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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the guilt of the Jews that led them into exile?

2. What does Author P insist about the location for sacrifices?

3. What does Friedman show about the Tabernacle and the Temple?

4. What does Friedman conclude about the Tabernacle after the first Temple was built?

5. Where do the authors D and E write that Moses received the Ten Commandments?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is King Josiah eliminated as a possible writer of Deuteronomy?

2. How does Friedman identify as writer R, the redactor who stitched together all the various versions into one Torah?

3. How did the various versions of the Torah evolve into the one we have today?

4. Why was a fix necessary for the text of Deuteronomy?

5. Why does Friedman finally identify Jeremiah as the author of Deuteronomy?

6. During what historical time frame does Friedman place the writer P?

7. How does the importance of sacrificing becomes apparent?

8. Where does Friedman place the Tabernacle at the time of the First Temple?

9. How was responsibility for the eventual exile of the people defined in the later text?

10. Why is the period 587-400 B.C. difficult to understand?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, The Great Kings of the Israelites. Using the characters of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah, detail each in terms of (1) wealth and power, (2) relationship to God, and (3) personal strengths and weaknesses.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, The Responsibility, Checks and Balances of Biblical Research. Detail the responsibility of a biblical scholar to be as objective as possible also using the criteria Friedman insists on before recognizing the validity of such work. Discuss the checks and balances that come from comparison with other biblical scholars.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typewritten pages on the topic, My Opinion About the Value of the Bible. In your essay discuss (1) whether you see the Bible as a sacred text, (2) how you think the Bible serves as a history, and (3) what your opinion is about the Bible as great literature.

(see the answer keys)

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