CHAPTER 1
WHAT IS THE OLD TESTAMENT AND WHY STUDY IT?
OBJECTIVES:
• Compare the tests for canonicity
• Evaluate the most common theories of inspiration
• Give illustrations of textual transmission
• List the considerations that are important in interpreting the Old Testament
I. Canon: What Is the Bible
• 66 Books (39 OT/ 27 NT)
How do we answer questions like:
Do the apocryphal books belong?
What if we found another letter from the Apostle Paul?
How did Jews and Christians decide which books should
belong?
• These questions deal with the issue of canon.
I. Canon: What Is the Bible
A. Definition of “Canon”
• “Canon” comes from Hebrew word qāneh and the Greek word
kanōn.
• Words originally signified a reed or measuring stick.
• Biblical canon was a measuring standard for faith and practice.
B. Tests for Canonicity
• It became important to know which books came from God and
which books reflected human opinion.
I. Canon: What Is the Bible
Test #1: Written by a prophet or prophetically gifted person.
• A human author could never know God’s will apart from God’s
Spirit assisting their understanding.
• The Spirit of God had to have His hand on the writing process.
Test #2: Written to all generations.
• God’s message could not be confined to one audience.
• The author may have written the book to a particular audience
but all who read it can apply its teachings.
I. Canon: What Is the Bible
Test #3: Written in accord with previous revelation.
• A book could not contradict the messages of earlier writings God
had revealed.
• New revelation could reveal further truth but not contradict old.
C. The Formation of the Canon
• By applying the tests for canonicity, the Hebrew people
determined which books belonged in the Old Testament.
• Council of Jamnia (90 AD) – did not establish but affirmed canon.
ENGLISH OLD TESTAMENT
Pentateuch
Historical
Books
 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings,
1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Poetic Books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Solomon
Prophetic
Books
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel,
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi
HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT
Torah
Prophets
(Nabi’im)
Writings
(Kethuvim)
 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve (Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah,
Malachi)
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth,
Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel,
Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles,
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
How exactly did God’s Spirit work with the human authors to
inspire the sacred writings?
This question deals with the inspiration of Scripture.
• 2 Timothy 3:16 affirms God’s inspiration of Scripture:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness.” (NIV)
• But, the Bible does not describe exactly how God inspired the
authors.
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
A.Neo-Orthodox Theory
• Leading Proponents - Karl Barth and Emil Brunner
• Holds that God is transcendent (beyond comprehension), and we
can only know something about Him if He reveals Himself.
• This theory asserts that the Bible is a witness to the word of God
or contains the word of God.
B. Dictation Theory
• Suggests God simply dictated the Bible to human scribes.
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
C. Limited Inspiration Theory
• God inspired the writers, but not necessarily their words.
• God guided the writers as they wrote, but gave them freedom to
express His thoughts in their own way.
• Due to this freedom, the historical details they wrote may
contain errors, but doctrine was guarded by the Holy Spirit.
D. Plenary Verbal Inspiration Theory
• Holy Spirit interacted with human writers to produce the Bible.
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
• The words “plenary” and “verbal” describe the particular
meaning this view gives to inspiration.
• “Plenary” means “full” or “complete.” (Includes historical and
doctrinal matters)
• “Verbal” refers to the words of Scripture, meaning God’s
inspiration extends to the very words the writer’s chose.
• God gave the writers freedom to use their distinct styles and
personalities, but guided the process in such a way that the
finished product faithfully reflected his message.
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
Evaluations of the Theories
A.Neo-Orthodox Theory - Evaluation
• The Bible is more than a witness to God’s word.
• It is God’s word, as it testifies (2 Tim 3:16-17).
• The Bible claims that as God revealed Himself, people inspired by
the Holy Spirit recorded His message (2 Pt 1:20-21).
B. Dictation Theory - Evaluation
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
• At times, God allowed the writers to express their own
personalities as they wrote (Gal 1:6; 3:1; Phil 1:3, 4, 8).
C. Limited Inspiration Theory – Evaluation
• While Scripture contains certain statements that are hard to
reconcile, the Bible places great emphasis on historical detail.
• i.e. Rom 5:12-21; Matt 12:41
• Archeological evidence continues to resolve alleged problems.
D. Plenary Verbal Inspiration Theory - Evaluation
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
• Recognizes the human element in Scripture, and allows that
different writers wrote in different ways.
• It affirms the Holy Spirit as the Bible’s ultimate Author.
Implications of Plenary Verbal Inspiration Theory
• The Bible is trustworthy and reliable in both history and purpose.
• The Bible is authoritative.
- It calls us to read it, to understand its implications, and to
submit to it.
- It remains God’s truth whether or not we choose to submit.
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
Daniel 6s Lion Den Account
Bel and the Dragon's Lion Den Account
Under Darius King of Persia
Under Cyrus King of Persia
Daniel exalted by the king
Daniel not trusted and tested by the king
Daniel plotted against by presidents and princes
The king conspired against in revolt
Daniel's prayer life used against him
Daniel's destruction of Bel and the Dragon angers Babylonians
Law of the Medes and Persians used as a trap
The king's need to qualm revolt delivers Daniel
King labored to deliver Daniel
King turned Daniel over willingly
King trusted Daniel's God for deliverance
King gave up Daniel, and gave up on Daniel.
King carefully controlled lion den
King gave Daniel over to Babylonians
One night in the den
No fanciful account of another prophet involved
Six days in the den
Fanciful account of Habbacuc delivering lunch.
King sleepless and rose early to check on Daniel
King came on 7th day to bewail Daniel
Details of Daniel's accusers who were cast in the den
and devoured before they hit the ground
Vagueness of accusers and their destruction in the den.
Darius' decree of Gods greatness published
King only verbally magnified God.
This account is acceptable and believable
This account cannot compare to Daniel 6
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
Habbacuc's Transport
to Babylon, Bel and the
Dragon
Third person account
Undated during reign of
Cyrus
Transported from
Jerusalem? To Babylon
Little information of the
prophet
Told to go but couldn't
Carried by his hair
Ezekiel's Transport to the
Valley of Bones, Ezekiel 37
Ezekiel's Transport to the
city of Jerusalem from Babylon,
Ezk 40
First person account
First person account
Undated, but in the sequence Carefully Dated from fall of
of messages from the Lord
Jerusalem
Transported From Babylon to Transported from Babylon to
an unknown valley
Jerusalem and the Temple
Significant information of the Significant information of the
prophet
prophet
Caught away
Caught away
Carried out in the spirit
Hand of the Lord was upon
me, and brought me thither
Carried for prophetic and
Carried for prophetic and
revelatory purpose
revelatory purpose
Could be done in the mind
Could be done in the mind
Transported for
monetary purpose
Required Physical
transportation
Interacted with another Does not interact with any
prophet who never
other known humans
verifies the event
Does not interact with any
other known humans
Isaiah's Transport to the
Throne of God, Isa 6
First person account
Carefully dated to the year
king Ussiah died.
Transported from Jerusalem
to Heaven?
Significant information of the
prophet
Taken in vision
I saw also the Lord sitting
upon a throne
Carried for prophetic and
revelatory purpose
Was done by vision
Does not interact with any
other known humans
II. Inspiration: How Was the Bible Written?
Could have been
inserted
Could be eliminate
without detriment
Purpose was delivery of
lunch to Daniel
Physical return
accounted
Insignificant, trivial,
fanciful
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Purpose was significant
revelation about Israel
No Physical return accounted
or necessary
Significant, detailed,
authoritative
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Purpose was significant
revelation about Temple
No Physical return accounted
or necessary
Significant, detailed,
authoritative
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Intricate part of significant
revelation
Purpose was significant
revelation about Throne
No Physical return accounted
or necessary
Significant, detailed,
authoritative
III. Textual Transmission: How Did We Get the Bible?
A. Scribal Care of the Old Testament Text
1. The scribe in the ancient world
• Faithful transmission of accurate information was an important
aspect of society. Mistakes could have serious consequences.
• Ancient scribes who copied the biblical texts believed they were
copying the very words of God.
• This led to extremely reliable texts.
III. Textual Transmission: How Did We Get the Bible?
2. The Masoretes (A.D. 500-1000)
• Got their name from the masora, a complex system of markings
they developed to achieve their purpose.
- Developed a system for writing vowels and accents.
- Developed a system of detailed notes which provided a means
to check the accuracy of the text.
• The Hebrew word for Scribe means “counter”.
- The Torah (First 5 books of OT) contained 400,945 letters.
- Torah’s middle word was “searched” in Leviticus 10:16.
III. Textual Transmission: How Did We Get the Bible?
- Torah’s middle letter was in the Hebrew word “belly” in
Leviticus 10:16.
• The most reliable Old Testament text we have is the Masoretic
Text transcribed by the Masoretes (A.D. 100).
B. Transmission in the Original Languages
• The OT was originally written in Hebrew, though a few portions
were written in Aramaic (i.e. Gen 31:47b, Jer 10:11b).
• The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave in 1947 (100-200 B.C.).
• They contain at least part of every OT book except Esther.
III. Textual Transmission: How Did We Get the Bible?
C. Transmission in the Other Languages
• The Septuagint (LXX), a translation of the OT into Greek, dates
to about 100-200 B.C. and comes from Alexandria, Egypt.
• Its name and abbreviation come from the fact that a team of
seventy-two scholars did the translation work.
IV. Hermeneutics: How Do We Interpret the Bible?
• Hermeneutics means interpretation.
A. Using the Grammatical-Historical Method
• Seeks to find the “plain sense” meaning by applying standard
rules of grammar and syntax.
Rule #1: Understand the Context.
• The term “context” refers to the words and sentences
surrounding a word or statement that help us understand the
meaning of the word or statement.
IV. Hermeneutics: How Do We Interpret the Bible?
• Three kinds of context.
- Immediate context refers to words closest to the word or
statement.
- Remote context describes the biblical material in the
surrounding chapters and books.
- Historical context refers to the setting in history in which the
writer wrote the Bible passage.
Rule #2: Determine the Type of Literature (Genres).
• The interpreter must apply different principles to each genre.
IV. Hermeneutics: How Do We Interpret the Bible?
Rule #3: Interpret Figurative Language.
• The Bible uses symbolic speech to communicate truth in a
symbolic way.
- Isaiah 55:12 – “The trees of the fields will clap their hands.”
- Psalm 1:1 – “…walk in the counsel of the wicked.”
Rule #4: Let Scripture Interpret Scripture.
• Find another biblical text that presents clear teaching on the
topic, and interpret the difficult passage in light of the clear one.
IV. Hermeneutics: How Do We Interpret the Bible?
- James 2:24 – Salvation by works?
- Romans 3:28 – Salvation by faith?
- Interpretation: Galatians 3:1-6, Ephesians 2:8-9
Rule #5: Discover the Application to Modern Life.
• Once you determine what the text meant for the original
audience, you then determine what it means for today.
• We accomplish this by understanding what issues in modern
culture parallel the issues in the Bible passage.
IV. Hermeneutics: How Do We Interpret the Bible?
• The Bible is much more than an ancient book written to ancient
people.
• It is the word of God that speaks to use today.