Instructions for papers

 

  1. Choose a passage (pericope) from among those listed below. If you want to write a paper on a passage other than one listed, you need to get prior permission from the instructor.
  2. Each paper is to be 6-8 pages long, on single sided paper, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, and stapled. On a cover page, give a title to the paper, the passage, the class, your name, and date submitted.
  3. In your research, study the following matters, making use of the bibliographical resources listed below:
    1. The historical background.

                                                               i.      There are two elements to this: the historical setting of the story, and the historical setting in which the text was written. These can be very different: e.g., in Daniel, the story is set in Babylon of the 6th c. BCE, but the book was written in the 2nd c. BCE in a completely different historical context. The author is using the situation during the Babylonian exile as an analogy to the troubles in his own day. But his description of events in the 6th century is often inaccurate.

                                                             ii.      Date the passage: when was it written? Find the views of scholars on this, not the traditional answer.

                                                            iii.      What are the major events/developments of the time? What is going on that bears on the message? That is, even if the story is set in an earlier time, how does the proclamation relate to what is happening at the time of the prophet?

    1. The social setting. Identify social class of the prophet and the people addressed/mentioned; what is the significance (e.g., is the prophet an aristocrat, a priest, a farmer?)? Are there any social customs that need to be clarified? What aspects of the life of ancient Israel are concerned? What social and civil institutions are concerned, and how are these important?
    2. The geographical setting. Identify the locale of the prophet and the people addressed, as well as any other places mentioned. What nation, region, tribal territory, village is concerned? What is the significance of the geographical and political context? Is there any importance to topography, climate, agriculture, economy?
    3. Literary context.

                                                               i.      Authorship. Is the author identified, or is it anonymous? What do scholars say about who wrote this? Was the current text edited by a later writer?

                                                             ii.      How does the passage fit within its context? Is it part of a series of oracles? Where does it fit in the book?

                                                            iii.      Genre. Identify the literary genre. What are the features of this genre (structure and content)? What is the life setting of this genre (Sitz im Leben). (See Westerman, Basic Forms of Prophetic Speech, and the commentary on your book in the series Forms of the Old Testament Literature, and/or another commentary).

                                                           iv.      Outline the structure of the passage. What is the logic of the argument/passage?

                                                             v.      Look for literary patterns: parallelism, chiasm, inclusio, repetition, progression.

                                                           vi.      Are there any key terms that are repeated?

                                                          vii.      Look up any words that are key terms or are unclear. A commentary will usually do this; check more than one commentary.

                                                        viii.      What is the message of this passage? How does it relate to the larger context and the developing message of the book? Make sure you check whether key terms/ideas are developed elsewhere in the book.

  1. In your paper, explain the message and significance of the passage, bringing in the relevant information in a manner to make a logical argument. Your paper should have a clear introduction that introduces the passage, and a conclusion that wraps up your observations and explains the significance of these insights, e.g.,  for understanding the message of this prophet, the nature of prophecy in Israel, etc.

 

Resources

See the online bibliographies at http://courses.smsu.edu/vhm970f/bib/prophet.html.

 

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries.

The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Reference section, BS440.A54). Look up the particular book, and they will give good introductory information and further bibliography.

Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, ed. L. Ryken et at (1998)

Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. K. van der Toorn, et al.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Near East, ed. E. Meyers.

The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, ed. E. Stern.

 

Introductions to Biblical Literature.

S. Harris, Understanding the Bible.

B. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament.

O. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament: An Introduction.

B. Ehrman, The New Testament. A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings.

 

Commentaries.

Consult at least two good commentaries, e.g. from the following series: Anchor Bible Commentaries, Word Biblical Commentaries, The Old Testament Library, Hermeneia, New International Commentary.

 

History.

Matthews, V. A Brief History of Ancient Israel (2002)

Bright, J. A History of Israel.

Coogan, The Oxford History of the Biblical World.

Grabbe, L. Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian (1992).

Bruce, F. F. New Testament History

 

Geography.

The Harper Atlas of the Bible.

Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, ed. M. Roaf

A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People, ed. E. Barnavi

The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands, B. Beitzel

 

Social Context and Customs.

Matthews, V. H. and D. C. Benjamin. The Social World of Ancient Israel (1993)

Matthews, V. H. Manners and Customs in the Bible: An Illustrated Guide to Life in Bible Times (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, revised edition 1991).

Vaux, R. de. Ancient Israel, Its Life and Institutions.

Nemet-Nejet, K. R. Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (1998)

Snell, D. Life in the Ancient Near East (1997)

Theissen, G. Social Reality and the Early Christians (1992)

 

Comparative Ancient Near Eastern texts

Matthew, V. and D. Benjamin. Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. 2nd ed. (1997).

W. W. Hallo and K. L. Younger. Context of Scripture, ed. (1997).

Pritchard, J., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament.

Malamat, Abraham, Mari and the Bible (Leiden: Brill, 1998)

 

Sources on Prophecy :

Aune, David E. Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World.

Barton, John, Oracles of God: perceptions of ancient prophecy in Israel after the exile (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, c1986) BS1505.2.B36 1988

Blenkinsopp, J. A History of Prophecy in Israel. Rev. ed.

Blenkinsopp, J. Sage, Priest, Prophet

Bright, John, Covenant and promise: the prophetic understanding of the future in pre-exilic Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976) BS1505.2.B74

Brueggemann, Walter, The prophetic imagination (Philadelphia : Fortress Press, c1978) BS1198 .B84

C. Westermann, Basic Forms of Prophetic Speech.

Carroll, R. When Prophecy Failed.

Clements, R. E., Prophecy and Covenant (London: SCM, 1965) BS1505.2.C55 1968

Collins, John J. The Apocalyptic Imagination. An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature.

Cook, Stephen L., Prophecy & apocalypticism: the postexilic social setting (Minneapolis : Fortress Press, 1995) BS646 .C66 1995

Grabbe, L. Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel (1995)

Hanson, P. D. The Dawn of Apocalyptic.

Koch, Klaus, The Prophets (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983-1984, c1982 [1st ed]) BS1198.K6313 1983 v.1, 2

Matthews, Victor, Social World of the Hebrew Prophets (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2001)

Overholt, Thomas W. Channels of Prophecy: The Social Dynamis of Prophetic Activity (1989)

Overholt, Thomas W. Prophecy in cross-cultural perspective. (Atlanta, Ga. : Scholars Press, 1986) BL633.O88 1986

Petersen, David L., The roles of Israel's prophets (Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1981) BS1505.2.P48

Rad, Gerhard von, The message of the prophets, translated by D. M. G. Stalker (London, S.C.M. Press, 1968) BS1505.2 .R313

Sawyer, J. Prophecy and the Biblical Prophets

Wilson, Robert R., Prophecy and society in ancient Israel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, c1980) BS1198.W55

 

 

Topics

Essay #1: Choose one of the following passages:

Amos 4:1-6

Amos 5:10-13

Amos 6:1-10

Amos 9:11-15

Micah 6:1-5

Micah 7:11-17

Hosea 5:8-15

Hosea 8:1-10

Hosea 9:10-15

Hosea 11:12-12:6

Hosea 12:10-14

Obadiah 18-21

Nahum 9:7-12

Habakkuk 2:15-17

Zephaniah 3:1-5

Haggai 2:10-19

Zechariah 2:1-4

Zechariah 5:5-11

Zechariah 9:11-15

Isaiah 3:1-12

Isaiah 3:16-4:1

Isaiah 4:2-6

Isaiah 8:16-22

Isaiah 10:5-12

Isaiah 24:4-13

Isaiah 28:7-13

Isaiah 30:1-5

Isaiah 34:8-16

Isaiah 42:18-25

Isaiah 43:14-21

Isaiah 51:9-11

Isaiah 57:1-13

Jeremiah 2:14-19

Jeremiah 3:1-5

Jeremiah 31:1-6

Jeremiah 31:15-22

Ezekiel 9:1-11

Ezekiel 13:17-19

Ezekiel 16:1-8

Ezekiel 17:22-24

Ezekiel 19:10-14

Ezekiel 24:3-14

Ezekiel 28:1-10

Ezekiel 32:1-10

 

Essay #2: Choose one of the following passages:

Zechariah 14:1-11

Daniel 9:24-27

Daniel 10:2-9

Daniel 11:14-19

Daniel 11:20-28

Daniel 11:29-35

Daniel 11:36-39

Daniel 11:40-45

Daniel 12:1-4

Daniel 12:5-13

Revelation 1:12-20

Revelation 3:14-22

Revelation 6:9-11

Revelation 7:1-8

Revelation 9:1-11

Revelation 11:1-6

Revelation 12:18-13:10

Revelation 13:11-18

Revelation 14:14-20

Revelation 17:1-6

Revelation 19:11-16

Revelation 20:4-10

Revelation 21:1-8

Revelation 21:9-27

Revelation 22:1-5

 

 

Technical Aspects

  1. Style: the paper should be written in formal academic style (e.g., Turabian). You must give proper references to all sources used, both direct quotations and ideas that you have gained from another source. You can use either footnotes or in-text references. You should include a bibliography that lists the primary sources used (for the Bible, just indicate what translation, e.g., New Revised Standard Version) and secondary literature that you actually used in the paper (don’t list items you merely looked at but didn’t actually use in writing the paper).
    1. Footnotes: Give full details in the first occurrence; after that, give just author’s name, shortened title, and page number.

Book: V. Matthews, Social World of the Hebrew Prophets (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2001), 12-15.

Journal article: B. Halpern, “The Ritual Background of Zechariah’s Temple Song,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40 (1978): 167-190.

Encyclopedia article: J. Barton, “Prophecy (Postexilic Hebrew),” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5 (Doubleday, 1992), 489-495.

 

    1. In-text references: Just give author’s last name, date, and page number. Give full details in bibliography.

Book: (Matthews, 2001, 12-15).

 

    1. Bibliography:

Book: Matthews, Victor. Social World of the Hebrew Prophets. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2001. Pp. 12-15.

Journal article: Halpern, Bruce. “The Ritual Background of Zechariah’s Temple Song.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40 (1978): 167-190.

Encyclopedia article: Barton, John. “Prophecy (Postexilic Hebrew).” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5. Doubleday, 1992. Pp. 489-495.

 

  1. Quotations: If you quote another author directly, put the quote in quotation marks, and give the reference.
    1. E.g., As Matthews notes, the biblical prophets “were not diviners” (Matthews, 2001, 21). NOTE: put in-text references inside the sentence punctuation.
    2. If the quotation is longer than 3 lines, do not use quotation marks, but indent the whole quotation.
  2. Spelling and grammar. It is important to write with correct grammar and spelling. Make sure that you run a spell-checker on the paper and carefully edit the paper before you turn it in. Marks will be deducted for errors. Common errors:
    1. Improper sentences: Avoid run-on sentences and sentence fragments (e.g., don’t begin a sentence with “meaning that” or “though”).
    2. Punctuation: make sure you use commas, periods, and quotation marks correctly.
    3. Prepositions: make sure that you use the correct preposition. E.g., "different from," not "different than."
    4. Tense: be consistent with the verb tense (past or present). If you are “in the world of the text” you can use the present tense even about people who lived long ago. E.g., “In Luke’s gospel, Jesus shows special concern for the poor and marginalized”; but when writing from a historical perspective, “Jesus showed special concern for the poor.”
  3. Grading: Your paper will be graded on three aspects
    1. Technical: includes style, grammar, spelling, footnote and bibliography form.
    2. Content: is the argument structured in a clear and logical fashion? Are your statements and descriptions of others’ views accurate? Do you adequately cover the topic? Do you do justice to the issues concerned? Do you adequately represent the range of views on the topic?
    3. Creativity: Does your paper go beyond merely describing what others say? Do you show evidence of creative or original thinking about the topic?