This course will study parts of the Bible in depth, reading closely and considering a variety of perspectives, including historical, literary, theological and ideological approaches.

1x2hr seminar per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in TRS and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

TRS3003 Old Testament/Tanakh Texts 3

TRS4007 Old Testament/Tanakh Texts Honours

TRS3029 Old Testament/Tanakh Texts Non Honours

TRS4072 Old Testament/Tanakh Texts with Hebrew

None

Essay (2,500 words) - 40%

Presentation of 10 minutes - 10%

Set interpretive exercise (750 words) - 10%

Examination (90 minutes duration) - 40%

OR: in place of the exam an additional 2500 word essay on a topic to be agreed with the convener, by an agreed date - 40%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ engage in close reading of selected texts from different divisions of Tanakh;

■ relate biblical texts to a variety of religious and secular contexts;

■ become familiar with a range of theoretical interpretative approaches to texts.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ provide a rigorous analysis of the historical, cultural and literary character of specific texts from the Old Testament / Tanakh;

■ read and understand key primary and secondary texts and present a clearly argued analysis of the positions taken in these texts;

■ offer a critical and in-depth analysis of a variety of interpretive approaches to biblical texts;

■ reflect critically and comparatively about ideologies in biblical texts and in their afterlives;

■ present complex arguments in written and oral form.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.