Old Testament
Old Testament Lecture
Judaism History/Origins/Traditional view • Tanak: Law, Prophets, Writings • An account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 350 BCE). • Israelites struggle with their faith in God and attraction to other gods. • Originally henotheists, each nation had its own god, but that their god was superior
Torah: • Written Torah, given to Moses. Book of Moses, Pentateuch • Oral Torah, to help understand the Oral Torah; Talmud, Kabbalah o Orthodox Judaism: Written Torah in its totality. o Conservative Judaism: Divinely inspired, but disregard some legal elements. o Reform Judaism: Both inspired by, but not dictated by, God.
Writings
• Rabbinic tradition: Psalms; Song of Songs, Proverbs - Solomon
Patriarchs: Abraham – Hagar/Ishmael, Sarah/Isaac – Rebekah/Esau. Jacob - Joseph
Abraham • Abraham, first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people, rejected the idolatry he saw around him and embraced monotheism. As a reward for this act of faith in one God, he was promised many offspring: "Look now toward heaven and count the stars. So shall be your progeny." (Genesis 15:5). ca 2,000 BCE • Abram, Sarai, God commands Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. So Abram and his people and flocks journey to the land of Canaan, where God appears to Abram and says, "To your descendants I will give this land. • Abram is forced by famine to go into Egypt, where Pharaoh takes possession of his wife, Sarai, who Abram has misrepresented as his sister. God strikes the king and his house with plagues, so that he returns Sarai and expels Abram and all his people from Egypt. Abram returns to Canaan. • God makes a covenant with
Judaism History/Origins/Traditional view • Tanak: Law, Prophets, Writings • An account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 350 BCE). • Israelites struggle with their faith in God and attraction to other gods. • Originally henotheists, each nation had its own god, but that their god was superior
Torah: • Written Torah, given to Moses. Book of Moses, Pentateuch • Oral Torah, to help understand the Oral Torah; Talmud, Kabbalah o Orthodox Judaism: Written Torah in its totality. o Conservative Judaism: Divinely inspired, but disregard some legal elements. o Reform Judaism: Both inspired by, but not dictated by, God.
Writings
• Rabbinic tradition: Psalms; Song of Songs, Proverbs - Solomon
Patriarchs: Abraham – Hagar/Ishmael, Sarah/Isaac – Rebekah/Esau. Jacob - Joseph
Abraham • Abraham, first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people, rejected the idolatry he saw around him and embraced monotheism. As a reward for this act of faith in one God, he was promised many offspring: "Look now toward heaven and count the stars. So shall be your progeny." (Genesis 15:5). ca 2,000 BCE • Abram, Sarai, God commands Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. So Abram and his people and flocks journey to the land of Canaan, where God appears to Abram and says, "To your descendants I will give this land. • Abram is forced by famine to go into Egypt, where Pharaoh takes possession of his wife, Sarai, who Abram has misrepresented as his sister. God strikes the king and his house with plagues, so that he returns Sarai and expels Abram and all his people from Egypt. Abram returns to Canaan. • God makes a covenant with