DESCRIPTION:

This course will offer a survey of Israel's history in the land, from the conquest to the exile, as it is portrayed in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. A central concern throughout the course will be to investigate the relationship between Israel's historical traditions and her theological appropriation of those traditions around such themes as election, law, the land, and leadership. Each week a session will be devoted to the translation and careful exegetical examination of a representative passage.

Students completing this course will have attained:

1. a thorough overview of the content and literary features of the four books of the Former Prophets;

2. a working knowledge of Israel's history from the conquest to the exile, with an appreciation of the issues involved in relating history to faith;

3. an enhanced competence in basic Hebrew, as well as in exegetical and hermeneutical skills;

4. a sensitivity to the theological issues presented in these narratives: the significance of the land, the dangers of cultural and theological syncretism, the need for order and leadership, the challenge of holding together pragmatic politics and the demands of faith.

The course will meet twice a week for two-hour sessions. Classes will alternate between reading of prepared Hebrew texts and lecture/discussion sessions.

Bright, J. A History of Israel. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000.

Brown, F., S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1952.

Elliger, K. and W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. New York: American Bible Society, 1977.

McDermott, John J. What Are They Saying about the Formation of Israel? New York: Paulist Press, 1998.

A syllabus of selected articles.

See the Biblical Division bibliography "Linguistic and Exegetical Books Required in the Master of Divinity Program" available in the SOT Academic Advising office.

Coogan, Michael D., ed. The Oxford History of the Biblical World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Finkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

A bibliography will be included in the syllabus.

The requirements will fall into three areas:

1. Weekly preparation for translation and exegetical discussions.

2. The writing of an exegetical paper (12 pages).

3. The use of lecture notes and syllabus readings to develop answers to study questions from which the final examination will be drawn.