Intro to the Hebrew Bible

Prof. Mark K. George
mgeorge@iliff.edu
Office: My office is under construction and I do not expect to have one to use until at least 1 October. I am happy to meet with you during this time but will have to negotiate where to meet (probably in Taylor Library).
Office hours: after class on Wednesdays, and by appointment. This may change once I have an office to use again.

Rob Heaton, GTA
robheaton.du@gmail.com
Office hours: Wednesdays, 5-6 pm (please notify first so we can find a location; same day/in-class notification is fine) and 8-9 pm (at the University of Denver Library Research Center Desk, no advance notice needed).

Course Description :
This course is designed to provide a one quarter survey of the Hebrew Bible. Students will study the content and themes of the books of the Hebrew Bible, the history and social background of the materials, and scholarly interpretations and approaches to the materials. Among the objectives of the course is to prepare students for further coursework in biblical studies and to develop each student's skills in critical, close reading of biblical texts.

Books for the Course

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This is the translation we will use in the course for all class work, written work, online postings, and other “official” contexts. If you do not own a copy of the NRSV or have easy electronic access to a copy, please make arrangements to gain access. If you would like to purchase a copy, I recommend Harold W. Attridge, ed. The HarperCollins Study Bible-Student Edition: Fully Revised and Updated . San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006. ISBN 978-0060786847.

Birch, Bruce C., Walter Brueggemann, Terence E. Fretheim, David L. Petersen. A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament . 2 ^nd ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0687066766. Listed as TIOT in schedule .

Brown, Michael Joseph. What They Don’t Tell You: A Survivor’s Guide to Biblical Studies . 2 ^nd edition. Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0664235949 (p). Please read this book over the summer.

Newson, Carol A., Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley. The Women’s Bible Commentary . 3rd updated ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0664237073. NB: Please be certain you obtain this edition, not a previous edition, since authors of commentaries have changed. Listed as WBC in schedule .

Petersen, David L. The Prophetic Literature: An Introduction . Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0664254537. Listed as PL in schedule .

Additional readings will be made available through this Canvas site.

Course Objectives

The goal of this course is to familiarize students with major aspects of the critical study of the Hebrew Bible. In order to accomplish this, we will:

1. introduce and familiarize students with the content of the Hebrew Bible, the types of literature it contains, and the historical and cultural contexts in which this literature was produced, through readings, lectures, and assessments;
2. help students learn to read the Hebrew Bible critically by examining scholarly theories and approaches to its interpretation, through readings, lectures, class activities, and online discussions;
3. work to develop students’ skills in thinking theologically about the Bible, biblical texts, and the ways in which these resources of religious communities might continue to help them reflect upon and think about life in the world today, through readings and class discussions.

1. Regular participation in class each week. Outlines (in Word) for lectures will be posted on the Canvas site before class for your use with each week’s lecture. Students are to come to each class prepared to discuss and engage all the assigned materials. Additional readings are optional and listed for students who wish to have supplementary perspectives on the materials.
2. Map quizzes. There are two map quizzes for this course, one on sites in the ancient Near East (ANE), the other on sites in Canaan. Each quiz will be administered online over a two-day period.
1. In order to help you learn and study for these quizzes, you can download the full list of map sites for the ancient Near East quiz and the Canaan quiz (I suggest you download the Google Earth Pro stand-alone program to your personal computer or laptop).
2. The first quiz, on sites in the ANE, will be available between Wednesday, 27 Sept. at 6:00 a.m. MDT and Friday, 29 Sept. at 12:00 p.m. MDT.
3. The second quiz, on sites in Canaan, will be available between Wednesday, 1 Nov. at 6:00 a.m. MDT and Friday, 3 Nov. at 12:00 p.m. MDT.
4. In each quiz, students are to identify correctly sites, cities, and other geographical locations on a map. The lists of sites to be examined are provided below in the “Names, Dates, Places, Terms” section of this syllabus. Each question has a pin indicating the geographical feature to be identified from the options listed below the map image (only one of which is the correct answer!).
5. A practice quiz of sites from the New Testament period is available for your use. You may find the list of sites here in order to study for this quiz and the quiz is here. The practice quiz is intended to familiarize each student with the quiz format (what the map looks like on screen, the structure of each question, timing of the quiz, and how to submit it). The list of sites is a Google Earth file.
3. Examinations. There will be two examinations in the course: a midterm on Wednesday, 18 October, and a final on Wednesday, 15 November. All lecture material and assigned readings are assumed knowledge for the examinations. Each examination will consist of two parts: an in-class portion of short answers and scripture identifications and a take-home portion of essays.
1. The scripture identifications will ask you to name the biblical book from which the quotation comes (this includes designating the first or second book, i.e., 1 Samuel or 2 Samuel). The short answer section will list a selection of terms from the midterm section of the “Names, Dates, Places and Terms” list, from which students will be asked to write a short paragraph of 4-5 sentences in which they clearly identify the term (biblical book where it is found, dates, significance for the study of the Hebrew Bible, etc.).
2. The essay portion will be handed out in class one week prior to the due date and will be open book. Students are to type their answers using standard graduate school writing standards (12 point font, double-spacing, correct citations, spell-checking, and so on) and submit them online in Canvas (a page will be created for this purpose).
3. Both exams will be comprehensive to that point in the course.

Attendance and participation...................................................................20%
Map quizzes................................................................................................20% (10% each)
Midterm examination................................................................................25%
Final examination.......................................................................................35%

Iliff’s Academic Integrity policy will be followed and is available on the Iliff website. All students are encouraged to read carefully and understand this policy.

Pass/Fail requests must be made by e-mail to Prof. George no later than Sunday, 17 September 2017. E-mailed responses approving or denying each request will come from the Professor.

Incomplete grades will be granted only in the rarest of cases and will follow the published incomplete policy in the Masters Student Handbook, which is online. Additionally, students who receive an incomplete will be required to make up all work plus write a 5 page exegesis paper.

A....................94–100
A-...................91–93
B+..................88–90 (NB a score of 90 is a B+)
B.....................83–87
B-...................80–82
C+..................78–79
C....................73–77
C-...................70–72
D+..................68–69
D....................60–67
F.....................59 or below

Names, Dates, Sites, Terms

Discussion site for general questions

If you'd like to explore "reading" the Bible by simply listening to it as you are driving or doing other tasks, Amazon has a dramatized version of the NRSV that can be download for free as MP3s:

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

And for good measure, the New Testament is there as well.

You can find non-NRSV audio bibles practically everywhere online for free, but the NRSV is perhaps the only thing we're fundamentalists on these days - so stick with these!

Please note: the syllabus is subject to change at any time at the sole discretion of the professor.