My Notes from "Introduction to the Old Testament" by Amy-Jill Levine -- Part 1

Old Testament Conversations Series

Introduction to Old Testament[1]

The goal of biblical studies should not be to undermine religious faith. Rather, it should provide members of faith communities with richer insights into the literature that forms their foundation. Even if one insists that the biblical texts are divinely inspired or dictated by God, one should, I think, want to know as much as possible about the particulars: Why these words? Why in this order? Why are they set in specific social contexts? Do our present translations help or hinder our understanding? The OT is a difficult subject area for a variety of reasons, that we will demonstrate and discuss as we move forward. But where and how do we start?

Before we engage with any of the biblical texts, we need to start with a general description of the contents of these texts, the centuries they covers, the genres that are represented and some of the methods that biblical scholars, in both church and synagogue, on the one hand, and the academy and secular institutions, on the other hand bring to bear on this material. Our goal is to try to figure out both what it meant in its original context and what it means according to contemporary forms of interpretation. Once this basic information makes some sense, we can start where the Bible starts; in the beginning.

1. Contents 

The biblical texts span the creation of the world in Genesis 1 up to what happens to the Jewish community in the wake of Alexander the Great. That involves a staggering amount of content. Now, although dating the creation of the world is something that occupies evolutionists and creationists, people interested in what to put in public school textbooks, it is not something the Bible itself is concerned about. The initial chapters of Genesis are not concerned with history per se; they are not setting out there to say, “This is how evolution occurred,” or “This is a particular date upon which this happened.” Rather, the earliest materials are a myth[2].

In terms of the dating, when were these texts first written down? Some of these texts may stem orally from the early bronze age or the middle bronze age; sometime between 2000 to 1800 BCE. In terms of actual written texts, perhaps the first transcriptions, when that early oral material was transcribed into writing, perhaps around the iron age, year 1000 BCE, maybe 900 or so. Some biblical scholars will put this transcription at the court of King David, about the year 900. I think a few isolated texts (Numbers 15, Judges 5, etc.) were probably written down at that time, but most of OT texts probably date no earlier than the eighth century BCE, around 750 or so.

2. Genre

2.1 Cosmological Myths

Among the genres[3] we will encounter, we begin with [4]cosmological myths, which is just a fancy way of saying myths of origin. How did the world get started? Why are we here? Who is the God who created the world? And what are we supposed to be doing with our lives? The material in Genesis 1–11 in what is call the “primeval history.” Most people are familiar in general with the contents which includes: the stories about Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah’s ark and the universal flood, the tower of Babel. These are etiological myths[5]. These ancient stories help us understand what ancient Israel thought of itself, but they also provides remarkable cross-cultural comparisons. The stories in the history of Israel were not written in a vacuum. They were written in dialogue, and sometimes in competition with, other literatures in the ancient Near East––Babylonian stories, Assyrian stories, Egyptian stories, Canaanite stories and, later on in the OT, Greek stories.

---

[1] My notes adapted from Prof. Levine’s Audio “The Great Courses” Lecture: The Old Testament. Amy-Jill Levine, The Old Testament. Narrated by Amy-Jill Levine. Newark: Audible, 2013.

[2] Myth: from the Greek word “mythos” which means, “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.” IT DOES NOT MEAN, “false or untrue” although for many it is come to mean that in usage. This is unfortunate. Myths are stories! Jesus told stories to make truth clear. So do the myths of the OT.

[3] Genre: “a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.” Examples of biblical genres include: myth, historical narrative, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, apocalypse, law, etc.

[4] Cosmological: “Or, or pertaining to, the origin and general structure of the universe, with its parts, elements, and laws, and especially such of its characteristics as space, time, causality, and freedom.

[5] Etiological myths are those stories used by cultures to explain origins and causes. For example, creation stories are etiological, explaining how the universe or the world or life in the world came into being.