Sailhamer-
The Meaning of the Pentateuch
Introduction (pp. 24-27)
What Pentateuch?
· “I conclude that those last two chapters (Deut 33-34) were meant to provide an explanation of some of the major events in the Pentateuch at a late period in Israel’s history.”(24)
· “Our primary concern in the task of discovering the theology of the Pentateuch is the need to focus on the Pentateuch now in our Bible, that is the ‘canonical Pentateuch.’ ” (24,25)
The audience of the Pentateuch
· “…one must distinguish the audience in the Pentateuch and the audience of the Pentateuch.” (25)
· “…the Pentateuch itself was not written to teach Israel the law. The Pentateuch was addressed to a people living under the law (Deut 30:1-2; Ezra 7:6-10) and failing at every opportunity (Neh 9:33). The Pentateuch looks beyond the law of God to his grace. The purpose of the Pentateuch is to teach its readers about faith and hope in the new covenant (Deut 30:6). (26)
· “Nothing was inherently wrong with the Sinai covenant, but something was fundamentally wrong with Israel’s heart: it needed cleansing and filling with God’s love (Deut 30:6). … The NT contrasted the failure of the Sinai covenant with the new covenant, which succeeded in Christ.” (27)
· “The Pentateuch was written to Israel at a later time, certainly only after Israel’s failures that it records. It was given to tell Israel that the Sinai covenant had failed. As the prophet Hosea saw, the Pentateuch is primarily not about a wedding, but a divorce.” (27)
· “In the Pentateuch we are confronted with a call to a new covenant not to the old. In that respect, the Pentateuch is quite close in the meaning to NT book of Galatians.” (27)
· A “book with laws” is not necessarily a ‘book of law.’ (27)
The Meaning of the Pentateuch
Introduction (pp. 24-27)
What Pentateuch?
· “I conclude that those last two chapters (Deut 33-34) were meant to provide an explanation of some of the major events in the Pentateuch at a late period in Israel’s history.”(24)
· “Our primary concern in the task of discovering the theology of the Pentateuch is the need to focus on the Pentateuch now in our Bible, that is the ‘canonical Pentateuch.’ ” (24,25)
The audience of the Pentateuch
· “…one must distinguish the audience in the Pentateuch and the audience of the Pentateuch.” (25)
· “…the Pentateuch itself was not written to teach Israel the law. The Pentateuch was addressed to a people living under the law (Deut 30:1-2; Ezra 7:6-10) and failing at every opportunity (Neh 9:33). The Pentateuch looks beyond the law of God to his grace. The purpose of the Pentateuch is to teach its readers about faith and hope in the new covenant (Deut 30:6). (26)
· “Nothing was inherently wrong with the Sinai covenant, but something was fundamentally wrong with Israel’s heart: it needed cleansing and filling with God’s love (Deut 30:6). … The NT contrasted the failure of the Sinai covenant with the new covenant, which succeeded in Christ.” (27)
· “The Pentateuch was written to Israel at a later time, certainly only after Israel’s failures that it records. It was given to tell Israel that the Sinai covenant had failed. As the prophet Hosea saw, the Pentateuch is primarily not about a wedding, but a divorce.” (27)
· “In the Pentateuch we are confronted with a call to a new covenant not to the old. In that respect, the Pentateuch is quite close in the meaning to NT book of Galatians.” (27)
· A “book with laws” is not necessarily a ‘book of law.’ (27)
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