The Old Testament discipline studies with its supporting archaeological, philological, literary technicians and historical are composed on the edge of new times which contains both threats and promises. It states that biblical texts were given fair opportunities to talk as a witness to the reality the bible was acknowledged to describe. This text was imperiled to appropriate scrutiny obtained from the textual criticism science, syntax, morphology, criticism form, and lexicography.
The advantages obtained from these researchers were not without the significant benefits garnered from external control multitudes. Archaeology was good in the vanguard setting the Old Testament scholars pace to follow mostly with the results obtained from stratigraphy, ceramic typology, and epigraphy. New grounds were broken with the publication of the Dead Sea Rolls, scrolls and documents and the Textus project of Hebrew University. The Ugaritic documents provide a staggering amount of evidence for lexicographical, syntactical and morphological advances.
Some features observed in biblical Hebrew include; parallel pairs of words, a strikingly identical poetic structure, mem that is enclitic, the asseverate application of named, etc. the use of these observations is seen in some suggestion works including Mitchell Dahood’s Psalms 1-3 contained in the anchor bible series. It is a common now to observe that biblical text parts have used fixed textual patterns. The Hittites used Vassal Treaty in the 2nd millennium B.C, which was noted in Joshua 24, Exodus 20 and the entire Deuteronomy. The models to a lesser or greater degree are exhibited in proverbial, prophetic, hymns and laments literature. This gives the discipline a new beginning and life, a host of new candidates and a plethora of information to preserve the field. There are some disquieting voices on the horizons. All these challenges are used to explain where we are currently at.
So far too many discussions of the biblical text have been fulfilled to survey merely the characters and concepts without stopping to think what the book tries to explain. More sins have been done in the classroom as students try to acquaint themselves with an understanding of the Bible books. This has resulted as a consequence of yielding to the pressures aimed at reducing the strength of exegesis favoring the newly added practical courses to the theoretical fields. But, the printer and pulpit yields to people’s expectation of their preacher or wish to purchase.
The development and establishment of an expediting method of interpretational theory would relieve this challenge for pastors and classroom study effectively. These methods have been introduced in various labels at various institutions of theological learning. This process needs to be further encouraged and refined. This approach demands the pastor, scholar or student to segment the Bible into small units being considered in the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek into paragraphs for strophes or prose for poems. It tries to identify the topic line or theme line beginning from the margin within each strophic unit or section. The remaining clauses, sentences, and phrases of strophe or paragraph are indented based on their order of relegation to the topic or theme line.
Much more is involved in exegesis under such analysis than parsing verbs, identifying speech parts, doing comparison lexicography in various Bible versions and the cognition languages, pinpointing sentence types or verbs functions. A syntactical-theological analysis involves most concerns named above however insisting that true biblical studentship must stand with the particular meaning of the text that the authors meant. These meaning should not be derived from an atomistic ploy through isolation of a word or words to serve efficiently to one’s private ideas.
One must observe how the author applied his words and how he combined the cons of his thoughts together to locate the writer's meaning. All exegesis which has concluded its work after locating the passage historically recognized other uncommon grammatical errors and passed the verbs is an abomination.
It has been said that plagues on both of the preceding procedures and methods; people depend on the guidance of Holy Spirit to directly lead them to the truth about all the bible texts. We should not limit our study of text and results since the authors wrote well than what they knew and understood. Another problem for Old Testament is being observed in the Old Testament biblical theology. Its witness is that theology is dead and the interpreter one-volume commentary on the Bible. The biblical theology movement discipline in old Testament studies was tasked with coming up with all the concepts which marked the unity or continuity lines in the Bible and recognized those items destined for obsolescence and discontinuity with some part of the old testament and new testament which has fallen short of its aims.
In conclusion, the areas of form criticism continue to be one of the most contributors to current thoughts which have some helping insights in literary forms and helpful in the source of content. It is clear that some evangelical distinguish themselves from this field. The current conditions of Old Testament are mixed; in a transitional era with a changing of the guard, filled with direction and leadership uncertainties. There exist the most optimistic note where it is the most and best opportune time for evangelists for breaking up their follower's conventional eddies of bantering personally with less Pentateuch views, Danielian authorship, and Isaianic authorship and to begin doing some substantial and robust biblical scholarship. Hence, there is enough room for all to work together to keep their followers happy and satisfied until the end of the universe.
Anchor Bible Dictionary by David Noel Freedman. Ed
The Anchor Bible Dictionary comprises approximate six thousand entries from eight hundred global scholars. It has line arts, illustrations, and diagrams throughout the article. The Anchor Bible Dictionary contains articles on the early Jewish-Christian relations, Dead Sea Scrolls, the historical Jesus, literary methods of biblical criticism and sociological criticism, numerous entries on archaeological sites, feminist hermeneutics, and as well as bibliographies with citations listed individually at the end of each article.
It has a Jewish sect which has succeeded from mid-second era B.C.E to the period of the first Jewish rebellion in contradiction of Rome. They are defined by some Latin authors and Greek of which most significant are Jewish authors Josephus and Philo and Roman Pliny. The Qumran site is seen as an essence settlement, and the dead sea documents are supposed to have an essence collection at one point.
Etymology
The name of this sect is commonly known as Philo or Josephus in Greek, play in Latin. Essenoi is mentioned by Epiphanius, which he identified as a Samaritan sect and Ossenoi or Ossaioi from the dead sea locality. The name etymology remains a problem, but several proposal has been suggested. Philo suggested that derivation is obtained from holiness while Josephus implies a pun on see notes sanctity. It is thought that the name is of semantic origin either Sadducee or Pharisee.
Most common suggestions includes;
The “Essenes” word is derived from Aram shy which is equaled to Heb Hasid. This suggested a link between the Hasid in and the Essenes from 2 Macc 14:6 and 1 Macc 2:42; 7:12–13.
The Aramaic healers proposed by Vermes. Philo suggested that there was Gods therapeutic and described another society known as Therapeutae, and he comprehended the word in the religious sense service instead of healing. The healing process was a mutual concern of the Essenes that they derived that name from.
The “sh” Hebrew word which results a participial type “on” in Rabbinic Hebrew. It was recommended that this was an abbreviation of law go-getters.
The term hsh which means to trust is also of general advantage. Other terms like hzzy which means seers and hsyy which means silent one is also inconclusive. The Greek derivation of term essence deserves significant consideration based on that the name is attested in Latin and Greek. Two possibilities need to be considered;
Josephus, who uses the term Essen referring to high priest breastplate and claims that the term means logion oracle. He says that God showed victory by shining of the twelve stones which the high priest wore upon his breast stitched into the Essen hence the implication of Truth.
The word Essenes is defined as a description for working in the Artemis cult at Ephesus, who observed an abstinent routine life while in office.it is shown that Essenes accounts in Philo and Josephus are printed for readers especially from Hellenistic readers and were adopted to Hellenistic representations to some level. But, this Artemis cult at Ephesus seemed like a remote prototypical for the recognition of the Jewish sect.
2. Religious practices
The Essenes attitude to animal sacrifice and worship at the temple is an issue of argument. Philo claims that they worshiped God by resolving to sanctify their minds and not through the offering of sacrifices. This implied a rejection of sacrifice in principle, but this could also mean that sacrifice was not their core issue to their piety. The Josephus testimony is confused with a textual difference. The Greek mass claimed that they performed their ritual for sacrifices using different purification methods and sent those sacrifices to the temple. Hence, they were banned from those precincts of the temple that were frequented by all the people who performed their rituals themselves.
3. Religious beliefs
The primary accounts of Essenes in the 1st century were concerned with the sect practices. Philo does not explain if they believed that the Godhead is the source of all worthy things and not evil thing hence he gave scarce information about their beliefs. This implied a dualistic view of the universe. The complete information is found in Josephus where he clearly asserts that the Essenes believed in the soul immortality, and they observed the body as soul’s prison house.
There is a correlation with the Qumran scrolls where the sect identification of the Dead Sea scrolls as the Essenes rests on two primary considerations namely; the Essene settlement location based on Pliny and the process of description of admission both in the Qumran rule of the society and Josephus.
Marriage abstention and sexual activity were one of major Essenes hallmarks based on Josephus, Philo, and Pliny. Philo claims flatly that no Essene marries, Josephus argues that there is a second order of Essenes, which is different in this regard and does not condemn marriage in principle. An Essenes relation to the temple. Essence was at variance with the rituals performed in the temple. Josephus claims that Essenes are wont to be left in God’s hands which accords best with the deterministic theology of the scrolls. The major doctrinal factor in the Gk sources are soul immortality mentioned in both ant 18 and jw 2.
Some of the entries related to Old Testament includes;
New Oxford Annotated Bible. It contains apocryphal works from Greek, Slavonic canons, and Catholic. It has good introductions to greater sections such as Pentateuch and issues. It also contains individual books introductions. Text annotations to verses or verse sections and notes translators are used. It is a multi-scholar work which has been reviewed by other editors and scholars from the ecumenical group.
New Jerusalem Bible. It has introduction and notes which are based on French Bible de Jerusalem translation of 1973. Their question was text translation from Hebrew and Greek but following French. It has used minimal annotations in each book course but has good introductions. It has cross references and parallels listed in margins next to words. Only the catholic society did the translation.
The Holy Scripture: Tanakh. It is published by Jewish Publication community and is based on interpretation by rabbis and scholars from Hebrew. It has no annotations but has some translator notes. It contains a table of scriptural readings for individual and weekly Sabbaths and occasions. Book orders follow Torah, Hebrew, Kethuvim, and Nevi’im.
The Old Testament library commentaries
Recommending commentaries possibilities are many and depend on one's interests and tests in large scale. Below are some recommendations based on a guarantee to excellent vital interpretation and scholarship that serves theological interpretations of church life?
Monographs and commentaries on distinct Old Testament books.
Commentary on Genesis. THE first, and most important observation, to be made on this Book of GOD, is what our LORD himself declared, concerning the writings of the Author of it, in general; that Moses wrote of Him. In Genesis, major and best commentaries are two which include Terence, “Genesis” that is in The New Translator’s Bible, and Walter Brueggemann, Genesis, Interpretation. I endorse the Westermann's a triplet commentary of the size on Genesis specifically for people attracted in the entire area of debate of core issues emphasizing mostly on European scholarship tradition And as the Redeemer did not say, in what part of this man’s inspired writings, more particularly it is, that mention is made of Him, (perhaps with an intention to enforce a more diligent search through all,) it should seem to be our wisdom to keep this direction in view, through every part, in going over the whole of the five Books of Moses; that we may not overlook a single passage, in our search for Him. Gordon Wenham provides a good commentary, Genesis 1 to 15 and Genesis 16 to 50, volumes 1 and volume 2, global biblical commentary provides a version that pursues to maintain similar to the unique Hebrew as well as a comment with fictional susceptibilities.
In Exodus commentaries. The principal things contained in Exodus, are the accomplishment of GOD’S promises made to Abraham concerning the increase of his seed; the rigorous treatment the Israelites suffered in Egypt; the LORD’S emancipating them from bondage; and the ordinances of worship appointed in the wilderness. A common theological and acute commentary about Exodus is predominant in the books of Exodus, Brevard Childs, and the library of the Old Testament. Brevard involves a whole area of deliberations on vital ancient issues, in both the New and Old Testament context, exegesis histor. Best theological commentary includes Brueggemann inclusive of Exodus in the original interpretation Bible volume 1. Waldemar made faithful church Bible commentary.
In the Leviticus commentaries. The name is given in accordance with the laws that existed among the Levitical priesthod: in which department, the tribe of Levi particularly ministered. In Leviticus, there is existence of numerous magnificent and recent commentaries such as Samuel Balentine and Leviticus interpretation. A scholar such as Jacob Milgram have spent most of their lives checking Leviticus, and he wrote a commentary that consisted of 3 volumes on Leviticus in the series of the Anchor Bible, and another 1 volume commentary that is indicated as the book of ethics and rituals. And, as the Apostle, under the gospel dispensation, had it in express authority from the HOLY GHOST, to tell the Church, that these were the signs of something better in the future, but this was CHRIST manifested through the body; it may serve to teach us, with what awakened attention, and earnestness, accompanied with prayer to the LORD, to be directed in our perusal of it, we ought to read this holy Book. Colossians 2:16, 17.
In Numbers commentaries. The book, hath its name from the circumstance of its containing the numbering of the children of Israel. It forms a very interesting volume on that account. Numbers was formerly called the “Junk Room of the Bible” by a particular scholar because due to his inability to grasp the disorganization jumble of texts and genres. Modern commentaries have revised this with careful attention structure, and this seems to neglect this book. In respect to the period of time the book of Numbers contains, it is somewhat about thirty-nine years. The history commences in the second month of the second year, as soon as the Israelites had left gotten out of Egypt that spans to the last fortieth year after the Israelites left Egypt.
In the Deuteronomy commentaries. This is the highly significant book of Bible. It is thrivingly presented in commentaries. It has a harmonious and crucial interpretational educativeness by Richard Nelson, Library of the Old Testament, and Deuteronomy. Mark Biddle marked a historical education of Deuteronomy. Amongst the highly considered theological commentaries include Deuteronomy, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, Patrick Miller, Dennis Olson, etc.
In Joshua commentaries. It has an elegant and interpretational study by Richard Nelson, Joshua, Old Testament Library and it’s nowadays available. L., Berit Olam, Daniel Hawk.
In Judges Commentaries. Old Testament recommendations for the book for judges include judges like Gideon, Deborah, Samson, and Jephthah.
1-2 Samuel commentaries. it starts with Brueggemann's initial and subsequent Samuel for the interpretation of theological aspects of 1-2 books of Samuel and Eugene Petersons 1st and 2nd Samuel. Campbell published a recent commentary in the series of FOTL. He was sensitive to matters of the development of Samuel though the truth was also maintained. The pastor may be overwhelmed by the OTL size that consisted of Samuel since it contains massive volumes on history and composition.
1-2 kings commentaries. The commendations for the religious book of Kings Account of the past of Israel, beginning with David’s death and Solomon accession in the 10th BCE until the announcement of the king of Judah Jehoiachin include 1-2 kings. This innovative interpretation Bible Volume 3 is an outstanding fictional and religious commentary which is offering in-depth truths with pastors at the core.
Isaiah: Isaiah, has been treated in several parts; that is the 1st Isaiah 1-39, second Isaiah from 40-55 and 3,rd Isaiah from chapter 56-66. Commentaries have encouraged that the book should be read as whole despite the differences in the beginnings of the three parts. Such commentary includes the commentary series of the New International Bible and Brevard Childs.
In Jeremiah, In Jeremiah, has two main commentaries namely; an observation on Jeremiah, being exiled, and the return by Brueggemann and Jeremiah; Smith and he was a commentary by Terence Fretheim.
In Ezekiel, It has the following commentaries; a late transformation with the beginning and commentary which is the primary main explanation to be a part of the fictional trait of Ezekiel.
Hosea A true and original translation that provides the introductory phase and commentary by Anchor Bible Francis Andersen and a commentary of prophet Hosea by Hermeneia.
The book of Joel Joel and Obadiah by John Barton in the library of the Old Testament by Louisville.
Amos: Amos has a commentary of the library of the Old Testament by Louisville; Westminster John Knox and Amos commentary by Philadelphia.
Obadiah: Joel and Obadiah by John Barton in the library of the Old Testament Louisville and Obadiah to Malachi by Westminster Bible Companion.
Jonah: Obadiah to Malachi by William Brown and Jonah, Jesus and all other respective coyotes talking about power harmony in the Bible by Daniel Smith.
In Psalms: There exists several commentaries on Psalms. Among the most helpful of the commentaries are the issue by John May that is in the Interpretation series. J.Clintons series contribution is also considered in the New Interpreters Bible, Volume. 4. Commentaries that use the book of Pslams. They include the Erich Zenger commentary that is in the series of Hermenia and is among the best but only the section of Psalms 51-100 has been seen in English.
The book of job. Over time there have been occurrences of published accounts that have assisted the reader in understanding the excellent literature and contribution that have been made in theology. There are other persons who delve deeper into the historical aspect of the book both in areas of, literature, music as well as visual arts. Some other commentaries that may warrant mentioning include J. Cline’s contribution that exists in 3 volumes as well as the series in the Old Testament by Norman Habel.
The book of Song of Songs. The English language is used in the service of the of the book of songs. There are classical pieces that still exist like the M.Pope commentary. The commentary has several areas that show classical themes though there are areas that will require more of the consulting for a better understanding. The most impeccable of songs that are found in the commentary are literally disposed and their authors are M. Fox as well as the Egyptian love Songstund of all
The book of Ecclesiastes. The book used to have a long list of theological commentaries though this have waned in the recent past The areas in which em-phasis is placed on the book through Seow’s commentary that is in the series of the Bible.
The book of Lamentations. From the past and the writing of Provan’s contribution. From the onset of the publication of I. Provan’s influence has seen the book use some of the highest quality in the English Dictionary. The lamentations by R. Hillers are the best as indicated through the terms used in the commentary.
The book of Daniel. There is a lot of criticism in the book of Daniel though the commentaries by John Collins can be used. Another notable individual is Hartman who provides the commentary and both have extensive experience.
The commentary by 1-2 Chronicles and I & II Chronicles: A Commentary, OTL offers a comprehensive review of the study through the OT books. H.G. M. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, NCB provide a subsequent form of commentary that is excellent in nature and is inclusive of Israel in the Chronicles Books.
The book of Ruth commentaries. On the book of Ruth, Katharine Sakenfeld,
There is a huge representation of the book alongside other commentaries though this is more culturally diverse. There is also use of commentary that is theological. Among the most recent commentaries is by Andre LaCoque that is highly critical and straight to the point addressing issues that include aspects of language, the various cultures and matters pertaining to penetration. Among other forms of explanation are by Ellen Davis and Margaret Adams Parker that have used visual imagery to the book with texts
Exodus 1:7
And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Acts 7:17. It is worth the reader’s serious remark, that the beginning of the period of 430 years from Abraham’s days when GOD promised the increase of his children, had produced only 70 souls. Whereas during the latter half, the seed of Israel multiplied to six hundred thousand men beside women and children.
Joshua 11:19-20.
The books commentary of Joshua tries to protect the characteristics of Joshua by assigning the topic and theme of excellent control about the treaty he had made with Gibeonites. He describes this deal as an outstanding event. In verse 20, he claims that there are no other groups that need similar agreements since God hardened their hearts.
Bibliography
Mazar, A. and Stern, E., Archaeology of the land of the Bible: the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian periods, 732-332 BCE, 2nd ed. Anchor Bible., 2001.
Joyce, Paul M. "The Anchor Bible Dictionary. By David Noel Freedman, Editor-in-Chief; Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf and John David Leins, Associate Editors; Astrid B. Beck, Managing Editor. 1992. In six volumes: 1 (A–C), 1176. Np." Scottish Journal of Theology 49, no. 02 (1996): 245-246. New York/London/Toronto/Sydney/Auckland, Doubleday,
Lexicons, Hebrew, Biblical-Theological Dictionaries, Old Testament Canon, Israelite Religion, AB Anchor Bible, Herm Hermeneia, NCB New Century Bible, TOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, and WeBC Westminster Bible Companion. "Annotated Old Testament Bibliography-2009."
