Mobile Ed: OT102 Introducing the Old Testament: Its Poetry and Prophecy (6 hour course)
Overview
This course provides a practical foundation for reading the poetry and prophecy of the Old Testament. Dr. David Baker begins by discussing poetic writing in general, then the elements specific to both Hebrew and English poetry. Applying these elements to the text, he examines the content, structure, and themes of the Psalms, Proverbs, Lamentations, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Dr. Baker then turns to the prophetic books, providing historical background, theological motifs, and the structure and content of specific books. He shows that these ancient messages remain relevant in modern life.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion you should be able to:
- Discuss and illustrate the concept of parallelism in biblical Hebrew poetry
- Identify different kinds of psalms and the purposes they served in Israel and in the Psalter
- Describe the various kinds of wisdom books and their role in the OT
- Explain the history and development of prophecy in the ancient world and the Bible
- Describe the different kinds of OT prophets
- Summarize the historical context, literary features, and theological message of each OT prophetic book
Course Outline
Introduction
- Introducing the Speaker and the Course
Unit 1: Elements of Poetry
- Poetry or Prose?
- Creation in Poetry and Prose
- Elements of English Poetry
- Elements of Hebrew Poetry
- Finding Explanations for Hebrew Poetic Elements
- Parallelism in Hebrew Poetry
- Comparing Hebrew Parallelism in Bible Translations
Unit 2: The Book of Psalms
- A Different Kind of Book
- The Title and Structure of Psalms
- Headings in Psalms
- Types of Psalms
- Worship in the Psalms
- Lament and Repentance in the Psalms
- Searching for Subgenre Elements within Psalms
- Lamentations: An Extended Psalm
- Thanksgiving in the Psalms
- Wisdom in the Psalms
Unit 3: The Books of Wisdom
- Personal and Practical
- An Overview of Proverbs
- Wisdom Words
- Studying the Word “Shrewd” Using the Bible Word Study Guide
- The Beginning of Wisdom
- The Content and Structure of Proverbs
- An Overview of Job
- The Value of Job
- An Overview of Ecclesiastes
- The Content and Structure of Ecclesiastes, Part 1
- The Content and Structure of Ecclesiastes, Part 2
- An Overview of Song of Songs
- Examining Internal Clues for Song of Songs Authorship
- The Content and Structure of Song of Songs
- The Importance of Song of Songs
Unit 4: Prophecy
- The Role of Prophecy
- The Prophet
- The Prophetic Model
- Titles for Prophets
- Examining the Different Terms Used for Prophets
- The Prophet as a Preacher
- Five Steps of Classical Rhetoric: Step 1
- Five Steps of Classical Rhetoric: Steps 2–5
Unit 5: The History of Old Testament Prophecy
- Writing and Pre-literary Prophets
- Pre-literary Prophets in Exodus and Numbers
- Balaam and a Message from God
- Henotheism
- Divination
- Samuel: A Transitional Prophet
- Using a Bible Facts Report to Study Samuel
- David and the Prophets
- Elijah
- Baal and the Prophets
Unit 6: The Books of the Prophets: Jonah and Amos
- The Order of the Books
- Jonah
- Amos: Date and Background
- Amos: Oracles
- Amos: Rhetoric and Genres
- Learning Genre Information from the Passage Guide
- Amos: Covenant Lawsuit
Unit 7: The Books of the Prophets: Hosea and Isaiah
- Hosea: Date and Background
- Finding Date and Location Tables on the Prophets
- Hosea: Symbolic Actions, Part 1
- Hosea: Symbolic Actions, Part 2
- Isaiah: The Importance of the Book
- Examining New Testament Allusions to Isaiah
- Isaiah: The Person
- Isaiah: The Structure of the Book
- Isaiah: His Call
- Isaiah: Historical Background
- Isaiah: Ahaz and Assyria
- Isaiah: Words and Meaning in Isaiah 7:14
- Isaiah: The Message of the Book
Unit 8: The Books of the Prophets: Micah and Jeremiah
- Micah: Date and Background
- Viewing the Prophets’ Activity on the Timeline
- Micah: The Structure of the Book
- Micah: Theological Motifs of the Book
- Jeremiah: Date and Background
- Jeremiah: His Call
- Jeremiah: His Character
- Jeremiah: The Prophet and the King
- Jeremiah: Theological Themes in the Book
Unit 9: The Books of the Prophets: Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk
- Joel: Background and Message of the Book
- Joel: The Day of the Lord
- Joel: Creation and the Spirit
- Joel: The Relevance of the Book
- Obadiah: Historical Background
- Finding the Meaning of Hebrew Names
- Obadiah: The Structure of the Book
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
Unit 10: The Books of the Prophets: Zephaniah, Ezekiel, and Daniel
- Zephaniah: Background of the Book
- Zephaniah: The Message of the Book
- Ezekiel: Date and Background
- Ezekiel: Interpreting the Book
- Ezekiel: His Call and God’s Glory
- Ezekiel: The Theology of the Book
- Daniel: Date and Author
- Daniel: Apocalyptic Literature, Part 1
- Daniel: Apocalyptic Literature, Part 2
- Daniel: The Message of the Book
Unit 11: The Books of the Prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi: Background and Message
- Malachi: Structure and Themes
Conclusion
- The Prophetic Message
- What the Prophets Condemned
- Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Product Details
- Title: OT102 Introducing the Old Testament: Its Poetry and Prophecy
- Instructor: David W. Baker
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2014
- Product Type: Logos Mobile Education
- Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources
- Courses: 1
- Video Hours: 6
Partially includedAbout David W. Baker
Dr. David W. Baker is professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Ashland Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1986, following teaching assignments at the University of Durban-Westville and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He’s also lectured in Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Dr. Baker has a particular interest in pedagogy, constantly exploring new means and media to enhance the learning and teaching experience for both the instructor and the student. He has contributed to, edited, or written over 40 books, including Isaiah in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, NIV Application Commentary: Joel, Obadiah, Malachi and Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.
Getting the most out of Mobile Ed
Logos Mobile Education is a highly effective cross-platform learning environment that integrates world class teaching with the powerful study tools and theological libraries available in Logos Bible Software. Every course provides links to additional resources and suggested readings that supplement the lecture material at the end of every transcript segment.
This course was produced with screencast videos. These videos provide tutorials showing you how to use Logos Bible Software in ways that are tied directly into the content of the course. We are now producing Activities resources as a replacement for screencast videos. We plan on updating this course to include this additional Activities resource in the future for no extra charge.
Reviews
5 ratings
David B. Woods
8/6/2023
An excellent course for what it is: an overview of OT poetry and especially the prophetic books. Yes, you can find the information elsewhere, but Dr Baker has used his biblical knowledge and teaching experience to select the most essential information to present. His manner is calming and listenable. If you have studied biblical poetry before, you won't learn anything new in that area; the course doesn't go into it in any depth. One big takeaway for me was an orientation to Classical Rhetoric which is challenging me to think through how I might prepare to preach next time. I did the course in about 12 hours.
edson m nunes jr
2/8/2017
Rob
4/7/2016
john kho
10/9/2015
Serge Descoeurs
6/1/2015
