![]() ![]() The “Old Testament” in the form we have it is a product of the Babylonian Exile. This is the end result of the long “traditioning” process referred to above, and it culminated in the days of the Exile and afterward. Finally, it is clear that the entire Old Testament, as well as particular sections such as the Torah, has been edited and shaped into a final form, the form we have today.Walter Brueggemann calls this the process of “traditioning” through “imaginative remembering.” As he describes it: “The remembering part is done in the intergenerational community, as parents tell and retell to children and grandchildren what is most prized in community lore” ( Intro. Furthermore, it is likely that many stories and episodes had a long history of oral transmission and liturgical and pedagogical use before they were woven together in the form we have today in our Old Testament.Therefore, they are not original to “the Law,” but reflect the ongoing development of Israel’s community life before they were recorded together as a group in a “book.” In addition, the sections in the Pentateuch which contain laws for the community consist, by and large, of case laws: laws based on rulings by judicial authorities that were given to answer certain situations that arose.Genesis 5:1, Numbers 21:14) that Moses (or other authors or editors) used as sources. The Pentateuch also records the existence of other books (e.g.In fact there are many factors that make that impossible, including the fact that the book contains the account of Moses’ death! But nowhere is Moses indicated as the one who put the book together in its final form. Occasionally, those documents were brought out and read to the people (the vast majority of whom did not read or have books of any kind). There are texts in the Pentateuch that say Moses received communication from God and others that note he recorded laws and covenantal agreements and deposited them with the priests to be kept in the Tabernacle (e.g. Second, biblical books like the Pentateuch do not tell us who the author was.First of all, the people in the days of Israel did not have a “Bible.” The stories that they had were passed on orally or in liturgical settings.Even a passing knowledge of history and a cursory acquaintance with the Bible itself reveals that we are dealing with something much more complex and nuanced. ![]() Of course, this is a child’s Sunday School view of Scripture. If Barnes & Noble had been around then, you could have walked into the store and picked up a copy of one of Moses’ books. He sat down and wrote some books, people read them, the priests taught them, and everybody knew “The Torah” in the same way that we know “The Bible” today. When we pastors and teachers talk to them about “The Law of Moses,” for example, most people imagine that the Pentateuch we have today - Genesis-Deuteronomy - was simply produced by Moses. ![]() The Hebrew Bible in its present form was edited and put together to help the exiled people of Israel remember how God called them to be his people and faithfully cared for them in the past, to explain how that relationship went bad, and to encourage the people that there was still hope for the future.Īfter 35 years in pastoral ministry and Biblical study, I’m convinced that many if not most Christians have a simplistic view of “The Bible” and how it came to us (if they even think about that question at all). I believe they brought the canon of the Hebrew Bible to completion, at the end of a long process, because of the theological crises raised by the Babylonian Exile. The rest of the song confirms the meaning, eventually extending its power as a love that is unique in the world, capable of defining a destiny and a place in the world.Why did the Jews compile sacred books together and form a canon of Scripture known as the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh?įor what purpose did they put together what Christians have traditionally called the “Old Testament”? Jaymes young fragments meaning full#The verses are clear, full of firmness and conviction. I’m gonna make this last forever, don’t tell me it’s impossible ![]() I’m a mad man for your touch, girl, I’ve lost control In the lyrics, the artist affirms that he firmly believes that this is the love of his destiny, the one that makes both of them kings of this world, and he swears to love his woman for infinity. ![]()
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