Jackson Gordon

2 How We Got the Old Testament

5 min read

Previous Lecture | Next Lecture

  1. Introduction
    1. The Heresy of Marcion:
      1. Marcion’s Belief: Viewed the Old Testament God as different from the New Testament God.
      2. Marcion’s Solution: Removed the Old Testament, most of the Gospels and letters of Paul, creating a much slimmed-down Bible.
      3. Rejection of Marcion: Christians rejected his teachings due to a belief in one unified God & the need for continuity from the Old to New Testaments.
    2. Question Posed: Do we really need the Old Testament? Would we be okay without it?
    3. Analogies for the Need of the Old Testament:
      1. Literature: Can’t start the Lord of the Rings with Return of the King; we need the preceding stories.
      2. Sports: Can’t start a baseball game in the 7th Inning.
      3. The Old Testament is the beginning of the salvation story.
        1. Support: Scott McKnight: “the story of Jesus makes sense only as it follows and completes the story of Israel.”
    4. Function of the Old Testament: The Old Testament is the first part of the story of Jesus.
  2. The Authorship and Development of the Old Testament
    1. God as Author:
      1. The Ten Commandments: Directly written by God on tablets of stone.
    2. Human Authors
      1. Moses: First human author; wrote the first five books (the Torah/Law).
      2. Other Authors: Prophets, kings, and chroniclers contributed over time.
    3. Loss and Rediscovery of the Law:
      1. Over time, God’s Law was ignored and lost.
      2. The Law was rediscovered to bring a short revival in the 7th Century BC.
      3. God’s people eventually rejected God’s ways, resulting in Exile
    4. Return from Exile:
      1. Ezra the Scribe : Possibly gathered and organized Old Testament texts, or was involved in the final form.
    5. Arrangement of the Old Testament:
      1. Three distinct sections:
        1. index: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
        2. Nevi’im - Prophets: Includes most prophetic books, as well as some historical books that are classified as such: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, & Kings.
        3. Ketuvim - Writings: Poetry, wisdom literature (e.g., Job, Psalms), and some additional historical books: Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
      2. Jesus’s Reference to the The Hebrew Bible: “The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).
  3. Languages and Transmission of the Old Testament
    1. Original Languages:
      1. Hebrew: Primarily used, written in Paleo-Hebrew (old Hebrew), later Square-script Hebrew.
        1. Support: the square script being borrowed from Aramaic
      2. Aramaic: Used for some sections in Daniel and Ezra, and became a first language of many Jews living in exile.
        1. Support: translation required for the reading of God’s Law (Nehemiah 8)
    2. The Work of Scribes:
      1. Mazarites:
      2. Emerged in the late 5th century AD.
      3. Standardized scribal practices for careful copying.
      4. Counted words, middle word, middle letter, spaces.
      5. Added vowel points from Adonai to the divine name Yahweh.
        1. Support: the vowel point usage meant that Yahweh was translated as Jehovah.
    3. Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls:
      1. Location: Qumran, by the Dead Sea.
      2. Date: Discovered in 1947.
      3. Contents: Over 900 ancient documents, including Old Testament texts.
      4. Importance: Showed remarkable stability of the Old Testament text over centuries.
        1. Support: A scroll of Isaiah was found that showed wording to be substantially the same as texts a thousand years later.
        2. Clarification: Some variations were apparent, but with no noticeable change in understanding of God’s work.
      5. Conclusion: The Old Testament text was preserved sufficiently to receive the inspired message.
  4. The Canon of the Old Testament
    1. The Concept of Canon:
      1. Definition: A measuring stick for the limits of inspired texts. A canon of scripture are the texts that were believed authoritative for the people of God.
      2. Greek Origin: “Kanon” (a measuring reed, “a yard stick”)
    2. The Septuagint:
      1. Greek Translation: Translation of Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures second and third centuries BC
      2. Inclusion of Extra Books: The translation included additional Jewish writings.
      3. Name Origin: “Septuagint” (70 in Latin, abbreviated as LXX).
    3. Jerome’s Latin Translation:
      1. Jerome’s Knowledge: Studied Hebrew and translated from the original languages
      2. Inclusion: He included the extra books, calling them the Apocrypha (“hidden things.“)
      3. Role of Apocrypha: Jerome argued that Apocrypha was not to be used to determine church doctrine
    4. Augustine’s View:
      1. Accepted the Septuagint: Believed that everything in the Septuagint was divinely inspired.
      2. In contrast to Jerome, he believed that the Apocrypha was authoritative.
    5. Formation of the Roman Catholic Canon:
      1. Roman Catholic Church: Sided with Augustine, included Apocrypha.
    6. Arguments Against the Apocrypha:
      1. Jewish Belief: Jews did not consider these writings to be prophetic or authoritative; they believed that prophecy had ended in the period that the Apocrypha had been written.
      2. Jesus’s Testimony:
        1. Jesus’ view is most critical, and trumps the views of Jerome and Augustine.
        2. Jesus used the Hebrew and Aramaic three-part Canon.

          1. Support: Luke 24.44 - the three sections referred to by Jesus were the Law, Prophets and the Psalms (the Writings).

          2. Support:

            Luke 11,50-51 50 so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple building. ^[Literally "the house," here a reference to the temple] Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation!

            • Jesus refers to the beginning of the Hebrew canon (Gen 4.8 & Gen 5.4, the murder of Able) and the end of the Hebrew canon (2 Chronicles, the murder of Zechariah)
        3. Jesus did not include the Apocrypha.
      3. Conclusion: The texts are helpful for history and inspiring, but not inspired.
    7. Call to Follow Jesus’ Example: Christians take their canonical cues from Jesus to believe the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament, without the Apocrypha.
  5. Conclusion
    1. The Old Testament serves as the foundation for the New Testament.
    2. The Old Testament points forward to the greater story, now fulfilled in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus Christ and the coming of God’s Kingdom.

Graph View

Backlinks