Status Updates From Panorama Del Antiguo Testam...

"...the kingly aspects of messianism. But the subject...in the New Testament is considerably broader. Jesus is pictured there not only as the fulfillment of the royal ideal as Son of David but of many other Old Testament themes as well: as wise man he is greater than Solomon...as Son of Man he fulfills Daniel's vision...as prophet and lawgiver he is a second Moses...as priest he outranks Aaron..." (694).

Of Samaria - "Outer casemate wall (1.8 m.), inner wall (1.0 m.) with 7 m of space between, made installation 10.0 m. thick. Survived Assyrian attack and remained useful for centuries" (683).

Of Jerusalem: "Eighth to sixth centuries were most important historically and biblically in nation's history. We have 'an unambiguous stratigraphical and chronological sequence: stratum 12 must be assigned to late eighth century BCE, stratum 11 to early seventh century BCE, and stratum 10 to late seventh and mainly sixth century BCE" (675).

"Several factors indicate that archaeology alone is an inadequate base on which to build our reconstructions of history. First, unless inscriptions or texts of some kind are discovered, it is impossible to garner specific information about events and people. Artifacts and strata can yield general evidence of the kind of life lived in a given site, but very little more" (655).

"It is precisely the degree of certitude attaching to the Old Testament as history that has occasioned the long-standing (and perhaps widening) divide between historians and literary critics of the Bible. While some would insist on the historical dependability of the Bible, others argue that the Bible cannot be relied upon as sober history" (642).

"...one must consider the possibility of coregencies, where one king begins to rule before another dies. This overlap would mean that actual reigns were not so long as the individual years of rule added together might indicate. Another factor is the possibility of interregnal periods when no king was on the throne" (637).

"Palestine is the land bridge connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. 'The Fertile Crescent' is one name of the arable strip of land bordering the Syrian desert, i.e., the lands along the Tigris-Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia and the coastal lands of the eastern Mediterranean (the Levant)...Palestine, though, was historically the poorest part of the Fertile Crescent" (619).

"When confronted with several...reliable readings, one may employ certain rules...first, the more difficult reading is...to be preferred because scribes...tend to smooth out rough passages...the shorter reading...is preferable, since copyists are more apt to add glosses...than omit authentic phrases...A third...principle is to accept that reading as authentic which best accounts for all the other variants" (613-4).

"As the Old Testament portion of this canon, the Hebrew Bible has been traditionally divided into three parts, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Evidence for this arrangement is quite old" (599).

"Christ transformed Old Testament interpretation by drawing together in himself various strands of teaching & braiding them into a single cord. He was the great prophet like Moses who taught the new law from the mountain; the peerless priest who made the whole temple system obsolete; the wise king, the 'greater than Solomon'; David's son & Lord, rightful heir to Israel's throne; the triumphant Son of man..." (586).