This four part series is based on the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church
By DeLisle Callender & Ivo Corazza
The Pentateuch/Torah
The books of the Old Testament (OT) are written in many different literary genres between approximately 1450 B.C. to 450 B.C. The first five books of the OT (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) comprise the Pentateuch/Torah and their authorship was ascribed to Moses. They form the theological foundation of the Bible.
In the Pentateuch, God explained how sin entered the world
and revealed His Divine plan. He
demonstrated His power through signs and wonders and gave mankind laws to
follow so that he could lead a life pleasing to God. God revealed the relationship man could have
with Him if man was obedient, as well as the consequences of sin and man’s
disobedience.
The Pentateuch is partly historical and partly legal and
“give us the history of the Chosen People from the creation of the world to the
death of Moses. The books also acquaint
us with the civil and religious legislation of the Israelites during the life
of their great lawgiver.”[1]
Modern biblical criticism of the Hebrew canon, the Pentateuch
concluded that it the differences in names, vocabulary, style and content
resulted from four major written religious sources (Documentary Hypothesis, Julius
Wellhausen 1844-1918). These four independent
documents (religious traditions) were redacted to form the Pentateuch several
centuries after Moses died. The four
traditions below were combined after the Babylonian captivity in the postexilic
period (538 B.C. to 1 A.D).[2]
·
Yahwist –
Reference to this tradition by scholars is indicated by the letter J and comes
from the time of Solomon around 950 B.C.
YHWH (Yahweh) was their personal name for God
·
Elohist - Reference to this tradition by
scholars is indicated by the letter E and comes around 750 B.C. after the
kingdom had split in two. Elohim was
their personal name for God.
·
Deuteronomist - Reference to this tradition by
scholars is indicated by the letter D around the 5th century B.C.
·
Priestly - Reference to this tradition by scholars
is indicated by the letter P and it originated during the Babylonian exile in
the years 587 B.C. to 538 B.C.[3] It is thought to have been written in the
post-exilic period from approximately 538 to 450 B.C.
In Jewish theology, the Hebrew canon, first five books of
the Old Testament ascribed to Moses contain Divine instruction and are the
foundation of the Torah - the source of Jewish religious teaching and law.[4]
Israel’s Biblical history was recorded in 12 Historical
Books – Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1Samuel and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, 1
Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. The Biblical history began with Israel
entering the Promised Land in the Book of Joshua, and ended with Israel’s
return from exile.
These books give a specific theological outlook. They show the fidelity or infidelity of the Hebrews
to Israel’s covenant with God and the resulting covenant blessing or covenant
curse they experience. This interplay of choice and consequences serves to
explain the disasters Israel brings upon itself throughout its history.
During this period of about 1,000 years, Israel fell in and
out of God’s grace many times, getting seduced by the religious practices of
neighboring nations and taking up the practice of worshipping foreign deities.
The term Judges was
applied to the divinely appointed leaders of Israel who came after Moses and
Joshua. The period of the Judges
extended from the death of Joshua[5] after
the conquest of Canaan, for a period of about 200 years up to the beginning of
the monarchy when the prophet Samuel installed Saul as Israel’s first king.[6]
The Book of Judges
tells of thirteen leaders who delivered Israel from oppression or danger. During the period of the Judges, there was a
pattern of infidelity to God and oppression by the enemies of the Israelites,
and the Israelites crying out to God and being delivered from their
oppression.
“Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of
salvation in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all,
to be written on their hearts.”[7] The prophets were intermediaries between God
and His people and received communications from God through various means such
as visions and dreams. The Prophets
communicated to the people of God through prophetic utterances, sermons,
writings, and in some cases through actions.
There were five Major prophetic books and 12 Minor prophetic
books. The books are so designated not
because of the importance of the prophets but because of their length. The Major prophetic books are long while the
Minor prophetic books are short.
The prophetic books ascribed to the Major Prophets are:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The prophetic books ascribed to the Minor
Prophets are: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
The function of a prophet was to instruct and reprove the
people in God’s name. Through the
prophets, God told the people what would happen if they did not acknowledge Him
as the one true God and heed His instruction.
And their prophesies were always true.
The Poetry and Wisdom Books were traced back from the time
of Abraham all through to the end of the Old Testament. These books are about the struggles of
Israelites as they dealt with everyday life and use life experiences as a guide
to avoiding or resolving situations.
The books considered as Poetry and Wisdom Books are: Job,
Psalms Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
The Book of Job is considered the oldest and the author is
unknown. The Psalms had different
authors of whom David is the most notable.
However, the authors of many of the Psalms are unknown.
The writing of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs is ascribed
primarily to Solomon.
The Poetry and Wisdom Books are designed to stimulate the
imagination, inform the intellect, capture the emotions, and direct the will,
and therefore deserve meaningful reflection and contemplation when read.[8]
[1] Maas,
A. (1911). Pentateuch. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved August 29, 2016 from New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11646c.htm
[2] Brown,
Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (p. 4). Upper Saddle
River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
[3] Charpentier,
E. (1993) How to read the Old Testament
(p. 27) New York, NY: (The Crossroad Publishing Company
[4] Schühlein,
F. (1912). Torah. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved August 28, 2016 from New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14779c.htm
[5] Jos. 24:29–31
[6] 1 Sam. 10:21-24
[7] Catechism
of the Catholic Church, para. 64
[8] http://christianity.about.com/od/booksofthebible/qt/Wisdom-Books.htm
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