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Practice Exercises
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Linking
Themes and History
Read
the following three passages from Tanak and, in each case, do the
following three things (date-text-link method):
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- date the text based on the passage it derives from
and discuss the historical circumstances of that date/author
- identify the themes in the text (to identify themes,
look for repetition or climactic phrases toward which other
phrases point)
- link the historical circumstances to the themes; that
is, analyze why this author emphasized this/these
theme(s) at this time
Click on the Eye of Horus to reveal how well you did.
Passage B
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The next generation, your children who rise up after you, as
well as the foreigner who comes from a distant country, will
see the devastation of that land and the afflictions with which
the LORD has afflicted it -- all its soil burned out by sulfur
and salt, nothing planted, nothing sprouting, unable to support
any vegetation, like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD destroyed in his fierce anger
-- they and indeed all the nations will wonder, "Why has
the LORD done thus to this land? What caused this
great display of anger?" They will conclude,
"It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD,
the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he
brought them out of the land of Egypt. They turned
and served other gods, worshiping them, gods whom they had not
known and whom he had not allotted to them; so the anger of
the LORD was kindled against that land, bringing on it every
curse written in this book. The LORD uprooted them
from their land in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them
into another land, as is now the case." The
secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things
belong to us and to our children forever, to observe all the
words of this law. |
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Passage C
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- But now thus says the LORD,
- he who created you, O Jacob,
- he who formed you, O Israel:
- Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
- I have called you by name, you are mine.
- When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
- and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
- when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
- and the flame shall not consume you.
- For I am the LORD your God,
- the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
- I give Egypt as your ransom,
- Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
- Because you are precious in my sight,
- and honored, and I love you,
- I give people in return for you,
- nations in exchange for your life.
- Do not fear, for I am with you;
- I will bring your offspring from the east,
- and from the west I will gather you;
- I will say to the north, "Give them up,"
- and to the south, "Do not withhold;
- bring my sons from far away
- and my daughters from the end of the earth--
- everyone who is called by my name,
- whom I created for my glory,
- whom I formed and made.
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Passage D
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- (some verses summarized below; analyze only verses 23-27)
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- Summary of verses 1-23
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- The protagonist has a mysterious dream that he alone cannot comprehend. In
the dream, four great beasts emerge from a wind-swept sea:
a lion with eagles' wings who becomes a human, a bear with
three devouring tusks told to devour many bodies, a leopard
with four wings and four heads that was given dominion,
and the most terrifying animal of all, one with iron teeth
stamping everything under its feet, with ten horns and then
a small eleventh one. The eleventh horn has human eyes and
speaks arrogantly. Then the Ancient One appears on his throne
and destroys the final beast and takes power away from the
others, giving it instead to "one like a Son of Man"
who comes with the clouds of heaven and appears before the
Ancient One. The protagonist, troubled by the dream, asks
a heavenly attendant what it means. The attendant/angel
tells him that the four beasts are the kings of the earth,
and that the holy ones will eventually triumph over them. Still
troubled by the fourth and most terrifying beast with the
ten and then eleven horns, the protagonist asks the attendant what
this one means.
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- verses 23-27
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- "As for the fourth beast,
- there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth
- that shall be different from all the other kingdoms;
- it shall devour the whole earth,
- and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
- As for the ten horns,
- out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
- and another shall arise after them.
- This one shall be different from the former ones,
- and shall put down three kings.
- He shall speak words against the Most High,
- shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High,
- and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the
law;
- and they shall be given into his power
- for a time, two times, and half a time.
- Then the court shall sit in judgment,
- and his dominion shall be taken away,
- to be consumed and totally destroyed.
- The kingship and dominion
- and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
- shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most
High;
- their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
- and all dominions shall serve and obey them."
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