Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

Acknowledge and embrace both your own assumptions and the authors’ intentions of a given text.

What did Jesus and the apostles think the Hebrew Bible was all about? Discover what they believed to be the main essence of the Hebrew Bible.

Explore the ancient shape of the Hebrew Bible and why this organization is significant for readers today.

What can the seams of the Dead Sea Scrolls teach us about the Hebrew Bible? Jump in and find out!

Trace the seams of the Torah and the Prophets to discover a message about an anticipated future leader.

Gain further insight into how Psalms 1 and 2 build onto the portrait of the promised prophet who will rescue humanity.

Did God or people write the Bible? Examine how the Bible’s origin is both human and divine.

Where in the Torah do the authors talk about the writing of the Bible? And what do these mentions teach us about the Bible’s purpose? Let’s take a look!

What did the prophets have to say about the origin of the Hebrew Bible? Dive in and find out!

How does the compositional process of the Bible affect our understanding of the divinity of the Bible? Learn what the Bible says about this process!

Learn to recognize how smaller literary units in Scripture trace repeated themes and see how they fit together to form a larger narrative.

How is the Hebrew Bible like an aspen grove? Dive in and find out!

Explore two revolutionary ideas about the biblical text and how they impact how we read and understand the Bible.

Reflect on Psalm 29 to gain insight into how Hebrew poetry works.

Discover how to locate the “what” the authors intend to communicate by understanding the “how” of the poetic form of communication.

What is parallelism? How does it work? And why is it important for understanding biblical poetry? Work through examples to develop crucial study skills!

How does symmetrical parallelism work in biblical poetry? Dive in and find out!

Does biblical narrative offer us security-camera footage of ancient Israelite history? If not, what does it do? Take a look!

How is plot used in biblical narrative to communicate the meaning of the text? Trace the plot of Jonah to reveal how authors use plot to convey meaning!

Discover how the biblical authors use “plot embedding” to convey meaning within the text.

How do the biblical authors use characters and setting in their narratives? Dive in and find out!

Gain tools for recognizing smaller literary units in Scripture to trace repeated themes and see how they fit together to form a larger narrative.

Discover helpful ways of identifying repeated words, phrases, and structures within biblical narrative.

Fun fact: Biblical narrative works similarly to biblical poetry. Find out how in this session!

Compare repeated words in side-by-side narratives to see how biblical authors communicate meaning by tying multiple stories together.

Discover how the biblical authors connect distant literary units with repeated words to progress the narrative.

What are the unique connections between Genesis 3 and a story in the Abraham narrative? Dive in and find out!

How is Jacob portrayed like the snake from Genesis 3? Explore this and more as we examine another narrative analogy.

See how the Gospel of Matthew carries forward the design patterns of the Hebrew Bible, and listen in as the students share their personal takeaways from the course.