Religion notes for chapter 3 and vocabulary for chapter 2:

Vocab:

Bible- The compilation of 73 books that make up the inspired Word of God.

Sacred tradition- The compilation liturgy, scriptures, and events inspired by The Holy Spirit that hold the
truth of the Catholic Church passed down to us from Jesus through the apostles.

Magisterium- The official teaching office of the Church.

Dogma- Official Church teachings regarding faith and morals.

Ecumenical Council- A formal meeting of bishops to define doctrine, regulate Christian life or apply
discipline to the liturgy.

An overview of the bible

Who wrote the bible?

- The Bible was written over a span of 1,500 years, by 40 writers.

- Using the writers’ own writing style and personalities, God shows us who he is and what it’s like
to know him.
- The Bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and dialogue.
Historians and archaeologists have repeatedly confirmed its authenticity.
- There is one central message consistently carried by all 40 writers of the Bible; God who created
us all, desires a relationship with us. He calls us to know him and trust him.

The Old Testament

- The Old Testament is comprised of the Jewish Sacred Scriptures.

- With 46 books in all, the Old Testament is comprised of the Jewish Law, History, and Prophesies.
- While we know that there were many multiple authors of the Old Testament, we do not know
the specific names or number of authors, or what specific time period they were written in.
- We do know that the Jewish scriptures were compiled in a series of four stages of development.
- Stage one: Speeches and saying.
1. These are speeches and sayings by Israelite leaders (Moses, Ezra, etc.) and God that
were brought together by the early Israelites.
- Stage 2:
1. Over time, speeches and sayings began to form into certain books based off of the subject
matter and the time period they pertain to.
2. Sometimes, books were later expanded by new utterances or writing—the obituary of
Moses was certainly added to Deuteronomy.
3. Because of the additions, some books, have come down to us in two forms. There is, for
instance, both a short form of Jeremiah preserved in the Greek translation, the Septuagint,
and a long form, preserved in the received Hebrew text.
- Stage 3: Collection of books
 1. The books of the OT began to be grouped by the subject matter of their books.
2. The books were separated into three different groupings; The Law, the Prophets, and the
Psalms.
3. This all happened around the end of the Babylonian captivity.
- Stage 4: The fixed canon
1. Around 160 BC, Judas Maccabeus compiles the fixed canon for the Jewish scriptures.
2. These are comprised of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.
3. This is the same Canon (canon referring to standard) that is used in the OT today.
- 73 vs 66 books
 In the Jewish tradition, there were some members of the Pharisees who did not believe that the
Greek Septuagint (had 7 books) was divinely inspired
 There was even a council of Judaism that rejected these books as their sacred scriptures.
 However, there were Jews who had been separated from the rest of Judaism during Babylonian
Captivity who did believe in these books were inspired.
 Jesus himself quotes the books of Tobit (one of seven) in the gospels.
 Whenever the first list of Sacred Scriptures was compiled in the Catholic Church, the 7 were
present.
 Luther agreed with Jewish council that said that the seven books were not divinely inspired.
 The seven books are Tobit, Judoth, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
 There also additions to the books of Esther and Daniel that are rejected by Luther.
 These books are called Dueterocanomical by Catholics and Orhtodx and Apocryphal by Jews and
Protestants.
 These books were rejected because they were not written in Hebrew (70 AD)
 The early Church did not require all Scripture to be written in Hebrew, and the New Testament
books were written in Greek.
 There is not a Church council that states anything less than a 73 book Bible.
 In fact, throughout the history f the Church, the 73 book Bible is reinforced htrough the
teachings of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit.
 In the 16th century, Martin Luther adopted the Jewish list putting the Dueteronamical books in
the appendix.
 He also ended up putting different books in the NT as well. (Letter of James and John and Paul’s
letter to the Hebrews)
 He did this because the teachings of these books disagreed with his own personal theology.
- The New Testament
o The early church accepted the NT books almost as soon as they were written.
o This is because the writers of the NT had close personal contact with Jesus or the
Apostles.
o In addition, the reports in the NT books lined up with what thousands of eyewitnesses
had seen for themselves.
o When other books were written hundreds of years later, it wasn’t difficult for the
Church to spot them as forgeries.
o For example, the Gospel of Judas was written by the Gnostic sect, around 130-170 A.D.:
 Gnostics sect were groups that claimed that God revealed more information to
them privately.
 o These and other Gnostic gospels conflicted with the known teachings of Jesus and the
OT, and often contained numerous historical and geographical errors.
o In A.D 367 St. Athanasisus formally listed the 27 NT books (the same list that we have
today)
o Soon after, St. Jerome and St. Augustine’s circulated this same list.
o These lists, however, were not necessary for the majority of Christaians> By and large
the whole church had recognized and used the same list of books since the first century
after Christ.
o These lists were necessary for those people who we not Christian or those who were
trying to add books of their own in a heretical manner.
o As Christianity grew outside of Greek speaking countries, more sects wanted to add
their own books to sacred scripture.
o The list (OT and NT) was approved by Pope Damasus I in 382 AD, and was formally
approved by the Church Council of Rome in that same year.
 Archeology supports the bible
o Archeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings,
cities, and festivals mentioned in the bible; even when historians didn’t think such
people or places existed.
 i.e. Pool at Bethsaida with five porticos; 40 feet underground.
o The Bible has a tremendous amount of historical detail, so not everything mentioned in
it has yet been found through archeology.
o However, not one archeological finds haven’t conflicted with what the Bible records
claim.
o Many of the ancient locations mentioned by Luke, in the Book of Acts in the NT, have
neem identified through archeology. Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities
and nine islands without an error.
o Archeology does not only supports the Bible, it also refutes claims about the Bible that
try to disprove it.
o Claim that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch because it was before writing.
 Writing was found from Hammurabi who lived centuries before Moses and even
Abraham
o Historians claimed that Abraham’s home city of Ur never existed.
 Archaeology found Ur and even found “Abram” written on one of it’s columns.
o Historians claimed that the City of Jericho that the city of Jericho never existed
 Jericho was found with crumbled walls just as the Bible says.
 The accuracy of translations
o Some people have the idea that the Bible has been translated “so many ties” that it has
become corrupted through stages of translating.
o Translations are actually made directly from original Greek Hebrew and Aramic source
texts based on thousands of ancient manuscripts
o The accuracy of today’s OT was confirmed in 1947 when archeologists found “The Dead
Seas Scrolls” along todays West Bank in Israel.
 o When comparing manuscripts at had with these, from 1,000 years earlier, we find
agreement 99.5% of the time. The .5% differences are minor spelling variances and
sentence structure that doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence.
o Few people doubt Plato’s writing for “The Republic”. It is a classic, written by Plato
around 380 B.C. The earliest copies we have of it are dated 900 A.D. which is a 1300
year time lag from when he wrote it. There are only seven copies in existence .
o Caser’s “Gallic Wars” were written around 100-44 BC The copies we have today are
dated 1000 years after he wrote it. We have ten copies.
o When it comes to the NT, written between 50-100 AD, there are more than 5000 copies.
All are within 50-225 years of their original writing.
o With this information, it is safe to say that the NT is humanity’s most reliable ancient
document.
o When it comes to Scripture, scribes (monks) were meticulous in their copying of original
manuscripts.
o They checked and rechecked their work, to make sure it perfectly matched. What the
NT writers originally wrote is preserved better than any other ancient manuscript.
o They did this not for their credibility, but also they believed that it was the Divine Word
of God and had no desire to be changed.
o We can be more certain of what we read about Jesus’ life and words, than we are
certain of the writings of Casear, Plato, Aristotle, and Homer.
 The Accuracy of the Gospels
o The Gospels are four separate biographical accounts which support and agree with each
other about the life or Jesus.
o Not only do we have well-preserved copies if these original manuscripts, we also have
testimony from both the Jewish and Roman historians.
o The gospels reported that Jesus of Nazareth performed many miracles, was executed by
the Romans, and rose from the dead.
o Numerous ancient historians back the Bible’s account of the life of Jesus.
 Other historians on the Bible
o Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55-120), a historian of the first-century Rome, is considered to be
one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world.
o An excerpt from Tacitus tells us that the Roman emperor Nero “inflicted the most
exquisite tortures on a class…called Christians.”
o “…Christus [Christ], from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty
during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus…”
o Tacitus confirms that Jesus did in fact live and that he suffered crucifixion. And he
supports that the Christians continued to exist and spread to the dismay of the Roman
Empire.
o Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (A.D. 38-100), wrote about Jesus in his Jewish
Antiquities.
o From Josephus, “we learn that Jesus was a wise man who did surprising feats, taught
many, won over followers from among Jews and Greeks, was believed to be the
Messiah, was accused by the Jewish leaders, was condemned to be crucified by Pilate,
and was considered to be resurrected.
 o We have proof from a different tradition than the Romans that Jesus did exist and die.
It even reaffirms the claim that Jesus resurrects.
o Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and Thallus also wrote about Christian worship and
persecution that is consistent with the NT accounts.
o Even the Jewish Talmud, certainly not biased toward Jesus, concurs about the major
events of his life.
o From the Talmud, “we learn that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock, gathered
disciples, made blasphemous claims about himself, and worked miracles, but these
miracles are attributed to sorcery and not to God.
o This is impressive considering that most ancient historians focused on political and
military leaders, not on obscure rabbis from distant provinces of the Roman Empire.
 Literary forms in scripture.
o In order interpret something that is human, we need to analyze letters, words, and
sentences, to discover their literal meaning.
o God uses these human instruments to convey the meaning of the Bible to us.
o We must not read the Bible as a novel, but rather as a whole with salvation history in
mind and that God has a personal message to each one of us.
o The Bible is inerrant, but that doesn’t mean that every interpretation of the Bible is
without error.
o This is why we must be careful as to the method that we apply interpretation to the
Bible.
o In order to understand the Bible fully, we need to take into account both the intentions
of God and the human authors.
o In order to under stand the human intentions, we must take into account the time,
culture, and literary forms that were used at that time.
o We also must be aware of the customary and characteristic patterns of perception,
speech, and narrative that prevailed at the time that the sacred writer wrote.
o Literary forms: Ways of writing that have heir own rules and are often used in a given
historical period to express different thoughts.
o We find the following literary forms in the Sacred Scripture: Historical, juridical,
prophetic, apocalyptic, wisdom literature, poetry, and epistle.
o Most of the Bile is written in simple languages and is easy to understand and is easy to
understand, however there are parts the have immense depth and require some literary
background to understand fully.
o To help understand the Bible, it is easier to break it down into books, chapters, and
verses in order to pinpoint the literary genre in each section.
 This is the first instance that we see literary form used to convey truths.
 In order to access these truths, we must understand the literary forms being
used.
o The best way to read the Bible is to understand the literal sense first.
o The literal sense is the way that the original readers understood the messgage of the
text.
 Who is in the story? What happens?
 o The literal reading of the Bible doesn’t mean that every word should betaken as fact.
Rather, it makes us sensitive to details that are being used as symbols anf metaphors.
o We are to avoid being literalistic, which only examines the words of what is being said
without the proper literary and historical context.
 Senses of the bible
o Literal
 The literal sense of the Bible is everything that the Holy Spirit intends to express
with words.
 Jesus: “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the
prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled…that the Christ would suffer
and on the 3rd day would rise from the dead
 Proper literal sense-Words taken in their ordinary meaning
 Improper literal sense- Words are taken in a figurative or metaphorical meaning
 These literary devices include metaphors, similes, hyperbole, parable,
allegory, fable.
 Both senses are used to reveal the same amount of truth.
o Spiritual
 We use the spiritual sense of the Bible to find connections between passage s in
the Bible that reveal God’s consistency in his actions toward us.
 We also use the spiritual sense to gain understanding of how God wants us to
act in our life based on different figures of the Bible.
 God uses the spiritual sense to reveal to his people to his people what words
alone cannot.
 The spiritual sense must be understood in faith.
 Jesus himself use the spiritual sense when he teaches us morals, talks about the
Kingdom of Heaven, and references the OT to explain his teachings.
 Three types of spiritual senses in the Bible:
 Allegorical sense: Shows us how people events in salvation history
point forward to other time
o i.e. The story of Abraham and his sacrifice of Isaac prefigures
the sacrifice of God’s only son Jesus on the cross.
 Moral sense: Shows how we can use what the heroes of scripture did
as a pattern for our own lives.
o i.e. The story of David’s adultery shows us no matter what we
do, we can still be forgiven.
 Anagogical sense: Shows us how the events we see in scripture points
upwards to what we know into heaven.
o i.e. The story of the Israelites entering the promised land shows
us that only some go to heaven.
 When we read in the spiritual sense, we must not forget about the literal sense
of the Bible.
 In fact, all spiritual sense is rooted in the literal sense so the two must work
together to reveal everything that God has wants us to understand.
 Not all senses are present in every passage of scripture.
  Many senses may be present in certain scriptures at the same time.
 i.e. The Israelites entering the promise land.
 How to read the Bible
o Where do you start?: The beginning of either Testament. Know Genesis and exodus of
the Gospels
o Look to the Church for guidance: The Bible was assembled by the Church and has heen
used for hundreds of years for the purpose of transmitting God’s word to all.
o Pray: The Bible is the Living Word of God, when we read it, we are entering into a
relationship with it. This is a perfect opportunity to enter into prayer.
o Faith: Just like anything else in Christianity, faith is need e to receive the fulness of Gods
revelation to us. The Bible acts in the same way.

Chapter ? Vocab:

- Moral sense: The spiritual interpretation of scripture that shows the saints of the Bible as the
pattern of Christian living.
- Spiritual Sense: The interpretation of the Bible that focuses on the spiritual signs and symbols of
the Bible which relate to its real events.
- Literary forms: The different styles of writing used to communicate a certain message in writing.
- Veracity: Reliability in communicating truths.
- Inerrancy: Having no mistakes or errors.

What I need to know:

- 20 multiple choice
o Know how many books are in catholic bible (73) vs. protestant bible (66)
 How many books are in the new and old testament.
 OT-46
 NT-27
 (Catholic Version)
o How many more books does the Catholic Bible have than the protestant bible? (7)
o Language septuigant is written in (Greek)
o Who compiles the first official list of the books of the bible? (St. Athanasius)
o Know about the Dead Sea scrolls (They were found in Israel off the shore of the Dead
Sea)
o How many manuscripts do we have of the NT? (More than 5,000)
o Who copied bible word-for-word? (Monks)
o Who was the Roman historian that we talked about in Religion? (he talked about Jesus
and his name was Cornelius Tacitus)
o Know the difference between the aligorical, the moral, and anagogical. (Aligorical-
foreshadows or relates events to the past. Moral-the spiritual interpretation of
 scripture that shows the Saints of the Bible as a pattern for Christian living. Anagogical-
Relates events to heaven.)
o Know primary author of the Bible (God)
o How long did it take the Bible to be written? (1500 years)
- True or False (20):
o Where the OT comes from.
o The OT and when was it written (
o Know 7 books that were taken out of the OT. (Tobit, Judoth, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom,
Sirach, and Baruch)
 (Know Septuigant and Martin Luther)
o How you are supposed to read the Bible
o Has the Catholic Church ever changed the Bible (NO)
- Short answer
o Two historians that talked about Jesus (Just name them. Cornealius Tacitus and )
- Essay (10 points)
o Explain how the OT and NT were formed? Were there any objections when they were
put together? Give two reasons to why people did or di not object the Bible.

Chapter 3
The Old Testament

- What is the OT?

o The OT is made up of books that were written before the time of Jesus.
o Together, the books of the OT tells the story of a journey to towards salvation. This
story leads right to Jesus and the entirety of the NT.
o The OT tells us of the promises that God gives His people that He eventually fulfills in
the NT.
o The OT outlines the History of God’s Chosen people (Israelites), and shows us how we
are now able to become that chosen people.
o The NT COMPLETES the OT. It doesn’t abolish it or make it obsolete.
- What does the OT tell us?
o The OT begins as an origin story for the human race.
 We learn that we were created in the image and likeness of God.
 We were created perfect.
 We were in perfect communion with God.
 We sinned and became imperfect.
 We lost our perfect communion with God.
o The Church permits us to believe in a literal translation of the creation story. However,
she encourages us to look at science and literary advancements to understand what the
true meaning of the Beginning of Genesis is.
o After the first sin, God could have let us to live in our sin and ultimately go to Hell
because of imperfection.
 o However, due to his infinite love for us, God decided to work in human history so that
we could become perfect again.
o Perfection is the key to full communion with God.
o In order for God’s love to be received properly, God knew that He would need to
reintroduce Himself to the Human Race, and allow us to encounter Him in human form.
o There also needs to be a sacrifice that would justify us for the sins that we committed.
o Jesus is the way he chooses to do this.
o The OT tells the story of how God reintroduces himself to the human race.
o He begins by forming a nation for his Son to be born into.
 Noah: Family
 Abraham: Tribe
 Moses: Nation
 David: Empire
o To begin the process of perfecting the human race, God gives His people the 10
Commandments.
o These are the “do nots” in a relationship with God, but is not all that needs to be done
for perfection.
o We can see from the example of the Israelites, that human race could not stay faithful
to God on their own.
o There were many times where the Israelites would turn away from God, fail to follow his
commandments, and worship other Gods.
o Each time this happened, God would allow the Israelites to experience the
consequences of their actions. This would lead to plague, disease, and even loss of their
homeland.
o This would give rise to the Prophets.
o It was the Prophet’s job to communicate between God and Israel. They would call them
out of their sin and warn them of the consequences that would come from their sin.
Finally, their prophecies would ultimately point to the coming of Jesus.
- The divisions of the OT
o The divisions of the OT: Pentateuch (five scrolls)
 The first five books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, and
Deuteronomy.
 The Pentateuch was the first collection of literature acknowledge as Scripture by
the Hebrew Community.
 The writing of these books has been ascribed to Moses. It holds supreme rank
in the OT canon in respect and holiness.
 The Hebrew-speaking Jewish community referred to the five books as “The
Law”, “Torah”, or “The Law of Moses”.
o The divisions of the OT: The Historical books
 Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 1st and 2nd Maccabees.
 These books continue to tell the history of Israel in a time period closer to our
current one.
 These books deal with Israel’s inconsistent relationship with God.
  They tell the story of how Israel gets its homeland, has leaders called judges,
and then kings. They also tell the story of how Israel grows from a tribe, to a
nation, and then to an empire.
 We also see how Israel disobeys God and they lose their homeland.
o The divisions of the OT: The poetic wisdom writings:
 These include: Job[e], Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, sirach, and song
of Solomon.
 Unlike classical and modern poetry, ancient Hebrew poetry has no distinctive
scheme of accentuation, meter of rhythm to differentiate from prose. It is
noted for its parallelism, or the counterbalancing of ideas in phrases.
 To the Hebrew, wisdom included skill in living and the powers o observation. It
also included the capacity of human intellect and the application of knowledge
and experience to daily life.
 All of this came from a viewpoint that was firmly rooted in “the fear of the
Lord”, which is the beginning of Wisdom.
o The divisions of the OT: The major prophets:
 These include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
 These books were declared “major” because of the amount of text, not because
they were considered more important than the “minor” prophetic books.
 God used the prophets to provide direction and wisdom during times of crisis.
 They were also used by God to remind the people of their covenantal promises.
 Prophecy in the Bible is part of God’s self revelation, by which we come to know
God through what he has one in the past and what He plans to do in the future.
o The divisions of the OT: The minor prophets:
 These include Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
 The books of the major and minor prophets were considered to be part of the
“classical prophecy” era of the OT.
 The classical era began in the eighth century during the reign of Jeroboam II in
the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos and Hosea were the earliest examples in
the north, while Malachi and Isaiah were the first known classical prophets in
the southern kingdom of Judah.
 These prophets addressed both the king and the people and became social-
spiritual commentators for the Jewish people.
- The Pentateuch
o In the 1800’s, scholars studying the Pentateuch tried to figure out the original sources of
the final versions of the five books.
o They gave each source a name which are usually known by their initials.
 J. the Yahwist: This source frequently uses the name Yahweh (I am who am) in
its passages. It is thought to represent the perspective of the Jews in Judah
(south) in the 9th or 10th century BC.
 E, the Elohist: This source frequently uses the name Elohist (God(s)) in its
passages. It is thought to represent the view of Jews in the northern kingdom in
the 8th or 9th century BC.
  D, the Deuteronomistic: Is believed to be the Author of the books of
Deuteronomy. This is believed to be written between the 7th century BC.
 P, the priestly: Is thought to be a later editor who revised all five books to
reflect the concerns of the Jewish priesthood after the return from the
Babylonian captivity.
 (Just need to know the initials and the meanings of the terms above)
o Genesis:
 The name comes from the Greek word for “origins”
 Tells the story of the creation of the world.
 Gives us the history and the beginning of Israel and their culture.
 Some of the most famous Bible stories are found in Genesis: Adam and Eve,
Noah and the flood, Abraham and Isaac, etc.
 The book ends with Joseph and his brothers thriving in the land of Egypt.
o Exodus
 Comes from the Greek word for “going out”
 Tells the story of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt.
 Shows us how the Israelites wandered throughout the desert (for 40 years) on
their way to Canaan, the promised land.
 It also contains the most important laws of the OT, the Ten Commandments,
which God gives to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
 We also learn about the fickle nature of the Israelite people and how they relate
to God.
o Leviticus:
 Named after the Levitical (from the tribe of Levi) priests of Israel.
 This is a book of laws that explains religious worship of the Israelite people.
Every detail is explicit since the Israelite people were known for breaking their
covenants with God.
o Numbers:
 Gives us a census of all the tribes of Israel.
 Tells us the story of the 40 years in the desert and the Israelites’ rebellion
against God.
o Deuteronomy:
 Come from the Greek for “second law”
 This book repeats some of the laws of the earlier books.

What is on the Chapter 3 test (On Friday):

15 True/False questions:

- Know the sections “what is the OT (start of the Bible completed by the NT), what does the OT
tell us (Tells us about the coming of Jesus before he was born), and know The Pentateuch (First
five scroll/books of the Bible)”.
- Random questions will be thrown in.
15 Multiple choice:

- Know how books are in the Bible-NT(27) and OT(46).

- First four questions on test are from last test. (About how many books are in the protestant
Bible (66) how many books are in the Catholic Bible (73) and know how many more books there
are in the Catholic Bible than there are in the Protestant Bible (7 more)
- Know the roles of the judges (lead Israel before Israel had kings), prophets (communicated
between God and Israel), kings (Became leaders of Israel after the judges and ruled during the
golden age), priests (Revise the five books?).
- Know the definition of the word “Pentateuch”(First five books of the Bible).
- Who lead Israel during their “Golden Age” (King David)
- Be familiar with the poetic and wisdom writings.
- Why are the major prophets called the major prophets (Because they had more texts than the
minor prophets).
- Know about the book of Exodus.

One short answer and an essay:

- List the five books of the Pentateuch in order:

o Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
- Write out the sources of scripture from the 1800’s and explain each one. List them and give an
explanation of why they are called what they are called.
o J. the Yahwist: This source frequently uses the name Yahweh (I am who am) in its
passages. It is thought to represent the perspective of the Jews in Judah (south) in the
9th or 10th century BC.
o E, the Elohist: This source frequently uses the name Elohim (God(s)) in its passages. It is
thought to represent the view of Jews in the northern kingdom in the 8th or 9th century
BC.
o D, the Deuteronomistic: Is believed to be the Author of the books of Deuteronomy.
This is believed to be written in the 7th century BC.
o P, the priestly: Is thought to be a later editor (more recent editor) who revised all five
books to reflect the concerns of the Jewish priesthood after the return from the
Babylonian captivity.
o (Just need to know the initials and the meanings of the terms above).
Vocab:

- Exegesis-The critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture.

- Genesis-The first book of the Bible that discusses the origin story of the human race of Israel.
- Protoevangelium- “first Gospel” which is the promise of the Messiah in Genesis 3:15
- Elohim-The Hebrew word for God.
- Yahweh-“I am Who am” the name God gives himself when speaking to Moses in the burning
bush.

- Origins of Abraham
o Abram (First name he had) or Abraham is widely regarded as the first Hebrew
o We find in the Bible that Abraham is a direct descendent of Noah through his son Shem.
o It was through Abraham’s descendants that:
 1. That the Jewish nation would arise,
 2. A people who would receive the covenant of the Lord
 3. One of those descendants would be the Savior, not only for the Jews but for
the whole world.
- History of Abraham
o Abraham lived in the city of Ur (capital of the ancient kingdom of Sumer)
o He lived sometime around 2,000 B.C.
o The Bible traces Abraham’s steeps from Ur to Haran (north of Canaan), through the land
of Canaan, into Egypt, and back into Canaan (which later became Israel)
o The land of Canaan is the Promised Land that the Lord eventually gives the Israelites
after they leave Egypt under Moses.
- Era of the Patriarchs
o The histories of the Pre-Egyptian Hebrews is generally called the age of the Patriarchs
(patriarch means “father-ruler”)
o Abraham would be the first of 3 patriarchs for the Hebrew People.
 Isaac and Jacob are the other two.
o ***(Remember, Abraham is the father, Isaac is his son, and Jacob is Isaac’s son)***
o The Patriarchs point to a period of tribal living for the Hebrew people which was made
up of extended family and servants or slaves.
o We are able to deduce three things from the Age of the Patriarchs.
 1. Yahweh’s people
 First, the history of the patriarchs indicates that the special election of
the Hebrews.
 In Hebrew history, Abraham and his descendants are selected by
Yahweh to be his chosen people over all other peoples.
 It is God who asks Abraham to move from his own country to various
places in the ancient world.
 It is also God who also changes Abram’s name to Abraham as a sign that
he is now one of God’s people.
  God has entered into a covenantal relationship with the Hebrews and
promises to protect them as a lord protects his servants. As servants,
then, the principle duty that Abraham and his descendants owe to God
is obedience.
 2. Everything is based off of kinship
 We lean from the story of Abraham that the early Hebrews are nomads,
wandering tribal groups who are organized along classic tribal logic.
 The Patriarchal society is principally organized around kinship with a
rigid kinship hierarchy.
 The relationship with God is also a kinship relationship:
o Anybody outside the kinship structure (anybody who isn’t a
descendant pf Abraham) is not included in the special
relationship with God.
o The Tribe would move according to God’s pleasing through the
relationship he had with Abraham.
 3. Nomadic People
 The third aspect that emerges is that these tribal groups of early
Hebrews wandered far and wide, that is, that they did not occupy the
lands around Palestine; this occupation would come considerably later.
 They seem to freely move form Palestine, across the deserts, and as far
as Egypt.
 At several points during the time of the Patriarch’s, Hebrew tribes move
to Egypt in order to find a better life.
 It would not be unfair to imagine that the Hebrews were among the
infinite variety of foreigners who overwhelmed Egypt at the end of the
Middle Kingdom.

Notes for test based off of Genesis and Abraham’s story:

- Abraham
o In the story of Abraham:
 we find the introduction of mysterious figures.
 The introduction of God and his angels.
 An affair with a servant
 A sacrifice of a son
 A covenant with 3 promises
 A sign of the covenant that is interesting
o Abraham enters into a covenant with God:
 3 promises of the covenant
 Abraham will have a great name. (Change from Abram to Abraham)
 Abraham will be a father of a great nation
 Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars.
 All 3 promises are fulfilled through Jesus.
o All Abraham has to do is obey God.
o The sign of the Covenant; circumcision to all males.
- Abraham and Isaac
o Abraham is unable to have a child with Sarah
 Sarah gives Abraham Haggar (her servant) to have a son with.
 They give birth to Ishmael
o Three visitors tell Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son.
 Abraham Laughs because of their old age
 Sarah also laughs about her old age and lies about it.
 They are promised a son by the time the men visit again next year.
o The son is to be named Isaac because it means “laughter” in Hebrew.
- Sarah and Isaac
o Over time, Sarah would become jealous of Isaac and Ishmael playing together.
o Just as she got jealous of Hagar before she had Isaac, she also gets jealous when she
actually has a son.
 This time she has power.
o Hagar and her son are sent away with their own group of servants and slaves.
o Isaac becomes the sole heir to Abraham.
- The Sacrifice
o God tells Abraham to take Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him.
o Abraham is addended by this but does what he was told.
o Isaac asks, ”Father where is the sacrifice.” Abraham answers, “God will provide the
sacrifice.”
o Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice up the mountain-symbolizes Jesus’ death.
o Once they reach the top, Abraham ties Isaac up.
o AN angel od the Lord stops Abraham and he is rewarded for his great faith.
o God provides a sacrifice.
 A ram caught in a thicket-Ram signifies the Lamb of God.
- Isaac’s wife
o Abraha, who is old in his age, sends his best servant to find a wife for his son is
Mesopotamia.
o The sign that God will give the servant is a specific answer to the question of, “May I
have a drink of water?”
 Specific quote is found in Genesis 24:14
o Rebekah fulfills this prophesy and the servant gives her a gold ring and bracelets.
o Rebekah agrees to marry Isaac, but does not stay the ten days requested by her mother.
She and the servant leave immediately.
- Isaac’s son
o Rebekah marries Isaac and they conceive twins.
 There is a great struggle within the womb
o When they were born, the first son was born with red hair. The second son emerged
grabbing the first one’s ankle.
 The first son was called Esau
 The second was called Jacob
o Esau became a great hunter while Jacob “lived in tents” and was the clever brother of
the two.
 o Esau becomes the favorite Isaac, while Jacob became the favorite of Rebekah.
- Isaac’s heir
o One day, Esau had not caught anything for a while and was close to death.
o He asked Jacob for some stew, but Jacob would only give it to him if Esau would give up
his birthright.
 Esau agrees and he no longer has the right to inherit Isaac’s heritage.
o Isaac grows old in age and cannot see. He asks for Esau to hunt and prepare a savory
meal.
 Rebekah over hears and tells Jacob
o Jacob takes goats from their own livestock and gives them to his mother to prepare the
meal.
o Jacob points out that he is not a hairy man, so Rebekah takes Esau’s best robe and put it
on Jacob.
 She also took goats skin and put it on his arms and neck.
o Jacob presents a meal to Isaac pretending to be Esau.
o Isaac is suspicious, so he asks to feel his hands and is convinced because of the hair on
them
 He also smelled the garments and tasted the food.
o Jacob receives the blessing of his father
 Esau is out raged and plans to kill Jacob when Isaac dies.
- Implications
o The birth right in the OT, would be given to the firstborn son of the household.
 They would receive twice as much inheritance as the other sons in the family.
o The blessing would be to determine who would be the head of the extended family.
o The blessing and the birthright could be given to separate sons if the father preferred
 The combination of both on the same firstborn son was expected and normal.
o Jacob receiving both indicates that the covenant of God and Abraham would be
continued through his line.

Test is on Tuesday

20 multiple choice

15 T/F

Some essays and short answers

Abraham’s father is Terah.

Terah has three sons:

1. Abraham
2. Haran

3. Nahor

Nahor’s son is Lot

Abraham’s two sons-Isaac and Ishmael

Sarah is Abraham’s wife-They conceive Isaac. Hagar, Abraham’s servant, conceives Ishmael.

Isaac is Rebekah’s wife-they conceive Jacob and Esau.

Know how many yrs. ago Abraham lived-2,000 years before Jesus, 4,000yrs. before us.

Know the patriarch are and the definition of a patriarch. The patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
patriarch means “father-ruler”

Abraham’s original name-Abram

What does Sarah do when she hears that she will give birth to Isaac-She laughs.

What was the sign of the covenant between Abraham and God-Circumcision of the males

T/F:

Know about Isaac’s sacrifice and the learning of Abraham’s wife having a son.

Know about the story of Jacob and Esau.

2 short answer questions:

Identify the three promises God gives Abraham:

Abraham will have a great name. (Change from Abram to Abraham). Abraham will be a father of a
great nation. Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars.

Difference between birthright and blessing:

The birth right in the OT, would be given to the firstborn son of the household. They would receive
twice as much inheritance as the other sons in the family. The blessing would be to determine who
would be the head of the extended family. The blessing and the birthright could be given to separate
sons if the father preferred.

Essay:
Summarize the story of Isaac and Jacob and explain the connection between Abraham’s sacrifice and
Jesus’ life.

- Jacob’s Dream
o After Jacob gains both the birthright and the blessing, he is sent away in search of a
wife.
o On his way to Haran Jacob has a dream
o He lays on a rock and envisions a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and
descending from heaven to earth.
o God is on the steps and promises Jacob the land he is sleeping on and his descendants
that will inhabit it. (reiteration of the promise to Abraham)
o Jacob makes a shrine to the spot by anointing the rock he slept on.
- Jacob’s wife
o Jacob travels to visit Laban, son of Nahor from which he will find his wife.
o Laban has two daughters: Leah and Rachel
 Leah is the older daughter and needs to be married off before Rachel can be
married.
 Jacob wants to marry Rachel (Leah has a lazy eye)
o Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years if he can marry Rachel.
o After 7 years, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah first.
 Jacob has to work another 7 years to marry Rachel.
o Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah
- Jacob’s legacy
o Leah bears hi six sons, handmaids bear him 4 sons, and Rachel bears him two sons.
 Rachel’s sons are named Joseph and Benjamin
o Jacob becomes very prosperous under Laban and is asked to leave with his family and
servants to find his own land.
o Jacob makes his living raising livestock, specially sheep.
o Jacob returns to the land of Canaan (land of Abraham) whenever Laban is no longer
friendly towards him.
- Jacob in trouble
o Laban pursues Jacob because Rachel has stolen wealth from Laban.
 Laban is also angry because the flocks that Jacob took originally belonged to him
o Laban lets Jacob keep everything if he promises to take care of his daughters until their
death.
o Jacob returns to his homeland and his scared that Esau will kill him so he prepares a gift
for him.
 He prepares two hundred sheep and goats.
o Instead of being enraged, Esau embraces his brother with a kiss and the brothers are
reunited.
- Jacob wrestles with God
o Thr night before Jacob reunites with esau, Jacob is alone and encounters a man
o They wrestle with eachother until daybreak with no success against one another
o The man hits Jacob in the hipsocket and dislocates its, but Jacob will not let go until he
blesses him.
o The man blesses him, but will not gove his name.

Covenant of God:

1. Adam and Eve (2) Was a personal covenant.

2. Noah and his family (8) Was a family relationship.

3. Abraham (50) Was a tribe covenant.