Additional notes for class

1. WRITINGS
(Books not covered in class)

2. SHORT STORIES

3. Ruth
•Brief Overview:
•There is a famine in the land of Judah and so Elimelechand his wife Naomi, along with their two sons Mahlonand Chilion, travel to the land of Moab. While in Moab his two sons find wives. However, Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilionall pass away while still living in the land of Moab. Naomi decides to head back to the land of Judah. Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law decides to go with Naomi:
•“But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.’” (Ruth 1:16)
•Once in Judah, Ruth ends up marrying Boaz. From this, Ruth ends up being the great- grandmother of David.
•So, even though there are numerous laws and regulations stating that an Israelite could only marry an Israelite, marrying outside of their people was practiced, and in this case as well as with Moses, the non-Israelite wife becomes an important figure in Israelite history.

4. Esther
•Read overview of Esther in your textbook on pg. 68
•As one makes their way through the Book of Esther, it becomes apparent that although many Israelite traditions, customs, and rituals are incorporated into the biblical text, there is no actual mention of God throughout the entire work. In some regards the Book of Esther is a nationalistic book for the Israelites even though its setting is outside the land of Israel.
•Esther was a highly contested book for being included in the Hebrew canon because God is never mentioned.

5. BOOK OF DANIEL
Separated out from the other Writings books

6. Daniel
•Daniel is separated into two different sections:
•Section 1: Daniel 1-6:
•This body of material is a collection of short stories set in the Babylonian Exile. It includes stories such as Daniel and the Lion’s Den (Daniel 4-6)
•Theme is steadfast loyalty to God no matter what the cost –This is a particularly important message during the exile where the exiles were being forced to participate in worship of Babylonian gods.
•Although these stories take place in the exile, the Book of Daniel does not seem to have been composed until the 2ndCentury B.C.E. (considered the last book to be written in the Hebrew Bible)

7. Daniel, Cont.
•Section 2: Daniel 7-12 –These chapters are symbolic visions, very difficult to interpret
•This type of literature is known as apocalyptic meaning “to reveal or uncover”
•Scholars believe the vision was talking about the past destruction of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C.E. rather than a prediction of a future event.
•Antiochus claimed to be “godlike”
•The Book of Daniel has the only clear reference to life after death in the Hebrew Bible which is attributed to its late composition during the transition from the idea of humans simply returning to dust or to “sheol” –a place (nothingness /pit) where both good and bad people go –to a more Greco- Roman understanding of a specific place for the afterlife.

8. THE HISTORIES

9. I & II Chronicles
•Chronicles is a Persian rewriting of Israel’s history –reads very similar to 1-2 Kings and Samuel, however, there are several significant differences between Chronicles and the others. Chronicles attempts to clear up difficult passages within the books of Kings and Samuel.
•For Example: Read 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1
•Many believe 1 Chronicles tried to clean up God’s character within 2 Samuel
•Chronicles ends with the Edict of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem – Chronicles is also what concludes the Hebrew Bible (ending on a hopeful note for the Israelites/Jews).

10. Ezra & Nehemiah
•Is counted as only one books within the Hebrew Bible compared to two in the Christian canon
•Deals with the reconstruction of the Temple and the religious life of the Jewish community.