Spring 2004/Pasadena
OT507
Butler
OT507: OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS: BIBLICAL WISDOM LITERATURE. James T. Butler.
DESCRIPTION:
- This course will provide a survey of a sometimes neglected portion
of the biblical canon, with special attention to the books of Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, and Job. We will examine the setting and development of wisdom
traditions within Israelite society, their impact upon the New Testament, and
their contributions to biblical theology. Each week a session will be devoted
to the translation and careful exegetical examination of a representative
passage.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- The wisdom literature offers us unique resources for coping with
life: for everyday life, practical observations about cultivating virtues and
avoiding the calamities of the "broad way"; and for life "at the edges," sharp,
honest searching about innocent suffering and "the meaning of it all." The
wisdom traditions also offer bridges: from their varied expressions throughout
the Old Testament, we will trace them through the intertestamental period and
into the service of the preaching and teaching of the church.
COURSE FORMAT:
- The course will meet for two hours twice each week; one session
will be devoted primarily to lecture, and the other to translation and
exegetical discussion.
REQUIRED READING:
- Brown, Francis; S. R. Driver; and Charles A. Briggs, eds. A
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford University Press,
1952/Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.
- Elliger, K. & W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1990.
- Murphy, Roland E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom
Literature. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
- Course reader.
- See the Biblical Division bibliography "Linguistic and Exegetical Books Required in the Master of Divinity Program" available in the SOT Academic
Advising office.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- Brown, William P. Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the
Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1996.
- Fox, Michael V. A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading
of Ecclesiastes. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
- Gutiérrez, Gustavo. On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the
Innocent. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1987.
- McKenzie, Alyce M. Preaching Proverbs: Wisdom for the Pulpit.
Westminster/John Knox, 1996.
- Tamez, Elsa. When the Horizons Close: Rereading Ecclesiastes.
Maryknoll: Orbis, 2000.
- Commentaries on individual books will be recommended in class.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Weekly preparation for translation and exegetical discussions.
- The writing of an exegetical paper based upon the Hebrew text
(approximately 12 pages).
- The use of lecture notes and syllabus readings to develop answers to study
questions from which the final examination will be drawn.
PREREQUISITES: LG502.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
- Meets M. Div. core requirement in Old Testament "c" (OTCE).
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.