JUC Online Semester Courses

This course aims to introduce students to the vocabulary, morphology, grammar, and syntax of biblical Hebrew, starting from no prior knowledge of the language. In the first semester (Hebrew I), students will focus on gaining facility in the alphabet and Masoretic pointing system, nouns and pronouns, all verbal stems for strong verbs, and a basic understanding of narrative sentence construction.

This course is an introduction to Jerusalem during key periods in its ancient history, including eras of the Canaanite city, David and Solomon, Hezekiah and Manasseh, Jeremiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, the Hasmoneans, Herod the Great, and Jesus, the Apostles, and the Jewish War against the Romans. Jerusalem's geography and rich archaeological history, as well as maps, photos, and accounts of travelers and local Jerusalemites, will aid our study of the city.

Offered as an introduction to ancient Egypt, this course surveys Egypt's history and culture from the Predynastic Period (4th millennium B.C.) through the Ptolemaic Period (30 B.C.). Class lectures, reading, and written assignments and exams prepare the student for a nine-day field study to Egypt. Particular emphasis will be placed on the connection of biblical persons and events with ancient Egypt, and on the connection of Egypt with the land of Canaan and Israel.
This course has a field study component.

A basic introduction to Classic Rabbinic Literature (CRL) – both Tana’itic and Amoraic – using specifically CRL texts that shed light on passages in the New Testament. Emphasis will be placed throughout the course on the “Common Judaism” of the Second Temple period, the shared heritage of both Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity.

This course is a narrative study of the life of Paul in Acts in light of historical, cultural, and geographical backgrounds with application to Christian faith, practice, and witness.
This course has a field study component.

During this course, students will read selections from the Former Prophets together to increase fluency and understanding. This course is designed for students who have previously studied Biblical Hebrew and desire to refresh and deepen their knowledge. Special emphasis will be placed on Hebrew grammar (including the verbal system), syntax, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: 1 year of Biblical Hebrew.

This course seeks to deepen and enrich students’ engagement with the Old Testament book of Job. To prepare for encountering the text of Job itself, we will consider relevant contexts, including questions surrounding Job’s setting, themes, genre, possible ancient Near Eastern parallels, and literary structure.

The course is designed to familiarize the student with the developing issues of historical geography that shape our reading of the Gospels. We begin with the changing geopolitical dynamics that characterize the Hellenistic and Roman Periods with the rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom and the Herodian Dynasty. These changes left indelible religious and physical consequences in the land Jesus knew.

This course provides an introduction to the history of the Christian Churches in the Middle East from the first to the seventh centuries A.D. Major Christian authors from the Second Temple to Emperor Constantine will show the common Christian basis of the churches in the Middle East, while representative Church writers from the three developing ecclesial families (Assyrian, Oriental, Chalcedonian) will reflect each Church’s significant role in the Christian mosaic in the Middle East.

The course examines key developments in the Holy Land from the Muslim conquest until the establishment of the State of Israel, with emphasis placed on the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.