Western literature week 15

ÀOld Testament

            The Old Testament is the first section of the Christian Bible, based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, a collection of religious writings by ancient Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God. It is the counterpart to the New Testament, the second portion of the Christian Bible. The Old Testament canon varies between Christian Churches. Protestants have a version with 39 books. Catholics have a version with 46 books, and Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches choose the Old Testament version with 49 books.

        öThe formation of the Old Testament

        Greek, Latin and Protestant Old Testaments

The process by which scriptures became canons and Bibles was a long one, and its complexities account for the many different Old Testaments which exist today. Timothy H. Lim, a professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the University of Edinburgh, identifies the Old Testament as "a collection of authoritative texts of apparently divine origin that went through a human process of writing and editing." He states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. By about the 5th century BC Jews saw the five books of the Torah (the Old Testament Pentateuch) as having authoritative status; by the 2nd century BC the Prophets had a similar status, although without quite the same level of respect as the Torah; beyond that, the Jewish scriptures were fluid, with different groups seeing authority in different books.

The interrelationship between various significant ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament, according to the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903). Some manuscripts are identified by their siglum. LXX here denotes the original Septuagint.

       öLot's wife

        In the Bible, Lot's wife is a figure first mentioned in Genesis 19. The Book of Genesis describes how she became a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom. She is called "Ado" or "Edith" in some Jewish traditions, but is not named in the Bible. She is also referred to in the deuterocanonical books at Wisdom 10:7 and the New Testament at Luke 17:32.

        

Genesis 19:15-26; Luke 17:29-33

When Abraham heard that his nephew, Lot, had been taken captive by the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, he pursued the enemies and freed Lot, and “the women, and the people.” Who the women were, Scripture does not say. They may have been Lot’s wife and daughters, or Sodomite female servants. The first direct reference we have of Lot’s unnamed wife is when the angels came to hasten the family out of doomed Sodom (Genesis 19:15). Who she was, of what race and family, of what life and character, by what name she was known, the Bible is silent. All the information we have about her is packed into one short verse, “His wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Yet we must give attention to her for it is written in burning words by the finger of God—

“Remember Lot’s wife.”

Some dozen words in the Old Testament, and three words in the New Testament, then, are all we have of this female character.

öSamuel

Samuel, literally meaning "Name of God" in Hebrew, is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet by Christians and Muslims, and is mentioned in the second chapter of the Qur'an, although not by name.

        ´ Hannah's Promise

        This story is about a woman named Hannah who really really wanted to have a child.  Every year she would go with her husband to a place called Shiloh.

          While they were there, there would be a big festival and everyone would celebrate all that God did for them. They would thank God for their crops and everything God gave them, and give sacrifices or presents to God to show how thankful they were.

          When Hannah prayed she was very honest with how she was feeling. She sometimes cried a lot and probably felt like God had forgotten her.  But while she was praying she promised God, "Dear God, if you would only look and see how sad I am and remember me, please give me a son. If you would do that for me I will dedicate my son to you for his whole life."

As Hannah was praying there was a man named Eli, a priest, who was sitting nearby and saw her. While Hannah was praying she was praying to herself, her lips were moving but Eli couldn't hear her say anything.  We can pray just like this to if we need to, we can pray to God in our head so no one can hear.

But a while later a great thing happened.  God of course remembered Hannah (because God doesn't forget any of us) and gave her a son, and she named him Samuel.

Hannah had waited so long for this child and she loved him so much, but she remembered that she made a promise to God.  Hannah was an honest woman and when she made a promise she meant it. Again, Hannah had a good attitude and wanted to give Samuel back to God, she wasn't mad at herself and change her mind. Now I give him to the Lord and I will leave him with you to learn and work with you."

Samuel did very well while staying with Eli.  Then one night something unusual happened.  Eli and Samuel had both gone to bed and were having a nice sleep.  When Samuel all of a sudden woke up, someone was calling him, "Samuel."

Well, Samuel thought it was Eli so he ran to his bed and answered, "Here I am; you called me?"  But Eli said, "I did not call you; go back and lie down."

The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli again and said, "Here I am; you called me."

Eli couldn't figure out what was going on.  He had been thinking who could be calling Samuel, they were the only ones there.  Suddenly Eli realized there was only one other explanation so Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if you hear the voice again, say, 'Yes, Lord, I'm listening.'"

Sure enough, Samuel went to lie down and the Lord called again, "Samuel!  Samuel!"  So Samuel quickly replied, "Speak Lord, I am listening."

God blessed Samuel and he grew up to be a great prophet or spokesperson of the Lord.

So Hannah did the right thing when she kept her promise to God.  Her son Samuel helped many people know God better.

         öThe lord's prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father, Pater Noster, and the Model Prayer is a venerated Christian prayer originally recorded in Aramaic that, according to the New Testament, was taught by Jesus to his disciples.

      

       ö Sermon on the Mount

        The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). It is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew and takes place relatively early in the Ministry of Jesus after he has been baptized by John the Baptist and preached in Galilee.

       

     ö The Death of Joseph

              Q:

What is the story of the death of Joseph, the father of Jesus?

A:

QUICK ANSWER

In Catholic tradition, the story of Joseph's death is known as the Happy Death of Saint Joseph. According to this story, Joseph entered an ecstatic trance one day before he died and glimpsed the divine. He understood everything that he believed and saw all of those things he only knew by faith while alive. The story also mentions a long period of sickness and suffering before he died.