OT204 The Social World of the Old Testament
Overview
In an age of international travel and migration, we’re familiar with people who look, sound, eat, and believe differently than we do. In order to become friends, it’s helpful to understand where they come from and how they do things differently, or the same, as we do. In the same way it is necessary to understand someone who comes from a different place than we do, how much more necessary is it to understand someone who is from not only a different geographical place, but also a different time than we are? The Old Testament starts at the beginning of the world. This course will undertake the task of crossing the bridges of geography, climate, time, and a landscape unknown to us: ancient Israel. Throughout the course, David W. Baker will address aspects of life from our own culture and time, as well as family structure and societal systems from ancient Israelite life. As we learn more about the social world of the Old Testament, we will be struck not only by our differences, but also by our common humanity, sharing the same dreams, hopes, and fears as they did.
Top Highlights
“and the need for agricultural labor meant that childbearing had to start early because people died so relatively young.” (source)
“A child’s weaning was an occasion for feasting and celebration, as Abraham did when Isaac was weaned in Gen 21:8. Baby and infant morbidity was high in the time of David, probably approaching fifty percent by the age of five, so a child surviving to the age of three deserved great celebration.” (source)
“A major problem in the ancient world was spontaneous miscarriage, which might have reached as high as twenty percent of pregnancies, according to an Egyptologist, and there’s no reason to think that the figures for Israel or Mesopotamia are significantly different.” (source)
“relatively short lifespan—for example, thirty years for women and forty for men—even in the early first millennium” (source)
“there’s twenty-eight miles between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee” (source)
- Title: OT204 The Social World of the Old Testament
- Author: David W. Baker
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2016
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. › Extra-canonical parallels; Education › Bible. O.T.--Criticism, interpretation, etc; Education › Bible. O.T.--Extra-canonical parallels; Education › Middle Eastern literature--Relation to the Old Testament; Middle Eastern literature › Relation to the Old Testament
- Resource ID: LLS:OT204BAKER
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2019-06-21T15:37:26Z
Dr. David W. Baker is a professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s 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, The NIV Application Commentary: Joel, Obadiah, Malachi, and Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Forthcoming books include Genesis 37–50: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text in the Baylor Handbook on the Hebrew Bible Series, 1 & 2 Kings in the Teach the Text Commentary Series, Genesis in the Apollos Old Testament Commentary Series, and 1 & 2 Samuel in the Believers Church Bible Commentary Series.
He’s blessed with a wife, Morven, who immigrated to Canada from Scotland—a start that prepared her to support Dr. Baker in his geographical wanderings. Morven is a counselor specializing in women’s issues, specifically sexual abuse and domestic violence. Together, they have two children and three granddaughters.