Introduction to the Bible : Old Testament

Teacher(s)

Luciani Didier;

Language

French

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required, but adequate preparation may consist in (re) reading the Pentateuch or/and Josh'''2Kings in the order of its presentation.

Main themes

This course is divided into two parts, or rather, solicits alternately two complementary approaches: 1) exposure of prolegomena and provision of some 'keys' to enter into the Old Testament; 2) reading of texts (of bigger collections/sets rather than precise pericopes) of the Old Testament.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of this course, the student will be able: ¿ to situate the essential benchmarks of the Old Testament within its geographical and historical framework; ¿ to describe the background of the narrative books of the Old Testament; ¿ to describe the major characteristics of the prophetic and wisdom literature of the Old Testament.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

To achieve its objectives, the course will address the following themes:
' general presentation of the corpus of the Old Testament: its composition, canonization, the history of its formation and the transmission of its text [the text];
' an overview of the main geographical and historical landmarks that make it possible to understand both the world in which this literature was born and the history it tells [the realia];
' an exposition of the narrative story that runs from Genesis to the end of the Book of Kings, as well as a presentation of prophetic and wisdom literature, providing a few keys to reading [the narrative].
However, like any introduction, it would miss its purpose without reading. Another part of the work'''and not the least'''will consist of a cursive reading of some significant texts and narrative sets of the Pentateuch (Gn'''Dt) and deuteronomistic historiography (Josh'''2Kings).

Teaching methods

Lectures

Evaluation methods

Written examination

Other information

A working Bible (with notes) and its use in each course goes without saying. A regular and personal reading of the biblical text itself is indispensable, especially for students who have never had contact with this literature.
In addition to the information given during the course, additional readings will be required (set of articles and books).
Three proposals, for example:
J.L. Ska, L'Ancien Testament à ceux qui n'ont rien compris ou presque, Paris, Bayard, 2012.
J.L. Ska, Les énigmes du passé. Histoire d'Israël et récit biblique (Le livre et le rouleau, 14), Bruxelles, Lessius, 2002.
M. Richelle, Guide pour l'exégèse de l'Ancien Testament. Méthodes, exemples et instruments de travail (Interprétation), Charols, Excelsis, 2012.
There will be no syllabus, but a variety of tools and appendices will be made available on the Moodle page of the course.

Faculty or entity

TEBI