Here are the exam study notes for the OTL 120/121/122 module at the University of Pretoria. These notes are based on the study unit outcomes and material provided in the coursework.
, STUDY UNIT 1 (THESE WILL BE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS)
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES CONCERNING THIS STUDY BEFORE STUDYING THE OUTCOMES
THE BIBLE IS A BOOK:
The Name/term ‘Bible’ derives from the Latin term ‘biblia’ (book). Actually, it is a library of
66 books collated into one volume. 2 sections. Old (39 books in Hebrew and Aramaic) and New
Testament (27 books in Koine Greek)
There are different types of textual genres in the Bible, eg. Poetry, narratives, laments, etc.
3 Types of Structured Units:
Songs (poetry, like Psalms) or narratives (prose history, like Ruth) or pronouncements (like Exodus 20)
Origin and Growth of the Old Testament
Probable stages of Oral Tradition: there may be variation in handing down oral tradition, like formula
variation. Not possible to determine original oral tradition.
Earliest stages of written text: In the 10th and 9th century texts started to be formed as products of living
oral tradition. No controlled copying of original texts; official copying started only after a normative form of
the text was decided on (Masoretic tradition/textus receptus standard that outlived other variants and
became the norm for copying)
Oldest text witnesses: Manuscripts, earlier traditions, Hebrew editions
1. Manuscripts: Two groups from Middle Ages, namely
Ben Asher group: (from the Tiberian tradition) represented in documents such as
the partly destroyed Codex Aleppo, the complete text of the Codex Leningradensis and the
Codex Cairensis from 895 B.C.E.
The Ben Naftali manuscripts: (from the Babylonian tradition) represented by documents like the
Pseudo-Ben Naftali manuscript, the Petersburg Codex of the prophets and the Cairo Geniza
fragments.
From the pre- and Christian era come the Nash Papyrus, the Qumran manuscripts, and
other documents from the area of the Dead Sea and the Masada documents
2. Early traditions: Among these we find the Samaritan texts, Aramaic texts and Greek texts.
It is very difficult to use translations like these to reconstruct the presumed original text.
They probably used other basic texts than those found in the subsequently accepted text
of the Masoretes.
3. Hebrew text editions: The Polyglot Bibles, of which Daniel Bromberg’s 1516 edition is the oldest,
hail from the 16th century. Other 20th century editions are the Hebrew edition of Ginsburg, Kittel’s
Biblia Hebraica and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
Determining the source text: It is very difficult to determine one source text from which copies were
made. This due to the vast amount of variants that exist in different parts of the Mediterranean world. a
, multiplicity of original texts existed, of which only one form ultimately survived and became the norm for
the contents of the Hebrew text.
1. DEFINE AND DISCUSS HOW THROUGH THE AGES, READERS OF THE BIBLE HAVE USED
DIFFERENT METHODS TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE.
DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES:
In the times when the Old Testament was formed, there were no formal methods for explaining the
existing documents. Existing writings were used on an ad hoc basis according to the contemporary needs
of the readers. For example, when Christianity had been established and the New Testament was forming
the Old Testament was used to preach the Gospel of Jesus and highlight Christological schemes.
EARLY CHRISTIANITY:
Different methods were used; Exegesis was either literal or allegorical. Where the Hellenist influence was
very strong in North Africa (Alexandria), the allegorical method was used most commonly. ln Northern
Syria (Antioch), the Semitic influence was stronger, and the literal-historical method was used. Scriptures
were read and explained according to the contemporary customs of exegesis and application. Augustine
(354-430) tried to use both these methods (feeding of the 5000 example and how it relates to the
Pentateuch)
John Cassius (360-435 CE), following Clement of Alexandria (I50-215 CE), drew up a combined method
which was used even up to the Middle Ages. The method had 4 levels: literal, allegorical, tropological, and
anagogical (the heavenly realm where our lives were aimed at). These are 4 sections of human life (type
of anthropology)
Information in the Bible is associated with sections of contemporary philosophy
THE MIDDLE AGES:
During the Middle Ages, the whole universe was seen as one large hierarchical entity. Everything fitted
neatly into a hierarchic system: God > Pope > cardinals > local priests > local laity. Hierarchy in Bible with
main issues sustained by smaller issues. A scholastic system divided the Bible into these main and
subsidiary themes. In Protestant orthodoxy, the same pattern was followed and Biblical texts were used
as so-called 'loci' (proofs) or 'dicta probantia' (substantiating readings) for the doctrinal system of the
church.
THE RENAISSANCE:
Bible science was influenced by the Copernican revolution and the Renaissance’s “re-invention” of human
culture. The concept of a whole unity concerning the Bible was replaced by awareness of the complexity
and diversity of creation. There was also a revolution of time and the flux of human history. On the one
hand there was the immutable Bible as a classical document from the past and on the other hand there
were contemporary believers living in a radically different time. The OT was read as a classical
inheritance which was to be read in its historical context. Appreciation of classical culture led to the
study of the literary as well as the historical aspects of the Bible. Grammatical critical study of the Bible
launched, and the Bible became something which contains theology but is not identical to theology.
Methodologies needed to develop to study the Bible in its cultural context.
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