Short Essays for 1st Test (one of the following questions will
be on the test):
- Briefly describe what is meant by the canon of the Hebrew
Bible and the canon of the New Testament. Note: this information
will be covered only very briefly in class. It is found on pp.
11ff in the Cambridge Companion.
- How are the ancient Near Eastern parallel stories and the concepts of myth and mythopoeism helpful in reading the Genesis narratives? Cite at least two specific examples and define myth and mythopoeism. (hint: think about "polemic" as we discussed in class, the definitions covered in class, and the quote about the use of myth in Genesis on p. 51 in the Cambridge Companion). In your answer you may want to include examples from or references to the following stories that we read for class: The Enuma Elish stories; The Hymn to Ptah; The Stories of Adapa; The Stories of Gilgamesh; The Stories of Atrahasis; the Nuzi Archives.
- Describe the theme of "God alone establishing life"
in Genesis. Use specific examples from both the primeval history
and the ancestral narratives. Give 1 example from the Primeval
History of how humans act counter God's plan and then give 1
example from the ancestral narrative where humans' attempt to
aid God actually brings about complications that God has to work
through.
- Why would we refer to Genesis 12-50 as the Ancestral Narratives
instead of the Patriarchal Narratives? [Hints: consider the characterization
of women; be aware of why one might choose to refer to these
as the Patriarchal Narratives].
- Give two different examples of covenants made by God in Genesis.
Describe the form of the covenants, the participants, and the
significance of each one (hint: we have seen covenants with Noah,
Abraham, and Jacob).
- What is the motif of the divine council in Genesis, and what
are several passages in which this motif is used in the Bible?
Why is this an important motif?
- How does Abraham's sacrifice Isaac demonstrate his faith
in God? How does this event relate to the covenant between God
and Abraham and to the theme of "God alone establishing
life" in Genesis?
- Describe the reasons for locating the time period of the ancestral narratives to the Middle Bronze Age. Describe the rationale for locating the stories in the Late Bronze Age. How do the stories of Israel's ancestors transcend both periods? (hint: look at the Cambridge Companion, pp. 51-60 for this question).