The Old Testament

The Pentateuch

The first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, collectively known as the Books of Moses, the Pentateuch and by the Jews as the Torah, or Law. These were one of the first sections to be looked at by Biblical scholars. It was doubted that Moses wrote them all if for no other reason than that his death is recorded in Deuteronomy 34. If someone added this might not other things have been added or written by others? We now think that several people were involved in compiling what we now have in these books. This conclusion comes from looking at the text itself and from understanding more about primitive societies. In tribal life such as we find in the time of Abraham stories are passed on by word of mouth - there is the oral tradition of the tribe. Children learn this from the adults and hand them down in their turn.  Writing is a function of a more advanced civilisation, not a wandering tribe such as Moses led from Egypt to Palestine. Stories are preserved very accurately in this way; and archaeology has proved this to be so of stories in the Bible: Traditions which belong to the time of Abraham have been faithfully preserved for centuries before reaching their written form.

The most widely accepted theory of Pentateuch authorship is the documentary theory which suggests there were originally four main documents and authors which were then later combined and worked over by editor(s) until they reach the form in which we have them. Evidence of these documents is found throughout the Pentateuch. They are usually known as J,E,D and P.

Contents of the Pentateuch

Of the Pentateuch Genesis and Exodus are the two most likely to be used in school.

Genesis 1-11 contain what are known as the "origin stories". There is a theme running through them, as well as the attempt by many of the stories to explain how things came to be as they are. So in these stories we see how man through disobedience spoiled God's plan for creation: how God tried to rectify the situation through Noah, but how mankind refused to take notice so that the gulf between God and Man widened. When we come to the beginning of the story of Abraham we have the situation where God chooses this one man to whom to reveal himself, and promises that through this and his continuing connection with Abraham's descendants the rest of mankind will come to know God. This theological theme is more important than concerns about historical accuracy.

Genesis is made up for the most part of the stories of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the 12 sons, and particularly Joseph. (We date. Abraham to around 1700 BC)

Exodus tells of the rescue of the Israelite slaves from Egypt by Moses (c.1200 BC) and the beginnings of  the Covenant between the nation and God and the laws which went with this. The Ten Commandments are to be found in Exodus 20, and there is another version of these in Deuteronomy 5.

The other three books of the Pentateuch are made up mainly of the laws which are associated with Sinai, although many of these do reflect a much later time when the Israelites were a settled agricultural community.

The History of Israel

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles. These books tell of the history of the Israelites after the Exodus. We have two accounts of the settlement in Palestine, one tells of conquest, one of a gradual infiltration. The reality is probably that both methods were used. Also we hear stories of the Judges - leaders of Israel who appeared when there was a time of crisis. The people still seemed to be living in tribes, but when all the tribes are threatened at the time of the Philistines they band together and want a king. The last of the Judges, Samuel, finds them a king, Saul, under God's direction, but warns them about the problems this might bring (1 Samuel 8) First Saul and later David drive out the Philistines and establish the nation of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, and begin a process of conquest so that David passes on an empire to Solomon. After Solomon's reign, during which the first Temple was built in Jerusalem, the kingdom divides in two 10 tribes in the north establish their own king who is not a descendant of David, and set up the capital of Samaria. This whole venture is condemned by the Deuteronomic editor of the books of Kings because they are disloyal to David's line, and because they do not worship in Jerusalem. This kingdom exists until 721 BC when it was finally conquered by the Assyrians. Samaria was destroyed and the population taken away and dispersed throughout the. Assyrian empire, leaving only the peasants behind. The Assyrians then brought people from other conquered nations in who mixed and intermarried with the native population. These are the people later known as the Samaritans, who still worship the same God as the Jews and keep to the Books of Moses, but whom the Jews refuse to accept. In the south the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the descendants of David and to Jerusalem. This kingdom survived until 586 BC when it was conquered by the Babylonians, who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, and took the inhabitants away into Exile in Babylon. These people were kept together and not dispersed, so that when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon he allowed the exiles to return home if they wished (c536 BC). Some did and began to rebuild the Temple and . Jerusalem. These people are the ancestors of the Jews. Some consider that the term Jew cannot be used until this period.

The Books of the Prophets

During the time of the Kingdoms we have the first prophetic writings. The prophets spoke their message rather than writing it, so much may have been written down later and possibly by their followers The earliest prophets we hear of in the historical books rather than in books of their own eg Elijah and Elisha. Amos is the first prophet to have a book named for him. The prophet's task was to remind the people of God's will and to warn them of what could happen if they did . not obey. From them we learn much about the conditions of the time. Amos warned the Northern Kingdom of the punishment which God would send on them if they did not put right the neglect of the poor Hosea prophesies a little later and complains that the people of the Northern Kingdom are worshipping other gods. Both prophets talk of the possibility of change, and that God's mercy could avert disaster if they would mend their ways. Their words were fulfilled in the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians which both foresaw. It is interesting that we might consider them true prophets as their words come true, but they were in fact unsuccessful as they failed to turn the people back to God. Isaiah 1-39 and Micah spoke to the people of the Southern Kingdom in similar terms and they were heeded and disaster averted for a while at least.

Jeremiah spoke in the South at the time of the Babylonian invasion, and suffered for his message.

During the time of the Exile Ezekiel and the unnamed prophet of Isaiah chapters 40-55 spoke and encouraged the Exiles not to give up hope, promising that they would return to Jerusalem.

Haggai, Zechariah and Ezra record some of what happened when that Return took place.

The Songbook

We also find in the Old Testament the Psalms - hymns of the Hebrew people, traditionally said to have been written by David. We cannot prove or disprove this. It may well be that he did write some, if not many of them. There are some of the Psalms though which seem to reflect later Temple worship rather than David's day. It 'seems reasonable to think that David started the collection and others added to them.

Books of Instruction

Proverbs – collections of wise sayings.  Other nations had what is referred to as wisdom literature, which was used as part of the training programme for future leaders.  Other reflective books such a Job, and stories such as Ruth, could be put in this category, as showing qualities which are pleasing to God.

The Apocrypha

Following the Persian empire came the Greeks, led by initially Alexander the Great. After his death it came under the control of the Seleucid family, and there was an attempt to make the Jews conform and worship the Greek gods. This caused a rebellion known as the Maccabean Revolt, and eventually the Greeks were driven out. The Temple was cleansed of the foreign statues and worship and rededicated, and the Jews became independent again under the rule of the High Priests.

Events from this time are recorded in the four books of the Maccabees to be found in the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha is made up of those books which 'the Christians included in their canon of Scripture, but which the Jews did not. Martin Luther excluded them when he drew up the Protestant Bible, describing them as "books which are not held equal to the Sacred Scripture and yet are useful and good for reading". They date from a period between 300 and 100 BC.

Despite their hard-won independence this was not a period of internal peace. Eventually the Romans were invited in to help settle a dispute and so the Jews found themselves under Roman control. This is the situation when the New Testament opens