Apocalyptic Visions of Daniel (extra credit)

Read through the visions in the second half of the book of Daniel (Daniel 7-12). Is there anything here that seems key to the survival of the Jewish people? How would having the book of Daniel have helped the Jewish people go through difficult times, e.g., the time of Antiochus Epiphanes?

Malachi (extra credit)

Read all of Malachi. What is the condition of the Jewish people as he writes? What are the particular problems he addresses? How is the situation different from that addressed by earlier prophets, e.g., Isaiah and Jeremiah? What keys to Jewish survival do you see here?

Haggai and Zechariah (extra credit)

Skim through Haggai and/or Zechariah. Note the problems in the Jewish community that these two prophets address. How would their prophetic message have helped in rebuilding Jerusalem and in helping reforms among the Jewish people? What aspects of their teachings might have helped the Jewish people survive even after the temple was destroyed and the Jews were removed from their land again?

You may turn this into two "extra credit" blogs if you like: one entry on each book.

Nehemiah (extra credit)

Skim through Nehemiah. Note that much of this book is Nehemiah’s account of his own role in helping the rebuilding of Jerusalem and in restoring the Jewish people. Note the problems he faces. What does Nehemiah seem proud of in terms of his own record/conduct? What obstacles does he face? What seems to be his motivation?

Ezra (extra credit)

Read Ezra Ch. 1 and Ch. 3-7. What difficulties do the Jews face as they try to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple? What helps them overcome these difficulties? Note especially the role of leaders like Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra himself. Also note the contrasting attitudes of Persian leaders, e.g., Cyrus and Artaxerxes.

Daniel (Assignment for April 24)

For Thursday, April 24, please read Chapters 1-7 and 12 of Daniel carefully. Skim the rest.

Daniel is a favorite "Sunday school" book, a book filled stories the lend themselves well to teaching children. But Daniel is an adult book as well. What do you think is the most important or most interesting lesson Daniel teaches to adults?

Job (assignment for April 22)

For Tuesday, April 22, please read through Chapters 1-5, 19 and 37-42 of the Book of Job. In addition to addressing the problem of evil, what other wisdom does Job offer? Cite a verse or two you think would be particularly good to include in an anthology of ancient wisdom, and explain why you think this verse or these verses are particularly worth including.

Proverbs (assignment for 4/17)

For Thursday's class (4/17), Please read the first three chapters of Proverbs and skim the rest of the book. Choose three proverbs that you think is a particularly good examples of Hebrew contributions to human wisdom. Explain your choice, and note what makes the Proverb particularly memorable.

Ecclesiastes

Please read all of Ecclesiastes for next Tuesday (4/15/14).

For some people, Ecclesiastes is their favorite book in the entire Bible. Others wonder why it is in the Bible at all. What's your reaction? Did you find this book more or less enjoyable/valuable than the other books you've read for this class?

Ezekiel

I am planning on covering *all* of Ezekiel in one easy lecture/discussion on Thursday. Please read my study questions on Ezekiel. Then read Chapters 1-12, 33, and 37 of Ezekiel itself.

What do you find here that suggests that Ezekiel's message was a burden? Are there any passages that particularly well reflect hope, beauty, faith in the triumph of justice, or anything else that makes that burden worth bearing?

Jeremiah--Discussion II

Please skim through Chapters 31-44 of Jeremiah, then go back and read more closely three or four chapters that seem to you particularly interesting.  What do you see in these chapters that shows Jeremiah's message to be a burden. Is there anything here to suggest why that burden is worth bearing?

Jeremiah 1-28

Please read through my Jeremiah study questions and then as much as you can of the first half of Jeremiah. Be sure to read Chapters 16, 20, 23, and 28.

Suppose you are asked to help prepare an anthology of great quotations from the ancient world. There are going to be two Jeremiah quotes, and you get to one of them. Of all of Jeremiah's many quotable lines, which two would you choose? Why this line? Of the other verses suggested by students in this class so far, which would you choose for your 2nd Jeremiah quote?

If you are one of the first three or four posters, you can choose an extra quote from Jeremiah on your own rather than commenting on another poster's verse.

Isaiah 36-66 (Extra Credit)

Please read Isaiah 36-39 and any five chapters of your choice from Isaiah 40-66. Suppose you are asked to help prepare an anthology of great quotations from the ancient world. There are going to be two Isaiah quotes, and you get to pick one of them. Of all of Isaiah's many quotable lines, which would you choose? Why this particular line? Of the lines already suggested by other contributors to this blog (either on this thread or the Isaiah I thread) which of those lines do you think would be the best to have as the second Isaiah quote? Why?

Isaiah 1-11

Please read again the Amos and Isaiah study questions, and then Chapters 1-11 of Isaiah. What do you find here that suggests that Isaiah's message was a burden? Is there a passage here that particularly well reflects hope, beauty, faith in the triumph of justice, or anything else that would have made this burden worth bearing?

Amos

Please read these study guide questions on Amos and Isaiah and then all nine chapters of Amos. Choose any of the first 13 study guide questions and suggest an answer to that question here.

I would be particularly interested in your comments on Amos' use of imagery. Do you find any of Amos' images particularly effective? Particularly disturbing?

II Kings 18-25

Please read II Kings 18-25 for Tuesday after spring break.  You will probably find these chapters fairly easy going.  With the destruction of the northern kingdom (c. 722 BC), we don't have quite the complicated situation we have earlier in II Kings: no shifting back and forth between Israel and Judah. 

What do you think of these last chapters in terms of genre?  Do they match up best to the criteria we said in class were characteristic of prophecy ("thus saith the Lord voice, people seeking out a divine message, persecution/rejection of the prophet, vindication of the prophet, etc.) the characteristics we said were typical of history (addressing what happened, when it happened, and why questions), tragedy (characters and themes of sufficient magnitude, etc.) or anti-tragedy (things that match the tragic form, but reflecting a situation where break-down has progressed so far that pure tragedy is no longer possible)?  Support your answer by citing specific passage in these chapters that support your view.

II Kings 1-10, 17

Please read Chapters 1-10 of II Kings for Thursday.  Please read also Chapter 17.  We'll be focusing on two themes: whether or not the story of Elisha has the makings of tragedy and whether or not the story of the nation of Israel as a whole has the makings of tragedy.

Greek tragedies stand out, not only for their overall message, but also for the many "gems" of wisdom and beautifully phrased insights into the human condition included in the choral passages.  Please cite here one or two lines from the assigned chapters that seem to you equivalent in function/form to the choral sections of Greek tragedies. If you don't think it particularly useful to view II Kings as tragedy, cite instead a line or two that you consider a good example of historical/biographical insight, or that reflects the prophetic character of the book.

   

I Kings 12-22

Please go back to I Kings, review the Solomon material in Chapters 1-11 and read more carefully Chapters 12-22.  the sections on Elisha and Ahab. We will start Tuesday's class with a discussion of that material.

Which of the stories/characters in I Kings 12-22 interests you the most?  Does this story lend itself to good tragedy? Or is does it seem more like history, biography, or prophecy rather than tragedy?

I Kings

Please read my study questions on I Kings and then as much as you can of I Kings for next Tuesday. Please read especially closely the chapters on Solomon (Chapters 1-11).

Does it seems to you that the I Kings account of Solomon has in it the makings of a good tragedy? Or is the I Kings account better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy?

II Samuel

Please read my II Samuel study questions and then all of II Samuel. Choose one of the study guide questions and suggest an answer to that question below. Please try to choose a study question not already addressed by another student.

If you prefer, list two questions of your own about II Samuel, questions you think would lead to good discussion.

I Samuel--Discussion II

For Thursday's (2/20) class, please read/review I Samuel 1-14 and then finish up the book (reading through Chapter 31). Does this book seem to you to be best classified as history, prophecy, biography, tragedy, or something else entirely? Cite one passage/story in this book that you think particularly supports your view of this book.

I Samuel--Discussion I

Please read through my study questions for I Samuel and then through I Samuel 1-14. Which of the many episodes in this book do you find the most tragic? What is the lesson to be learned from this story? Alternatively, choose an episode/incident you find uplifting, and explain why you like this particular passage.

Joshua and Judges

Please read through my Study Questions on Joshua and the Book of Judges and then read Joshua Chapters 1 and 24 and Judges Chapters 1-2, 6-9, and 18-21. 

Of the characters mentioned in these chapters, which one do you find most interesting? What (if anything) is heroic about this character? What are his/her "warts"?  What do you think is the most important lesson to be learned from the story of that character?

Deuteronomy Discussion II

Please read through the remaining chapters of Deuteronomy. Cite here one law you think is particularly good--part of what makes Deuteronomy a fine law code. Cite also one law that you find disturbing, difficult or hard to understand--something that one might *not* (at least at first) think of as part of a particularly good law code.
 
Remember that there is an exam coming up next Tuesday!  I may be revising the study guide slightly.  Be sure to check the online study guide as you prepare for the exams.

Deuteronomy Discussion I

In Deuteronomy, as in Exodus, the writer gives us a lot of preliminary material before he gets to the actual “rules and regulations” of the law. Please read through the Deuteronomy study questions on my History 413 Web page. Then read as much of you can from Deuteronomy Chapters 1-15.

What is there in this preliminary material you find particularly, interesting, important, or worth discussing in class? In what way does this material show Deuteronomy to be a particularly fine law code or something more than just a law code?

Exodus 32-24

Please read again Exodus 32-34.  How do the main stories here (the Gold Calf story and Moses in the "cleft of the rock" tie in to the theme of Exodus as part of one of the finest of all law codes and something more than just a law code?  What does the writer here suggest about the way religious worship is tied to questions of law and justice?  What's attractive about Golden Calf worship?  Why is it a danger to building a just society?

Exodus 1-20

Please read my Exodus study questions and then Chapters 1-20 and 32-34 of Exodus.

Of the stories here, which one seems to you the most interesting or the most important? Explain how that story is particularly appropriate as an example of Torah "law," or explain how that story shows the Torah to be something more than just a law code.

Genesis 11-50 (Option 2)

Please read (or at least skim through) the stories in Genesis 25-50. Which of these stories do you find most interesting? Explain how that story is particularly appropriate as an example of Torah "law," or explain how that story shows the Torah to be something more than just a law code.

Genesis 11-50 (Option 1)

Torah" can rightly translated as "law," but the Torah is a lot more than just rules and regulations. "Torah" might also be translated as "rule," "instruction," or "principle," and it is sometimes useful to think of the Torah as simply "the way," i.e., instruction on the way we ought to live our lives.

Please read through as much as you can of the lives of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 11-25). In what ways do the lives of these two figures reflect "torah" in the latter sense? Cite an instance where either Sarah or Abraham seems to you a particularly good example of how we ought (or ought not) to live our lives.

In the beginning (Genesis 1-11)

Please read through my Genesis Study Questions and then read Chapters 1-11 of Genesis. I am more concerned with the quality of your reading than the quantity, and if this material is difficult for you, I'd much prefer that you read carefully the first four or five chapters than struggle though the whole assignment.  If you are familiar with this material and find it relatively easy, read through the whole thing.

Once you've read the assignment, pick out a key verse from the assigned chapters and do one of the following:

1. Explain why you think this verse the key to understanding what the selection is about.
2. Explain why you think this verse is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.
3. Explain why you think this verse is the most difficult/hard to understand in the passage.

If you would prefer, you can take whatever study question you find the most interesting and add your answer to that question here.

Welcome!

How is this blog different from all other blogs? Well, for one thing, it invites you to join in the long tradition that began with the men of the Great Synagogue, continued through the periods of the Tannaim and the Amoraim, (teachers and interpreters), and continues today in churches and synagogues throughout the world. You have here the opportunity to contribute your questions and comments to an ongoing discussion of the most interesting, most important, most studied--and most often misunderstood--books ever written, the books of what Jews call the Tanak and Christians the Old Testament.

To get started, here's a test of the History 413 blog system. If you don't already have one, please create for yourself a "Blogger" account by following the instructions at http://www.blogger.com/. Be sure to create a blogger profile which includes your e-mail address. Otherwise, I can't reply directly to your post.

To make sure your e-mail address is accessible to me, please log on to your blogger account. Click "edit profile" (toward the top on the right). Then click the box that says to make your e-mail address accessible.

When you have created your blogger account and your profile, click the "comments" link below, and answer one (1) of the following questions:

1. Would you rather make comments on a blog, or write a term paper?
2. Which Old Testament figure do you identify with the most, and why?
3. Which is your favorite book of the Old Testament, and why?