Hey! So I edited the entire thing in Word and tried to copy and paste it back in but my browser won't allow me to paste!? Summary

For class today, we discussed the Hebrew Bible, and how the Bible was once orally composed, similar to the epics, The Odyssey and The Ramayana. We also discussed how the Bible was similar to the epics in that it served as an instructional tool for the culture of the past and present. Lastly, we talked of the accounts of creation the Bible describes; including the covenants between God and Man.
Within Genesis, we see that there were two rather opposite versions of the story of creation. Genesis I describes, in an orderly fashion that everything was created first, then man followed. In this book, since man was created last, God named everything that he put on earth before man. In contrast, Genesis II is comprised in less order, however, the order presented is opposite of what was illustrated in Genesis I. Since Genesis II has man created first, it also has man naming everything that is created after him (pg. 98-99).
Further in our discussions, we spoke of the term Torah, which in the Bible we related as an instructional tool that is meant to teach the reader many things, including the ten commandments of God. We also discussed how the Bible is a representation of proper behavior (pg. 101) in accordance with God's Ten commandments, as well as a book of answers to many of our current day questions.
Last of all, we made comparisons between the Bible and Greek literature/culture. In the Odyssey, there were many gods who made their decisions based upon “how they felt at that moment in time.” An example is when Odysseus faces his many hardships just because Poseidon is mad at him, even though Athena shows favoritism towards him. However, The God in the Bible is described as a just and merciful God.


Word Count - 300

Passages


Page 101
"And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart's devising was only perpetually evil."
God told the humans he created, one summarized rule. When the humans disobeyed him, God did not kill them on impulse; instead, he punished them with consequences we all bear today. However, before he cast them out of Eden, he gave them decent clothing to cover their bodies. This decision of God shows his justice and mercy. Although God looks down on earth and loses his faith in humanity because his people have failed to keep their commandments, which is breaking their covenant with him, he still chooses to have mercy on them before he decides to flood the earth and rid the world of people because he regrets ever making them.

Page 105

"And Abram was ninety-nine years old and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am El Shaddai. Walk with Me and be blameless, and I will grant My covenant between Me and you and I will multiply you very greatly.' And Abram flung himself on his face, and God spoke to him saying, 'As for Me, this is My covenant with you: you shall be father to a multitude of nations. And no longer shall your name be Abram but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you father to a multitude of nations. And I will make you most abudndantly fruitful and turn you into nations, and kings shall come forth from you... - ... 'This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you must be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. Eight days old every male shall be circumcised through your generations, even slaves born in the household and those purchased with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed... - ...And Abraham flung himself on his face and he laughed, saying to himself.

This passage tells of the covenant that was between God and Abraham. These covenants bind the two in a contract with one another, and each has to uphold his own end of the deal. In addition to documenting God’s covenants, we also see in the Bible the answers to many everyday questions. The Bible answers questions such as; how the world was created, how we got here, why there are many languages in the earth, why do we die, why are there two genders, why do we not like snakes, and many more.

Page 109

"Esau came from the field, and he was famished. And Esau said to Jacob, ' Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff, for I am famished." Therefore is his name called Edom. And Jacob said, 'Sell now your birthright to me.' And Esau said, 'Look, I am at the point of death, so why do I need a birthright?"
"And Rebekah said to Jacob her son... - ...And he came close and kissed him, and he smelled his garments and he blessed him and he said, 'see, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field that the Lord has blessed."

This is an example of how Greek literature relates to the Bible, for when Jacob and his mother, Rachel, connive his father, Isaac, into presenting him with Esau’s blessing. Jacob seemingly used the same tool of Odysseus; metis. Jacob’s cunning abilities allowed him to bribe Esau into trading his father's blessing for bread and soup (pg. 109). It also leads into another lesson the Bible seems to teach the same as the Greeks, that being hospitality. This Greek Xenia is represented in the Bible when Lot has guests over and presents them with a hospitable welcome and when Abraham hosts his guest with a meal even though he only lives in a tent.

Terms

Bible- The term literally means "book." The Bible seems to have been orally composed in ancient times, written down, then later edited.

Pentateuch (Greek) - the first 5 books of the Bible
Torah (Hebrew)- the first 5 books of the Bible (Means "instruction")

Covenant- a two way contract between God and man



PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME GET IT ALL BACK TO THE EDIT SECTION PLEASE!!!!

Thanks,

Katie

Btw we only need 3 passages. I think page 101 or 99 is the least important of the 4.

i had taken 99 out, each passage is a comment on here, but i just can't get it all back into the edit section?

Your notes on the Bible cover a lot of good ground, but I wonder if it could be presented in a more clear fashion. And I'm not talking about the problems that Katie had when she was trying to move the notes from Word to the wiki. For example, in the passages you use the passage where Abraham makes a covenant with God. You spend two sentences talking about what a covenant is, although you don't tell me what Abraham and God do in fact covenant. Even more strangely, you then start discussing how the Bible answers common questions about the world. But you don't connect this to the passage in any way...and I don't really see how you could do so in this case. In the third passage, you spend some time talking about Jacob's metis. This is a fine point, but the most important thing--in my opinion--that we discussed is why the story works this way: as evidence that Esau wouldn't have been a fitting person to continue the covenant with God. Instead you discuss xenia and Abraham, who has nothing to do with this passage. Your first passage also mixes things a bit by including a quotation from the story of Noah but discussing Adam and Eve.

Your summary is more to the point, but there's more emphasis on the difference between the first and second chapters of Genesis than I had expected to see. More time could have been spent, on the other hand, on making clear that what the Bible does is teach people to obey the commandments. If you don't, you'll be punished. And these punishments are spelled out ahead of time. You've got these points in the summary, but they could be presented in a more clear way.

Your definitions hit the mark, but I think the other two sections could have been edited quite a bit more. So I was surprised to see how little some members of the group had contributed to the revisions based on what I can see in the history. This assignment is not designed for you to check in once on the notes, add a half sentence, and never come back.