List at least three of the initial problems which individuals in ancient times pointed out in the ancient text (p. 18). 1. The tradition of single authorship for the Pentateuch, the single author being Moses. 2. A contradiction in the text such as an event occurs in a particular order, later, it occurs in different order. 3. There is a problem with contradictions in numbers (e. g. populations, army size etc) 4. It would state that Moses went into the tabernacle in one chapter before the tabernacle was built. b. List some of the tradition-orientated responses to questions highlighting such problems?
In your answer, explain what Ibn Ezra thought of Ibn Yashush (p. 19). 1. Questions were rejected at first. 2. Rabbis had elaborate interpretations to explain it or they would argue these were obvious contradictions that were held within the boundaries of contradiction. 3. Moses was a prophet therefore; he knew beforehand what to write. Yashush pointed out that the list of Edomite kings in Genesis 36 named kings who reigned long after Moses’ death. Ezra thought Yashush’ book needed to be burned and he received the nickname from others, Isaac the Blunderer.
c. What were the three stages that literary criticism of the Pentateuch take after Ibn Ezra? (pp. 19-21). Stage 1 Alluded that several passages were not from Moses own hand such as passages written of Moses in third person,,terms unknown to Moses were used, described places Moses had never been and so on. Ezra was, however, unwilling to say outright that Moses was not the author of the five books. He simply wrote, “ And if you understand, then you will recognize the truth. ” Later, he states, “He who understands will keep silent. ” i.
Bonfils, Tostatus and Carlstadt – Bonfils decided not to keep silent. He wrote explicitly of passages written later in the Torah. Tostatus stated the same. Ex. Moses death – tradition is his successor Joshua wrote it. Carlstadt later argued that this passage was written in the same style and that Joshua or someone else only added a few lines. Stage 2 – Moses wrote the five books but editors went over them later. ii. Andreas van Maes, Benedict Pereira and Jacques Bonfrere – These three observed an original text from Moses that writers later expanded on.
Stage 3 – outright conclusion that Moses did not write the majority of the Pentateuch. iii. Thomas Hobbes, Isaac de la Peyrere, Spinoza – Hobbes collected passages, facts throughout the Pentateuch that were inconsistent with Mosaic authorship. The phrase “to this day” does not refer to someone writing in that day. Peyrere agreed and argued that the line “across the Jordan” refers to someone on the other side of the Jordan and Moses never made it to the other side of the Jordan. It appears that Spinoza wrote the most complete argument supporting this theory.
Used many passages such as those used in stage 1, the list of Edomite kings, and those that Hobbes and Peyrere used. He used the passage “there never arose another prophet… ” arguing that Moses could not have written this because it sounds as if the writer had witnessed and/or read about other prophets in OT history. iv. Richard Simon and John Hampden – Simon argued against Spinoza stating that the editing took place by scribes who were prophets of God wrote expansions of the Mosaic writings. His work was regarded in defense of the sanctity of the Bible.
Hampden translated Simon’s book into English but later recanted. II. History. Chapter 1. The World That Produced the Bible: 1200-722 B. C. a. List three ways by which David enhanced his kingdom’s unity (p. 39f. ). 1. Moved his capitol from Hebron to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was captured from the Jebusites and therefore, was no point of contention between the twelve tribes because it was never affiliated with a particular tribe. 2. United the Northern and Southern kingdoms by appointing two chief priests, one from Judah (the north) and one from Israel.
He married women from regions of political importance. This increased diplomacy with surrounding regions. b. Identify the identity, political and religious ties and fates of Adonijah, Solomon, Abiathar and Zadok and Joab. Which of these men ended up in Anathoth? (p. 42, 47 bottom). Abiathar and Zadok were both the chief priests of the north and south respectively. Adonijah was David’s oldest son and Solomon was the son of David’s favorite wife, Bathsheba. These two brothers basically wrestled for control of the throne in David’s old age but David had already chosen Solomon.
On one side you had Solomon’s supporters; Joab (the general of the army) and the army, Bathsheba and Zadok and on the other side you had Adonijahs supporters; other princes and Abiathar. Solomon, in his wisdom, waited until David’s death to have Adonijah executed and Abiathar was stripped of his priesthood and excommunicated to Anathoth. c. Explain the significance of the following terms: Abiathar, taxes, Hiram, administrative districts, missim (p. 43-45, 47). When Abiathar was removed from priesthood, he was not replaced.
This combined with high taxes in order to build the temple, palaces and other great projects along with lack of protection in the North cause a split between the north and the south again. Hiram helped Solomon in building the temple by providing a lot of raw materials and in return, Solomon gave Hiram a tract of northern Israelite territory. He divided twleve regions for providing the courts with food one month out of the year and elected officials over those twelve districts. The districts did not correspond with the twelve tribal regions of Israel.
He also employed missim, which refers to the citizens having to work for the kingdom for free, one month out of the year. d. Explain the identities of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Jerusalem, Schechem, Bethel and Dan, Shiloh. (p. 45-47). 1. The kingdom of Israel was once again split and each kingdom needed a king. Rehoboam ruled Israel from Jerusalem and Jeroboam made Shechem the new capital of Judah. The cities of Dan and Beth-El wre the new religious centers for the north and Jerusalem was the religious center of the south. Many of the Levite priests came from Shiloh and it was where the Ark was held during the period of the judges.
Notables of Shiloh were Samuel and Abiathar. e. What is the significance of the fact that the prophet Ahijah came from Shiloh? What, according to Friedman, happened to the Shilonite priests? (p. 47-48). There was no Levitical successor as Priest to Jerusalem and the Levitical priests where Shilonite. The priests that came from Shiloh suffered the most when Solomon gave Hiram the twenty cities. Ahijah was Shilonite and he designated Jeroboam king of the north. But, even after Ahijah designated Jeroboam as king, the king did not elect the Shilonite priests into positions at Beth-El or Dan.