MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
FOR
RELC/J 1210 INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE
FALL 2012
THE MIDTERM
The midterm will take up the full 50-minute class period on Wednesday, October 10, and will
cover the material that was discussed in lectures and sections and all assigned readings (primary and
secondary, whether or not they were discussed in lectures and sections.)
Please bring an exam booklet to the test. No books or notes may be used during the midterm.
Students with disabilities that require adjustments in the format or requirements of the midterm
must contact their teaching assistant and the professor to confirm those arrangements by Friday,
October 5th.
ITS PARTS
The mid-term will have several parts; you will have choice within each. The sections include:
Identifications. You will be asked to identify and comment briefly on the significance of names and
terms. Please be sure to both define and give the significance of the term or name for biblical
scholarship and/or the biblical narrative. Rather than resort to Google and Wikipedia, consult your
Harper Collins Study Bible, the textbook, and your lecture notes for reliable definitions.
Quotations. Quotations will be drawn from primary sources, which include not only the Hebrew
Bible, but the Enuma Elish and the Haggadah. Name the book (or source), the speaker and the one
who is being addressed (where applicable), mention where the quotation occurs in the document
and comment on its significance. For quotations from the Hebrew Bible, you should provide the book
and the circumstances of the quotation but not the chapter and verse.
Short essay. You will be asked to write a short critical essay on a major theme in the Hebrew Bible
or on a major issue in biblical scholarship. Your essays should include an introduction with a clear
thesis statement, arguments with textual evidence, and a conclusion.
Memorized passage. You should be prepared to reproduce a short passage from the Hebrew Bible
(from the NRSV translation, of course) that you have memorized. Please see the syllabus for more
information. Some suggested passages are: Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 3:1-6, Exodus 6:2-8, or Job 38:1-7.
The passage you select must be coherent and must be at least three verses long (as in the examples
above.)
HOW TO PREPARE
1. Read over your notes from the lecture and section and try to summarize the major themes and
issues that we have discussed. Note any important terms. Talking through the major issues with
other students may help you to synthesize them.
2. Re-read those portions of the biblical text that we covered in class or that were highlighted in
the assigned secondary readings if you feel that your recall is weak.
3. Read over any notes you may have made on the assigned secondary readings. Be able to identify
and explain the authors’ theses.
4. Memorize your passage. Practice writing it out.
5. Prepare and think through the terms and essay topics on this study sheet; the strongest exams
will show evidence of your knowledge of the biblical readings, your lecture notes, the Coogan
textbook, and the other secondary readings.
TOPICS FOR REVIEW
The essay may or may not be limited to the topics below; the following provides a basis for review:
What contributions do modern critical methods make to our understanding of the Hebrew Bible?
Be able to identify these methods, their assumptions, their strengths and weaknesses. How does
each explain the many doublets in the Bible? Be able to refer to specific examples of how each
method would be used to interpret certain passages of the Bible and make reference to the modern
biblical scholars that we have read or read about in this class (Wellhausen, Levenson, Douglas,
Alter.)
How are the approaches of ancient interpreters similar to and different from the methods and
assumptions of modern biblical scholars? Again, be able to provide specific examples of scholars
and of how they would interpret specific biblical texts.
What are the merits and challenges of making a comparison between ancient Near Eastern materials
and the Hebrew Bible? How do ancient Near Eastern treaties illumine the biblical notion of
covenant? (Consider, for example, Hittite treaties.) How do ancient Near Eastern creation myths
illumine biblical depictions of creation? (Consider, for example, Enuma Elish.) Be able to refer to
specific examples of how ancient Near Eastern materials have been compared to the Hebrew Bible
and to evaluate their contribution, if any, to our understanding of the Hebrew Bible.
What can we know about the religious ideas and practices of the ancient Israelites? How did the
religion of the ancestors in Genesis differ from the religion practiced by later Israelites? How was
Israelite religion similar to that of its neighbors? How was it different? How do different biblical
authors portray the Israelite deity? What characteristics did the Israelite deity share with other deities
in the ancient Near East? What were the various ways in which the divine-human relationship was
conceived in ancient Israel? Be sure to refer to specific texts that you have read in order to support
your claims.
What role(s) do women play in the Hebrew Bible? Do their roles differ from those of men? In what
sphere(s) do women operate? Be sure you are able to refer to specific biblical characters and
narratives in order to support your claims.
In lectures, discussions, and readings, we have encountered several literary themes (favored younger
son, sibling rivalry, exile, trickery, barrenness, initiative to fulfill God’s promises, to name a few) that
recur in the biblical narratives. Choosing one literary motif, discuss several (three or more) specific
occurrences of the motif in the Bible. What literary function(s) does the recurring motif serve in the
story, and what is its significance for interpreting the biblical passages?
TERMS FOR IDENTIFICATION
586 B.C.E.
Aaron
Abel
Abominations of Leviticus
Abram/Abraham
Robert Alter
Amarna Letters
Apocrypha
Apodictic Law
Aqedah
Aramaic
Apsu
Ark of the Covenant
Asherah
Baal
Babylonian Exile
Benjamin
Berit
Bitter herbs
Book of the Covenant
Canaan
Canaanite Religion
Canon
Casuistic Law
Chaldea
Circumcision
Code of Hammurapi
Clean/Unclean
Collective Memory
Cosmology
Covenant
Covenant Formulary/Treaty
Form
Creatio ex nihilo
D, E, J, and P sources
Day of Atonement
Decalogue
Deuterocanonical Books
Deuteronomic Code
Deuteronomy
Dinah
Divine council
Documentary Hypothesis
Doublet
Mary Douglas
Edom
El/el
El Shaddai
Elohim
Endogamy
Enoch
Enuma Elish
Ephraim/Manasseh
Eponymous ancestor
Esau
Etiology
Euphrates/Tigris
The exodus
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Four Questions
Genealogies in P
Golden calf
Hagar
Haggadah
Hamor
Historical (or Source) Criticism
Hittite treaties
Holiness Code
Isaac
Ishmael
Jacob/Israel
Jethro/Reuel
Jordan River
Judah
Joseph
Ketuvim
Laban
Law of talion
Leah
Levant
Jon Levenson
Levi/Levites
Literary Approaches to the
Bible (“Bible as Literature”)
Lotan/Leviathan
Marduk
Matzah
Masoretic Text
Meribah
Merneptah Stele (or Stela)
Mesopotamia
Midian
Midrash
Mistvah/mitsvot
Monolatry/monolatrous
Monotheism
Moriah
Myth
Nevi’im
Noah
Noahide Covenant
Parity treaty/Suzerainty treaty
Passover
Pentateuch
Primeval History
Pseudepigrapha
Rachel
Rameses II
Rebekah
Redaction Criticism
Reed Sea
Ritual Decalogue
Sabbath
Sarah/Sarai
Scapegoat
Septuagint
Shechem
Shema
Richard Simon
Simeon
Sinai Covenant
Sinai/Horeb
Slave laws
Song of the Sea/Song of Moses
Tabernacle
Table of Nations
Tamar
Tanakh
Tetragrammaton
Theophany
Tiamat
Tithe
Torah
Type-scenes
Ugarit/Ugaritic
Julius Wellhausen
YHWH
Yom Kippur
Zipporah