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Terms or Ideas to Learn  

Harris (

  • What does the book call the "grand culmination" of the Torah/Pentateuch? Why?
  • Which book of the Torah has Moses compiling the entire law code plus a song? When do scholars think this book was written, and why?
  • Explain one piece of evidence that Moses did not write the Torah.
  • Give an example of a doublet ("passage in which the same story--or a close varieant--it told a second time") in the Torah besides the flood story.
  • What two biblical writers wrote the flood story, according to Box 4.1?
  • According to Table 4.1, what features distinguish J?
  • According to Table 4.1, what features distinguish E?
  • According to Table 4.1, what features distinguish D?
  • According to Table 4.1, what features distinguish P?
  • What does the revisionist theory by Rendtorff, van Seters,and Whybray argue?
  • What does the book mean by the "JE Epic"?
  • How did P give the Torah "its final shape and structure"?
  • Briefly explain Niditch and Dundes' challenge to the documentary hypothesis.
  • Give an example of the theme of "potential blessings."
  • In what ancient non-biblical texts (give one example) do we see the "custom of fashioning dialog for gods"?
  • In what sense, according to Harris, is the six-day account of the world's creation "mythical" (that is, expressing collective social importance)?
  • List one of the book's examples of etiologies or cult legends.
  • In its final form,to what audience was the Torah addressed? How does its cast of wandering expatriates and freed slaves speak to that audience?

Genesis 1-25

  • Give an example of a sibling rivalry from 1-25. Who wins out? Why?
  • Give an example of a conflict betwen women. Who wins and who loses?
  • Give an example of a time in which the Covenant line is endangered.
  • Give an example of a time in which a human argues with or negotiates with God.
  • List something odd or weird that you never heard about in church or Sunday school.

Essay question: watch the lecture about the ancient near Eastern context of Genesis 1 to about minute 38. Explain a specific example of how this story "incorporates" and "demythologizes" near eastern myth.

Bring Friedman to class!