Introduction to the Old Testament
The introduction to the Old Testament is a theological technical term for the representation of the origin, collection and transmission of the writings of the Old Testament. It comprises the text history (tradition), the canon history (collection) and the analysis of the individual books of the Old Testament. So it deals with similar topics as the introduction to the New Testament .
The introduction aims to trace the history of the origins of the books of the Old Testament individually and in their entirety, their collection in the canon (i.e. writings that Jews and then Christians regard as binding in terms of scope and arrangement).
Some introductory questions are also dealt with in Bible translations, before the beginning of the individual Biblical books. A distinction is to be made between the introduction and the introduction , which guides reading and exploring.
The writings of the Old Testament probably had a complicated history. This is the subject of introductory science. Introductory science asks how to get from oral tradition to written text.
Critical biblical studies emerged in the Age of Enlightenment, even if there were a few critical remarks beforehand (e.g. from the reformers, above all from Martin Luther ). The work of Johann Gottfried Eichhorn was groundbreaking for the historical-critical introductory science ; his historical-critical introduction to the Old Testament appeared in three volumes (1780–1783). He tried to shed light on the genesis of each individual book.
Concept history
The Old Testament is the "Holy Scripture" of the Jews and Christians and thus has a dual character.
The Church makes the Bible of Israel the first part of its Bible for programmatic reasons: The Bible of Israel had the undisputed claim to revelation. The New Testament is written from the Old, the NT must be read in the light of the OT, the NT cannot be understood without the OT.
"General introduction" includes textual history and canon history, "Special introduction" analysis of the individual books.
General introduction
Text history
The Old Testament was largely written in Hebrew , originally a consonant script, i.e. without vowels. In the early Middle Ages, when Biblical Hebrew was no longer spoken, vocalization and dotting was developed by scribes, so-called Masoretes. Hence the vocalized consonant text is called Masoretic Text . This text is an interpretation because the consonants can be supplemented with vowels in different ways, and depending on the supplement, they make a different sense. Reconstruction of the original text is the primary goal.
The oldest surviving manuscript, which contains the entire Hebrew Old Testament, dates back to 1008 AD: the so-called Codex Leningradensis .
In 1947, fragments of Hebrew Bible texts were found in caves near Qumran (only the book of Isaiah is available as a complete scroll). Because of their great age (2nd / 1st century BC), these are of particular value.
The old translations of the Hebrew Bible are also used, above all the so-called Septuagint (abbreviation “LXX”). The Septuagint is the oldest continuous translation of the Aramaic-Hebrew Bible into the ancient Greek everyday language. It has some differences to the Masoretic Text (e.g. arrangement of individual text sections).
Canon history
The “Old Testament” font collection has grown over time. It is not clear when a definitive demarcation was made. The Hebrew Bible contains 39 scriptures. Counting 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles as one book each gives a lower total. This becomes even lower when the Twelve Little Prophets are counted together as one book.
In Judaism, divine inspiration is the criterion for establishing the canon. Early Christianity took over the holy writings of the Jews. When the Christian movement spread using the world language of that time, Greek , the Septuagint was mostly used. This is where the apocrypha came into use, and some of them gained canonical authority in the Catholic Church. The reformers chose the Hebrew Bible and left out the Apocrypha. The affiliation of individual books to the canon is judged differently until today.
Special introduction
This deals with the introductory questions with regard to the individual documents of the AT.
"Introduction" to the Old Testament
An “introduction” takes a look at the historical and religious environment. It often includes methodological questions for historically correct interpretation of the text.
literature
- Helmuth Egelkraut (ed.): WS La Sor, DA Hubbard, FW Bush: The Old Testament. Origin - history - message . Brunnen, Giessen 1989, 5th edition 2012.
- Otto Kaiser : Introduction to the Old Testament. An introduction to their findings and problems. Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, Gütersloh 1969, 5th edition 1984
- Erich Zenger u. a .: Introduction to the Old Testament. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1995, 7th edition 2008.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The line between introduction and introduction is not always sharp; so contains z. B. the introduction to the Old Testament by Erich Zenger (inter alia) a "Outline of the History of Israel".