Old Testament, Part I

Books

of the Bible.

Old Testament, Part I.

Content:

Pentatuch.

Genesis.Patriarchs. Noah. Noah's Ark. Tower of Babel. Abraham. Joseph.

Exodus. Pasch or Passover.Leviticus. Tabernacle. The Jewish Priesthood.Numbers.

Deuteronomy. Authenticity. Moses. Cana, Canaanites.

Josue (Joshua).Judges. Samson.Book of Ruth.

First and Second Books of Kings. King David.The Books of Paralipomenon (Chronicles). Elijah. Ezechias. Manasses.

Esdras (or Ezra). I Esdras. II Esdras. III Esdras. IV Esdras.Bookof Nehemiah.Esther.Book of Esther.

The Machabees. The Books ofMachabees. The First Book of Machabees. The Second Book of Machabees. The Third and Fourth Books of Machabees.Book of Tobias.Book of Judith.

Some History and Geography

Biblical Chronology. Israelites. Jerusalem. Temple of Jerusalem. Samaria. Babylonia. Nabuchodonosor. Persia. Assyria. Rome.

Pentatuch.

Name.

In Greek pentateuchos, is the name of the first five books of the Old Testament. Though it is not certain whether the word originally was an adjective, qualifying the omitted noun biblos, or a substantive, its literal meaning “five cases” appears to refer to the sheaths or boxes in which the separate rolls or volumes were kept.

At what precise time the first part of the Bible was divided into five books is a question not yet finally settled. Some regard the division as antedating the Septuagint translation; others attribute it to the authors of this translation; Blessed Jerome was of opinion (Ep. 52, ad Paulin., 8; P.L. XXII, 545) that St. Paul alluded to such a division into five books in I Cor. 14:19. At any rate, Philo and Josephus are familiar with the division now in question (“De Abrahamo,” I; “Cont. Apion.” I, 8).

However ancient may be the custom of dividing the initial portion of the Old Testament into five parts, the early Jews had no name indicating the partition. They called this part of the Bible hattorah (the law), or torah (law), or sepher hattorah (book of the law), from the nature of its contents (Jos. 8:34; 1:8; 1 Esdr. 10:3; 2 Esdr. 8:2-14; 10:35-37; 2 Par. 25:4. They named it torath Mosheh (law of Moses), sepher Mosheh (book of Moses), sepher torath Mosheh (book of the law of Moses) on account of its authorship (Jos. 8:31-32; 23:6; 3 Kings 2:3; 4 Kings 14:16; 23:25; Dan. 9:11; I Esdr. 3:2; 6: 18; II Esdr. 8:1; 13:1; etc.). Finally, the Divine origin of the Mosaic Law was implied in the names: law of Yahweh (I Esdr. 7:10; etc.), law of God (II Esdr., 8:18; etc.), book of the law of Yahweh (II Par. 17:9; etc.), book of the law of God (Jos. 24:26; etc.).

The word law in the foregoing expressions has been rendered by nomos, with or without the article, in the Septuagint version. The New Testament refers to the Mosaic law in various ways: the law (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 2:12; etc.); the law of Moses (Luke 2:22; 24:44; Acts 28:23); the book of Moses (Mark 12:26); or simply, Moses (Luke 24:2; Acts 15:21). Even the Talmud and the older Rabbinic writings call the first part of the Bible the book of the law, while in Aramaic it is simply termed law (cf. Buxtorf, “Lexicon Chaldaicum Talmudicum Rabbinicum,” 791, 983; Levy, “Chaldaisches Worterbuch,” 268, 16; Aicher, “Das Alte Testament in der Mischna,” Freiburg, 1906, p. 16).

The Greek name pentateuchos, implying a division of the law into five parts, occurs for the first time about A.D. 150-75 in the letter to Flora by the Valentinian Ptolemy (cf. St. Epiphan., “Haer.,” XXXIII, iv; P.G. XLI, 560). An earlier occurrence of the name was supposed to exist in a passage of Hippolytus where the Psalter is called kai auto allon pentateuchon (cf. edition of de Lagarde, Leipzig and London, 1858 p. 193); but the passage has been found to belong to Epiphanius (cf. “Hippolytus” in “Die griechischen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte,” Leipzig, 1897, t. I, 143). Origen uses the name (Comment. in Ev. Jo., t. II; P.G. XIV, 192; cf. P.G. XIII, 444), as does St. Athanasius (Ep. ad Marcellin., 5; P.G. 27: 12), and, several times, St. Epiphanius (De mensur. et ponderib., 4, 6; P.G. XLIII, 244). In Latin, Tertulian uses the masculine form Pentateuchus (Adv. Marcion., I, 10; P.L. II, 257), while Isidore of Seville prefers the neuter Pentateuchum (Etym., VI 2:1, 2; P.L. LXXXII, 230). The analogous forms Octateuch, Heptateuch, and Hexateuch have been used to refer to the first, eight, seven, and six books of the Bible respectively. The Rabbinic writers adopted the expression “the five-fifths of the law” or simply “the five-fifths” to denote the five books of the Pentateuch.

Both the Palestinian and the Alexandrian Jews had distinct names for each of the five books of the Pentateuch. In Palestine, the opening words of the several books served as their titles; hence we have the names: bereshith, we'elleh shemoth or simply shemoth, wayyiqra, wayedhabber, and elleh haddebarim or simply debarim. Though these were the ordinary Hebrew titles of the successive Pentateuchal books, certain Rabbinic writers denote the last three according to their contents; they called the third book torath kohanim, or law of priests; the fourth, homesh happiqqudhim, or book of census; the fifth, mishneh thorah, or repetition of the law.

The Alexandrian Jews derived their Greek names of the five books from the contents of either the whole or the beginning of each division. Thus the first book is called Genesis kosmou or simply Genesis; the second, Exodus Aigyptou or Exodus; the third, Leueitikon; the fourth, Arithmoi; and the fifth, Deuteronomion. These names passed from the Septuagint into the Latin Vulgate and from this into most of the translations of the Vulgate. Arithmoi however was replaced by the Latin equivalent Numeri, while the other names retained their form.

Analysis.

The contents of the Pentateuch are partly of an historical, partly of a legal character. They give us the history of the Chosen People from the creation of the world to the death of Moses, and acquaint us too with the civil and religious legislation of the Israelites during the life of their great lawgiver.

Genesis may be considered as the introduction to the other four books. It contains the early history down to the preparation of Israel's exit form Egypt. Deuteronomy, consisting mainly of discourses, is practically a summary repetition of the Mosaic legislation. It concludes also the history of the people under the leadership of Moses.

The three intervening books consider the wanderings of Israel in the desert and the successive legal enactments. Each of these three great divisions has its own special introduction (Gen. 1:1-2:3; Ex. 1:1-7; Deut. 1:1-5). Since the subject matter distinguishes Leviticus from Exodus and Numbers, not to mention the literary terminations of the third and fourth books (Lev. 27:34; Num. 26:13), the present form of the Pentateuch exhibits both a literary unity and a division into five minor parts.

Genesis.

The Book of Genesis prepares the reader for the Pentateuchal legislation. It tells us how God chose a particular family to keep His Revelation, and how He trained the Chosen People to fulfill its mission. From the nature of its contents, the book consists of two rather unequal parts; cc. 1-11 present the features of a general history, while cc. 12-49 contain the particular history of the Chosen People.

By a literary device, each of these parts is subdivided into five sections differing in length. The sections are introduced by the phrase elleh tholedhoth (these are the generations) or its variant zeh sepher toledhoth (this is the book of the generations). “Generations,” however, is only the etymological meaning of the Hebrew toledhoth; in its context the formula can hardly signify a mere genealogical table, for it is neither preceded nor followed by such tables.

As early Oriental history usually begins with genealogical records, and consists to a large extent of such records, one naturally interprets the above introductory formula and its variant as meaning, “this is the history” or “this is the book of the history.” We understand history, in these phrases, not as a narrative resting on folklore, but as a record based on genealogies. Moreover, the introductory formula often refers back to some principal feature of the preceding section, thus forming a transition and connection between the successive parts. Gen. 5:1, e. g., refers back to Gen. 2:7 sqq.; 6: 9 to 5:29 sqq. and 6:8; 10:1 to 9:18-19, etc. Finally, the sacred writer deals very briefly with the non-chosen families or tribes, and he always considers them before the chosen branch of the family. He treats of Cain before he speaks of Seth; similarly, Cham and Japhet precede Sem; the rest of Sem's posterity precedes Abraham; Ismael precedes Isaac; Esau precedes Jacob.

Bearing in mind these general outlines of the contents and the literary structure of Genesis, we shall easily understand the following analytical table.

Introduction (Genesis 1:1-2:3) — Consists of the Hexaemeron; it teaches the power and goodness of God as manifested in the creation of the world, and also the dependence of creatures on the dominion of the Creator.

General History (2:4-11:26) — Man did not acknowledge his dependence on God. Hence, leaving the disobedient to their own devices, God chose one special family or one individual as the depositary of His Revelation.

History of Heaven and Earth (2:4-4:26) — Here we have the story of the fall of our first parents 2:5-3:24; of the fratricide of Cain 4:1-16; the posterity of Cain and its elimination 4:17-26.

History of Adam (5:1-6:8) — The writer enumerates the Sethites, another line of Adam's descendants 5:1-32, but shows that they too became so corrupt that only one among them found favor before God 6:1-8.

History of Noe (6:9-9:29) — Neither the Deluge which destroyed the whole human race excepting Noe's family 6:11-8:19, nor God's covenant with Noe and his sons 8:20-9:17, brought about the amendment of the human family, and only one of Noe's sons was chosen as the bearer of the Divine blessings 9:18-29.

History of the Sons of Noe (10:1-11:9) — The posterity of the non-chosen sons 10:1-32, brought a new punishment on the human race by its pride 11:1-9.

History of Sem (11:10-26) — The posterity of Sem is enumerated down to Thare the father of Abraham, in whose seed God shall bless all the nations of the earth.

Special History (11:27-50:26) — Here the inspired writer describes the special Providence watching over Abraham and his offspring which developed in Egypt into a large nation. At the same time, he eliminates the sons of Abraham who were not children of God's promise. This teaches the Israelites that carnal descent from Abraham does not suffice to make them true sons of Abraham.

History of Thare (11:27-25:11) — This section tells of the call of Abraham, his transmigration into Chanaan, his covenant with God, and His promises.

History of Ismael (25:12-28) — This section eliminates the tribes springing from Ismael.

History of Isaac (25:19-35:29 — Here we have the history of Isaac's sons, Esau and Jacob.

History of Esau (36:1-37:1) — The sacred writer gives a list of Esau's posterity; it does not belong to the number of the Chosen People.

History of Jacob (37:2-50:26) — This final portion of Genesis tells of the fate of Jacob's family down to the death of the Patriarch and of Joseph.

The above shows a uniform plan in the structure of Genesis, which some scholars prefer to call “schematism.”

(i)The whole book is divided into ten sections.

(ii)(ii) Each section is introduced by the same formula.

(iii)(iii) The sections are arranged according to a definite plan, the history of the lateral genealogical branches always preceding that of the corresponding part of the main line.

(iv)(iv) Within the sections, the introductory formula or the title is usually followed by a brief repetition of some prominent feature of the preceding section, a fact duly noted and explained by as early a writer as Rhabanus Maurus (Comment. In Gen., II, xii; P.G. CVII, 531-2), but misconstrued by our recent critics into an argument for a diversity of sources.

(v)(v) The history of each Patriarch tells of the development of his family during his lifetime, while the account of his life varies between a bare notice consisting of a few words or lines, and a more lengthy description.

(vi)(vi) When the life of the Patriarch is given more in detail, the account usually ends in an almost uniform way, indicating the length of his life and his burial with his ancestors (cf. 9:29; 11:32; 25:7; 35:28; 47:28). Such a definite plan of the book shows that it was written with a definite end in view and according to preconceived arrangement. The critics attribute this to the final “redactor” of the Pentateuch who adopted, according to their views, the genealogical framework and the “schematism” from the Priestly Code. The value of these views will be discussed later; for the present, it suffices to know that a striking unity prevails throughout the Book of Genesis.

Patriarchs.

The word patriarch as applied to Biblical personages comes from the Septuagint version, where it is used in a broad sense, including religious and civil officials (e.g. I Par. 24:31; 27:22). In the more restricted sense and common usage, it is applied to the antediluvian fathers of the human race, and more particularly to the three great progenitors of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the New Testament, the term is extended also to the sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8-9) and to King David (ibid. 2:29).

The earlier patriarchs comprise the antediluvian group, and those who are placed between the Flood and the birth of Abraham. Of the former, the Book of Genesis gives a twofold list. The first (Gen. 4:17-18, passage assigned by critics the so-called “J” document) starts with Cain and gives as his descendants Henoch, Irad, Maviael, Mathusael, and Lamech. The other list (Gen. 5:3-31, ascribed to the priestly writer, “P”) is far more elaborate, and is accompanied by minute chronological indications. It begins with Seth and, strange to say, it ends likewise with Lamech. The intervening names are Enos, Cainan, Malaleel, Jared, Henoch, and Mathusala.

The fact that both lists end with Lamech, who is doubtless the same person, and that some of the names common to both are strikingly similar, makes it probable that the second list is an amplification of the first, embodying material furnished by a divergent tradition. Nor should this seem surprising when we consider the many discrepancies exhibited by the twofold genealogy of the Saviour in the First and Third Gospels. The human personages set forth in these lists occupy a place held by the mythical demi-gods in the story of the prehistoric beginnings of other early nations. It may well be that the chief value of the inspired account given of them is didactic, destined in the mind of the sacred writer to inculcate the great truth of monotheism which is so distinctive a feature of the Old Testament writings.

Be that as it may, the acceptance of this general view helps greatly to simplify another difficult problem connected with the Biblical account of the early patriarchs, viz. their enormous longevity. The earlier account (Gen. 4:17-18) gives only the names of the patriarchs there mentioned, with the incidental indication that the city built by Cain was called after his son Henoch. The later narrative (Gen. 5:3-31) gives a definite chronology for the whole period. It states the age at which each patriarch begot his first-born son, the number of years he lived after that event, together with the sum total of the years of his life. Nearly all of the antediluvian fathers are represented as living to the age of 900 or thereabouts, Mathusala, the oldest, reaching 969.

These figures have always constituted a most difficult problem for commentators and Bible readers; and those who defend the strict historical character of the passages in question have put forward various explanations, none of which are considered convincing by modern Biblical scholars.

Thus it has been conjectured that the years mentioned in this connation were not of ordinary duration but of one or more months. There is, however, no warrant for this assumption in the Scripture itself, where the word year has a constant signification, and is always clearly distinguished from the minor periods.

It has also been suggested that the ages given are not those of individuals, but signify epochs of antediluvian history, and that each is named after its most illustrious representative. The hypothesis may be ingenious, but even a superficial reading of the text suffices to show that such was not the meaning of the sacred writer. Nor does it help the case much to point out a few exceptional instances of persons who in modern times are alleged to have lived to the age of 150 or even 180. For even admitting these as facts, and that in primitive times men lived longer than at present (an assumption for which we find no warrant in historic times), it is still a long way from 180 to 900.

Another argument to corroborate the historical accuracy of the Biblical account has been deduced from the fact that the legends of many people assert the great longevity of their early ancestors, a circumstance which implies an original tradition to that effect. Thus the first seven Egyptian kings are said to have reigned for a period of 12,300 years, making an average of about 1757 years for each, and Josephus, who is preoccupied with a desire to justify the Biblical narrative, quotes Ephorus and Nicolaus as relating “that the ancients lived a thousand years.” He adds, however, “But as to these matters, let every one look upon them as he thinks fit” (Antiq. I 3:in fine).