UMS : Unit: BA9008L

Content

This unit is designed to equip students as competent exegetes of pericopes drawn from the Major and Minor Prophets and prepare them for further research in the Prophets. The unit includes an initial focus on matters that inform the exegetical task including, for example, the character of prophecy in Israel and the ancient Near East, hermeneutical assumptions and their significance, major scholarly trends and critical approaches, the challenges of genre-analysis, and character/features of poetry and poetic oracles. Students then explore the literary and theological character of the Book of Isaiah in depth and several other selected prophetic books for breadth, examining their major themes and theological messages, literary/canonical contexts, and pastoral/contemporary application.

Unit code: BA9008L

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Old Testament

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Australian Lutheran College

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Learning outcomes

1.	Integrate advanced exegetical skills in the analysis and interpretation of prophetic texts giving due attention to historical, literary, theological and pastoral/applicatory concerns; for students with Hebrew this includes but is not limited to an ability to function readily with the Hebrew language; for students without Hebrew this includes an ability to critically compare translations
2.	Analyse and assess genres of prophetic literature and their distinctive features
3.	Examine selected prophets with respect to their contexts, central theological messages, canonical significance and New Testament trajectories, and critically analyse the relevance of their prophetic ministry for the church and world today
4.	Synthesise key theological messages of a pericope in the Prophets and defend the synthesis through rigorous exegetical analysis
5.	Articulate and critically engage major scholarly issues and questions in research on the prophets.

Unit sequence

Course relationship: A level 9 unit in postgraduate theology, ministry and education courses

Prerequisites: BA8001L Introduction to the Old Testament or equivalent

Pedagogy

This unit employs both flipped classroom approaches and interactive lecture as appropriate, including seminar-style discussion of guided readings, student and instructor-led group analysis of texts, and student presentations.

Indicative Bibliography

Berlin, Adele. The dynamics of biblical parallelism. Rev. and expanded ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.
Brueggemann, Walter. The prophetic imagination. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Fortress, 2001.
Hoyt, Joanna M. Amos, Jonah, and Micah. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary; Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2019.
Kitchen, Kenneth A. On the reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.
Lessing, R. Reed. Isaiah 40–55. Concordia Commentary Series. St Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2011
Lessing, R. Reed, and Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the way of the Lord: an introduction to the Old Testament. St Louis, MO: Concordia, 2014.
Longman III, Tremper, and Raymond B. Dillard. An introduction to the Old Testament. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006.
Petersen, David L., and Kent Harold Richards. Interpreting Hebrew poetry. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1992.
Seitz, Christopher R. Prophecy and hermeneutics: toward a new introduction to the prophets. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007.
Witherington III, Ben. Jesus the seer: the progress of prophecy. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999.

Assessment

Type	Description	Word count	Weight (%)
Essay	Essay (including tutorial paper) on a prophetic theme	1500	20.0
Annotated Bibliography	Annotated Bibliography on a range of major scholarly works in the Prophets	2500	35.0
Exegetical Essay	Exegesis of a pericope from the Prophets	3500	45.0

Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 3 Sep, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-09-03 16:08:18 +1000