The Old TestamentSelections from The Bible(The Authorized Version) The Bible — in this case, the Old Testament — may be read inmany different ways, but perhaps the most obvious are: as a religious documentcontaining truths and teachings which the reader discovers or confirms forhimself; as evidence of historical events, or the origin of important myths;and as literature. We hope that this selection of stories and poetry from theOld Testament will be interesting and pleasurable to listeners of any religiouspersuasion, or none at all: the narrative power and beauty of language areself-evident, especially in the Authorized Version, which we have usedthroughout. Perhaps surprisingly, the oldest surviving texts of the OldTestament are not written in Hebrew but in Samaritan, Aramaic and Greek — thelatter (dating from the 3rd century BC and called the Septuagint) beingprobably the most significant. Jerome’s Latin version (the Vulgate, includingthe New Testament) is of course of later date. Before the invention of the printing press, and in an erawhen few could read, the Bible was effectively available in full only toeducated clerics, of whom one or two made translations into English of varioussections — there are, for instance, the Lindisfarne Gospels and Aelfric’stranslation of the Old Testament from the 10th century — but it was only in the14th century that complete English versions of the Bible appeared, done byWyclif and his followers. The Reformation provided the vital impetus for theproduction of scholarly and accurate Bibles in the vernacular: for Protestants,it was essential that every believer should, if possible, have access to hisown Bible and hence the capacity to develop a personal rather thaninstitutionally imposed understanding of it. Tyndale began the process inEngland, and his Bible formed the basis for the later (and definitive)Authorized Version of 1611 — the ‘King James’ Bible. This was in part promoted by James himself and was begun in1604. Teams of revisers drawn from a total of forty-seven scholars wereallocated sections of the text, and it is remarkable that a text of such beautyand consistency should emerge from a ‘committee’ system. Since its publicationit has been generally acknowledged as not only a masterpiece of scholarship butalso a literary text of astonishing and abiding value. It might be worth addingthat its supposed difficulty or obscurity is much exaggerated by proponents ofmodern translations: it is, in fact, more often, most simply and directly rendered. The Old Testament as History The Old Testament gives us, as well as the Jewishdescription of the Creation of the World and its earliest times — descriptionwhich non-fundamentalists will read as myth — a mass of stories about the triumphsand tribulations of the Jewish people, stories which taken together amount to ahistory spanning more than a thousand years. Abraham and Moses may not behistorical figures in the same way as Queen Victoria, but it is difficult tobelieve that some great leader did not provide the original for the portraitswe find in the Old Testament. With David, history begins to suggest some facts– and it seems that he must have been a person of extraordinary character andtalent, even if we accept that not all the Psalms are actually his. In 605 BC,Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon; in 597 BC the Babylonian captivity ofthe Jews began, and in 586 BC Jerusalem fell. Eventually the Jews were givenleave to return to Judaea. By the time Pompey marched into Jerusalem in 63 BC,the Old Testament (or rather, part of it — the Pentateuch) was well establishedas the Jewish Bible. Then, in after years, Christians accepted the Septuagint —the Greek version of the Old Testament — as ‘their’ Old Testament. The Old Testament: its organization, and this selection The Old Testament is conventionally divided into thefollowing sections: The Books of the Law - the ‘Pentateuch’ Genesis tells of the Creation, of Abraham coming toPalestine, of Isaac and Jacob, and of Joseph in Egypt. Exodus gives the storyof Moses and the Exodus, of the Covenant at Mount Sinai and the TenCommandments. Leviticus is devoted to God’s laws for his people. Numbersincludes the ‘organization of the people’ and the appointment of Aaron as highpriest. Deuteronomy concludes the story of Moses with a renewal of the laws andMoses’ farewell.The first sixteen stories in our selection are from thePentateuch and form a more or less continuous narrative from the Creation tothe giving of the Commandments. The Historical Books: First Series Joshua describes the entry into the Promised Land (includingthe destruction of Jericho). Judges includes the stories associated withSamson. Ruth tells of the girl of Midian who became an Israelite. 1 Samuel and2 Samuel give the stories of Samuel the prophet, of Saul the first king, and ofDavid’s reign. 1 Kings and 2 Kings feature Solomon, Elijah and his successorElisha, the fall of Jerusalem and the Captivity. Twenty of our stories come from this section of the Bible,with a strong emphasis on the first kings, Saul and David, and on the prophetsElijah and Elisha. The Historical Books: Second Series. 1 and 2 Chronicles,Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther We have not selected from this section, partly because muchof it is genealogical or prophetic rather than narrative. The Poetical Books Job is the story of a man’s faith tested to the limit by hisGod. The Psalms are expressions of prayer, thanksgiving or praise. Proverbs andEcclesiastes offer wise counsel on life and morality. The Song of Solomon is apoem of refined eroticism. We have chosen from Job, the Psalms and Proverbs.The Song of Solomon is included virtually complete. The Longer Books of the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel mainlyconcern the sins of Israel and their punishment through the fall of Jerusalemand the Babylonian captivity. Stories from Daniel are included because of theirfamiliarity and narrative vividness. The Shorter Books of the Prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk,Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. We include Jonah complete. The aim of this selection is to give the listener anexperience of the Old Testament as narrative and as literature. I have startedby including the generally accepted favorites, the stories which any childbrought up in the Christian tradition would be familiar with; the selection isthen broadened to encompass great historical moments in the history of theJewish people, such as the Exodus and the Ten Commandments; and then I wantedto include some of the finest poetry of the Old Testament — the Song ofSolomon, and a choice of Psalms. The Creation of the World The story unfolds with great regularity and formal control —at first, almost every verse begins with ‘And God...’ God’s power is thussuggested. The emphasis is on hierarchy, with Adam and Eve given‘dominion...over every living thing’. (Genesis 1-2) Adam and Eve The tragedy of the fall, which by God’s grace will be turnedinto the ‘comedy’ of Christ’s redemption of mankind. The story is bothbrilliantly concrete (‘And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in thegarden in the cool of the day’) and chillingly absolute: ‘for dust thou art,and unto dust thou shalt return’. The story of Cain and Abel graphicallydemonstrates man’s fallen state by describing the first murder. Yet it alsointroduces the notion of the family and the ultimate spread of humanity — Evegives birth to Seth, and the future of the race seems assured. (Genesis 3-4) Noah’s Flood The story of Noah is really the first in which stress islaid on the important notion of a covenant between God and Man: man will bepunished if he sins against his God, but equally God offers his favor to man ifhe abides by his will: ‘God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Befruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’ Man has anotherchance... (Genesis 6-9) The Story of Abraham God promises to make Abraham the father of a ‘great nation’,a ‘father of many nations’. The Lord also promises a child Abraham and his wifeSarah, although Sarah is long past child-bearing age... (Genesis 11-17) Cities of the Plain Further evidence of God’s terrifying power to destroy humanwickedness is given in the vividly told story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Only Lotis saved from ‘brimstone and fire’ — even his wife, because she looks backsadly at her old home, is turned to ‘a pillar of salt’. (Genesis 18-19) Abraham and Isaac Sarah, as promised by God, bears a son, Isaac. God ‘tempts ’Abraham by ordering him to make a burnt offering of his own most precious son.At the last minute Isaac is reprieved and Abraham promised increased blessing.The story is a powerful and disturbing one, perhaps because to some listeners it may seem a perversely harsh way of testing aman’s loyalty to his God. One might compare it with the story of Job (No.41 in this collection). (Genesis 21-22) Esau and Jacob The story of Rebekah’s twin sons. Jacob, the younger,prevails over Esau with the help of Rebekah, whose favorite he is. What seemslike trickery and injustice is set in the larger context of God’s purposes.Nevertheless Jacob is forced to flee to avoid his brother’s wrath when he findshe has been cheated out of his birthright. (Genesis 25-27) Jacob’s Ladder One of those mysterious and haunting passages of the OldTestament in which man comes into the presence of God: ‘This is none other butthe house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ Here God communicates his promise to Jacob that ‘the landwhereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.’ (Genesis 28) The Coat of Many Colors Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, ‘because he was the son ofhis old age’ — a touch typical of the way in which the Old Testament is notonly concerned with families and their generations, but also withrealistic emotional issues that arise within them. Equally realistic —and terrible — is the jealous response of Joseph’s brothers, who threaten tokill him but eventually allow him to fall into servitude in Egypt, a servitudethat of course will ultimately lead to Joseph’s triumph. (Genesis 37) Joseph in Egypt Joseph, the interpreter of dreams, finds favor with Pharaohand is ‘set...over all the land of Egypt’. When his chance to revenge himselfon his brothers comes, during the ‘years of dearth’, Joseph is powerfully compelledby his feelings for the youngest, Benjamin, to leave the room: ‘for his bowelsdid yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep; and he entered intohis chamber, and wept there.’ The whole story is a fascinating study of powerwithin the family and the state. (Genesis 39-47) Moses and the Exodus This is a long and remarkable story, from Moses’ birth andmiraculous preservation to the eventual escape from Egypt, Pharaoh’s resistancehaving finally been broken by the terrible destruction of the first-born. Theselast pages are extraordinarily dramatic, with the blood-marked doorframes, theterror of the Egyptians — ‘there was a great cry in Egypt’ — the solemnushering in of the Passover, and the hasty departure of the ‘children ofIsrael’. (Exodus 1-12) The Crossing of the Red Sea The crossing of the Red Sea involves also the destruction ofPharaoh’s cavalry and heralds the entry into the Promised Land — which Moseswill see from afar, but not live to experience. Moses leads the Israelitesthroughout the wilderness, sustained by manna — the ‘bread of heaven’. (Exodus 13-19) The Tables of Stone This prepares the way for the presentation of the TenCommandments. The covenant between God and his chosen people is renewed: theinsistence here upon the absolute singleness of God is remarkable, andespecially so in the ancient world — ‘For thou shalt worship no other God: forthe Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God’. (Exodus 33-34) The Ten Commandments One of the greatest and most influential statements of themoral law in human history. Christian teaching may claim to have gone beyondthe Commandments in its emphasis on mercy and forgiveness, but these rulesnonetheless remain the basis for traditional Christian morality. (Deuteronomy5) Joshua and the Destruction of Jericho It falls to Joshua, Moses’ successor, to lead the childrenof Israel over the river Jordan into the Promised Land. Jericho’s resistance isfamously destroyed by the ‘sound of the trumpet’ and the people ‘shouting witha great shout’. (Joshua 1-6) Samson and the Philistines It has been suggested that Samson ‘is a sort of HebrewHercules, heroic, friendly, rather stupid, with a comic streak in him.’ He is afigure who seems to belong as much to folklore as to history. (Judges 13-15) Samson and Delilah Samson falls victim to female wiles, but makes an end bothheroic and tragic when he brings down the house (literally) on both himself andhis Philistine tormentors. (Judges16) The Story of Ruth This story tenderly evokes the pains of exile when Ruth theMoabitess finds herself vulnerable and apparently alone in Israel. The resolutionof this is beautifully handled, as Ruth finds that she too can belong... (Ruth) Samuel’s Vision The child Samuel ‘did not yet know the Lord’, but ‘ministersunto the Lord before Eli.’ The Lord calls him three times in the night in oneof those memorable and painful scenes typical of the Old Testament where onegeneration is being prepared to take over from another: Samuel the child musttell Eli the priest of the Lord’s determination to destroy him and his sons forhis sons’ impiety — and Eli’s inability to control them. God’s justice can seemharsh at times. (1 Samuel 1-3) The Anointing of Saul Against Samuel’s and, it seems, God’s wishes, a king ofIsrael is anointed for the first time: Saul, who ‘was higher than any of thepeople from his shoulders and upward.’ (1 Samuel 8-11) Saul Disobeys the Lord The tragedy of Saul begins here, one of the most poignant,credible and remarkable stories of the Old Testament. Saul is clearly a highlyemotional, erratic, impulsive man, capable of great generosity but equally aprey to his own insecurity. (1Samuel 14-15) The Anointing of David The story of another of the great figures of the OldTestament begins here, and will for while entangle itself fascinatingly withthat of Saul and Saul’s son, Jonathan. David is chosen and anointed king bySamuel against all expectations — called in from his duties as shepherd todisplace his older brothers. Oneis reminded of Cinderella... (1Samuel 16) David and Goliath David is first brought to Saul’s attention by his exploitagainst Goliath — a story too well known to require comment, but told with adelightfully effective simplicity and naturalness nevertheless. (1 Samuel 17) David, Jonathan and Saul Jonathan, Saul’s elder son, loves David ‘as his own soul’.He finds himself caught between loyalty to his father and his father’sincreasing jealousy of David, his anointed successor. More than once Saul seeksto slay David, and yet when David confronts him with this, his tears of remorseseem, and perhaps are, genuine. Such are the contradictions in this all toobelievable character. Finally, at Mount Gilboa, Saul and Jonathan die inbattle. (1 Samuel 18) David Laments Saul and Jonathan Surely one of the greatest threnodies in any literature, asit circles around the haunting refrain ‘How are the mighty fallen!’ (2 Samuel 1) King Solomon A brief glimpse of Solomon, in his wisdom and magnificence.His creation of the Temple marks a high point in Jewish history — even if hefell away from his previous standards in his dotage... (1 Kings 2-11) Ahab, and Elijah’s Proof of the True God Ahab exceeds in wickedness any of the kings who have gonebefore him, and points to a general decline in the obedience of the Israelites,which eventually leads to the captivity, and the fall of Jerusalem. Butmeanwhile Elijah upholds the standard God expects of his people andspectacularly routs the worshippers of Baal. (1 Kings 16-18) God Appears to Elijah Jezebel, Ahab’s evil queen, threatens Elijah’s life. Elijahin the wilderness encounters God in the ‘still, small voice’, and casts hismantle upon Elisha to mark him as his successor. (1 Kings 19) Naboth’s Vineyard A classic story of power abused: goaded on by Jezebel, Ahabarranges to have the innocent Naboth stoned to death so that he may possess hisvineyard. (1 Kings 21) Elijah and Elisha Elijah is carried up into heaven as Elisha cries in wonder,‘My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horses thereof...’ (2 Kings 2) Naaman is Cured of his Leprosy Naaman, ‘captain of the host of the king of Syria’, mustlearn humility before he can be cured. In what might seem a cruel twist,Elisha’s servant Gehazi is himself made a leper for his greed: ‘he went outfrom his presence a leper as white as snow.’ (2 Kings 5) The Death of Jezebel In a satisfying and brilliantly painted vignette, Jezebel isfinally rewarded for her dreadful greed and cruelty: ‘in the portion of Jezreelshall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.’ The story moves to its climax with brutaldirectness. (2 Kings 8-9) Isaiah and Sennacherib As the prophet Isaiah foretells, the Assyrian host isdestroyed during the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Kings 18-19) The Fall of Jerusalem and the Captivity Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon becomes the instrument ofGod’s wrath against the Jews. In poignant detail the ravages of Jerusalem’sbeauty are sketched. (2 Kings 23-24) The Patience of Job Some of the finest language of the Authorized Version isreserved for this sustained meditation on suffering, endurance and faith, ameditation, which is also a story. Job is terribly afflicted as part of whatalmost seems like a wager between God and Satan: he loses his children, hispossessions and his servants, and yet he refuses to condemn God or abandon hisfaith. Surrounded by the famously complacent and unhelpful ‘Job’s comforters’,he wins through to restitution by God. On the way, some of the poetry attainssublime yet simple heights: ‘Man that is born of woman is of few days, and fullof trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as ashadow, and continueth not.’ (Job) The Psalms These range from the blissful simplicity of No. 23, ‘TheLord is My Shepherd ’ to the sustained anguish of its predecessor, No. 22. Thisvariety of mood is one of their chief glories, as also is the sense of acontinuing dialogue between man and his God, whether that man is an individual(David himself) or whether the Psalms are (as is more likely) the product ofseveral different writers. The idea of a personal God is strongly suggested,even if that God may also be terrible in his rage or his apparent abandonmentof the suffering soul. (ThePsalms)The Proverbs of Solomon This collection of gnomic sayings is often surprisinglydomestic in its style and subject matter. The writer has a firm grasp on thematerial world. (Proverbs) The Song of Solomon This astonishing piece of writing is quite unlike anythingelse in the Old Testament. Anxious theologians developed a tradition in whichthis openly (and beautifully) erotic poem was interpreted as an allegory of theunion between Christ and his Church, but perhaps few would nowadays make thisclaim. Much of the work is set out as an amorous dialogue in which the loversexpress their joy in and their yearning for each other. (Song of Solomon) Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream In the time of captivity Daniel and three others acquire areputation with the king for wisdom and the interpretation of dreams.Reminiscent of Joseph and Pharaoh, Daniel is made ‘a great man’ and ‘ruler overthe whole province of Babylon’. (Daniel1-2) The Burning Fiery Furnace Victims of jealousy — Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,Daniel’s compatriots — are consigned to the furnace but ‘walk in themidst ofthe fire’ unhurt. (Daniel 3) Nebuchadnezzar Dreams Again Daniel leads Nebuchadnezzar to a truer understanding ofGod. (Daniel 4) Belshazzar’s Feast King Belshazzar, who lacks his father’s humility, isterrified by the mysterious writing upon the wall, which is chillinglyinterpreted by Daniel as foretelling imminent disaster for the ruler: ‘Thou artweighed in the balances, and art found wanting’. (Daniel 5) Daniel in the Lions’ Den Once more jealousy prevails and Daniel is put into thelions’ den; once again, the true God protects the innocent and he emergesunscathed. (Daniel 6) Jonah and the Whale Jonah finds that there is no escape from the will of theLord, in a story, which mingles charm and morality in equal parts. (Jonah) The Old Testamentand European Civilization Although one might assume that the New Testament might be byfar the more important influence on European culture since the time of Christ,this is in fact not so, especially since the time of the Reformation when theBible as a whole increasingly became available to lay as well as clericalreaders. The Protestant movement rediscovered the Old Testament and found in ita powerful ethic of judgment which often suited its spirit and purposes: onehas only to look at Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, for instance, with not only itsbasis in the story of the Creation and Fall but also its multiple reference tonames and events of the Old Testament to see that this was so. An example wouldbe the epic simile by which he compares the destruction of Pharaoh’s ‘MemphianChivalry’ in the crossing of the Red Sea to the fallen angels rolling,defeated, on the floor of Hell. One should not, of course, suggest that the Catholic Churchor the art it sponsored was uninterested in the Old Testament — Michelangelo’sfrescoes in the Sistine Chapel would dispel such an idea on their own, or onemight cite Chaucer’s witty quotation of the Song of Solomon in ‘The Merchant’sTale’, where the corrupt old hero defiles the pure eroticism of the original byusing it to entice his beautiful young wife into the garden he has created sothat they may perform amorous rites not possible in bed… Later writerssuch as William Blake found in the style as well as the content of the OldTestament a powerful model for their own mystical and visionary philosophy.Even a poet we think of as almost pagan in his emphasis on sensuality — Keats —could refer most movingly to the story of Ruth the exile in his ‘Ode to aNightingale’, where her imagined response to the song of the nightingale bringsthe ancient and modern worlds together: ‘Perhaps the self-same song that founda path / Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, / She stood intears amid the alien corn...’ In the twentieth century, Wilfred Owen makespowerful use of the story of Abraham’s imminent sacrifice of Isaac to stressthe horrific destruction of a generation in the First World War: Owen, hisreligious faith by now a fragile thing, dreadfully replaces the original ‘happyending’ with Abraham’s refusal to give up the murderous sacrifice — ‘But theold man would not so, but slew his son, — / And half the seed of Europe, one byone.’ The Old Testament has offered composers of choral musicwonderful opportunities for oratorios of the most dramatic kind — Handel is anobvious example, with many works besides the incomparable ‘Messiah’ (whichincludes much use of Old Testament texts), but in our own century we find also,for example, the vivid brilliance of Walton’s ‘Belshazzar’s Feast’ to confirmthat the tradition is not yet dead. The truth is that our language, our literature,our art and our music are saturated with a sense of the book, which before allothers formed our culture in pre-secular ages. Notes by Perry Keenlyside