The Hebrew Bible
Ca. 1000-300 BCE
The world’s most influential text
The sacred text of Judaism
Have inspired two other major world
religions: Christianity & Islam
Supremely important cultural and historical
documents
Studying it as literature
Narrative techniques
Imagery
Characterization
Point of view
Encompassing rich variety of texts
composed in poetry & prose & mixed
composed not by a single human hand
Woven together from different periods
types: historical narrative; short story
genealogy; proverbs; laws
visionary narrative
lyric poetry
A collage redacted into a single
master story
Often odd contradictions and repetitions in
the narrative (ex. Noah and the flood)
Different original strands, each of which
has its distinct stylistic features and
perspectives
Ex. The name for God:
---YHWH; Jehovah; Elohim (/e-lō-hēm/)
Our selections: Genesis and Job
The most important element:
---A complex ethical concern with how
human suffering and prosperity come
about and what role God plays in shaping
human lives
A master story
Sources put together with great skill
Result: a text of extraordinary literary,
philosophical, and theological richness
No easy answers
God’s ways are mysterious
Supplementary Notes
Torah: (律法五書/摩西五書)
Meaning: “instruction; guidance” & “law”
Another name: “Pentateuch”—”five scroll”
Artificial division
A continuous story: the world  Jews as focus
--creation of the world
--sojourn in Egypt and the exodus
--subsequent wandering led by Moses
--Moses’ death before entering the promised
land
The Key Concept in Torah--Laws
Given by God to Moses
Passed on by Moses to his people
Mount Sinai: location of God’s revelation
Contents:
--Ten Commandments: to guide individual
life
--cult & ritual
The Concept of Covenant
“Testament”: covenant; contract
God’s covenant with:
--Adam (ancestor of human beings)
--Abraham & Sarah (the forefathers of
Hebrews)
--Isaac & Rebekah
--Jacob & Leah + Rachel
--Joseph & brothers
After Reading
God’s mysterious ways
The relation between human behavior and
divine favor is shown to deeply mysterious
---Abel over Cain
---Noah & Abraham over all other humans
---Isaac over Ishmael
---Jacob over Esau
---Joseph over his brothers
---the Hebrews over other ethnic groups
God’s mysterious ways
In none of these cases are we given an
explanation, let alone a moral justification.
(Why God chose Abram in the first place?)
God even allows his favorites, such as
Jacob, Joseph, and Job, to suffer terrible
hardship before restoring them to
prosperity.
God’s power is the major force in all of
human history.
The Overall Meaning of the Hebrew
Bible
To show human inadequacy and God’s
omnipotence