This course offers an academic introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The course will move through the Hebrew Bible in a roughly historical sequence oriented toward the order of the prose books of the Hebrew Bible, with special topics and issues integrated into the course along the way. The course’s primary focus will be on the texts and contents of the Hebrew Bible, seeking to understand the biblical writings from a historical perspective. Attention will be given to such issues as ancient authorship, date and history of composition, social and historical setting, audience, literary shape, narrative techniques, major themes and ideas, religious perspective, political ideology, archaeology, comparative ancient Middle Eastern data, etc. Important topics of discussion also include: gender and sexuality, law, ritual, historiography, scribalism, ethics, Israelite religion, post/de-colonialism and empire, apocalypticism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, canonization, race and ethnicity, disability, and more. Additionally, this course will treat the interpretive contexts that have shaped and continue to shape the modern study of the Hebrew Bible.
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