II Samuel

Please read my II Samuel study questions and then as much as you can of II Samuel. It would be really nice if you could read (or at least skim) the whole book.

The key figure here is David, and II Samuel will take us almost to David's death.  If you have time to also read Chapter 1 and 2 of I Kings, you'll see the end of David's story.
 
Choose one or more of the study guide questions linked above and suggest an answer/answers to that question/those questions.

If you prefer, list two questions of your own about II Samuel, questions you think would lead to good discussion.

I Samuel Discussion II (Due Thursday, February 27)

For Thursday, February 27, please read/review I Samuel 1-14 and then finish up the book (reading through Chapter 31). 

 Please think about the following question and add your comments to the post below.

Does I Samuel seem to you to be best classified as history, prophecy, biography, tragedy, or something else entirely? Cite one passage/story in this book that you think particularly supports your view of this book.

I Samuel

Please read through my study questions for I Samuel and then through I Samuel itself. Which of the many episodes in this book do you find the most tragic? What is the lesson to be learned from this story? Alternatively, choose an episode/incident you find uplifting, and explain why you like this particular passage.

Joshua and Judges

For Tuesday, February 18, please read through my Study Questions on Joshua and the Book of Judges and then read Joshua Chapters 1 and 24 and Judges Chapters 1-2, 6-9, and 18-21.

Please also read the story of at least one of the following Judges: Ehud (Judges 3), Deborah (Judges 4-5), Jephthah (Judges 11-13), or Samson (Judges 14-16).

The first question for your next midterm exam asks you to talk about the figures in Joshua and Judges as "heroes with warts" or "warts with a hero." You might think about that question as you do the readings.

For the post here, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of whatever figure in these chapters you find the most interesting (Joshua, Gideon, Deborah, Abimelech, etc.)  What do you think of this person?  What's admirable/not so admirable?  A hero with warts?  A wart with a hero?  For extra credit, you can comment on an additional figure. Please put "extra" comments in a separate post.

By the way, the picture here is Ben Victor's statue of Samson.  Ben took my History 413 class here at NSU quite a few years ago.  And, just in case you are wondering, he didn't use a younger version of me as his model for Samson.

Deuteronomy Discussion II

Please read through as much of you can as the remaining chapters of Deuteronomy. Cite here one law you think is particularly good--part of what makes Deuteronomy a fine law code. Cite also one law that you find disturbing, difficult or hard to understand--something that one might *not* (at least at first) think of as part of a particularly good law code.

Remember that there is an exam coming up next Tuesday!  I may be revising the study guide slightly.  Be sure to check the online study guide as you prepare for the exams.

The study guide lists IDL I, II, and III as potential ID terms.  The two laws you cite here would probably make good "IDL's" (Interesting Deuteronomy Laws).  The selections other students choose would probably work well too.

Deuteronomy--Discussion I

In Deuteronomy, as in Exodus, the writer gives us a lot of preliminary material before he gets to the actual “rules and regulations” of the law. Please read through the Deuteronomy study questions, then read carefully the first six Chapters of Deuteronomy. I'd like you also look through the various "statute" laws of the chapters 7-15, but you don't need to read that material quite so carefully.

What is there in this preliminary material (Chapters 1-6) you find particularly, interesting, important, or worth discussing in class? In what way does this material show Deuteronomy to be a particularly fine law code or something more than just a law code?

Exodus 32-34

Please read Exodus 32-34.  How do the main stories here (the Gold Calf story and Moses in the "cleft of the rock") tie in to the theme of Exodus as part of one of the finest of all law codes and something more than just a law code?  What does the writer here suggest about the way religious worship is tied to questions of law and justice?  What's attractive about Golden Calf worship?  Why is it a danger to building a just society?