Tests consist of three types of questions:

There will be a variety of short answer, fill in the blank, multiple choice, true false, etc. questions. (Like the quizzes). The information you are responsible for her will be taken from the list of terms, chronology, and geography sections of the study guide.

There will be a few key terms for which you will need to write detailed identifications. These will be taken from the asterisked terms on the list.

How to write an excellent identification: Suppose you were asked to write a brief, one-paragraph description of this term for an encyclopedia. What is the information you would want to get across as essential to someone who knows nothing or very little about the subject? In order to do this, you must not only be able to relate facts, but also to interpret them. Ask yourself: Why should anyone consider this important? What is its significance? Why care about this? Why is it important for understanding the Bible or its interpretation? Some of terms on the list are closely related to each other, so with minor changes one identification may serve for more than one term. With this in mind, you should try to relate each term a few other terms in your identification.

Essay questions will draw on the concepts and readings. Some essays will ask you to explain the differences and relationships between passages of the Bible. When detailed intertextual analysis is required the texts of the passage will be given.

How to write an excellent essay: First, read the question carefully. Make sure you understand what you are being asked to write about. Make sure you answer all parts of the question. In formulating your answer, stick to the facts. You are being asked to interpret a certain problem (or problems), but this does not mean you are free to make broad generalizations. Defend your arguments with concrete proofs, using specific examples from the Bible and other readings. The way to success here is to strike a careful balance between narration and analysis. Without the proper narration of the facts you cannot hope to present a convincing analysis. Without some sort of interpretation of the basic facts, you cannot home to show you have gone beyond the basics.

You are responsible for the following:

You should know the dates for the following events. Consult class notes, charts on page 48-49, 130, and various references in text

Period of the Patriarchs

Exodus

Establishment of the Kingdom

Division of the Kingdom / Death of Solomon

Fall of the Northern Kingdom / Israel / Samaria to Assyria

Fall of the Southern Kingdom / Judah / Jerusalem to Bablyonia

Edict of Cyrus end of the Babylonian Exile

Rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem

Ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah (range of dates)

Antiochus IV in Jerusalem

Judas Maccabeus restores the Temple

You should be able to identify the following places on an unmarked map. Consult maps on pp. 42, 55 110 of textbook or in HarperCollins Study Bible

Territories/Regions: Judah, Israel, Aram, Assyria, Babylonia, Philistia (i.e. the territory of the Philistines), Egypt, Canaan, Sinai

Cities/Rivers: Jerusalem, Samaria, Dan, Euphrates R., Tigris R., Bablyon, Ur, Red Sea, Jordan R., Beer-sheba, Nile R., , Dead Sea, Sinai Peninsula

Key Terms
You are responsible for detailed identifications of asterisked terms.

• Discuss the stages in the development of the Bible as we have it (oral tradition, written sources, rewriting, canonization, etc.). How does this affect your understanding of biblical authority?
• Different perspectives on the authority of the Bible: the place of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience in discerning God's message.

• The religious situation of post-exilic Judaism as related in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and other parts of the Bible. What were the major institutions? The major religious dilemmas facing the people? How do different parts of the Bible respond to this?
• The major events of history narrated in Nehemiah 9 and other summaries of the Biblical story.
• Various roles of prophets in Old Testament
• Job and the Wisdom tradition: relation of Job to Proverbs and to Deuteronomistic theology
• The difference between Apocalypticism and the Prophetic tradition. Explain the apocalyptic aspects of Daniel 7-12 and its possible social text and significance.
• The relationship between the idea of Kingship in the Old Testament and the idea of a Messiah. The variety of expectations concerning the Messiah.
• You should be familiar with all the scripture passages we have discussed and be able to interpret them and explain their relationship to each other. (For some questions you will be given two or more passages we have discussed in class and be asked to interpret them.)