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Date
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Topic
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Reading Questions
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Reading Assignments
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Mon Aug 29
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Torah, Pentateuch
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Wed Aug 31
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Scripture, Torah and Ritual
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What is a scripture? How are scriptures
ritualized? What is the Pentateuch? What is the
Torah? What is the place of the Pentateuch in
Jewish, Samaritan and Christian scriptures? When
did it become scripture?
|
Understanding,
pp. 1-13;
Bible: Deuteronomy 6; Exodus 12:1-13
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Mon Sep 5
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Labor Day
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No Class
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Wed Sep 7
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Scribes
and Printers
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How did scribes write manuscripts? How
did the invention of printing change the look
of biblical texts?
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Manuscript and rare book display in
Library Special Collections--
meet in Bird Library 6th floor
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Mon Sep 12
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Torah
as Literature, Rhetoric, & Performance
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Who was Ezra? What did he do? What was
the Persian period in Judea? What is rhetoric?
What is the story-list-sanction pattern? How
does it apply to the Pentateuch? How do inset
genres affect the Pentateuch’s narrative?
|
Understanding, pp.
13-29; Bible: Nehemiah 8.
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Wed Sep
14
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Genesis
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What is
God like in Genesis? How is Genesis organized?
How is the world
depicted in Genesis different from the
settings of the rest the Hebrew Bible?
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Understanding, pp.
29-37; Bible: Genesis 1-12; 15-18, 22,
28-32, 37, 39-41, 45, 47.
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Mon Sep
19
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Exodus,
Pentateuch’s Rhetoric
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Who is
YHWH? Who is Israel? How does Exodus establish
their identities? What are the roles of Moses
and Aaron in Exodus? What is the Pentateuch’s
enthymeme?
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Understanding, pp.
37-42; Bible: Exodus 1-20, 24.
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Wed Sep
21
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Leviticus,
Deuteronomy, Law, Sanctions
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Why did
the Israelites make animal sacrifices? How do
lists of laws affect readers? What was the
role of Israel’s priests? What lessons do the
stories of conflict in Numbers illustrate?
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Understanding, pp.
42-56; Bible: Exodus 40; Leviticus
4-5, 8-12; 19; Numbers 13-14, 16-17
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Mon Sep
26
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God,
Moses, Israel
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Why do
the law collections end with promises and
threats? Whose voices dominate the Pentateuch?
How do the laws characterize God? What is
Moses’ role? Who is Israel?
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Understanding, pp.
56-67; Bible: Exodus 32-34;
Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 6; 31-34
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Wed Sep 28
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Scrolls,
amulets, arks
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What is a text’s iconic dimension?
How is it ritualized for scriptures? What
is a mezuzah? What is a Torah Ark? How are Torah scrolls
made? How did the Israelites settle in
Canaan, according to Joshua? What are the
Dead Sea Scrolls?
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Understanding, pp.
68-83; Bible: Joshua 1-8, 23-24; Online:
browse Scrolls
from the Dead Sea
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Mon Oct 3
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Relics
& heavenly books
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Why
have some people desecrated Torahs? What is a
relic Torah? What are Torah myths? How does Judges describe
the Israelites’ settlement in Canaan? How did
kings come to rule over Israel? Who were the
first three kings of Israel?
|
Understanding, pp.
84-92;
Bible: Ecclesiasticus
24; Baruch 3:9-4:4; Judges
4-5, 17-21; 1 Samuel 8, 16-18; 2 Samuel 1-2,
5-7; 1 Kings 5, 8, 11:41-12:33.
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Wed Oct 5
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Ancient
Christian scriptures
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How does a
scroll and codex compare physically? How
religiously? What part of the Bible are
Christians most likely to ritualize iconically? How has
printing changed Torahs
and Bibles over the last 550 years? How does
the Bible explain Israel’s history from the
settlement to the Exile?
|
Understanding, pp.
92-105; Bible: 2 Kings 17:1-14;
24:1-25:30; Nehemiah 9.
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Mon Oct 10
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Decalogues,
amulets, publishing bibles
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What do Ten Commandments monuments
mean in America today? What do the tablets
of the commandments represent in the
Pentateuch? Where were they kept? What does
the Ark of the Covenant represent in
Israel’s stories? What ancient artifacts
does its biblical description resemble?
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Understanding, pp.
105-113; Bible: Exodus 20:1-21;
25:10-22; Deuteronomy 10:1-5; 31; 1 Samuel
4-6; 2 Samuel 6.
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Wed Oct 12
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Josiah, Torah, Pentateuch
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What are the Ketef
Hinnom amulets?
Where did Josiah find an old Torah scroll?
What did he do with it? What did Jeremiah do
with his scrolls? How does the Pentateuch
prepare readers for Torah scrolls to replace
the Ark?
|
Understanding, pp.
113-122; Bible: 2 Kings 22-23;
Jeremiah 36; 51:59-64; 2
Maccabees 2:1-15.
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Mon Oct 17
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Reading
Aloud
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What
is a text’s performative dimension? How is
it ritualized for scriptures? What affects
does it have on those who hear it and
perform it? Who may read Torah aloud in a
synagogue?
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Understanding, pp.
123-133; Bible or Online: 1 Chronicles
16; see superscriptions to Psalms 75-90; Luke
4:14-30; Acts
13:13-43.
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Wed Oct 19
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Cantilation,
Translation and Scripture
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Who uses translations for liturgical
readings of the Bible? Why does oral
performance tend to be more inclusive than
scriptural interpretation? Why do many
traditions chant or sing scripture aloud?
What affect does it have?
|
Understanding, pp.
133-143; Bible or Online: Genesis
11:1-9; Acts 2
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Mon Oct 24
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Art
and scripture
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What is
a biblical typology? How does art shape the
imagination of readers of the Bible? How do
biblical maps and illustrations influence
readers? How are bible-films related to older
art, theater and tableaus? How do biblical art,
music and films function in secular modern
culture?
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Understanding, pp.
144-155; Bible: Exodus 25; 34:29-35;
Numbers 20-21; and view maps at back of a
Bible.
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Wed Oct 26
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Ancient reading
and recitation
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Why
did ancient scribes read aloud? Why did they
read ritual texts aloud? Who read Torah
aloud, according to biblical stories? Who
heard the readings? Who should recite Torah?
What kinds of songs does the Hebrew Bible
contain?
|
Understanding, pp.
155-162; Bible: Exodus 24:3-8;
Deuteronomy 6; Song of Solomon 1; Psalms 66,
137.
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Mon Oct 31
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Composing
for reading and memorization
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How has the
Pentateuch been writing for reading aloud to a
listening audience? How has it been written
for study by expert scribes? How do its lists
differ from its stories? Why might ancient
Israelites have found the lists of laws
interesting? Where in the Pentateuch can you
find the audience’s oral responses?
|
Understanding, pp.
163-174; Bible: Deuteronomy 26; Exodus
15:1-21; Lamentations 1; Jeremiah 36.
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Interpretation and expertise
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What is a text’s semantic dimension?
How is it ritualized for scriptures? How did
Ezra ritualize the Torah’s semantic
dimension? How have later Jews and
Christians done it? Why is Jerome important
for Christian biblical interpretation?
|
Understanding, pp.
175-185; Bible: Ezra 7; Acts
13:13-41; Hebrews
7 (cf.
Genesis 14).
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Mon Nov 7
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Religious
identity and priests
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How
does the Torah ask readers to identify as
Israel? How did the Pentateuch influence the
politics of the Second Temple period? Why have
different Jewish and Christian groups
identified themselves with Israel in the
Torah? What effects has this identification
had on them?
|
Understanding, pp.
185-200; Bible: Exodus 12-13;
Deuteronomy 30; 1
Maccabees 2-3.
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Threats
and Promises, Interpreting Torah
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How
well did Israel’s history before and after the
Exile fulfill the
Pentateuch’s and prophets’ predictions? How
did Apocalyptic literature respond to this
history? What kinds of written rules did
ancient people follow as authoritative? How
did Second Temple, rabbinic, and early
Christian literature interpret the Torah? How
has biblical law influenced later legal
systems?
|
Understanding, pp.
200-209; Bible: Jeremiah 1:1-10,
5:1-6:30; Isaiah 40; 45; 52:13-53:12; Ezekiel
1; 40:1-47; Daniel 7-8, 12.
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Bible, Science, and Human Nature
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How
does Genesis‘ description
of the world compare to the Ptolemaic and
Copernican models? How did Genesis 3 encourage
experimental science? What is creationism? How
do modern people read scripture differently than
ancient people? How have interpretations of
Genesis reinforced racism and patriarchy?
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Understanding, pp. 209-215; Bible:
Genesis 1-3, 9; Psalm 104; Proverbs 31:10-31
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Why do
historians look for different sources in the
Pentateuch? What effect has historical
criticism had on Jewish and Christian
denominations? What kinds of ancient texts
have been discovered in the Middle East? How
does literary criticism differ from historical
criticism? How has interpretation of the
Pentateuch changed in the last 50 years? How
does the Pentateuch’s rhetoric encourage the
search for its origins?
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Understanding, pp. 215-224; Online: Gilgamesh XI;
Bible: Genesis
6-8; Exodus 3:13-15; 6:2-8.
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Nov 19-27 Thanksgiving Break: No
Class
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Mon Nov 28
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Priests, exile, treaties and
ritual texts
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Why is wisdom literature especially
associated with scribes? Are Proverbs and
Ecclesiastes interested in Torah? What
distinguishes P from Deuteronomy? What evidence is
there for when P and D were written? What are
memory variants? How does the Pentateuch contrast
with the Deuteronomistic History? How do the
Pentateuch’s sanctions compare with the threats of
the prophets Amos and Isaiah? |
Understanding, pp. 224-239;
Bible: Proverbs 7-8, 10; Ecclesiastes 1-3,
12; 1 Samuel 2:12-36; 1 Kings 12; Amos 4:1-5,
5:14-24, 7:1-9; Isaiah 6-9.
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Wed Dec 30
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Origins of the Pentateuch
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What are some contradictions in the
Pentateuch’s laws? How does the request by
Zelophad’s daughters change the Torah’s
inheritance laws? Is Exodus 21 related to
Hammurabi’s Law Code? How do scholars distinguish
P from not-P and both from D? What archeological
evidence supports the Pentateuch’s stories? Where
do biblical stories reflect ancient Near Eastern
literary traditions? What themes tie the
Pentateuch together?
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Understanding, pp. 239-250;
Bible: Numbers 22; 27:1-11; 36:1-13; Hosea
12; Online: compare Hammurabi's
Code with Exodus 21.
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Mon Dec 5
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Tanak / Jewish Bible
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What is a canon? What four people
are associated with changes in biblical canons?
Who was Judah Maccabee? Who were the Hasmoneans?
How did expanding the Tanak change how people read
scripture? Who was Judah ha-Nasi? What is the
Mishnah?
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Understanding, pp. 251-262;
Bible: Jeremiah 1:1-3; Amos 1:1; Psalms 1;
150; Sira
45.
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Wed Dec 7
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Christian Bible
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Who was Irenaeus? What are gospels?
How do Jews and Christians differ in their use of
the Torah/Pentateuch and the Tanak/Old Testament?
How does binding Tanaks and Bibles in single
volumes change how people read them?
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Understanding, pp. 262-267;
Bible: Ezekiel 1; Matthew
1.
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