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The purpose of this article is to diagnose how the Book of Genesis is treated and preached by local pastors from the pulpit setting, apart from the academic arena, and also to demonstrate how preaching can drift away from the original intentions of the author of Genesis if it is not supported by sound exegesis. This article addresses several representative categories of errors that often occur in the preaching setting and furthermore, highlights the importance of exegesis as a foundation to a sound sermon. The errors introduced in this article are: Generalizing, Exemplarizing, Moralizing, Allegorizing, and Spiritualizing. This article utilizes actual sermons on Genesis that were published by highly reputable preachers in this country and to which each of these errors apply with varying degrees. This article also analyzes and evaluates the sermons to show precisely where these errors crept in, and when possible, provides an alternative exegesis of the passage by deriving the message, which naturally surfaces from this process. This article emphasizes to seek the true message of Genesis that was intended by its author and not to replace the main message with secondary elements. Once we determine the message of Genesis, we can safely build relevancy of that message to the 21st century audience.

The book of Ruth has been interpreted as a short story or novella which has a political purpose: to protest the exclusionary policies of Ezra-Nehemiah(prohibition of mixed marriage), or to legitimate David's monarchy and to explain his providential ancestry. In the OT studies of Ruth, the diachronic method has been used, and the issue of ‘human being’ is always located in the center of these arguments. But Ruth has been read primarily not as a political book but as a canon of Judaism and Christianity. For this reason, this paper explores the descriptions of God in the final text of Ruth and the religious and theological meaning of these texts in the context of ancient West Asian Religion. This study uses a synchronic method(Canonical, Literary, Religious) to expound the book of Ruth. It attempts to propose a new understanding for the purpose of the writing of Ruth. The religions of the Moabites and the Canaanites were closely connected with fertility cults, and they understood that their gods(Baal-Anat, Chemosh-Ishtar Chemosh) gave them food and life. The book of Ruth, however, insists that YHWH gives food and life to the Israelites. It can be found in the verses of 1:6 and 4:13 which compose ‘inclusio’ in this book and some texts of this book directly and indirectly show YHWH as a God who gives food, life, goodness and blessing to His people(1:8, 2:4, 2:20). The fertility cults of Moab and Canaan continually influenced the Israelites from the beginning of their settlement in Canaan to the end of the kingdom of Israel. In this specific historical environment, Ruth proves that the core concepts(food, life) of paganism belong to God and describes Ruth and Naomi as positive images of faithful women in the OT. These elements of this book clearly delivered a religious message. Through this study, it can be proved that this book is written for the purpose of apologetics.

The paper tries to read Psalms 25-33 in their literary context in order to figure out not only their theological theme(s) in their own location in the midst of the book of Psalms, but also the literary and thematic relationships among the psalms of this group. Reading the Psalms 25-33 in context needs to investigate the common literary and grammatical features with which the psalms of this group share. The genres, common vocabularies, literary figures of speech, and common themes should be considered. Because the structure of Psalms 25-33 is Chiastic, the relationship between the pair psalms(Pss. 25-33, 26-32, 27-31, 28-30) and their roles in this group also should be examined. Following John Stek's opinion about the structure of Psalms 25-33 and their demarcation from the preceding and following psalm groups, the paper defines Psalms 25(alphabetic acrostic) and 33 as the outer frame, each of which has 22(Hebrew alphabet number) verses, placing Psalm 29 at the center, which is a hymn praising Yahweh's Kingship in the creature and history. Through the study of the literary and thematic relationships of each pair of Psalms 25-33, we are able to grasp their close connectedness and their common themes. For examples, Psalms 27 and 31 focus upon the house of Yahweh as a refuge and a loving place of the psalmist, while Psalms 28 and 30 make petitions and give thanks for not letting the psalmist go down to the pit. Furthermore, the close relatedness of Psalms 25-33 shows their common concerns for the themes of trust in Yahweh, his vindication of the wrongly accused by their enemies, deliverance based upon Yahweh's righteousness, steadfast love, and mercy, teaching upon Yahweh's way, and forgiveness, etc. Through reading the Psalms 25-33 in their literary context, we come to acknowledge their close relationships in their literary features and unity in their themes. The theme of this group could be summarized as follows: those who suffer from their own sins, or many distresses, or false accusations and attacks from their enemies, should take refuge in the house of Yahweh to pray for their deliverance, forgiveness, and vindication, and to express their trust in his steadfast love, to learn his righteous ways, and to praise the sovereign King.

This paper deals with characteristics and functions of mishpat used as the key word for both Habakkuk's questions and the Lord's answers in the book of Habakkuk. For this, I will investigate languages and structures of each section including mishpat in the book of Habakkuk. Hebrew word mishpat is used as several meanings in the book of Habakkuk. It is used as the meaning of ‘justice’ in the initial complaint of Habakkuk(1:2-4), as the meaning of ‘Chaldeans' order/law’ in the Lord's answer(1:5-11), and as a meaning of ‘judgement’ in the second complaint of Habakkuk(1:12-17). As mishpat in the book of Habakkuk is used as different meanings in each section and as a useful word describing each section appropriately, it plays a role as an important word describing Habakkuk's messages gradually and dramatically. In this regard, mishpat serves as a very special word in the book of Habakkuk. In addition, mishpat is used as a standard to distinguish between the wicked and the righteous. Habakkuk 1:4 says, “The wicked surround the righteous.” Here the wicked indicates King Jehoiakim and his followers who have abandoned the righteous order/mishpat intended by the Lord for their society. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “The wicked swallow those more righteous than they.” Here the wicked indicates the Chaldeans who are foreigner and more idolatrous and more evil. They are those who controled and destroyed Judean society not with the Lord's mishpat but with their mishpat. Meanwhile, the righteous in Habakkuk 2:4 as well as in 1:4 and 1:13 indicate those who follow the Lord's mishpat and torah. They are identified with ‘the Lord's people’ and ‘the Lord's anointed one’ in Habakkuk 3:13. In this regard, it is likely that the book of Habakkuk emphasizes Hebrew word mishpat more than the other books of the Old Testament.

This study deals with the Cyrus Oracle and the Cyrus Cylinder with the help of the literary comparative method. The Cyrus Oracle was the cornerstone for liberty, emancipation, the return of the ancient Israel from Babylon captivity and for rebuilding the temple. King Cyrus is the Yahweh’s anointed servant fulfilling his will for the Israelites. The Cyrus Cylinder is a text written in the stone of the Temple foundation, kind of royal propaganda, in the pattern of misharum edicts in the land of Mesopotamia. It enhances religious freedom and abolishment of the system of slavery, by allowing the subjugated subjects to return to their lands and to worship their own gods. Both the Cyrus Oracle and the Cyrus Cylinder are similar in their background for human liberty and emancipation, and are also the invaluable sources for suffering humanity.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the dualistic views of slavery in the Old Testament from a new perspective by analyzing the dualistic views of slavery in the early Joseon period. The Heaven‐People Thought(天民思想) as appeared in the early Joseon period, a promulgation that slaves are people given by the divinity just as civilians are, formed dualistic views of slaves along with the nobility‐lowlife distinction theory(貴賤之分論), which provided the basis for the class system. The reason why such conflicting views of slavery appeared is because the state‐foundation power in the early Joseon period needed slaves for the improvement of the state. The new king tried to strengthen royal authority and to increase national power by creating a basis for mobilizing and governing slaves. And, based on this line of thought, he prohibited the system of the indebted slaves that accounted for most private slaves, and allowed them to be released after a certain period passed. Though accepting the slavery system, which had been executed conventionally at that time, the Old Testament emphasized human equity in terms of the creation theology and mentioning the Exodus, it made the point that the Israelites should not be taken as the slaves since they were the people of God. Also, as a result of the interpretation of the Manumission Laws, we can find out that the reason for allowing life-long slaves was related to the measures for the lives of the emancipated slaves. Furthermore, the Joseon dynasty protected the slaves based on the heaven‐people thought, and allowed them to receive welfare benefits and to participate in national rituals. Also we can confirm through the interpretation of the Covenant Code that its slavery law paid more attention to the protection of the slaves in Israel than in other countries, and tried to protect them just as it protected the civilians. And, as Joseon emphasized the Heaven‐People Thought for the purpose of the strengthening of royal authority and the enhancement of national power, the philosophy that treated the slaves as the people of God might contribute to the strengthening of royal authority in the Old Testament.