Old Testament : in order

When did you start to read the Bible?

One problem we might have with ‘reading the Bible’ is that we take it as it is, sometimes literally, other times metaphorically, but often as truth. I would like to suggest that we reconsider how we read the Bible. Where to start?

Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures

We may be aware of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Here we get Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in that order. It might suggest that Genesis is the first book to have been written as part of the Hebrew Scriptures. It might be presumed that Moses even sat down and started to write or ask a scribe to write down all that he said to fill the pages of the Pentateuch. But Moses was to die well before he would get to the Promised Land, so the writing of the end of Deuteronomy and Numbers may be problematical, to say the least. Nowhere within the Pentateuch does it state who the author(s) were.

There was also the question of monotheism

The OT represents a wide range of theologies of different groups of people that spanned centuries and different circumstances. Babylonian and Canaanite philosophies became fused in the stories of Genesis. There are many references, not so much as monotheism but what’s known as henotheism – a multi-God/dess universe.

We have the name of Elohim, normally translated as God, is an all powerful commanding deity. Then we also have YWHW, who is a God who has human likeness, displaying kindness and severity, often described as a jealous God. YWHW has strong links to Canaanite culture. There are numerous references to worshipping God alone – strongly suggesting that there were other gods, such as Asherah, whom Jeremiah 44 refers as the Queen of Heaven. Then there is El, which to a Semite is a divine being. However, El is also the name of the chief god of the Canaanite array of gods. El is characterised as a bearded king on a throne – sound familiar? They are also referred to as the ‘Ancient One’. This characterisation is then seen in Daniel 7 who sits on a Throne, dressed with white garments. El has a son, called Baal, and a consort called Asherah. Whereas El is seemingly absorbed with YWHW, but Baal and Asherah are condemned. Not a single God.

Authorship?

There are also scholars who would claim, very strongly, that there are at least 4 different sets of authors for Genesis alone. Those authors are labelled as Jahwist, Elohist, Priestly, and the Deuteronomist – known as the JEDP theory. Whoever later compiled Genesis, reworked the passages so they would be harmonised within the final version. Many would agree that Genesis was written around 500-400 BCE. So what of Exodus?

In terms of archaeological evidence, there is scant data to suggest that the actual Exodus, as it is portrayed in the Pentateuch, actually occurred. There are reports of circumstantial evidence, but they are weak, especially when considering their possible date. If it did, it could possibly have occurred in some other form around 13th C Before Christ. Within Exodus, we have the Decalogue, also known as thew 10 Commandments. They are written in Exodus 20; however, the tablets were broken and represented to Moses in Exodus 34. Nevertheless, we then see an alternative Decalogue given to us in Deuteronomy 5. There is much scholarly conversation to say that the version in Exodus 20 was latterly rewritten by an additional author, with the Exodus version being the priestly version, as it refers to remember the great acts of God in the festivals; whereas the Deuteronomy version is referred to as more a civil version as ‘remember’ has become ‘to keep or obey’. One issue for us today is that we only see the versions written in English. It is certainly not as simple as how we read the Bible today.

The order of the OT books

Many contributors to this question of the actual chronological order of the OT books feel intrinsically constrained to put Genesis first. However, here we see individual books as many would consider when they were written – note where Genesis now sits. Job may also the first book to be written – there is so much debate on this issue.

Amy-Jill Levine said “Books are meant to be read with the knowledge that they are not meant to be merely history books, as many of the events are purposely not written in chronological order and many details are not explicitly mentioned but are only hinted to. Also, the literal translation will give you woefully incomplete information about the topic, since the main purpose of the written text in its original Hebrew was is to remind you of all the oral information in the Torah.“

Bottom Line

We can’t take the OT or Hebrew Scriptures as we find them in our version of the Bible, and take it ‘as read’. Compare a Protestant, Catholic and Jewish Bible : the books within each version and their order.

Next, the New Testament!