Hebrew Bible Day 3: Critical Study tools

Critical Study Tools for the Hebrew Bible

1. The Bible
1. oldest versions
1. codexes (scrolls are not a single codex)
1. Codex Vaticanus
2. Codex Siniticus
3. Codex Alexandrina
2. written in the 4th and 5th centuries CE
3. in Greek (supporting that these were Christian documents
2. Septuagint ~ 3rd century BCE
3. Allepo Codex
1. 10th century CE
2. complete Bible with vowells
3. stolen; now in Jerusalem

             Note:  There is no single authoritative codex that make the Bible infallible.  Furthermore, internal chronologies do not match up, and archeological evidence can at times oppose the Bible. 

The Bible is clearly redacted, that is, been edited and organized together.

1. The Bible
2. Source Criticism
1. Wellhausen
2. looking at the sources who wrote the biblical accounts
3. looking at changes in literary style
1. the "register"
2. language and vocabulary
3. Form Criticism
1. Gunkel
2. looking at genres and literary forms
3. "sitz in laben":  where the literature "sits in place" in society
4. Redaction Criticism
1. looking at large chunks of the Bible
2. looking at the reasons behind the choices of arrangements
5. Archeology
1. Albright
2. e.g. Jericho inconsistency
3. either verifies or discounts biblical records
4. fills out the text, esp. the social and cultural aspects
6. Literary Criticism
1. looking at the text as a whole
2. reading the text closely
3. looking at how people have interpreted the text