Difficult Texts in the Old Testament: A Workshop Approach
Date TBA
Location TBA
Each year this group will examine a difficult passage in the Old Testament from multiple angles. In 2023, we will examine Psalm 82. The session will be divided into two parts with Part I addressing interpretive problems and ANE background, and Part II addressing intertextuality, along with theology and ethics. Each part will begin with two brief (5-min) presentations to get the conversation started, but the bulk of the time will consist of a more collaborative and audience-driven discussion. All presentations will be invited. Questions may be directed to Brittany Kim ([email protected]), Charlie Trimm ([email protected]), or Traci Birge ([email protected]).
Difficult Texts in the Old Testament: A Workshop Approach
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
11/18/2022
Plaza Court 1 (Plaza Tower - Concourse Level) _ Sheraton Downtown (SD)
Each year this group will examine a difficult passage in the Old Testament from multiple angles. This year we will examine Exodus 4:24–26. The session will be divided into two parts with Part I addressing exegesis and social and contextual analysis and Part II addressing intertextuality and biblical theology, along with ethics and teaching. Each part will begin with two brief (5-min) invited presentations to get the conversation started, but the bulk of the time will consist of a more collaborative and audience-driven discussion.To facilitate a rich and stimulating dialogue, we strongly encourage attendees to examine the passage ahead of time with some or all of the following questions in mind (a handout with the biblical text and questions will be provided).
Brittany Kim, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Weslyan College, Presiding
Introduction (5 min)
Part I
Traci L. Birge, Azusa Pacific Univeristy - Exegesis (5 min)
- Does YHWH seek to put Moses or his son to death (v. 24)?
- To whose feet does Zipporah touch the foreskin? And what is the significance of that act in its ancient context?
- What does Zipporah mean when she says, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me” (NRSV)?
- How does this text fit into its narrative context? And in particular, how does it relate to the immediately prior command that God gave Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go; so I will kill you firstborn son” (vv. 22–23).
Milly Maturu Erema, Uganda Christian University – Social and Contextual Analysis (5 min)
- How might blood rituals performed by modern groups, like the circumcision rite of the Bagisu people in Uganda, illuminate Zipporah's act of touching the foreskin to the feet?
- What is the relationship between shedding of circumcision blood and healing among the Ugandans and the circumcision of Moses’s son in Exodus 4:24-26?
- What hermeneutical guidelines are critical to a legitimate contextual and cultural interpretation of the circumcision of this passage?
Group Discussion (45 min)
Break (5 min)
Part II
Kevin Burrell, Burman University – Intertextuality and Biblical Theology (5 min)
- The Balaam narrative (Num 22:20–35) provides another account of God telling someone to go but then opposing him on the way. How might we fruitfully read these texts together?
- Exodus 1:15–2:10 introduces a number of women who enact salvation on behalf of the Israelites or Moses as part of a larger biblical theme of salvation through Israelite and foreign women. How does this passage connect to Exodus 1:15–2:10 or contribute to that broader theme?
- After Zipporah circumcised her son, it says that YHWH “let him alone” (qal, רפה, v. 26). Later in Moses’ recounting of the Golden Calf incident in Deut 9:14, he quotes God as saying, “Let me alone (hifil, רפה) that I may destroy [the Israelites] and blot out their name from under heaven.” What illuminating comparisons can be drawn between these two accounts?
- Whether Zipporah is Midianite or Cushite (Num 12:1), what ramifications does her ethnic background entail for her involvement in this priestly activity?
David T. Lamb, Missio Seminary – Ethics and Teaching (5 min)
- How do we respond to the ethical challenge presented by texts that seem to portray God as fickle?
- How can we teach texts for which there seem to be so few clear answers?
- What are some possible applications of this passage?
Group Discussion (45 min)
11/19/2021
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Room: Salons KL - Marriott Rivercenter
In this session, we will examine Genesis 9:20–27 with the help of four invited respondents. To facilitate a rich and stimulating dialogue, we strongly encourage attendees to examine the passage ahead of time with some or all of the following questions in mind (a handout with the biblical text and questions will be provided).
Brittany Kim, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, Presiding
Introduction (5 min)
Part I
Charlie Trimm, Biola University – Exegesis (5 min)
1. What does it mean that “Ham...saw the nakedness of his father” (וירא חם … את ערות אביו) in Gen 9:22 (see also vv. 23–24)? Does Lev 18 provide interpretive guidance on this verse?
2. Who is the “youngest son” in v. 24?
3. Why does Noah curse Canaan rather than Ham?
4. How should we evaluate the characters in Gen 9:20–27?
5. What kind of conclusion do these verses provide for the larger flood narrative (Chpts. 6–9)?
J. Richard Middleton, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College – Intertextuality (5 min)
1. Genesis 9:25–27 presents the second curse enacted against a human in the Bible, coming after the curse of Cain in Gen 4:11–12. In what ways is the curse of Canaan similar to the curse of Cain, and in what ways are they different? How might reading these two texts together inform our understanding of Gen 9:25–27?
2. In Gen 5:29 Lamech declares that Noah “will comfort us from our work and from the painful toil of our hands due to the ground that YHWH has cursed” (ינחמנו ממעשׂנו ומעצבון ידינו מן־האדמה אשׁר אררה יהוה). How might we read Gen 9:20–27 in light of Lamech’s proclamation?
Group Discussion (45 min)
Break (5 min)
Part II
Dominick S. Hernández, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – Biblical Theology (5 min)
1. How does Gen 9:20–27 fit into the larger narrative portrait of the Canaanites in the Old Testament?
2. With the first mention of servitude in the Old Testament, how does this passage contribute to biblical-theological reflection on slavery
Quonekuia Day, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary – Ethics (5 min)
1. This passage was often interpreted in the antebellum United States as offering biblical justification for the enslavement of Africans (understood as Ham’s descendants) by European Americans (identified with Japheth’s descendants). How do we guard against these kinds of misuses of the biblical text?
2. What kind of ethical reflection can we derive from this text that is more faithful to the witness of the whole biblical canon?
Group Discussion (45 min)
