Scripture StudiesScripture StudiesChapter 2Chapter 2

The Old TestamentThe Old Testament

The Old Testament

Read:Matthew 5:17-48Romans 3:1-4:12

The Old Testament

The prophecy of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus

The Old Testament

CCC 121:The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value,92 for the Old Covenant has never been revoked. (1093)

The Old Testament

CCC122: Indeed, “the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men.”93 “Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional,”94 the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God’s saving love: these writings “are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way.”95 (702, 763, 708, 2568)

The Old Testament

The Books of the Old TestamentLawHistoryWisdomProphecy

The Old Testament

The LawGenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomy

The Old Testament

The “JEDP” theory of the PentateuchJ: “Yahwist” or “Jehovist” sourceE: “Elohist” sourceD: “Deuteronomic” sourceP: “Priestly” source

The Old Testament

HistoryJoshuaJudges Ruth1 Samuel2 Samuel

The Old Testament

History1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 Chronicles

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HistoryEzraNehemiahTobitJudithEsther

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JoshuaTells how the Israelites, led by

Joshua, the successor of Moses, began their conquest of Canaan

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Judges Continues the story of the conquest of Canaan

and the death of Joshua It tells how, time and time again, the people of

Israel were unfaithful to God And how as a punishment He let them fall into

the hands of their enemies Each time, when they repented, God sent a

“Judge” to be their leader and save them

The Old Testament

Ruth Set in the time of the Judges, the book of Ruth

tells the story of a foreign woman who converts to the worship of the one true God.

She marries Boaz, a wealthy Israelite Her great-grandson David would be king of

Israel Therefore she is also the human ancestor of

Jesus

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1 Samuel Tells the tragic story of Saul, the first king of

Israel Saul was anointed king by the prophet Samuel Starts out well but loses God’s favor by his

disobedience Involves Israel in a long civil war with his

successor David

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2 Samuel Continues the story of David after the death of

Saul God’s everlasting covenant with David makes

Jerusalem the religious center of the world David builds the nation of Israel into a strong

power, but also suffers the consequences of his sin.

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1 Kings Continues with the reign of David’s son

Solomon, who is famous for his wisdom and makes Israel a mighty empire

Much of the book is taken up with the most important event of Solomon’s reign: the building of the Temple in Jerusalem

Solomon and his successors fall into idolatry, and God rebukes them through Elijah

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2 Kings Tells how Israel’s two kingdoms, Judah and

Israel, become deeply divided by falling away from God and turning to foreign idols

Finally God allows both kingdoms to be conquered and destroyed

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1 Chronicles Continues the history of 1 and 2 Samuel, but

from another point of view Emphasizes the religious aspect of David’s

reign Especially his preparations for building the

Temple

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2 Chronicles Continuation of 1 Chronicles Retells some of the events of 1 and 2 Kings Emphasizes the kingdom of Judah

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Ezra Tells how some of the Jews are allowed to

return to Israel after a long exile in Babylon Tells how they rebuild the Temple and try to

restore the worship of the true God

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Nehemiah Continues the story begun in Ezra, telling how

the returned exiles restore the city of Jerusalem and promise to live by the law of Moses

Much of the book is from the memoirs of governor Nehemiah

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Tobit The story of a pious man, who follows the Law

even in exile His son is faithful to the Lord Son ends up rich and happily married

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Judith Tells how a heroic woman saves Israel by a

clever strategy Her success comes about because she trusted

in God

The Old Testament

Esther Tells the story of a heroic Israelite woman who

becomes Queen of Persia She saves the Jewish people from the plots of

evil enemies

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Wisdom Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon Wisdom Sirach

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Job Why does God let bad things happen to good

people? A long debate between Job’s friends on this

puzzle They insist that God rewards good and

punishes evil Job insists that it doesn’t always happen that

way

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Psalms Psalms is a collection of religious songs and

poems, many of them attributed to king David The greatest religious poetry ever composed is

in the book of Psalms We hear it every day in our liturgy And many phrases common in our language

comes from Psalms

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Proverbs Proverbs is a collection of sayings Many of them are attributed to king Solomon Each one gives an important truth in a short

and memorable form Many are in the form of “ . . . ” but “. . . ”

The Old Testament

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes is a long meditation on vanity The complete pointlessness of worldly things Nothing in this world is lastingly worthwhile The only thing that matters is God

The Old Testament

Song of Solomon The world’s most famous love poem A bride and groom speak of their love for one

another Since earliest times, the Church has seen the

poem as an allegory of Christ’s love for his Church

The Old Testament

Wisdom Full title is The Wisdom of Solomon A poem in praise of wisdom Includes a long section on how patient God

has been with human folly

The Old Testament

Sirach A book about how to live a good life How to live in the real world without

compromising our faith in God

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Prophecy Prophecy means to speak in place of or for

someone else Prophets were called to speak for God without

regard for their station in society Abraham was the first prophet Most prophets were men

The Old Testament

Prophecy Prophets sometimes did not appear for long

periods, but showed up when the people were in need

This especially happened during the 11th century – 5th century

God sent prophets to guide his people regularly

The Old Testament

Prophecy (Major Prophets) Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch Ezekiel Daniel

The Old Testament

Prophecy (Minor Prophets) Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum

The Old Testament

Prophecy (Minor Prophets) Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

The Old Testament

Isaiah Isaiah contains some of the clearest

prophecies in the Old Testament of the coming of Christ

Warns of the disaster that will befall Israel if the people do not turn back to God

Promises redemption to the people even though they have sinned

The Old Testament

Isaiah was probably written and edited in at least two parts at different times and by different authors

Probably done during the Babylonian exile

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Old Testament Timeline Genesis – impossible to assign a timeline to

the events of Genesis Ca. 2120 BC – God calls Abram (Abraham) to

go to the land of Canaan. Time of the Patriarchs

Ca. 1906 BC – Jacob and his sons go to Egypt Ca. 1836 BC – Joseph dies in Egypt

The Old Testament

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Deuteronomy and Job probably composed/conflated during this period

Ca. 1571 BC – Moses born Ca. 1484 BC – traditional dating of the events

described in Job Ca. 1446 BC – God appears to Moses,

Israelites escape from Egypt

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

Ca. 1406 BC – Moses dies within sight of the Promised Land

Joshua, Judges, Ruth composed during this period

Ca.1406 BC – Israel begins conquest of Canaan under Joshua

Ca. 1366 BC – Joshua dies Ca, 1350-1050 BC – traditional date of events

in Book of Ruth

The Old Testament

Ca. 1120 BC – Samson is born 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings (begun), 1

Chronicles, 2 Chronicles (begun), Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom probably composed during this period

Ca. 1155 BC – Samuel is born Ca. 1050 BC – Saul becomes king of Israel Ca. 1010 BC – David becomes king

The Old Testament

Ca. 970 BC – Solomon becomes king Ca. 930 BC – Solomon dies 1 Kings (finished), 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles

(finished) Tobit, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos

Ca. 930 BC – Rehoboam becomes king Ca. 926 BC – The ten northern tribes revolt

against Rehoboah

The Old Testament

Ca. 912 BC – Elijah begins his career as a prophet

Ca. 896 BC – Elijah is taken up into heaven Ca 721 BC – Assyrians conquer Israel and

take ten tribes into captivity Ca. 705 BC – Traditional date of the events

described in Tobit

The Old Testament

Judith, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel Ca. 586 BC – Babylonians destroy Jerusalem,

raze the Temple, and carry Judah into captivity Ca. 539 BC – Cyrus (Persian king) conquers

Babylon Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah,

Malachi, Sirach written during this period Ca. 537 BC – Decree of Cyrus allows Jews to

return to Jerusalem

The Old Testament

Ca. 515 BC – after some delay and opposition by the Samaritans, the Second Temple is built

Ca. 336 BC – Alexander the Great begins his conquests

Ca. 175 BC – Antiochus Epiphanes becomes king

The Old Testament

Antiochus Epiphanes was determined to destroy all worship of the “One True God”

He believed that public acts of extreme cruelty would discourage the Jews from following their God

Ca. 167 BC – Persecution of the Jews, revolt begins

The Old Testament

Antiochus’ mistake was underestimating the devotion and faith of the Israelites

The Maccabean Revolt led eventually to independence

1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees is written Ca. 164 BC – Temple rededicated Ca. 134 BC – John Hyrcanus becomes high

priest

The Old Testament

Typology When we read the Old Testament, we see

many things that point to events in the New Testament, the coming of the Messiah

Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac points to God’s sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross

Thus we say that Isaac it a “type” (prototype) of Christ

The study of “types” such as this in the Old Testament is called Typology

The Old Testament

Typology is a way of teaching by analogy We explain the new in term of the old

The Old Testament

Fulfill Genealogy Law Old Testament Pentateuch Prophet Type Typology Wisdom Literature

The Old Testament

Who came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament?

The Old Testament

Which two historical figures does Matthew mention as ancestors of Jesus Christ at the beginning of his Gospel?

The Old Testament

Where is the Old Testament perfected?

The Old Testament

What does the New Testament accomplish?

The Old Testament

What does Jesus’ genealogy indicate?

The Old Testament

What are the four main types of books in the Old Testament?

The Old Testament

Which books are the books of the law?

The Old Testament

What are other names for the books of the law?

The Old Testament

What does the word “Pentateuch” mean?

The Old Testament

What do the historical books describe?

The Old Testament

Which book includes many religious poems attributed to David?

The Old Testament

Which three books of the Old Testament are named for women?

The Old Testament

Why are the books from Hosea to Malachi called “Minor Prophets?”

The Old Testament

What can we discover from reading the Old Testament?

The Old Testament

What are biblical types?

The Old Testament

How did the Old Testament writers date events?

The Old Testament

What are the names of the four sources which contributed to the compilation of the Pentateuch?

The Old Testament

What is a “heresy?”