AHSS 2360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Talmud, National Epic, God Speaks
28 Jun 2018
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Week 2: Judaism
The Bible
-The Bible has many names: Tanakh, Old Testament, Hebrew Bible
-The proper Jewish term for the Bible is Torah; Torah is sacred history
-The message of the Torah sustained the people in Exile; Portable homeland
-Not a history book for Jews—it is the word of God, the story of an encounter (what we call
revelation); gives meaning to history
The Five Books of Moses
1. Genesis: Divided into two parts:
-Gen. 1-11: world history, no mention of the Israelites (this is new)
-Gen. 11-: a history of the patriarchs and their families
2. Exodus: The “national” epic of the Jewish people; The story of exile, slavery, wandering, and
miraculous liberation, Ten Commandments and Revelation at Mt. Sinai
3. Leviticus: A complex book of holiness codes; building of the Temple
4. Numbers: Census of the people; creation of the priesthood; rebellion against Moses
5. Deuteronomy: 3 long sermons by Moses; reminders about following divine law; reconfirm
loyalty to and trust in the God of Israel; wandering in the desert/wilderness but eventually
reaching the Promised Land
The Prophets
-Two periods of prophecy:
-Pre-classical: Samuel to Amos (1050BCE-750BCE); usually concerned with war and
peace; also, fighting syncretism
-Classical: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah (750BCE-550BCE); they are lone individuals called by
God to get the people to repent; remind them of the covenant; messianic idea
-The central message of the prophets was moral righteousness
-A prophet is not someone who predicts the future, but who speaks the word of God
The Writings
-The Writings are somewhat miscellaneous, varying from poetry (Psalms), to wisdom literature
(Job), to quite secular stories (Esther), to the strange (Daniel)
-Psalms: perhaps the most famous poetry ever written (“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want,” “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”) [Psalm 23]
-Job: takes on the question of theodicy, of God’s justice, of why the wicked seem to prosper and
the righteous are punished
-Esther: the only book where God is not mentioned
Genesis 1
-The story of creation, from God’s point of view
-6 days of creation; On the 7th day, rest is created
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The bible has many names: tanakh, old testament, hebrew bible. The proper jewish term for the bible is torah; torah is sacred history. The message of the torah sustained the people in exile; portable homeland. Not a history book for jews it is the word of god, the story of an encounter (what we call revelation); gives meaning to history. The five books of moses: genesis: divided into two parts: Gen. 1-11: world history, no mention of the israelites (this is new) Gen. 11-: a history of the patriarchs and their families: exodus: the national epic of the jewish people; the story of exile, slavery, wandering, and miraculous liberation, ten commandments and revelation at mt. Pre-classical: samuel to amos (1050bce-750bce); usually concerned with war and peace; also, fighting syncretism. Classical: isaiah, ezekiel, jeremiah (750bce-550bce); they are lone individuals called by. God to get the people to repent; remind them of the covenant; messianic idea.
