Module 8
Please read Hayes Chapters 22-24 Ezra 1-10, Nehemiah 10, 13, Jonah, Ruth, Daniel 7-12 and watch the video on this website https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=VMeWaYIzfx4&feature=emb_logo; questions to answer are listed below…
*Discuss how various books from the period of the restoration (539 BCE) and throughout the Second Temple era reveal various conflicts Israelites, Judaeans (Yehudim), (Jews) faced during this period of time. Illustrate how one book dating from this period can be understood more fully when it is interpreted in light of the historical era in which it was composed.
*Comment upon and illustrate Hayes remarks on pp. 401-02 that the Bible is not the product of theologians or philosophers but the product of Israels struggle to come to terms with the problem of sustaining their convictions about themselves, their Gods relationship to them, to the events of history in the midst of evil and suffering and that this anthology can best be seen as an unresolved polyphony.
*After having viewed the entire PBS documentary, correlate claims made in it with Hayes account of the history of Ancient Israel and the history of the formation of the Bible. Note points of agreement and disagreement. Discuss in detail the relationship between the written evidence of the Bible and the material evidence discovered by archaeology and comment on how the two sorts of data contribute in complex ways to reconstructing Ancient Israel and understanding the Hebrew Bible.
