5; 1 Thes. 3:6) nd letter of Paul to Thessalonians from Corinth st Letter to Corinthians from Ephesus 57 2 nd letter to Corinth from Macedonia 58 letter to Galatians from Corinth 58 letter to Romans from Corinth 60 Gospels of Matthew and Luke are written, for Jews and Gentile audiences 61 letter to Philemon, Colossians, Laodiceans (missing, referred to in Colossians 4:16), and Ephesians from the prison in Rome 63 Gospel of John Mark, written in Rome, for Roman church 64 Luke writes book of Acts of the Apostles as a history of the new church movement, when Paul is released from prison 64 Paul writes letter to Titus, and sermon to Hebrews while in Rome 64 Peter writes his first letter to the Church As Nero begins the persecution of Christian after burning Rome. 65 Paul writes to Timothy 67 Peter writes the 2 nd letter; Letter of Jude is circulated. Peter & Paul are killed in Rome 70 Temple is destroyed in Jerusalem 85 - John writes his Gospel to show that Jesus was God (John 20:31) John writes 3 letters to churches 95 - John records Revelations seen on Patmos Jewish Council of Jamnia bans the LXX in preference for Hebrew Canon of Ezra. b. Collections of writings i. 70 A.D. Didache is written as a doctrinal teaching of the Early Christians ii. 100 A.D. epistle of Barnabas is known iii. Peter in his letter recognizes Pauline letters as Scriptures! (2 nd Peter 3:15-16) iv. Early Church Fathers letters show awareness of New testament writings as sacred Scriptures 1. Polycarp of Smyrna, disciple of John, letters are preserved referring to gospels and Pauline letters that are in the Canon today 2. Ignatius of Antioch (35-110), disciple of John 7 letters to churches and correspondence with Polycarp are available

6 v. 140 A.D. a Roman businessman Marcion teaches that there were two Gods: Yahweh, the cruel God of the OT, and Abba, the kind father of the NT. Consequently he eliminates the Old Testament as scriptures and, keeps from the NT only 10 letters of Paul and 2/3 of Luke's gospel, deleting references to Jesus' as a Jew. Marcion's "New Testament"--the first to be compiled-- forces the mainstream Church to decide on a core canon: the four gospels and letters of Paul. vi. 170 A.D. so called Muratorian Canon a collection that refers to Pius I, as bishop of Rome, lists the 4 gospels; Acts; 13 letters of Paul (Hebrews is not included); 3 of the 7 General Epistles (1-2 John and Jude); and also the Apocalypse of Peter. vii. Origen (A.D ) in his commentary on the book of Joshua names all 27 New Testament books. viii. Eusebius (A.D ), of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) fame states the list of 27 books of the New Testament. ix. 313 A.D. Constantine's Edict of Toleration x. 367 A.D. the Easter letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria lists the books of the New Testament in exactly the number and order in which we presently have them, in accordance with the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D. 3. Translations needed a. By 150 a.d. Hebrew was becoming a dead language, as the nation was dispersed b. Tatian the Assyrian, by 150 A.D. produced a unified version in one book of the four Gospels: Diatesseron - harmony of the four. Officially replaced by Rabula, bishop of Edessa after the Ephesian Synod ( 431 A.D.) with the Peshita Bible. c. Peshita Syriac Aramaic vernacular language of Palestine. The prototype of the Masoretic version of the Bible. d. Jerome's Vulgate, commissioned in 382 and completed in 404 A.D. as a revision of latin translations. Old Testament translated directly from Hebrew TNK, not LXX. i. Prosopon personae e. Early reformers i. John Wycliffe, John Purvey, and Nicholas of Hereford collaborated to produce the first complete Bible in English literal from Latin to English. Second edition in 1396 circulated widely. Wycliffe s followers "the Lollards" were persecuted as heretics. ii. In 1408, the Constitutions of Oxford included a prohibition against Bible translation without approval of church authorities. iii Guttenberg Press invented iv First Greek New testament printed in Spain, not issued until 1522, as a part of a polyglot Bible edited by Cardinal Ximenes. v after 6 months of preparation Erasmus prints in Basel the protestant Greek NT, missing portions of Revelation and back-translating from Latin Vulgate, The 1528 edition of Robertus Stephanus known as the Textus Receptus was same basic reprint, influencing the King James translation.

7 vi. William Tyndale, a Greek scholar at Oxford translated English New Testament from Greek by Erasmus in He printed it in Europe in 1526 vii Martin Luther competes first German bible