Old Testament introduction : text, interpretation, structure, themes

320 Pages·2016·3.102 MB·English

by  Routledge, Robin

Robin Routledge has now produced an invaluable companion volume to his highly successful Old
Testament Theology. He gives a comprehensive orientation to all the dimensions of the study of the Old
Testament, including canon, text, criticism and forms of interpretation, as well as an in-depth treatment of
each individual book, and extensive bibliographical resources. Scholarly and lucid, it is designed
especially for those who want to understand how to read the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, while
doing justice to its nuances and enormous diversity. I commend it warmly.
Gordon McConville, Professor of Old Testament Theology, University of Gloucestershire

APOLLOS (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press)
36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4ST, England
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ivpbooks.com
© Robin Routledge, 2016
Robin Routledge has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
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Unless stated otherwise, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, a member of the Hachette UK Group. All
rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Anglicized edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked AV are from the Authorized Version of the Bible (The King James Bible), the rights in which are vested in the
Crown, and are reproduced by permission of the Crown’s Patentee, Cambridge University Press.
First published 2016
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978–1–78359–429–0
eBook ISBN: 978–1–78359–488–7
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Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. The significance of the Old Testament
What’s in a name?
The Christian significance of the Old Testament
The Old Testament as revelation
2. What is the Old Testament? Canon and text
The Old Testament canon
The text of the Old Testament: textual criticism
Historical criticism
3. The Old Testament in its context
The geographical background
The historical background
The Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern literature
4. What kind of text?
Genre criticism
Poetry
Old Testament narrative
Prophecy
Wisdom literature
Apocalyptic
5. Interpreting the Old Testament
The ‘meaning’ of a text
Approaches to the interpretation of the Old Testament
Meaning and the author’s intention
6. The Pentateuch
Introduction to the Pentateuch
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
7. The Former Prophets
The Deuteronomistic History
Joshua
Judges
1 and 2 Samuel
1 and 2 Kings
8. The Latter Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
The Twelve (Minor Prophets)
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
9. The Writings
Psalms
Job
Proverbs
The mĕgillôt (scrolls)
Ruth
Song of Songs
Ecclesiastes
Lamentations
Esther
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles
Further reading
Old Testament canon
Historicity of the Old Testament
Wisdom teaching in the Old Testament
Bibliography
Search names for modern authors
Search items for subjects
Search items for Scripture references
Notes
Preface
The OT is part of the canon of Christian Scripture, and as such has continuing significance for the church.
However, the writings are set within a different historical era, a different culture and a different religious
context that often incorporates unfamiliar worship practices. As a result, in order to understand the OT in
a meaningful way, it must be read against its historical, cultural and theological background. My aim here
is to provide readers with the relevant information to enable them to engage with the text. This will
include discussion of date, authorship, the writers’ intention and purpose, as well as significant textual
issues. It will include, too, discussion of key scholarly approaches to the text, including historical-critical
and literary approaches. And, because a key aim in facilitating understanding of the OT is that Christian
believers are better able to interpret the text in order to apply it to current belief and praxis, it will also
include substantial discussion of exegetical and hermeneutical approaches to the OT. There has been an
increase in discussions in these areas in recent years, and it is easy for readers to become overwhelmed
with the volume of material available. Part of the intention of this OT introduction is to provide an
overview of relevant approaches, and to offer some guidance through what can appear to be a maze of
new treatments and terminology. There will also be some discussion of key theological themes; though
this will be kept to a minimum. For a more detailed treatment of theological issues, the reader is referred
to commentaries and OT theologies, including my own.
Of course, it is impossible to look at the OT without considering the books that make it up, and there
will also be some discussion of individual books, but because of the constraints of space, that must,
necessarily, be limited. There will, however, be substantial footnotes, which point to more detailed
discussion, and references to key texts for further reading, including lists of commentaries on individual
books.
Following the discussion in the opening chapter of the significance of the OT, which seems a necessary
starting point in that it is what justifies and motivates the study of the text, it seems logical, next, to
enquire in more detail into what constitutes the OT. That, too, seems determinative for all that follows,
and so chapter 2 focuses on the canon and text of the OT. Because of the significance of context, chapter 3
goes on to consider the world in which the OT came to be written: primarily its geographical, historical
and literary background. This is followed by discussion of different genres present in the OT and the
significance of genre for interpretation (ch. 4). Then, with much of the groundwork set out, chapter 5 will
look, more particularly, at exegetical and hermeneutical approaches to the text, including what has
become an important area of recent discussion: the location of a text’s meaning, and the significance of the
author’s intention. The rest of the volume will then offer more specific introductions to the sections of the
OT and of individual OT books; noting key distinctive issues and pointing to sources for further study. For
convenience, particularly in the grouping of similar material, this follows the canonical order of the
Hebrew text.
Like my previous volume, this book has grown out of a teaching context, and it is my hope that it will
be of value to students. It has also grown out of many years of experience as a Christian minister, and I
hope, too, that the emphasis on interpretation will be helpful to those teaching and preaching on OT texts.
As before, I refer to and , rather than the more widespread and , reflecting my conviction
BC AD BCE CE
that the coming of Jesus Christ marks a turning point in history, and that, while it has significance in its
own right, the OT also points forward to, and finds its fulfilment in, him.
Acknowledgments
This book is the result of several years’ work, and I want to express my thanks to those who have helped
me reach this point with it. I continue to be indebted to Martin Selman, who nurtured my love for the OT,
and to John Rogerson, who encouraged me throughout my PhD studies. I am grateful, too, for friends and
colleagues at Mattersey Hall, and to several cohorts of students, at Mattersey and elsewhere around the
world, who have helped me ‘try out’ and develop the material that has found its way into this volume.
Their comments and challenging questions have been very valuable in keeping me on my toes, and helping
me to produce a volume that, I trust, will be useful to them and others.
My thanks, too, to Philip Duce, Eldo Barkhuizen and the team at IVP and SPCK, for their support,
encouragement, hard work and considerable patience, especially during the recent period of significant
transition.
Finally, my thanks to my family. To my wife and best friend, Ailsa, who has patiently borne with me
when I have kept disappearing into the study to ‘do just a little bit more’. I am glad that I can now answer
her frequent, and quite understandable, question ‘Isn’t it finished yet?!’ in the affirmative. Thanks, too, to
my children and especially the grandchildren, Darcey, Rex, Lucas and Leo, who have seen much less of
me over the last year or two than they might have liked. Whenever they come round they are now
accustomed to go straight to the study to look for Granda. I am sure they think I live there! They seem to be
of the opinion that playing with them should be my first priority. Darcey (6) recently asked me ‘Are you
being an author?’ When I rather proudly said that I was, she replied ‘Well stop it.’ Now that this book is
finished, I hope to be able to give them a little more attention. My apologies to them, though, that there are
not more pictures!
Abbreviations
1QIsaa – 1QIsaiaha (1QIsaiah) (Dead Sea Scrolls)
1QpHab – Habakkuk commentary (Dead Sea Scrolls)
4QDanc – 4QDanielc (Dead Sea Scrolls)
4QJera – 4QJeremiaha (Dead Sea Scrolls)
4QJerb – 4QJeremiahb (Dead Sea Scrolls)
4QJerc – 4QJeremiahc (Dead Sea Scrolls)
4QMMT – 4Q Miq�at Ma‘aśe Ha-Torah (Dead Sea Scrolls)
11QTgJob – 11Q Job Targum (Dead Sea Scrolls)
AB – Anchor Bible
ABD – Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D. N. Freedman, 6 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1992)
AbOTC – Abingdon Old Testament Commentary
ABRL – Anchor Bible Reference Library
Ag. Ap. – Against Apion (Josephus)
ANE – ancient Near East, ancient Near Eastern
AOTC – Apollos Old Testament Commentary
AS – Assyriological Studies
ATJ – Ashland Theological Journal
AUSS – Andrews University Seminary Studies
– Authorized (King James) Version
AV
BA – Biblical Archaeologist
BAR – Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR – Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
b. B. Bat. – Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra
BBR – Bulletin for Biblical Research
BCOTWP – Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms
b. �ag. – Babylonian Talmud �agigah
Bib – Biblica
BLS – Bible and Literature Series
b. Meg. – Babylonian Talmud Megillah
b. Menaḥ. – Babylonian Talmud Menaḥot
b. Šabb. – Babylonian Talmud Šabbat
BSac – Bibliotheca sacra
BSL – Biblical Studies Library
BST – The Bible Speaks Today
BT – Bible Translator
BTB – Biblical Theology Bulletin
b. Yebam. – Babylonian Talmud Yebamot
BZAW – Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
CBC – Cambridge Bible Commentary
CBQ – Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBR – Currents in Biblical Research
CC – Continental Commentary
ChrCent – Christian Century
COS – The Context of a Scripture: Canonical Compositions, Monumental Inscriptions and Archival
Documents from the Biblical World, ed. William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger Jr., 3 vols.
(Leiden: Brill, 2003)
CTJ – Calvin Theological Journal
CTM – Concordia Theological Monthly
CurBR – Currents in Biblical Research
DBI – Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, ed. L. Ryken, J. C. Wilhoit and T. Longman III (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1998)
DH – Deuteronomistic History
DOTHB – Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, ed. Bill T. Arnold and H. G. M.
Williamson (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2005)
DOTP – Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, ed. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003)
DOTPr – Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, ed. Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press; Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2012)
DOTWPW – Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings, ed. Tremper Longman III
and Peter Enns (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press; Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008)
DSB – Daily Study Bible
DTIB – Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, ed. Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2005)
EA – El-Amarna tablets, numbered according to J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna Tafeln: mit einleitung
und erläuterungen herausgegeben, 2 vols. (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1915), and A. F. Rainey, El-Amarna
Tablets 359–379: Supplement to J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna Tafeln, 2nd ed., Alter Orient und
Altes Testament 8 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1978)
ECC – Eerdmans Critical Commentary
EJT – European Journal of Theology
Enc – Encounter
EvQ – Evangelical Quarterly
– English versions
EVV
ExAud – Ex auditu
FAT – Forschungen zum Alten Testament
FCB – Feminist Companion to the Bible
FOTL – Forms of Old Testament Literature
GBS – Guides to Biblical Scholarship
Ger. – German
Gk – Greek
GTJ – Grace Theological Journal
HAR – Hebrew Annual Review
HBM – Hebrew Bible Monographs
Heb. – Hebrew
HSM – Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR – Harvard Theological Review
HTS – Harvard Theological Studies
HTS – Hervormde Teologiese Studies