FDN 111A—Revolution and Renaissance
Reading Questions 1: Hebrew Bible
Due: Friday, September 2nd (beginning of class)
Read Exodus, Hosea, and Amos again, this time utilizing all the introductory materials and any relevant
notes. Then answer the questions listed below. You’re not expected to come up with anything like THE
right answer for several of these questions. Do your best, and we’ll discuss your answers in class. Note
that after several of the questions, there is a footnote that contains a brief description of the element of
analytical reading each question is intended to help you practice (As a quick reminder, analytical reading
involves reading for context, structure, interpretation, and critical engagement). The goal of these
assignments is to encourage you to ask the right KINDS of questions of a text as you read. Hopefully
after you’ve done several of these assignments, you’ll begin asking these KINDS of questions on your
own!
1. Why did the kingdom of Israel need a prophetic message from Hosea? Explain your answer carefully,
and provide at least one piece of evidence for your answer from (1) the text of Hosea itself, (2) the
introductory materials to Hosea, and (3) relevant footnotes following the text.1
2. (a) Read Exodus 20:3-17 (The Ten Commandments passage). Identify at least one way that the Ten
Commandments could be broken up into meaningful subgroups (i.e., are there things that some
commandments have in common that make them worthy of grouping together?).2
1
This question illustrates the attention you should pay to the context of each of the works you’ll read this term.
In this case, the context that we care about is the specific historical setting of Hosea, but reading contextually
would also involve attention to who the author is, the time period written, any other works to which the given text
refers (explicitly or implicitly), the audience that’s being written to, etc. You should always be on the lookout for
clues within the work itself that help you to determine context, but often, you’ll need to practice looking beyond
the text itself to get a sufficiently rich picture of its context (in this case, the introduction and notes).
2
Questions 2 and 3 both ask you to pay attention to the structure of the text. When we read for structure, we
break a text down into its parts and see how those parts relate to one another. To prevent the things you’ll read in
college from just appearing as a mass of details, you need to be attentive to the parts into which the text may be
broken down. Practicing this will not only help with your general understanding of the text, it will also help you to
retain the material you’ve read. We’ll get a lot more practice at discovering the kinds of clues texts themselves
offer about their internal structure (when it’s not clear from subheadings, etc.). For now, just do your best!
(b) Does your answer to 2(a) give you some ideas about why Hosea and Amos in particular might have
been selected as readings to accompany the Exodus materials even though they are about events that
occur 600 years later? Based on your answer to 2(a) above, offer at least one possible way that Hosea
and Amos share some thematic similarities with the Exodus selection.
3. In Amos 1:2 to 2:16, the prophet announces a series of judgments on various nations. What
purpose might the author have in saving the judgment against Israel until last? (LOTS of answers might
work here.)
4. (a) Go back and read Exodus 19: 1-6. What seems to be the single most important term or concept
expressed in these verses that you must understand to have a clear grasp of the meaning of the event
described? Offer a definition and brief explanation of that term/concept based on what you can learn
from the three biblical texts, introductory materials, and/or notes.3
(b) Offer a brief description of what the God depicted in Exodus 19:1-6 is like. Offer support for your
description from the verses themselves.
3
Questions 4 and 5 ask you to look for and interpret key elements of the text (offering your best and most wellsupported understanding of the meaning of those elements). Sometimes you’ll be asked to identify and try to
grasp the meaning of key concepts, key propositions or claims, key arguments, or in the case of imaginative
literature, key characters, episodes, or other plot elements. Question 4 asks you to identify and interpret a key
concept. Question 5 asks you to interpret a key claim made by the prophet (that God hates the festivals and
offerings of the Israelites at the time the prophecy was delivered). Interpretations are rarely simply a matter of
opinion, even though several interpretations may be reasonable. Interpretations should always be supported by
evidence whenever possible.
5. Read Amos 5: 21-24 again. Here God claims to “hate” and “despise” the very festivals and offerings
that seem to be commanded as part of the Sinai revelation (See Exodus 23:14-19). Why would God hate
and despise the very things God commanded?
6. Someone might read Exodus 19:5 and claim on the basis of that passage that God is “playing
favorites” by making the Israelites “a treasured possession out of all the peoples.” Given all the
materials you’ve read, is that a reasonable reading of that verse? Make a brief case for your view either
in favor of this reading or against this reading.4
4
Question 6 asks you to critically engage a particular interpretation of a verse. What we mean by “critical
engagement” will differ according to the kind of text that we’re reading. Many of our readings this term will
express arguments for some position or another, and hope to convince you, the reader, that the positions are
right. When texts are offering arguments for some position, the goal of critical engagement will be to evaluate the
arguments themselves and see whether or not we should accept their conclusions. In the case of the Exodus
passage above, however, you are being asked to critically assess a possible interpretation of a text, making a case
either for or against that interpretation based on any evidence you can gather from the whole
Exodus/Hosea/Amos reading. We’ll have lots more to say about critical engagement with the texts we’ll be
reading as the semester develops.