This lecture provides an introduction to the literature of the Hebrew Bible and its structure and contents. Common misconceptions about the Bible are dispelled: the Bible is a library of books from diverse times and places rather than a single, unified book; biblical narratives contain complex themes and realistic characters and are not "pious parables" about saintly persons; the Bible is a literarily sophisticated narrative not for children; the Bible is an account of the odyssey of a people rather than a book of theology; and finally, the Bible was written by many human contributors with diverse perspectives and viewpoints.
This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization. A wide range of methodologies, including source criticism and the historical-critical school, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and literary and canonical approaches are applied to the study and interpretation of the Bible. Special emphasis is placed on the Bible against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East.
Note - due to copyright limitations, only three lectures from this course appear below. For the remainder of the lectures, please visit: Open Yale Courses - Introduction to the Old Testament
Text Book: [The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation] (Amazon) | Text Book: [The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures] (Amazon) | Lecture Transcript and Reading Assignment
