Due date: February 9, at the beginning of class (you may turn it in before then)

Click here to read the general writing guidelines for this essay, including page length, format, and suggestions for essay writing.

Reminder: You are not to use any outside sources, merely the biblical text and your own analysis. For background, you may cite the professor's lectures or the textbook.

For your first essay assignment, choose one of the following essay subjects:

1.  David's Indiscretion

Why would the writers of the Bible include the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12), and what messages would readers (in antiquity or today) get from this story?

In answering this question, you may consider any or all of the following questions:

How does David's behavior in this story compare with the behavior of other biblical "heroes" (Joseph, Moses, Abraham)? Can David's behavior in this story be read as a moral example for readers? Is the reader supposed to feel sympathy for David? What is the reader supposed to think of Bathsheba? Of Uriah? Are there clear "good guys" and "bad guys" in this little story?

2. God and Humanity, put to the test

If your only source for describing the relationship between God and humanity in the Bible were Genesis 22 (the so-called "Binding of Isaac"), how would you describe this relationship?

In answering this question, you may consider any or all of the following questions:

What is Abraham's character like? What is God's character like? What are the differently possibilities for understanding the nature of this "test"? With whom would readers identify in this story, and would that identification provide comfort or perhaps fear? (Remember: imagine that this is your only source for reconstructing this relationship). What does the story not tell us about the main characters--God and Abraham--that would be helpful in understanding this relationship better?

3. Ten Commandments--For Everyone?

Based on a reading of all of Exodus 20, construct arguments supporting both of the following propositions:

1. The Ten Commandments were religious laws specific only to the ancient Israelites.

2. The Ten Commandments is a moral code applicable to everyone, everywhere, at all times.

In answering this question, you may consider any or all of the following questions:

What is the role of these Ten Commandments in the larger framework of the Torah? What other ancient sources do we possess that provide an ancient Near Eastern context for the Ten Commandments? Are any of the commandments specific to their time and place and, if so, does this mean they can't be applied here and today?

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