CHAPTER 3: SURVEYING THE
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Formation of the Old Testament
• Inspired record of Salvation History prior to the coming of
Jesus Christ
• Made up of the Pentateuch, or Torah, and the
Historical, Wisdom, and Prophetic Books
• Jewish Bible (Hebrew Scriptures): Torah (“Law”) – the
first 5 books (Pentateuch); Nebiim (Prophets); Ketubim
(Writings)
 Hebrew Scriptures: TaNaK
• Period of oral traditions: stories, songs, experiences,
celebrations of sacred events
• Written stories (950 BC): scribes during Solomon’s
reign
last of the OT books (around 100 BC)
• Compilations: work of several writers and editors
• OT formed over the course of about 900 years
The Old Testament Canon
• From the Hebrew word “kaneh” which means standard
• The list of books recognized as the genuine and
inspired Holy Scripture
• Protestants: accept 39 books as inspired
• Catholics: accept 46 books as inspired
• Discrepancy results from which ancient versions of the
Hebrew Scriptures are used to form the canons
 Babylonian Invasion and deportation to Babylon
 Dispersed Jews settled in Rome, Athens, Corinth (spoke
Greek)
 Septuagint: Greek translation of the OT in Egypt (3rd
century BC)
 Jamnia, Northern Palestine: Jewish scholars met to
consolidate their sacred books (90 AD): dropped 7 books
(1 and 2 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, Sirach,
and Wisdom)
 Deuterocanonical: “second canon” – books in the OT
not found in the Hebrew Scriptures; also called
apocryphal books (“hidden”)
SURVEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
BOOKS
• Pentateuch
• (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
 Moses NOT the author
 Four different oral traditions (Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly,
Deuteronomic)
 Genesis: “beginning”; Chapters 1-11 (creation,
sin of Adam and Eve, Flood); last chapters (story
of Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, Esau, Jacob)
 Exodus: Central book of the Old Testament;
story of the how the Israelites were enslaves by
the Egyptian Pharaoh and freed by God
 Moses: Name means “to draw”; Theophany of God in
the burning bush; Ten Plagues
 Passover Event: What did the Israelites have to do to
escape the tenth plague?
 Kill un unblemished lamb; smear its blood on their doorposts; eat the
lamb quickly with bitter herbs and unleavened bread
 Wandering in the desert for forty years; manna
 The Sinai Covenant (Ten Commandments)
 Instructions for the building of the Arc of the Covenant
and the tabernacle
 Leviticus: gets its name from the priests of the
tribe of Levi
 Laws (247) deal with public worship, animal
sacrifices, ritual offerings
 Theme: God’s holiness and our need to worship Him
with respect and love
 Respect for the sacredness of life and God’s presence in
ordinary life
 Numbers: records the constant “murmurings” of
the Israelites in the desert
 Theme: God’s faithfulness
 Deuteronomy: “Second Law”; sermons by
Moses
 Theme: obedience and loyalty to God; warns of dire
consequences; choose between life and death (sin)
 Joshua (“savior”) as successor to Moses; Moses dies
• Historical Books: covers 900 years of history
(1020 BC to 142 BC)
• Joshua: led the Israelites
into the Promised Land
 Theme: God fought for Israel,
and without His help, the
Israelites would never have
settled in Canaan (12 Tribes)
• Judges: local tribal leaders
 Period of Judges: Apostasy (denial of God); God
disciplining Israelites by allowing them to fall to their
enemies; YHWH takes pity and saves the Israelite
 Deborah: prophetess who instructed the general Barak
in a successful holy war
 Gideon: God gave him a woolen fleece to show that He
would lead Israel to victory
 Samson: fought the Philistines;
strength in his hair
• Book of Ruth:
 Elimelech and Naomi move from Bethlehem to Moab during
a famine; Sons marry Moabite women; Daughter-in law
Ruth returns to Bethlehem with Naomi
 Ruth gleaned in the field of Boaz; married Boaz
 Son named Obed (David’s grandfather)
 Theme: steadfast love (hesed), loyalty, kindness, the value
of persons
• First and Second Books of Samuel:
• Samuel: priest and prophet, last and most
significant judge
 Samuel’s mother (Hannah – barren)
 Theme: fidelity to God leads to success; disobedience
leads to disaster
 Saul chosen as king by lot; disobeyed and lost kingship
 David: second and greatest of all Israel’s kings
 Skilled harpist; defeated Goliath (Philistine giant)
 United the tribes into a single nation
 Established Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
 Affair with a married woman (Bethsheba)
 Annointed Solomon to be his successor
• First and Second Books of Kings:
• Death of David and reign of Solomon (wisdom)
 Construction of the Temple in Jerusalem
 Solomon’s death: kingdom split into two
(North – Israel: South – Judah)
• First and Second Books of Chronicles:
• First and Second Books of Samuel and Kings
retold from a priestly perspective
• Ezra and Nehemiah:
• Probably the same authors as the First and
Second Books of Chronicles
 Story after the Babylonian Exile
 Rebuilding of the Temple
 Only the tribe of Judah survived (known as Jews)
• Tobit, Judith, and Esther:
• Three short novels
 Theme: God works in peoples’ lives; God
rewards people who remain faithful
• First and Second Maccabees:
• Greek rulers tried to destroy Jewish identity and
impose Greek culture
 Antiochus (cruelest Greek ruler): desecrated the Jewish
Temple
 Judas Maccabee (“hammer”); led a rebellion for
religious and political freedom
 Hanukkah (Festival of Light): celebrates the
rededication of the Temple
 Roman general Pompey
conquered Palestine in 67BC
The Wisdom Books
• How God works in our daily lives
• Instruction on the right way to live
• Book of Job:
• Why do bad things happen to good people?
• Story of an innocent man (Job); pious, well-off;
non-Jewish
 God on trial
 Driving need for answers to human suffering
 Book of deep consolation for those in grief
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Story of God’s mercy
Characteristics of Job: patient, honest, devout
Selflessness for the love of God
Theodicy: an attempt to justify the ways of God to
humans
• Psalms:
• “songs sung to a harp” (span 500 years)
• Collection of 5 books of poetry (150 songs and
prayers)
 Thanks, praise, lamentations, royal poetry, lessons
 Authorship? David (73 psalms)
 Parallelism: second line restates, contrasts, or
advances the thought of he first line
 Psalm 117 (shortest)
 Psalm 119 (longest)
• Proverbs:
• Wisdom versus foolishness
• A book of short sayings
 Setting: family, court, school
 Attributed to Solomon
 Educating the reader on how to live a moral life
 Mother to son
 Father to son
 Teacher to student
 Person does the right thing – blessed
 Person does the wrong thing – punished
 Theism: an individual stands before God
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Ecclesiastes:
Qoheleth (“preacher”)
Personal, autobiographical in tone
Theme: Enjoy the simple pleasures of life which
are gifts from God
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3rd Century BC (Solomon and his successors)
Inevitability of death: nothing is permanent
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
All human’s efforts to find happiness apart from God are
without result
• Song of Songs: (Canticle)
• Allegorical: God and Israel; God and the
Church
• Author: Solomon or dedicated to Solomon
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Female and male courtship consummated
Feminine perspective
Language seductive
117 verses
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1st Century Palestine: sung in taverns
Middle Ages: most copied book by the monks
Alluded to in Revelations 3: 20
Pope John Pope II: Theology of the Body
Messianic Interpretations
• Wisdom:
• Deuterocanonical
• Author: Jew from Alexandria, Egypt (Greek)
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Personification
Splendor of Divine Wisdom
God’s mercy
Folly of idolatry
Glorious event of Exodus
God’s justice is vindicated
Chapter 2: Prophecy of Jesus’
Passion
 Gospel of Matthew: testing,
Suffering Servant
• Sirach (Ecclesiasticus):
• Ethical teachings
• Single author (Ben Sira – Jewish scribe from
Alexandria) unlike Proverbs
• Theme: Wisdom is fear of God (respect)
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Knowledge of the human heart
Distrust of women
Disillusionment of experience
Fraternal sympathy with the poor and
oppressed
Connection to the New Testament:
Magnificat, description of the seed in
Mark, Messianic interpretations
Timeline of Jewish History
Northern Kingdom (Israel – 10 Tribes)
Year/Event
860 BC
790 BC
Conquered by
Assyria 722 BC
Prophet
Elijah
Elisha
Jonah
Hosea
Amos
Southern Kingdom (Judah, Benjamin 2 Tribes)
Year/Event
Prophet
750 BC
Isaiah
Micah
625 BC
Jeremiah
Zephaniah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Obadiah
Conquered by
Babylon 586
BC
Ezekiel
Daniel
Persia
Haggai
Conquers
Babylon (Exiles
Return Home)
520 BC
Zechariah
Ezra
Nehemiah
Malachi
334 BC – Greek Conquest
167 BC – Judas Maccabee Revolt
63 BC – Roman Conquest
Prophets
• Nabi (one who speaks for another)
• Mouthpiece for God (Speak God’s message to
God’s people)
 Irresistible call from God
 Often unpopular
 Functioned as preachers (Interpreted Mosaic Law to the
nation)
 Functioned as predictors (Announced coming
judgment, deliverance and events relating to the
Messiah)
 Functioned as watchmen over he people of Israel
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habukkak,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Lamentations, **Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel
Elijah: Northern Kingdom (860 BC)
• Next to Moses, greatest of Old Testament
prophets
 Called down a famine to shock Israel back to fidelity
 Challenged King Ahab’s pagan prophets to ask their
gods to send a fire to consume a sacrifice
 Taken to heaven in a whirlwind
 Viewed as a precursor and partner of the Messiah
• New Testament: Jesus believed to be Elijah
 Transfiguration (Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah)
 Jesus Fulfills the Law (represented by Moses) and the
promises of the prophets (represented by Elijah)
• Elisha: succeeded Elijah
 Performed many miracles
 Sides with the poor
Jonah: Northern Kingdom (793-750 BC)
• Name means “dove”
• Sent to Ninevah (capital of Assyria)
• Theme: God of Hebrews has concern for the whole
world; God is sovereign over nature
• Key Word: prepared
• Only minor prophet ever mentioned by Jesus
 Allegory
 Parable
 Myth
 History
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Hosea: Northern Kingdom (755-715 BC)
Among the first writing prophets
Influenced Jeremiah
First prophet to use marriage as a metaphor of
the covenant between God and Israel
Cultured upperclass priest; married the
prostitute Gomer
 Gomer represents the Northern Kingdom; Hosea’s
marital problems represent the adultrous relationship of
Israel with polytheistic gods
 3 Children: “God Sows”, “Not Pitied”, “Not Mine”
• Theme: steadfast or unfailing love of God for
Israel in spite of her unfaithfulness (corruption in
moral life both privately and publicly – rebellion
against authority, dependence upon human
defenses and foreign alliances, corruption of
priests, corruption of worship)
• Key Words: harlot, harlotry
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Amos: Northern Kingdom (750 BC)
A native of Judah; a herdsman and tender of
sycamore trees
Knowledge of out-of-doors way of life
Name means “to lift a burden”
Theme: worship of God must show itself in
deeds of mercy and justice to the weak and
poor
 God would come as a warrior to judge the nations that
had rebelled against his authority
 God would preserve a repentant remnant
 Had 5 visions
Northern Kingdom
• 730 BC: Conquered by Assyria
• Lost tribes of Israel (10): intermarried with
peoples of new lands after being exiled by the
Assyrians
Isaiah: Southern Kingdom (740-680 BC)
• Son of Amoz (influential and distinguished
Jewish family)
 Well-educated student of international affairs
• Name means “Yahweh is salvation”
 Evangelical Prophet
 Theme: Salvation only by grace,
by the power of God; repentance
 Chapters 1-39: Called First Isaiah
 Isaiah as author
 Compared nation to a vineyard that
God cultivated (needs pruning to keep
it growing)
 Chapters 40-55: Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah
(555-539 BC)
 Author lived in Babylon; compassionate, anonymous
 Different in language and style from First Isaiah
 Chapter 53: “Suffering Servant” (Messiah who must
suffer and die for our sins)
 God chose servant before his birth
 Chosen One will bring justice
 Parallels Jesus’ suffering, death, resurrection
 Chapters 56-66: Third Isaiah (539-500 BC)
 Written after the Babylonian Exile
Micah: Southern Kingdom (750 BC)
• Name means “Who is like God?”
• From the country; prophet of the poor and
downtrodden
• Theme: Judgment and restoration
• Key Word: hear
• Closing Scene: Courtroom
 God has a controversy with His people, calls the
mountains and hills together to form the jury as He
presents His case; Only one verdict – guilty; Scene
closes with hope
• First prophet to threaten Judah with the
destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Jeremiah: Southern Kingdom (626-586 BC)
• Name means “God establishes”
• “Weeping Prophet”; “Prophet of Loneliness”
 Reluctant prophet
 Commanded not to marry
• Theme: Warning of God’s judgment against sin
 Story of a Potter: God reshaping
the nation
 Chapters 26-45: written by Baruch (friend) after
Jeremiah’s death in Egypt
 Chapters 46-51: unknown author
 Lamentations: Jeremiah as author (586 BC)
 Mourning over the woes of Judah and the destruction of
Jerusalem
 People of Judah experiencing starvation and
cannibalism
 Cause: sinful behavior of the people
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Zephaniah: Southern Kingdom (630-625 BC)
Name means “Hidden of God”
Noble birth: 4 generations of ancestry mentioned
Theme: Judgment- Coming of the “Day of the
Lord” (nearness)
Key Word: “Day of the Lord”
 Fire, smoke, darkness, ruin everywhere
Nahum: Southern Kingdom (663 BC)
• Name means “comforter”
• Theme: God’s judgment on Assyria (written to
comfort Judah)
 Ninevah will be destroyed
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Habakkuk: Southern Kingdom (606 BC)
Name means “One who is embraced”
Priestly background; Member of the Temple
choir
Key Word: faith
Theme: Allow God to be God;
Growth of faith from perplexity and
doubt to absolute trust
• Why did God permit increasing evil to
Judah to go unpunished?
• How could a Holy God use sinful nations
like Babylon as His source of judgment?
 Theodicy: a defense of God’s goodness vs. evil
Obadiah: Southern Kingdom (845-400 BC ?)
• Name means “servant” or “worshipper of
Yahweh”
• Not Jewish but an Edomite (Descendent of
Esau)
• Theme: Pride goes before a fall; Being
invulnerable is an illusion
 Prophecy against Edom
• Shortest Book (21 verses)
• Jeremiah familiar with this book
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Ezekiel: Southern Kingdom (570 BC)
Name means “God strengthens”
Priest; married
Prophesied to Jews in Babylonian captivity
Influenced by Jeremiah
Visions:
 God with chariot and 4 winged
creatures (4 faces: lion, ox, eagle,
man)
 Standing in a field of dry bones
 Prophesied the building of a new
Temple, a new Jerusalem, the
nation’s return
• “Father of Judaism”
Daniel: Southern Kingdom (530 BC)
• Name means “God is my judge”
• Jewish upper class; taken as a teen to Babylon
• Position in King Nebuchadnezzar's court
 Interpreted dreams of the king
• Apocalyptic (predicts the end of the world)
• Theme: God as the one true God who judges
and destroys rebellious powers
 Humility before God
• Respected by King Cyrus (Persia)
 Envy by companions landed Daniel in the lion’s den
(King Darius)
Haggai: Southern Kingdom (520 BC)
• Name means “festival”
• Post exilic prophet: encourage the spiritual and
moral life of he remnant
 Rebuild the Temple and nation
• Theme: God blesses His people when they put
Him first
 We should not grow weary
in the service of the Lord
• Key Word: house
• Second shortest book; simple and direct
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Zechariah: Southern Kingdom (520 BC)
Name means “Yahweh remembers” (common
name)
Theme: Encourage remnant from Babylon to
complete their work in rebuilding the Temple
Key Word: Word of the Lord, Lord of Hosts
Messianic figure
Most difficult to interpret
Mention of angels, visions
Malachi: Southern Kingdom (450-400 BC)
• Authorship?
• Name means “my messenger”
• Theme: Sincerity toward God and a holy
manner of life essential in God’s eyes
 Initial enthusiasm had worn off
 Worship mechanical,
ritualistic, unspiritual
 Restore Jews to a
fresh relationship with God
 Financial abuses,
intermarriage, divorce,
corruption of priests
• Key Words: You say
• Didactic Method: a running debate
Southern Kingdom
• 586 BC: Babylonian Invasion
• 538 BC: Persians conquer the Babylonians
 Remnant returns to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple
 Refuse the help of Samaritans (Mixed population of
Israelites and Assyrians)
 Exiles in Egypt, Babylon form synagogues/rabbis
(teachers)
• 334 BC: Greeks conquer the Persians
• 167 BC: Judas Maccabee leads rebellion
• 63 BC: Romans (General Pompey) conquer
Jews