Torah, Torah, Torah

Malachi

2006-05-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Malachi seems to have been the last of the prophets. Choose a verse or two that seems to you particulary appropriate as part of God's final prophetic message to the people of Judah. Why do you suppose there were no prophets after Malachi? How would the disappearance of the prophets have affected the Jewish community?

Ezra and Nehemiah

2006-04-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ezra and Nehemiah talk about many figures who helped in the rebuiliding of Jerusalem and the temple. Among these figures: Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra and Nehemiah themselves. Choose one of these figures (or a figure not on the list), and select a verse from Ezra or Nehemiah that particularly well summarizes the contributions of this figure. Explain why you chose this verse and why this person's contribution is particularly important.

Habakkuk and Daniel

2006-04-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Septuagint translation contains some extra material not in the Hebrew text of Daniel. Daniel Chapter 14 of the LXX (see link below) has a story about a very brief meeting of Daniel and Habakkuk while Daniel is in the lion's den.

Suppose Habukkuk really did have a chance to visit Daniel very briefly--long enough only to leave him a verse or two as advice. Cite a couple of verses from Habakkuk that might have been particularly good for Daniel to hear while he was in the Lion's den. Explain why these verses would be good for Daniel, or for others in similar difficulties.

http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/BIBLE/BEL/BEL1.HTM

The Book of Job

2006-04-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

In addition to addressing the problem of evil, what other wisdom does Job offer? Cite a verse or two you think would be particularly good to include in an anthology of ancient wisdom, and explain why you think this verse (or these verses) is particularly worth including.

Proverbs

2006-04-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

Please read the first three chapters of Proverbs and skim the rest of the book. Choose a proverb or two that you think is a particularly good example of Hebrew contributions to human wisdom. Explain why you chose this proverb/these proverbs.

Ecclesiastes

2006-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

According to Jewish tradition, the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible are the law, the prophets, and the writings (kituvim). Ecclesiastes is part of the third division, the kituvim. Does this book seem to you different from the books of law and the prophetic books? If so, how? Cite a verse or two that you think particularly well illustrates either how Ecclesiastes differs from the other books we have read, or a verse or two that shows Ecclesiastes to be similar to the books we have read earlier.

Ezekiel

2006-04-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

For Thursday's class, please read Chapters 1-12, 33 and 37 of Ezekiel. What do you find here that suggests that Ezekiel's message was a burden? Are there any passages that particularly well reflect hope, beauty, faith in the triumph of justice, or anything else that would have made this burden worth bearing?

Jeremiah

2006-04-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Suppose you are asked to help prepare an anthology of great quotations from the ancient world. There are going to be two Jeremiah quotes, and you get to pick two of them. Of all of Jeremiah's many quotable lines, which two would you choose? Why these particular lines?

Isaiah II

2006-03-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

Suppose you are asked to help prepare an anthology of great quotations from the ancient world. There are going to be two Isaiah quotes, and you get to pick one of them. Of all of Isaiah's many quotable lines, which would you choose? Why this particular line? Of the lines already suggested by other contributors to this blog (either on this thread or the Isaiah I thread) which of those lines do you think would be the best to have as the second
Isaiah quote? Why?

Isaiah I

2006-03-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

Please read Chapters 1-11 of Isaiah. What do you find here that suggest that Isaiah's message was a burden? Is there a passage here that particularly well reflects hope, beauty, faith in the triumph of justice, or anything else that would have made this burden worth bearing?

Amos

2006-03-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

Please read all of Amos. Cite a verse or two that particularly shows why Amos' message was a burden or why it was a burden worth bearing. Please explain your choice.

II Kings

2006-03-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

Please read as much as you can of I Kings for Tuesday, March 21. Please read especially closely the chapters on Elijah, Josiah, and Hezekiah. Does it seems to you that any of the stories in II Kings have the makings of good tragedy? Or is the II Kings account better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy. Cite below any passages/verses you think particularly support your view.

I Kings

2006-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

Please read as much as you can of I Kings for Tuesday, March 14. Please read especially closely the chapters on Solomon. Does it seems to you that the I Kings account of Solomon has in it the makings of a good tragedy? Or is the I kings account better viewed as history, biography, or prophecy rather than as tragedy. Cite below any passages/verses you think particularly support your view.

II Samuel

2006-02-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

Suppose you are a glorious professor teaching a class on the Hebrews at Northern State University. You are having trouble getting students to participate in class discussion. You want to be *sure* they have plenty to say about II Samuel and its themes. What are some of the questions you would ask to make sure the discussion of II Samuel is a profitable one?

I Samuel (Revisted)

2006-02-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

As you look over the material in I Samuel again, does it seem to you that this book is best classified as history, prophecy, or tragedy? Is there perhaps a better classification for this book? Give an example/examples to support your view.

I Samuel

2006-02-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Please read through all of the book of I Samuel. Which of the many episodes in this book seems to you the most tragic? What is the most important lesson to be learned from this episode? Alternatively, choose an episode/passage you find particularly uplifting. Why do you like this particular episode/passage?

Judges

2006-02-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Please read through all of the book of Judges. Which of the 12 judges is your favorite? What's particularly admirable about this judge? Do you notice any "warts," (i.e., character flaws)? What's the most important lesson to be learned from the story of this particular judge?

Deuteronomy II

2006-02-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

As you read through Deuteronomy, are there any laws you find particulary important in trying to create a just society? Are there any laws you find particularly difficult or hard to understand?

Deuteronomy I

2006-02-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

In Deuteronomy, as in Exodus, the writer gives us a lot of preliminary material before he gets to the actual “rules and regulations” of the law. What is there in this preliminary material you find particularly, interesting, important, or worth discussing in class? In what way does this material show Deuteronomy to be a particularly fine law code or something more than just a law code?

Exodus I

2006-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

If you were to lead a discussion of the book of Exodus, what are some of the verses you would choose for special emphasis? Why would you choose these particular verses?

Genesis III

2006-01-27T13:12:00.001-08:00

Please read (or at least skim through) the stories in Genesis 12-50. Choose one of those stories for special emphasis, and explain why that story might be particularly important to include in the first book of the "law," or explain how that story helps show that the Torah is something more than just a law code.

Many sons had father Abraham

2006-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

"Torah" can rightly translated as "law," but the Torah is a lot more than just rules and regulations. "Torah" might also be translated as "rule," "instruction," or "principle," and it is sometimes useful to think of the Torah as simply "the way," i.e., instruction on the way we ought to live our lives.

As you read through the life of Abraham in Genesis, do you see ways in which Abraham's life is a good example of '"torah" in this last sense? Is there a particular incident in the life of Abraham that stands out to you as especially important or interesting in connection with Genesis as a book of "law"?

A Very Good Place to Start

2006-01-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Please read Chapters 1-11 of Genesis. Pick out a key verse from the assigned chapters and do one of the following:

1. Explain why you think this verse the key to understanding what the selection is about.

2. Explain why you think this verse is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.

3. Explain why you think this verse is the most difficult/hard to understand in the passage.

Welcome!

2006-01-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

How is this blog different from all other blogs? Well, for one thing, it invites you to join in the long tradition that began with the men of the Great Synagogue, continued through the periods of the Tannaim and the Amoraim, (teachers and interpreters), and continues today in churches and synagogues throughout the world. You have here the opportunity to contribute your questions and comments to an ongoing discussion of the most interesting, most important, most studied--and most often misunderstood--books ever written, the books of what Jews call the Tanach and Christians the Old Testament.