Week 6

Questions to keep in mind while reading (and note that the focus question for your group will appear on your discussion board page)

Read Chapter 6 of TIOT, pages 175-213

  1. "One can say at the outset that Israel in the OT is a land-intoxicated people..." (TIOT p175) Watch for this theme throughout the OT. Does it still apply to Israel today? Does it help explain what is going on in Israel?

  2. "Israel's memory is always dialectical: landless hoping for land / in the land but about to lose it. Without land, Israel hopes passionately. With land, Israel possesses precariously." (TIOT 178f) Does this relate to your experience of faith? How might it?

  3. "We read this literature of Joshua and judges as the entry that faith must always make into the complexities of life. ... It is the primary journey that faith must always make as it moves from simple, one-dimensional, child-like claims to the real world..." (TIOT 180) Though it may be necessary, do you see this as progression or regression? Is it a maturing of faith or compromising of it? (focus for Genesis Group)

  4. What really happened: conquest, infiltration, or peasant revolt? What factors are involved in your process of coming to an understanding? What difference does it make?

  5. In Joshua and Judges, ideology involves:

·         deliberate interpretation

·         sense-making narrative involving faith claim and premise

·         intentional distortion of the past to legitimate present power arrangements (TIOT 185)

      Do you agree? How does this affect your reading of these books? (focus for Exodus Group)

  1. Land represents stabilization and security. "Israel, like every such land-seeking community, does not want to base its claim to land on the sheer act of violence but on a respected, credible legitimacy that reaches to the intention of the gods." (TIOT 186) If this is true, how might texts like Joshua and Judges address security issues in the USA today? 

  2. TIOT (197ff) notes that what we end up seeing in the OT  is a tension between a land that is a God-promised heritage and the violent conquest of that land, between entitlement and extermination. Is this tension still evident in Judeo-Christian faiths today? If so, how? (focus for Leviticus Group)

I realize it is a lot of reading, but it truly is worthwhile to read all of 1 and 2 Samuel. (Try to skim through any of the lists and inventories, etc.)

This week I am going to use or adapt questions from Bandstra's "Reading the OT" site ( http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH8/SG/SG.HTM )

Questions for Reading Comprehension

  1. What are the three cycles of stories in the books of Samuel? See Introduction.
  2. What literary-theological theme is articulated in Hannah's Song? List the many ways it works out concretely in Samuel. See The Early Samuel.
  3. What major national institution developed in Samuel, and what theological struggle was associated with its establishment? What were the two conflicting views of kingship in Samuel? See Search for a King.
  4. What is the Davidic covenant? Why was it important? See David's Rise to Power.

 

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. In 1 Samuel 3, the call of Samuel, verse 14 stands out as particularly severe. “Forever”? What do you make of that? And even more, what do you make of Eli’s response in v.18? Is this how you remember the story being told to you in Sunday School?
  2. In 1 Samuel 8.5, why do the people demand to have a king? Why does God let the people have their way? Is God’s will or the people’s will being done? (focus for Numbers Group)
  3. What universal issues concerning national leadership surface in the books of Samuel? What perspectives on the issues are presented, and how may these perspectives provide guidance today?
  4. Compare the careers of Saul and David. How were they alike and how were they different? What was the effect of the Davidic covenant on the course of David's life? What was its effect on the course of the nation?
  5. Beginning in 1 Samuel 15, Saul’s political stock begins to drop. You are King Saul’s political advisor. If Saul goes, you go too. Compose a two or three sentence press release indicating why it would be better for Saul to remain in power instead of that David character. (focus for Deuteronomy Group)
  6. The books of Samuel seem almost cynically preoccupied with the rise and fall of leadership. The proud will be humbled and the humble will be exalted. Do you think it is inevitable that powerful leaders become overweeningly arrogant? Do you think it is unavoidable that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? (focus for Joshua Group)