All Old Testament notes: http://www.scribd.com/collections/4343354/Old-Testament-notes-for-Latter-day-Saints
Class website: http://bit.ly/ldsarc
Notes for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29505267
Slideshow for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29549340
All Old Testament notes: http://www.scribd.com/collections/4343354/Old-Testament-notes-for-Latter-day-Saints
Class website: http://bit.ly/ldsarc
Notes for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29505267
Slideshow for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29549340
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
All Old Testament notes: http://www.scribd.com/collections/4343354/Old-Testament-notes-for-Latter-day-Saints
Class website: http://bit.ly/ldsarc
Notes for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29505267
Slideshow for this handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29549340
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
2014, Mike Parker http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.
Old Testament Terms
A.D. Anno Domini (Latin: In the year of our Lord), an abbreviation used to refer to dates after the birth of Jesus. Some scholars prefer C.E. (Common Era) to avoid religious-related terminology. See B.C. ANCIENT NEAR EAST (ANE). A term referring to the ancient regions of western Asia, including modern Iran, Turkey, Syria, Israel, and Egypt. Today this area is called the Middle East. APOCRYPHA. A GREEK word meaning hidden that refers to books some Jewish or Christian groups regarded as scripture, but that did not receive wide acceptance. Fourteen specific Old Testament apocryphal books, originally written in GREEK, are referred to as the Apocrypha, and are found in some Protestant BIBLES. (See also PSEUDEPIGRAPHA.) ARAMAIC. An ancient language, similar to HEBREW, spoken by Assyrians and Babylonians. Aramaic became the daily conversational language of JEWS during their exile in Babylon (587538 B.C.). Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus and his disciples. AUTHORIZED VERSION. See KING JAMES VERSION. B.C. Before Christ, an abbreviation used to refer to dates before the birth of Jesus. Some scholars prefer B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) to avoid religious-related terminology. See A.D. BIBLE. See CHRISTIAN BIBLE; HEBREW BIBLE. CANON. A Latin word meaning measuring rod, referring to a list of books considered to be authoritative scripture by a particular religious community. For JEWS the HEBREW BIBLE is canon; Christians accept the OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS as their canon. Latter-day Saints also include in their canon the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. CHRISTIAN BIBLE. The collection of 66 books that have been bound into a single volume and considered to be scripture by Christians. See APOCRYPHA; CANON; HEBREW BIBLE; NEW TESTAMENT; OLD TESTAMENT. DEAD SEA SCROLLS (DSS). A collection of 972 complete and fragmentary texts, written on PARCHMENT, PAPYRUS, and bronze between the 3rd century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. The materials were written by a group of separatist Jews, who hid the materials in caves near the Dead Sea at the end of the 1st century A.D. They were discovered in the late 1940s. The collection contains many texts from and related to the HEBREW BIBLE. DEUTERO-ISAIAH. Beginning in the 18th century, Biblical scholars proposed that the Book of Isaiah was written by several independent authors and later compiled into a single work. This theory was developed in response to differences in message, tone, and word usage between chapters 139 (called Proto-Isaiah), 4055 (Deutero-Isaiah), and 56 66 (Trito-Isaiah). This theory continues today as the primary (though not undisputed) explanation for the origin of the book of Isaiah. DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS (DH): The theory that the TORAH was originally written as several independent sources and later combined into its current form by a series of redactors (editors). The hypothesis was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on attempts to reconcile inconsistencies in the biblical text. This theory continues today as the primary (though not undisputed) explanation for the origin of the Torah. DSS. See DEAD SEA SCROLLS. DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE. A method of translating scripture by rendering the meanings of phrases or whole sentences. It favors translating texts thought for thought, rather than word for word, with the goal of making the text more understandable for modern-English readers. Compare FORMAL EQUIVALENCE. FORMAL EQUIVALENCE. A method of translating scripture by rendering the meanings of individual words as close as possible to their sequence in the original languages. It favors translating texts word for word, rather than thought for thought, with the goal of transmitting the text as faithfully as possible from the original. Compare DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE. GREEK. The language of the Greeks spread throughout the ANCIENT NEAR EAST after Alexander the Great conquered the region in 332 B.C. JEWS began to adopt Greek language and scholarship, and the HEBREW BIBLE was translated into Greek in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. (see SEPTUAGINT). The NEW TESTAMENT was written in Greek. HEBREW. The Canaanite language spoken by ancient Israel from the 10th to 7th centuries B.C., (after which they spoke ARAMAIC). The earliest Hebrew alphabet (Paleo-Hebrew) had 22 consonants; a 27-consonant alphabet was developed from Aramaic after the 6th century B.C. Jewish scholars continued to write the HEBREW BIBLE in Hebrew after it was no longer spoken on a day-to- day basis (see MASORETIC TEXT). HEBREW BIBLE. The books of scripture accepted by JEWS, called the OLD TESTAMENT by Christians. Also known as the TANAKH. JEW. Strictly speaking, an Israelite from the tribe of Judah. After the Assyrians removed the ten northern tribes in 722 B.C., only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and Jewish eventually became synonymous for anyone of Israelite descent. JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION (JST). Joseph Smith was commanded by the Lord to produce an inspired revision to the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible. Portions of the JST have been included in the Pearl of Great Price (see CANON) as the Book of Moses and Joseph SmithMatthew; other 2014, Mike Parker http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication. significant JST passages are included in the LDS edition of the Bible in footnotes and an appendix. KING JAMES VERSION (KJV). An early-modern- English translation of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE completed in 1611 and revised in 1769. The KJV is a literal and (by modern standards) conservative translation. It is the official Bible of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is also known as the Authorized Version (AV). LORD. See TETRAGRAMMATON. LXX. See SEPTUAGINT. MASORETIC TEXT (MT). Between the 6th and 9th centuries A.D., a group of Jewish scribes called the Masoretes preserved and improved the text of the HEBREW BIBLE. Their translation of the OLD TESTAMENT is the basis for virtually all modern English Bibles, including the KING JAMES VERSION. MESSIAH. A HEBREW word meaning anointed one (equivalent of the GREEK Christ). In ancient Israel, kings, priests, and prophets were anointed by the high priest, and so the word is usually translated anointed in the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible. The term was also used to refer to a future king who was descendant of David who would save his people; Christians believe that messiah to be Jesus Christ. NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (NASB). A modern-English translation of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE completed in 1971 and revised in 1995. The NASB is a conservative translation based on FORMAL EQUIVALENCE. NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION (NET). A modern- English translation of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE completed in 2005. The NET is a balanced translation based on DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE. It is known for its extensive footnotes. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). A modern-English translation of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE completed in 1978 and revised in 1984 and 2011. The NIV is a conservative translation based on DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE. It is the best-selling English Bible in the world. NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV). A modern-English translation of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE completed in 1989. The NRSV strikes a balance between FORMAL EQUIVALENCE and DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE in its translation approach. It is widely accepted and used in the scholarly and academic fields. NEW TESTAMENT (NT). Twenty-seven books of scripture, written in GREEK and published as part of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE. OLD TESTAMENT (OT). Thirty-nine books of scripture, written mostly in HEBREW (with portions in ARAMAIC). Published alone, it is called the HEBREW BIBLE or TANAKH; published with the NEW TESTAMENT, it is known as the Christian BIBLE. PAPYRUS (pl. papyri). An Egyptian plant and the thick paper-like material created by mashing and drying its stem. Many ancient documents were written on papyrus, including the DEAD SEA SCROLLS and the Egyptian materials connected with Joseph Smiths translation of the Book of Abraham. (See PARCHMENT; SCROLL.) PARCHMENT. A thin paper-like material made from scraped and dried animal hide. Parchment replaced PAPYRUS as the preferred writing material after the time of Christ. Parchment made from calfskin is called vellum. (See SCROLL.) PENTATEUCH: A GREEK word meaning five [scroll] cases that refers to the first five books of the OLD TESTAMENT. Called the TORAH in Hebrew. PSEUDEPIGRAPHA. A GREEK word meaning false inscription that refers to books attributed to famous authors that were actually written by later, anonymous authors. Many Jewish pseudepigraphal books were written between 300 B.C. and A.D. 200. Some of these books (like 1 Enoch) were accepted by the authors of the NEW TESTAMENT as authentic scripture. (See also APOCRYPHA.) SCRIPTURE. See CANON. SCROLL. A series of sheets made of PAPYRUS or PARCHMENT, glued or pasted together, on which scripture and other ancient documents were written. The entire length of this would generally be wound around two sticks, which could be turned to move the document for reading. SEPTUAGINT (LXX): The GREEK translation of the HEBREW BIBLE, completed by Jewish scribes in Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. The name for the work comes from the Latin septuaginta (seventy), which is a reference to the (inaccurate) legend that the translation was completed by 70 Jewish scholars in 70 days. The Septuagint was the version of the scriptures read and quoted by the authors of the NEW TESTAMENT. TALMUD. A lengthy collection of Jewish tradition that interprets the TORAH. It was written by Jewish rabbis in the centuries following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70. TANAKH. The Jewish acronym for the HEBREW BIBLE, derived from its three sections: Torah (Teaching), Neviim (Prophets) and Kethuvim (Writings)hence, TaNaKh. TANAKH TRANSLATION (JPS). A modern-English translation of the HEBREW BIBLE by Jewish scholars, completed in 1917 and revised in 1985. TETRAGRAMMATON. A GREEK word meaning [having] four letters, referring to the name of God in the HEBREW BIBLE. In HEBREW the four letters are YHWH, which was probably pronounced Yahwey anciently, but came through Greek and Latin to be pronounced and spelled Jehovah. The name of God was too holy to be spoken aloud, so Jewish readers, when encountering it in the scriptures, substituted the Hebrew word adonai (lord). The KING JAMES VERSION and many other Bibles follow that tradition by rendering YHWH as LORD, in all capitals. TORAH: A HEBREW word meaning the Law, and the collective name of the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). See also PENTATEUCH.