INTRO TO SACRED SCRIPTURE - PENTATEUCH (1).ppt

 Understanding the First Five Books of the Bible
 Narrative and Development of the Pentateuch
 How We Read the Pentateuch
 Ancestor Stories in the Book of Genesis
 The Beginning of God’s Revelation
 The Great Flood
 Abraham and the Patriarchs
 The Blessing of Jacob
 Joseph and His Brothers
 The Book of Exodus
 The Wandering of the People in the Wilderness
 The Mosaic Law Codes
Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s Word
Part 1A The Pentateuch

Source Theory for the Pentateuch

The Two Stories of Creation
First Story of Creation
• Genesis 1:1–2:4a
• “seven days of creation”
• the setting is water
•Order of creation: plants,
animals, humans
• man is created at the same
moment in the “image of
God”
Second Story of Creation
• Genesis 2:4b–25
• setting is barren land
• order of creation: human,
plants, animals
• God creates man out of the
mud and “breathes life” into
man
• man is named: Adam and Eve

Religious Truths Revealed in the Stories of
Creation
1. There is only one God.
2. God planned creation.
3. Everything God made is good.
4. The Sabbath is a special day
of rest and worship.

How We Read the Pentateuch
1. Any and all parts of Scripture must be read and
interpreted in relation to the whole.
No matter the various sources and human authors of
the Pentateuch, Scripture must be read as “a unity
by reason of God’s plan, of which Jesus is the center
and heart, open since his Passover” (CCC, 112).
2. The Church has the primary role in arbitrating the
meaning of Scripture
“What characterizes Catholic exegesis is that it
deliberately places itself within the living Tradition
of the Church. . . .” (Pontifical Biblical Commission)

Two Main Kinds of Writing in the Pentateuch
1. Narrative stories collected in two main
groups:
(a) the “Ancestor Stories” of Genesis
(b) the Moses/Exodus Story
2. The Collections of Mosiac Laws

Truths Revealed by God’s Creative Actions
1. God alone created the universe freely,
directly, and without any help.
2. God created everything through the eternal
Word, his begotten Son, Jesus.
3. Creation is the common work of the Holy
Trinity.

Covenants Between Human Beings and God
 Covenant with Abraham
 Isaac speaks to Jacob
 Jacob takes the name Israel
 Covenant with Moses
 The giving of the Law
 The New Covenant of Jesus Christ

Part 1A Pentateuch
The Fall of Man
Original Sin
• A voluntary sin committed by
our first parents
• The loss of original holiness
and original justice
•Man preferred himself to God
Second Story of Creation
• Harmony of original holiness
• Harmony of original justice
God’s Response
• An immediate offer of his mercy
• The first promise of a Redeemer
I will put enmity between
you and the woman
and between your
offspring and hers; He
will strike at your head,
while you strike at his
heel. (Gn 3:15)

The Great Flood
Unique teachings of the Hebrew version:
• Humanity is to be destroyed because they are evil and
constantly doing violence to each other.
• Noah is saved because he is a righteous man.
• Noah only takes animals while the Gilgamesh
hero takes money on the ark.
• The Hebrew version represents a
“second creation story.” Noah takes
the place of a new a new “Adam.”

The Tower of Babel
 Tells how the sin of pride brought into the world by the
sin of Adam increased to the point that an entire city
tried to make itself God.
 Secondarily, it shows in an imaginative way how
the many different languages of the world came
to be – a hopeful gesture to humankind.
 It takes place in “Shinar” an ancient biblical
reference to “Babylon”, itself symbol for
any oppressive empire or state.

What the primeval history of Genesis tell us
about the Hebrew people:
• God’s will is to create a people in his image.
• God’s will is peace, not violence.
• God’s will is trust and truthfulness.
• God’s will is care for creation.
• God’s will is joyful diversity.
• God is not impressed with material accomplishments
but with how we care for each other and also how we
care for the created environment.

The Patriarchs
Key figures:
√ Abraham – chapters 12–23, 25 (13)
√ Isaac – chapters 24, 26–27 (3)
√ Jacob – chapters 28–35, 49 (9)
√ Joseph – chapters 37–48, 50 (12)
 God used these very human personalities to accomplish
the divine will: the creation and preservation of a special
People who would reveal God to all the nations.

Important elements of the Abraham story:
1. God’s message always “travels” as seen in the stories of
Abraham, the Exodus, the Jewish Diaspora, St. Paul.
2. God’s assures Abraham that the Divine Word would come
about and be maintained through his posterity.
3. Requirements of God’s covenant with Abraham:
a. Abraham’s: “Go forth from the land of your
kinsfolk … to a land that I will show you.”
b.God’s: “I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you … All the communities
of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

Parallels between the stories of Abraham and
Moses:
Abraham
• He wondered throughout
the known world
• Signs of the covenant: he
and his wife’s names are
changed; the symbol of
circumcision
Moses
• The Hebrew’s journey out
of Egypt following the
Exodus
• Sign of the covenant: the
giving of the Law

Threats in the patriarchal stories
 Sarah experiences the “captivity” of Pharaoh, and thus
anticipates the later oppression of the Hebrews
 Sarah has doubts that she really is going to be the
bearer of the promised descendents of Israel
 Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac
 Christians read the passage about Abraham
and Isaac as an anticipation of another “Father”
who is anguished at the human demand
that he “sacrifice a son” on the Cross

The Exodus
 These stories were likely collected and edited at the time
of the Babylonian exile.
 They tell of the miraculous release of the Israelites from
Egypt, their journey across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai,
where they entered into a special covenant with God.
 At Mount Sinai, through Moses, God gave the Israelites
the Law which allowed them to become a holy people.
 The Exodus marked the beginning of Israel’s history as a
separate nation: God singled them out to witness to the
one, true Lord.

Liberation
 God will use Moses as the instrument to liberate his people
 “I am who I am” is a mysterious name because God is a
mystery
 The plague stories:
a. teach us about God and the formation the Israelites
b. teach that God liberates the oppressed
c. teach that earthly powers cannot maintain
oppression when God wills liberation
d. teach that with liberation comes responsibility

The Sinai Covenant
 The Israelites became a “Chosen People” at Mount Sinai
and the reception of God’s Law
 Results of the Sinai Covenant:
1. It bound God and the Chosen People in a loving union
2. It revealed God’s special love and mercy for them
3. It stipulated how God’s People were to respond to his
love and uphold their part of the covenant: following
the commandments and being faithful to God through
obedience and worship

The Mosaic Law Codes
 There are three different collections of the Law: (a) the
Covenant Code (Ex 20–23), (b) The Deuteronomic Code
(Dt 5–28), and the Levitical Code (Book of Leviticus)
 All three collections contain civil laws and religious laws
 All three collections reflect what was valued in the early
life of Israel: family, integrity, property, and animals
 The emphasis of biblical laws is not on guilt and
punishment, but on restoration of the community and
the maintenance of social life

The Levitical Code
1. Laws of Sacrifice – the sacrificial gift represented
repentance and sorrow, and served as the symbolic
act of asking God for forgiveness
2. Purity Laws – reflected a minority society concerned
about threats of assimilation with foreign cultures
3. Laws of Jubilee – show a radical concern
for social justice and reflect a concern
to deal with fair distribution of resources
on a regular basis

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