OT035-812 - Interpreting and Applying Old Testament Narrative: Judges

  • 3,162 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 12
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • Category advanced unit
    C
  • Old Testament Unit Discipline

Prerequisites

24cps OT

Set Text

This unit counts towards the "set text" unit requirements of courses.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

1. Demonstrate Advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, the interpretation and application of the Book of Judges

B. Be able to

1. Examine recent scholarship on the interpretation and application of the Book of Judges

2. Demonstrate skill in utilising diverse scholarship in the interpretation and application of the Book of Judges

3. Present Research-Aware evidence-based perspectives on the interpretation and application of the Book of Judges

C. Be in a position to

1. Applying Advanced perspectives and skills from ‘Interpreting and Applying Judges’ to ministry practice and Christian living as a reflective practitioner

Content

Section A: Theory

  • The necessity of preaching
  • Definitions of different types of sermons
  • Preaching from different genres of the Old Testament
  • Developing a methodology of preaching from Old Testament narrative
  • A study of the book of Judges with a focus on understanding its structure and content as a basis for preaching the book
  • Hermeneutical issues that arise from preaching Old Testament narrative

Section B: Application

  • How the genre of a text affects the preaching of a text
  • The basic elements of an expository sermon
  • How to understand OT narrative (plot analysis, characterization)
  • The narrative structure of the book of Judges
  • The challenges of applying Old Testament narrative
  • Making appropriate connections to Christ from Old Testament narrative.

The unit content will be divided into 6 modules:

  • Module 1: Introduction to Preaching Old Testament Narrative      
  • Module 2: Steps for Sermon Preparation
  • Module 3: Hermeneutics of Narrative Preaching
  • Module 4: The Historical Books of the Old Testament     
  • Module 5: Theological and exegetical interpretation of the book of Judges: Introduction to Gideon
  • Module 6: Theological and exegetical interpretation of the book of Judges: Gideon to Conclusion

Further Information

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code OT741-4.

Set Readings

This unit's indicative bibliography is currently being revised. Students should contact their home college for further details at the time of taking this unit.


Daniel I. Block, Judges, Ruth. (NAC. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999).

Robert B. Chisholm Jr, A Commentary on Judges and Ruth (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013).

Dale Ralph Davis, Judges: Such a Great Salvation. (Focus on the Bible; Fearn: Christian Focus, 2000)

Victor H. Matthews, Judges and Ruth. (Cambridge University Press, 2004)

Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges, (NICOT. Eerdmans, 2012)

K. Lawson Younger, Judges/Ruth, (NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002)  

Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005)

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999)

Steven D. Matthewson, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002)

Daniel I. Block, ‘Will the Real Gideon Please Stand up?: Narrative Style and Intention in Judges 6-9’, JETS 40/3 (Sept 1997): 353–366.

Alan J. Hauser, ‘Judging Judges Scholarship’, Interested Readers: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David J. A. Clines (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013) 431-443.

Gordon J. Wenham, ‘The Rhetorical Function of Judges’, Story as Torah: Reading the Old Testament Ethically, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000) pp 45ff.

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