Study Guide #1

Question 1

What is the primary purpose of the O.T.?

Answer 1

To reveal God

Question 2

What is the central theme of the O.T.?

Answer 2

How to know God and dwell in fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ

Question 3

What historical fact is the fundamental basis for believing the O.T.?

Answer 3

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Question 4

In what passage does Jesus tell us to believe the O.T. Scriptures

Answer 4

Luke 24:25. Jesus said that a person who did not believe it was a “fool” and had a hard heart.

Question 5

When we ask, “Which books comprise the O.T.?” we raise what issue?

Answer 5

The issue of canonicity

Question 6

What term is used to designate the collection of OT books of Scripture which has been regarded as inspired by God and authoritative?

Answer 6

The “canon”

Question 7

What does the Hebrew word “qaneh,” from which we get our English word, “canon,” mean?

Answer 7

A “reed” or “measuring stick.” Just as a redd could serve as a measuring standard, the term “canon” denotes a standard to which a writing must conform to be considered “biblical.”

Question 8

List three important tests a writing must pass to be considered “canonical.”

Answer 8

1. Must be written by a prophet or a prophetically gifted person; 2. Must have a timeless message – be relevant to all people of all times; 3. Must not contradict the messages of earlier writings God had revealed

Question 9

Do men determine which books are canonical, or do they discover which books are canonical?

Answer 9

They discover it; God determines the process of canonicity through the process of inspiration.

Question 10

List the three steps in the historical process of canonization.

Answer 10

1. Inspiration by God; 2. Recognition by men; 3. Collection and preservation by the people of God.

Question 11

What happened at the Council Jamnia, Israel, about 90 AD?

Answer 11

Jewish leaders officially endorsed certain book as “canonical,” thus confirming what had been believed as true all along.

Question 12

What is the most common term for non-canonical books?

Answer 12

The Apocrypha

Question 13

How many books are in the English version of the OT?

Answer 13

39

Question 14

The Jews recognized a three-fold division of the OT. List the three divisions.

Answer 14

Law, Prophets, Writings

Question 15

The English Bible has a five-fold division. List the names of the five divisions.

Answer 15

Pentateuch, Historical books, Poetical books, Major prophets, Minor prophets

Question 16

How many books are in the Minor Prophets?

Answer 16

12 (Hosea-Malachi)

Question 17

What does the word “minor” mean which it is placed before “prophet”?

Answer 17

It refers to the length of the book, not the importance of the book.

Question 18

What does the word “major” mean when it is placed before “prophet”?

Answer 18

It refers to the length of the book – Isaiah scroll is 25 feet long unrolled – not the importance of the book.

Question 19

How many books in the Major Prophets?

Answer 19

5 – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel

Question 20

When we ask, “How exactly did God’s Spirit work with the human authors to inspire the sacred writings,” we raise what issue?

Answer 20

The issue of inspiration

Question 21

What NT verse explains that ALL of OT is “God breathed” and “profitable for doctrine” even in the NT period?

Answer 21

2 Timothy 3:16

Question 22

What NT passage explains how Scripture got from God’s mouth into written form (“holy men… spake… moved by the Holy Ghost”)?

Answer 22

2 Peter 1:19-21

Question 23

What does Peter mean when he says, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation”?

Answer 23

Scripture is not the personal opinion of the human writers – it is God’s opinion

Question 24

What is the meaning of the term “revelation”?

Answer 24

God’s self-disclosure to mankind. In other words, God “reveals” to mankind who He is and what He is like.

Question 25

What is the meaning of the term "inspiration"?

Answer 25

The process by which God gave His truth to man

Question 26

What is the meaning of the term "illumination"?

Answer 26

The enlightening of the mind by the Holy Spirit so a person might be able to understand the Scripture.

Question 27

Does inspiration demand inerrancy?

Answer 27

Yes! If God is the author, then He makes no mistakes nor contradicts Himself; Titus 1:2.

Question 28

When we ask the question, "How were the Scriptures preserved?" we raise what issue?

Answer 28

The textual transmission of the scripture.

Question 29

What two languages what the OT written in?

Answer 29

Hebrew - 99%; Aramaic - 1%

Question 30

When you translate the original language of Scripture into another language, what is the translation called?

Answer 30

A version

Question 31

What is the name of the translation of the Hebrew OT into the Greek language?

Answer 31

The Septuagint; abr. LLX

Question 32

What is the date of the Septuagint?

Answer 32

About 200-300 BC, and comes from the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Question 33

What is the name of the scribal scholars who from 500-950 AD added vowel marks and accents to the consonantal text of the Hebrew Scriptures, and developed a system of detailed notes on the text in order to check the accuracy of a copied text?

Answer 33

The Maseoretes -- a name for a group of Jewish scribes.

Question 34

What is the most reliable Hebrew test the Leningrad we have called?

Answer 34

The Masoretic text as contained in Manuscript.

Question 35

When were the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered?

Answer 35

1947 by a shepherd boy.

Question 36

What date has been established for the writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Answer 36

100-200 BC

Question 37

How much older than existing OT manuscripts were the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Answer 37

1,000 years!

Question 38

What did the Dead Sea Scrolls prove?

Answer 38

The scrolls were faithfully transcribed.

Question 39

How many books are in the Apocrypha?

Answer 39

15

Question 40

How many books are in the Apocrypha?

Answer 40

15

Question 41

What does the word, "Apocrypha" literally mean?

Answer 41

"Hidden, or concealed"

Question 42

Who was the first in the Roman Catholic Church to include the Apocrypha books in the same binding with the inspired Scriptures?

Answer 42

Jerome

Question 43

Who was the first in the Roman Catholic Church who thought the Apocrypha books were part of the Scriptures?

Answer 43

Augustine

Question 44

When we ask, "How do we interpret the OT?" we are raising what issue?

Answer 44

The issue of hermeneutics = interpretation

Question 45

What is the method we will use to interpret the OT?

Answer 45

The grammatical-historical-contextual method

Question 46

The OT contains different types of literature: historical narrative, prophecy, and poetry. What is the technical term used when speaking of different types of literature?

Answer 46

Genre

Question 47

The major civilization found to the south-west of Israel is?

Answer 47

Egypt

Question 48

The major civilization found to the north-east of Israel is?

Answer 48

Mesopotamia ["between the rivers" Tigris and the Euphrates rivers extending to the Persian gulf] -- location of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, [modern Iran, Iraq, including Syria and Lebanon].

Question 49

The major civilization found between Egypt and Mesopotamia is?

Answer 49

Syria-Palestine

Question 50

Israel was part of the ancient Near East that is now called what?

Answer 50

The Middle East

Question 51

Egypt and Mesopotamia were joined by an arch of rich soil called what?

Answer 51

The Fertile Crescent

Question 52

Where in Israel is the "coastal plain"? What enemies of Israel lived there?

Answer 52

Along the Mediterranean Sea, Philistines

Question 53

Where is Israel is the Eastern Plateau (also called the transjordanian highlands)? What enemies of Israel lived there?

Answer 53

East of the Jordan River, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites

Question 54

Where in Israel is the central mountain range?

Answer 54

Inland from the coastal plain, and before the Jordan valley. The central mountain range is divided into three sections, running north to south: the Galilean Hills, Mount Ephraim, and the Hills of Judea

Question 55

Where in Israel is the Great Rift (Jordan rift)? What does this include?

Answer 55

Includes the Sea of Galilee [-650 feet below sea level], the Jordan river, and the Dead Sea [-1275 feet below sea level] Average width is 10 miles

Question 56

Where in Israel is the Jezreel valley? What great future event will take place there?

Answer 56

It is the valley between the Galilean Hills and Mount Ephraim. The staging ground for the Battle of Armageddon

Question 57

Where in Israel is the lowest point on planet earth?

Answer 57

Dead Sea

Question 58

Where in Israel is the "Shephelah"?

Answer 58

From the coastal plain, in its southern reaches, east to the central mountain range, and down into the South [the Negev] until it blends with the undulating hills of the Sinai Desert

Question 59

Name two ancient international highways running though Israel that connected Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Answer 59

Via Maris -- "way of the sea"; and "the king's highway"