The Gray Monk

A wander through the Old Testament

Yet more ramblings on the study of the Bible

The collection of books we commonly refer to as the “Old Testament” did not take its final form until 550 AD. Earlier versions of this collection included, as I pointed out in the March ramble, many books now collected under the heading of the Apocrypha, the collection from the Hellenic Diaspora known as the “Septuagint” being regarded as the most authoritive. This last compilation formed the basis of the Latin “Vulgate” translation on which some later “vernacular” translations were based. Indeed, our “Authorised” translation drew heavily upon the Vulgate, with “amendments” such as the creation of the Apocrypha being affected by the Protestant use of the later versions of the “Talmud” as set by the Jewish Councils by 550 AD.

The collection as we now have it in most versions of the Bible in use today divides into four main sections. The first of these is the foundation for the whole of the rest and is often referred to as “The Pentateuch”, a title which simply means “The Five Books”. It is these five books which underpin the Jewish, and by definition, our own, faith.

The second set of books form the “Historical” group and include, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. (An extension of Esther known as “The rest of Esther” can be found in the Apocrypha and is an apparent attempt to bring a religious tone to a book which does not even mention God!)

The next group brings together the “Poetry and Wisdom” books with, as you would expect, Psalms, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. It also brings in Job – with some debate I suspect as to whether this book brings salutary warnings or wisdom to bear! Of this group we are probably most familiar with the Psalms, all one hundred and fifty of them, most of them attributed to King David. This attribution is probably debatable as many of them make reference to events long after his death, though this could be a reflection of an original poem being “up dated” to keep its theme topical in much the same way that many Gilbert and Sullivan “patter” songs are updated each time they are performed. The themes in them range across the full spectrum of human emotion and endeavour. Who could fail to be moved by the deep sense of contrition contained in Psalm 51, or the plea for help underlying the lament in Psalm 137, “By the Rivers of Babylon, where we sat down”? Then too, the pure worship in Psalm 150 or the description of a sea journey in Psalm 107 verses 23 – 32. Anyone who has ever been caught out at sea in a small boat will recognize the visceral terror contained in those few lines of poetry – and the relief at being able to reach dry land!

The final and perhaps longest section is that of the Prophets. These record the work and prophecy of a collection of men sent by God to guide and steer the chosen people through their preparation for the coming of Christ. To a Jew, their word was a matter for constant resort, debate and a guide to daily activity. They span an interesting period of the nations history - and have not a little to say to us as we live through a period in which God is forgotten, ignored or denigrated. The book we know as Isaiah is in fact three books each from a slightly different period and written over a period of slightly more than 100 years between about 780 BC and 670 BC and is addressed to the Kingdom of Judah. During this time the twin Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were under threat from the Assyrian empire and the Kingdom of Israel fell to that invader around 750 BC. It is also contemporaneous with the Book of Micah which begins in about the same years and ends about 15 years earlier than Isaiah does.

Each of the prophets following, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Jeremiah warn of the consequences of the disobedience and disregard for God displayed by an evermore decadent Judah as the threat from the North and East grew. Finally, Jeremiah and Obadiah see the fall of Judah to the Babylonian invader and the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. Daniel, Ezekiel and Obadiah are all from the period of exile, but they are followed by Haggai, Zechariah, Joel and Malachi as even the restored Kingdom of Judah, now probably a vassal state of the Persian empire, was almost no better behaved than the pre-exile Kingdom had been. Who have I omitted? Why, Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Micah are also there, but not necessarily in the sequence I have given.

If we add the Apocrypha as the Fifth section we have a span of writing in the Old Testament that begins in Genesis at around 1950 BC and ends sometime in the first or second Century AD. Why do I choose the beginning date at 1950 BC? This is the date accepted by most scholars as the probable date of Abram’s start from Ur in the Euphrates delta – a little upstream from present day Basra. It is in the Apocrypha that we find the short-lived restoration of an independent Kingdom under the Maccabees, so very soon to be once more crushed and subjugated by the might of Rome, finally destroyed and dispersed by the rebellion in 68 – 70 AD when the last Temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans.

What of the historical accuracy you may ask? In my first ramble on this subject, I mentioned that the dating of some events is quite difficult since they either do not get a mention in anyone else’s records or differ radically with another version of the same event. Personally, I think it is well worth keeping an open mind on this subject. Firstly because, as in our own time, rulers always prefer to be seen and remembered in the best light. Ramses II of Egypt is now known to have “embellished” the truth somewhat on his monuments. At the hands of his “spin doctors” defeat is recorded as victory and this may well be true of other records as well. After all, no one whose power depends on his people believing that he is a great general and omniscient (if not omnipresent) and infallible ruler is going to admit willingly to having his army kicked out of a piece of territory he has attempted to seize by a bunch of nomads. Consider our own history in the America’s and elsewhere. Coupled with this we must make allowance for the interesting habit (which we still do not seem to have overcome – see the television pictures of Saddam Hussein’s portrait being crushed under tanks!) of defacing and destroying any marker left by the overthrown King or his predecessors.

Only recently there was huge excitement over the discovery of an inscribed fragment of a border marker, which refers to David. It is the first such marker ever found and it throws open a whole new field of research as well as providing confirmation that David did, in fact, rule a large chunk of today’s, Israel, Jordan and the Lebanon. The paucity of such “evidence” is perhaps not so surprising when you realise that that area has been over run by conquerors on an almost annual basis ever since David ruled. Naturally, there are those who doubt its provenance, and I am sure the debate will rage for years yet, no doubt fueled by entrenched positions on all sides, yet there are other clues which support the historical aspects of the people and events the Old Testament describes.

For me, as I am sure for you, there are parts of these books which are very difficult to deal with. The blood bath of sacrificial goings on in Leviticus and the apparently implacable desire of God in some parts to destroy those who step out of line and enemies of His people in others. Both seem sharply at odds with the God of the New Testament and the Gospels - a forgiving and loving God. Yet it is in these pages that we find the origins of the faith to which we have been invited and which we profess. It is in the unlikely and sometimes downright ungodly people that God chose to work out His plan of salvation for all His creation. It is hard going at times reading it, but it is rewarding for the insights that lurk within the pages and leap out at you when least expected.

As I suggested at the end of my first article on this subject, it is worth investing the time and the effort in studying these books and such others as will provide the background and the supporting information that we need to reach an understanding of God’s purpose as set out in them. Bible Codes? Maybe, the narrative as it stands is interesting enough for me. For one thing, it fills me with hope that if God could work with some of the men described in these pages as He has, then there is hope for me.

May peace and grace be with you always.