General Background of Academic Study of the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament

Diversity of Christian Approaches to the Old Testament as Scripture

Keywords: Dei Verbum, Tradition, Individual Conscience, Inerrancy, Fundamentalism, Reformation

Readings:

• Harrington, The Bible in Catholic Life (PDF)
• Hanneken, 5.2 Whom Do You Trust with Big Decisions? in Theological Questions (LINK)
• Hanneken, 5.4.3 The Individual Conscience in Theological Questions (LINK)
• Collins, From Tradition to Canon in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)

Notes:

• Scripture and Tradition from Introduction to Theology (LINK)
• Views of Scripture from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)

Three Categories of Interpretation

Keywords: Pre-Modern, Modern, Post-Modern, Kugel

Readings:

• Kugel, The Four Assumptions in The Bible As It Was and Traditions of the Bible (pp. 14-19, and the whole chapter is good)

Notes:

• Premodern Interpretation from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)
• Modern and Post-Modern Interpretation from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)
• Introduction, Excerpts from The Interpretation of the History of Israel (LINK)

Timelines of Ancient Near Eastern History and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament

Keywords: political history (Pre-Monarchic/Judges, Monarchic, Exilic, Second Temple Period, Hasmonean Period, Herodian Period), opposition history (Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Romans), biblical figures and books

Readings:

• Collins, Early History of the Near East in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The Bible and History in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The End of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah in the Assyrian Crisis in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, Chart of Dates in Hellenistic Period in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)

Notes:

• Timeline from The Interpretation of the History of Israel (LINK)
• Satelite Image of the region (JPG)

Major Historical-Critical Methods

Keywords: historical-critical method itself, source criticism, form criticism, text criticism, redaction criticism

Readings:

• Collins, Methods in Biblical Study in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)

Notes:

• Select Tools Within the Historical-Critical Method from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)

The Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch

Keywords: JEDP, Jahwist Source, Elohist Source, Deuteronomic Source, Priestly Source, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Deuteronomic History, Chronicles, Wellhausen

Readings:

• Collins, The Nature of the Pentateuchal Narrative in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, Deuteronomy in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The Priestly Theology in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The Career of Ezra in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The Deuteronomistic History, Introduction in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, “The Date and Purpose of the Chronicler” in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)

Notes:

• Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)

Archaeology and External Evidence of Historical Context

Keywords: Modern Principles of Historiography, External and Independent Evidence, Maximalist and Minimalist, Four Models of the Origin of Israel in Canaan, Reed Sea, David

Modern Historiography

• Introduction, Excerpts from The Interpretation of the History of Israel (LINK)

Origin of Israel

• PBS NOVA, “The Bible’s Buried Secrets” (2008) Part 1 (origins), transcript (LINK) and video (LINK) or (LINK) or (LINK)
• Collins, The Origin of Israel in Canaan in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Collins, The Book of Exodus in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Moses and the Exodus from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)

David and the House of David

• PBS NOVA, “The Bible’s Buried Secrets” (2008) Part 2 (monarchic period), transcript (LINK) and video (LINK) or (LINK) or (LINK)
• Collins, The Rise of David, The Election of David, and David as Mercenary and Outlaw in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• [New 10/9/2025] History of the Monarchy from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)

Form Criticism and Genre Theory

Keywords: Social Setting / Sitz im Leben, Literary Form, Function, Gunkel, Psalms, Family-Resemblance Model, Taxonomy

Readings:

• Collins, The Different Kinds of Psalms in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Judd, Andrew, "Introduction," in Modern Genre Theory: An Introduction for Biblical Studies. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2024) pp. xv-xxiiii.
  • The introduction is available as a preview on Google Books
  • Note his definition, “Genres are relatively stable conventions that writers and readers use to make meaning in certain contexts but not others.”

Notes:

• Form Criticism and Major Forms of Psalms from Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (LINK)
• I wish I had a better write up for you. Briefly, I prefer to think of genre as the set of cultural knowledge, shared cues, familar structures, etc., that facilitates communication. Authors borrow elements with the assumption that the audience already has some familiarity and predictable associations.
• [New notes to be presented 10/16/2025, not expected preparation] Genre

Text Criticism, Textual History, Canon

Keywords: Masoretic Text, Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, Dead Sea Scrolls, Canon

Readings:

• Collins, The Different Canons of Scripture and The Text of the Bible in Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. (PDF)
• Screnock, John. The Textual History and Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. 17 Jun. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.69.
  • Apparently this is no longer open-access or is only accessible from campus. I'll try to put up a PDF by Monday morning.
  • Update 10/27/2025: Still not available. You may safely take this off your list of things to do by 10/30/2025.

Notes:

• Dead Sea Scrolls from Interpretation of the History of Israel (LINK)

Digital Tools

Keywords: Concordance, Text Strings, Boolean, Search Patterns

Readings:

• Search

Reception History

Keywords: Influence, History of Interpretation, Lectio Divina

Readings:

Notes:

Ideas added after fall 2025

The Society of Biblical Literature asks scholars to classify papers that they propose to present at the Annual Meeting. It would be easy to argue that the list is incomplete or inadequate, but it does seem like a good starting point for concepts and terms assumed to be generally meaningful in biblical studies.

Methods and Approaches

1. Archaeology
2. Religion and Religious Practices
3. Contextual Readings and Hermeneutics
4. Cultural Criticism
5. Epigraphy and Paleography
6. Gender and Sexuality Criticism
7. History and Historiography
8. History of Interpretation and Reception History
9. Ideological Criticism
10. Interdisciplinary Approaches
11. Intertextuality
12. Literary Criticism
13. Pedagogy and Pedagogical Theory
14. Philology and Linguistics
15. Postcolonial Criticism
16. Redaction and Source Criticism
17. Rhetorical Criticism
18. Social-Scientific Criticism
19. Textual Criticism
20. Theological and Ethical Interpretation
21. Translation and Translation Theory

Texts

1. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Septuagint
2. Torah/Pentateuch
3. Former Prophets
4. Latter Prophets
5. Writings
6. Wisdom Literature
7. Psalms and Poetic Books
8. Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Texts
9. New Testament
10. Gospels and Acts
11. Pauline Epistles
12. Catholic Epistles and Hebrews
13. Apocalyptic Literature
14. Early Jewish Literature
15. Early Christian Literature
16. Rabbinic Literature
17. Qur'an
18. Greco-Roman Literature and Culture
19. Ancient Near Eastern Literature and Culture