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is your examination covering Genesis and Job – due via e-mail by March 23rd, 11:59. Please send to me as a copied and pasted text (no attachments) to dsalwak@citruscollege.edu. To set this up, I suggest that you transfer a copy of the exam to a file and set up the spacing as needed to respond to all questions. In a separate announcement I’ll send along additional notes on the story of Abraham to supplement class discussion.

English 298 – Examination #1 – Genesis and Job (1-5, 38-42)

Your name __________________________________________

Instructions: Answer each of the following questions as specifically as possible. You may use the backside if necessary. Watch your time.

PART ONE: Answer as specifically as possible each of the following questions about the primeval period of biblical history:

1. Why is it important that we understand the concept, creatio ex nihilo, when considering the creation story in Genesis?

2. What do we know about the characters, Ish and Isha, prior to their eating of the fruit?

3. Shem, Ham, Japheth are the sons of Noah. Why should we care?

4. The creation of the Nephilim possibly points to a further disruption in the primal unity/harmony of the universe. Explain.

5. What happened to cause Noah to say of his grandson, “Cursed be Canaan”?

PART TWO: Answer as specifically as possible each of the following questions about the patriarchal period of biblical history:

1. Why does Abram leave behind any connections with the Ur of the Chaldeans?

2. At one point in the narrative, Hagar mocks Sarai. Why?

3. Abraham’s supreme test of faith occurs during what has been called “the binding of Isaac”. Why doesn’t Isaac die during this testing?

4. The importance of circumcision to the history of Judaism can’t be overstated. What is its relation to the covenant that God establishes with his Chosen People?

5. God communicates with Abram/Abraham in a variety of ways, including dreams, visions, dialogue, inner impression, and natural phenomena. Give an example from the text of one of these.

PART THREE: Answer as specifically as possible each of the following questions about the story of Joseph and his brothers:

1. Reuben plays an important role in the fate of Joseph. What is it?

2. The Potiphar’s wife false accuses Joseph of doing what?

3. Whose sons are Manasseh and Ephraim? Why do we need to know this?

4. What do we need to understand about the Ishmaelites in order to understand fully the reason Joseph ended up in Egypt?

5. Genesis 50:20 might be considered a theme for the story of Joseph. Explain.

PART FOUR: Answer as specifically as possible each of the following questions about the story of Job:

1. In the prologue we are told that Job is made to suffer “without reason” (or “without cause”). Why must we know this?

2. One character in the story says to Job, “Curse God and die”. Who is speaking and why does she say this?

3. Psychomachia is a literary concept that applies well to Job’s story. Explain.

4. Who answers Job out of the whirlwind and what is the purpose of this encounter?

5. The three comforters fall into the intellectual trap of explaining Job’s suffering as an example of the deuteronomic law. Explain.

PART FIVE: Identify in the spaces below five principles of Hebraic literary style and give an example for each from our text (you need not cite chapter and verse; just describe the passage in a sentence or two):

1. principle #1:

Example:

2. principle #2:

Example:

3. principle #3:

Example:

4. principle #4:

Example:

5. principle #5:

Example: