Tanakh Arrangement

In preparation for a series of things that I will be busy with next year, I am currently making my way through "Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible" by Stephen Dempster.

Dempster argues that the order of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh (TNK spelling out the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim) has a literary purpose.

Unlike the Old Testament order, it begins with Genesis and ends with Chronicles.

In this arrangement, the ending of Genesis and Chronicles display remarkable similarity.

At the end of Genesis, Joseph about to die tells his brothers: “I am about to die, but God will visit (Hebrew root: paqad) you and bring you up (Hebrew root: alah) out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Genesis 50:24)

At the end of Chronicles, Cyrus sends the exiles home to rebuild the temple: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged (Hebrew root: paqad) me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up. (Hebrew root: alah)’ (2 Chron. 36:23)

Both books end with the charge/visit and the going up motif. And of course both books end with the motif of going into the land.

Ending the Tanakh with Chronicles closes God's Word with hope.

Its a compelling argument, and one that made me teared.

Comments

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