Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

3 units

The Hebrew Bible is the foundational text of Judaism and Christianity. It is a complex compilation of materials, reflecting great diversity in ideology, literary expression, social and political circumstances, and theology. In this course, we shall read a significant amount of the Bible in English translation. We shall study the various approaches that have been taken by scholars in trying to understand the Bible in its historical context. We shall also study how the Bible was traditionally interpreted by Jews and Christians during the last two thousand years.