INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
TEST 1 STUDY GUIDE
What are the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible? What are their Hebrew names?
What is the Apocrypha?
State six views of the significance of the Old Testament.
State four principles for interpreting the Bible.
Identify interpretation problems in Genesis 1-2. What are some answers given for these problems? How does source criticism account for the differences?
What are the two main theological points of the Primeval history?
What is the Primeval history?
What is the Ancestral history/Patriarchal history?
What is in the following sections of Genesis?
Genesis 1-11
Genesis 12-50
Genesis 12-25
Genesis 25-35
Genesis 37-50
What is the significance of the following texts for interpreting the Ancestral history?
Egyptian Execration Texts (2000-1700 B.C.)
Mari Texts (18th Century B.C.)
Nuzi Texts (15th Century B.C.)
What are the three themes of the Ancestral narratives?
What is the Enuma elish? What is its religious significance? What does a comparison of it with Genesis emphasize about Genesis?
What is the Gilgamesh Epic? What similarities does it have with Genesis? What differences? What do these differences show about Genesis?
What is a ziggurat? How might it be important in understanding Genesis?
What might the reduction in life spans in the Genesis genealogies mean in theological terms?
What is the Story of Two Brothers? What Old Testament story does it resemble?
Which one the following types of biblical criticism is the discipline of comparing
various manuscripts in an attempt to get back as closely as possible to the original autographs (original words)?
a. Literary Criticism
b. Form Criticism
c. Historical Criticism
d. Textual Criticism
The type of biblical criticism that is concerned with the issues of authorship, date, and style is
a. Literary Criticism
b. Form Criticism
c. Historical Criticism
d. Textual Criticism
The English Old Testament is actually a library of how many books?
What is the term for the very first text of a book from the hand of the author, the one from which all copies were made?
a. Autographs
b. Manuscripts
What is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., LXX) called?
To meet the needs of their people in the dispersion, Jewish scholars produced a translation o the Old Testament in Greek. What is that translation usually called?
In what language was most of the Old Testament originally written?
When we speak of the “canon” of the Hebrew Bible, what do we mean?
What is the Protoevangelium? What do some say is the first prophecy of salvation?
Who dominated the lower Mesopotamian region from 3150 to 2350 B.C.E. and again from 2060 to 1950 B.C.E.?
Sargon I is identified with which ancient city and region?
What was the personal name of the God of Israel?
Who were the following? Sumerians, Akkadians, Ur-Nammu, Hammurabi, Ahmose
Who were known as the “Shepherd Kings?”
Who were the first Semitic people to live in Mesopotamia?
What is the dominant geographic feature of Egypt?
Why are students of the Old Testament interested in the period of Hyksos rule in Egypt?
The Sumerians developed the earliest known form of writing called what?
What is the sign of the covenant with Noah?
What is the sign of the covenant with Abraham?
Marduk is one of the major characters in what Mesopotamian work?
The literary structure of the book of Genesis is divided into two chapter sections; what are they?
What does the name "Abram" mean?
What does the name "Abraham" mean?
What does the name "Jacob" mean?
Joseph was the son of which wife of Jacob?
What is a stepped tower of three to seven stages called?
Who was the mother of Ishmael?
What name means "supplanter?"
God changed Jacob's name to what?
After the devastation of the flood, God issued an agreement with Noah and all of creation. What is that agreement called in Genesis?
In which covenant do two equal parties bind themselves by an oath?
Who are the four major patriarchs of the book of Genesis?
In which covenant does the stronger bind himself to some obligation in order to assist the lesser?
What type of law applies covenant law to life?
The tower of Babel story tells of humanity’s rebellion against God and of God’s punishment. What was that punishment?
Who was the son of Abram and Sarah?
Whom did Isaac marry?
What was Levirate marriage?
What Jewish special day celebrates their deliverance from Egypt?
What is the early date of the Exodus?
What is the late date of the Exodus?
What was the Merneptah Stele?
Who was the person whom God used to deliver the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage?
Why was the ark of the covenant so important to ancient Israel?
At what sacred site did God both call Moses and give God’s covenant to Israel?
Whom did God choose to lead the Israelites into the promised land?
What is Yom Kippur?
What Jewish special day celebrates their deliverance from Egypt?
What do Walton and Hill say is the main purpose of each of the books of the Old Testament that is covered in this section of the course?
How do Walton and Hill say the law collections of the Ancient Near East and the law collections in the Pentateuch differ?
Which nations had treaties that had similarities to biblical covenants, especially Deuteronomy?
How do Walton and Hill say the gods of the other nations differed from Yahweh?
How do Walton and Hill understand the relationship between science and the Bible?
Terms to know.
Apocrypha
Archaeology
Canon
Criticism
Canonical
Form
Literary
Redaction
Source
Textual
Documentary Hypothesis
Etiology
Kethubim
LXX
Manuscript
Nebi’im
Pentateuch
Redactor
Septuagint
Torah
Hermann Gunkel
JuliusWellhausen
Cuneiform
Habiru (Apiru)
Nuzi Tablets
Ugaritic Texts
Akkadians
Amorites (Arameans)
Hammurabi
Hittites
Hyksos
Semites
Sumerians
Dead Sea
Fertile Crescent
Jordan River
Mesopotamia
Nile River
SinaiDesert
Transjordan
Ur
Birthright
Blessing
Circumcision
Covenant
Enuma Elish
Genealogy
Gilgamesh Epic
Patriarch
Pharaoh
Tanak
Theophany
Ziggurat
Abel
Abraham
Adam
Cain
Elohim
Esau
Eve
Haran
Hagar
Isaac
Israel
Jacob
Joseph
Laban
Lamech
Noah
Rachel
Rebekah
Sarah
Lot
Shem
Sodom
Gomorrah
Moab
Ammon
Leah
Zilpah
Bilhah
Babylon
Ark of the Covenant
Yom Kippur