Journeying with the Old Testament (Das Alte Testament im Dialog / An Outline of an Old Testament Dialogue)

✍ Scribed by Nicoletta Gatti, George Ossom-Batsa

• Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 193
• Edition: New
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is an introductory study of the Old Testament and it is based on the lesson taught for many years by the authors in two different Universities in Ghana. It is an interactive and didactic work that provides an innovative approach to the study of the Hebrew Bible. Through reading selected passages from the Bible and doing recommended exercises as a means of reinforcing what has been learnt, the reader will achieve a good knowledge of the Old Testament and will acquire the capability of reading and interpreting further texts. Each chapter begins with a presentation of a map of the journey, the objectives to be achieved, a summary and a final section that helps the student to evaluate his/her comprehension.
This book is also a contextualized text. The last chapter is dedicated to the Old Testament in Africa and the relationship between the African Continent and the Bible, giving the reader the possibilities of acquiring skills to interpret the Old Testament from African perspectives.

✦ Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Foreword 9
List of Abbreviation 11
General Introduction 15
Step 1: The World of the Old Testament 17
Section 1: Israel’s Ancient Near East Geographical Context 21
Section 2: Israel and the Near Eastern Powers 25
To Know More 31
Step 2: The Canon of the Old Testament 33
Section 1: Explanation of Terminologies 37
Section 2: The Formation of the Hebrew Canon 41
Section 3: Reasons for the Canon of the Hebrew Bible 47
Section 4: The TaNaK – The Hebrew Bible in Hebrew 51
Section 5: The Septuagint – The Hebrew Bible in Greek 55
Section 6: The Bible of the Early Church 59
To Know More 63
Step 3: The Structure and Content of the Tôrah 65
Section 1: An Overview of the Tôrah 69
Section 2: The Problem of Mosaic Authorship of the Tôrah 75
Section 3: The Documentary Hypothesis 79
Section 4: The Structure of the Tôrah 85
Section 5: Three Major Themes in the Tôrah 91
Section 6: Literary Forms in the Tôrah 99
To Know More 104
Biblical Anthology 105
Step 4: The Structure and Content of the Ne bî’îm 107
Section 1: The Former Prophets 111
Section 2: The Latter Prophets 115
Section 3: The Prophetic Ministry 121
Section 4: The Literary Forms of the Prophetic Books 127
To Know More 133
Biblical Anthology 134
Step 5: The Structure and Content of the Ke tûbîm 137
Section 1: An Overview of the Ke tûbîm 141
Section 2: Reflecting on Life 145
Section 3: Celebrating Life 149
Section 4: Confronting the Challenges of Life 153
To Know More 157
Biblical Anthology 158
Step 6: Studying the TaNaK in Africa 159
Section 1: Africa in the Old Testament 163
Section 2: Interpreting the Old Testament from an African Perspective 167
Section 3: Reading the Old Testament with African Eyes 175
To Know More 181
General Conclusion 183
List of Reference 185