The Formation of the Pentateuch: Bridging the Academic Cultures of Europe, Israel, and North America

by Jan C Gertz (Editor), Bernard M Levinson (Editor), Dalit Rom-Shiloni (Editor), Konrad Schmid (Editor)

Overview

The Pentateuch lies at the heart of the Western humanities. Yet despite nearly two centuries of scholarship, its historical origins and its literary history are still a subject of intense discussion. Critical scholarship has isolated multiple layers of tradition, inconsistent laws, and narratives that could only have originated from separate communities within ancient Israel, and were joined together at a relatively late stage by a process of splicing and editing. In effect, a number of independent scholarly discourses have emerged. Each centers on the Pentateuch, each operates with its own set of working assumptions, and each is confident of its own claims. This volume seeks to stimulate international discussion about the Pentateuch in order to help the discipline move toward a set of shared assumptions and a common discourse. Contributors:Reinhard Achenbach, Rainer Albertz, Yairah Amit, Joel S. Baden, Richard J. Bautch, Erhard Blum, Mark J. Boda, David M. Carr, Sidnie White Crawford, Thomas B. Dozeman, Cynthia Edenburg, Angela Roskop Erisman, Israel Finkelstein, Karin Finsterbusch, Georg Fischer, Tova Ganzel, Jan Christian Gertz, Shimon Gesundheit, David Ben-Gad Ha Cohen, Sara Japhet, Jan Joosten, John Kessler, Itamar Kislev, Ariel Kopilovitz, Reinhard G. Kratz, Armin Lange, Christoph Levin, Bernard M. Levinson, Risa Levitt Kohn, Michael A. Lyons, Noam Mizrahi, Christophe Nihan, Frank H. Polak, Christopher Rollston, Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Thomas Romer, Konrad Schmid, William Schniedewind, Baruch J. Schwartz, Jean Louis Ska, Benjamin Sommer, Jean-Pierre Sonnet, Jeffrey Stackert, Marvin A. Sweeney, James W. Watts, Markus Witte, Jakob Wohrle, David P. Wright, Molly M. Zahn

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783161538834
Publisher:	Mohr Siebeck
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Series:	Forschungen zum Alten Testament , #111
Pages:	1204
Product dimensions:	6.57(w) x 9.13(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Convergence and Divergence in Pentateuchal Theory - The Genesis and Goals of This Volume Jan Christian Gertz Bernard M. Levinson Dalit Rom-Shiloni Konrad Schmid 1

Part 1 Empirical Perspectives on the Composition of the Pentateuch

Introduction Jan Christian Gertz 11

Inscriptional Evidence for the Writing of the Earliest Texts of the Bible - Intellectual Infrastructure in Tenth- and Ninth-Century Israel, Judah, and the Southern Levant Christopher A. Rollston 15

The Covenant Code Appendix (Exodus 23:20-33), Neo-Assyrian Sources, and Implications for Pentateuchal Study David P. Wrigh 47

Data to Inform Ongoing Debates about the Formation of the Pentateuch - From Documented Cases of Transmission History to Survey of Rabbinic Exegesis David M. Carr 87

Innerbiblical Exegesis - The View from beyond the Bible Molly M. Zahn 107

From Many to One - Some Thoughts on the Hebrew Textual History of the Torah Armin Lange 121

Part 2 Can the Pentateuch Be Read in Its Present Form? Narrative Continuity in the Pentateuch in Comparative Perspective

Introduction Jeffrey Stackert 199

What Do We Mean by Plot and by Narrative Continuity? Jean Louis Ska 201

Travel Narratives and the Message of Genesis Yairah Amit 223

Why Is the Pentateuch Unreadable? - Or, Why Are We Doing This Anyway? Joel S. Baden 243

Pentateuchal Coherence and the Science of Reading Jeffrey Stackert 253

Does the Pentateuch Tell of Its Redactional Genesis? - The Characters of YHWH and Moses as Agents of Fortschreibung in the Pentateuch's Narrated World Jean-Pierre Sonnet 269

Continuity between the Gaps - The Pentateuch and the Kirta Epic Joel S. Baden 283

Part 3 The Role of Historical Linguistics in the Dating of Biblical Texts

Introduction - The Strengths and Weaknesses of Linguistic Dating Shimon Gesundheit 295

The Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts - An Approach with Methodological Limitations Erhard Blum 303

Diachronic Linguistics and the Date of the Pentateuch Jan Joosten 327

Linguistic Dating, Writing Systems, and the Pentateuchal Sources William M. Schniedewind 345

How to Date Pentateuchal Texts - Some Case Studies Thomas Römer 357

The Numeral 11 and the Linguistic Dating of P Noam Mizrahi 371

There's No Master Key! - The Literary Character of the Priestly Stratum and the Formation of the Pentateuch Jakob Wöhrle 391

Oral Platform and Language Usage in the Abraham Narrative Frank H. Polak 405

Storytelling and Redaction - Varieties of Language Usage in the Exodus Narrative Frank H. Polak 443

Part 4 The Significance of Second Temple Literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Formation of the Pentateuch

Introduction Bernard M. Levinson 479

What Constitutes a Scriptural Text? - The History of Scholarship on Qumran Manuscript 4Q158 Sidnie White Crawfor 483

Scribal Revision and the Composition of the Pentateuch - Methodological Issues Molly M. Zahn 491

Reworked Pentateuch and Pentateuchal Theory Reinhard G. Kratz 501

Holy Seed - Ezra 9-10 and the Formation of the Pentateuch Richard J. Bautc 525

What May Be Learned from Ezra-Nehemiah about the Composition of the Pentateuch? Sara Japhet 543

Part 5 Evidence for Redactional Activity in the Pentateuch

Introduction Konrad Schmid 563

Some Empirical Evidence in Favor of Redaction Criticism Jean Louis Ska 567

The Pentateuch-A Compilation by Redactors Christoph Levin 579

Post-Priestly Additions in the Pentateuch-A Survey of Scholarship Konrad Schmid 589

Part 6 The Integration of Preexisting Literary Material in the Pentateuch and the Impact upon Its Final Shape

Introduction Joel S. Baden 607

Noncontinuous Literary Sources Taken Up in the Book of Exodus Rainer Albertz 609

The Story of the Gadites and the Reubenites (Numbers 32) - A Case Study for an Approach to a Pentateuchal Text Itamar Kisle 619

Integrating the Song of Moses into Deuteronomy and Reshaping the Narrative - Different Solutions in MT Deut 31:1-32:47 and (the Hebrew Vorlage of) LXX Deut 31:1-32:47 Karin Finsterbus 631

Source Dependence and the Development of the Pentateuch - The Case of Leviticus 24 David P. Wright 651

Part 7 Historical Geography of the Pentateuch and Archaeological Perspectives

Introduction Jan Christian Gertz 685

Biblical Criticism from a Geographer's Perspective - "Transjordan" as a Test Case David Ben-Gad HaCohen 687

Early North Israelite "Memories" of Moab Israel Finkelstein Thomas Römer 711

The Historical Geography of the Pentateuch and Archaeological Perspectives Thomas B. Dozeman 729

Hezekiah, Moses, and the Nehushtan - A Case Study for a Correlation between the History of Religion in the Monarchic Period and the History of the Formation of the Hebrew Bible Jan Christian Gertz 745

For the Border of the Ammonites Was … Where? - Historical Geography and Biblical Interpretation in Numbers 21 Angela Roskop Erisman 761

Part 8 Do the Pentateuchal Sources Extend into the Former Prophets?

Introduction Konrad Schmid 779

The Pentateuchal Sources and the Former Prophets - A Neo-Documentarian's Perspective Baruch J. Schwartz 783

Do the Pentateuchal Sources Extend into the Former Prophets? - Joshua 1 and the Relation of the Former Prophets to the Pentateuch Cynthia Edenburg 795

The Problem of the Hexateuch Thomas Römer 813

Part 9 Rethinking the Relationship between the Law and the Prophets

Introduction Dalit Rom-Shiloni 831

The Prophets after the Law or the Law after the Prophets? - Terminological, Biblical, and Historical Perspectives Konrad Schmid 841

Hosea's Reading of Pentateuchal Narratives - A Window for a Foundational E Stratum Marvin A. Sweeney 851

The Sermon on the Sabbath in Jeremiah 17:19-27 and the Torah Reinhard Achenbac 873

&cgpL;&cgpJ;&cgpK;&cgpM;&cgpD;&cgpL; &cgpI;&cgpN; &cgpA;&cgpD;&cgpK;&cgpG;&cgpA; &cgpL;&cgpP;&cgpZ;&cgpG;&cgpK; - The Relationship of the Book of Jeremiah to the Torah Georg Fischer 891

Compositional Harmonization - Priestly and Deuteronomic References in the Book of Jeremiah - An Earlier Stage of a Recognized Interpretive Technique Dalit Rom-Shiloni 913

Patterns of Descriptive Curse Formulae in the Hebrew Bible, with Special Attention to Leviticus 26 and Amos 4:6-12 John Kessle 943

Reading Zechariah 9-14 with the Law and the Prophets - Sibling Rivalry and Prophetic Crisis Mark J. Bod 985

Jacob, Moses, Levi-Pentateuchal Figures in the Book of the Twelve Jakob Wöhrle 997

Ezekiel and the Holiness Legislation - A Plea for Nonlinear Models Chrislophe L. Nihan 1015

What Kind of Priestly Writings Did Ezekiel Know? Ariel Kopilovitz 1041

How Have We Changed? - Older and Newer Arguments about the Relationship between Ezekiel and the Holiness Code Michael A. Lyons 1055

Ezekiel's Prophetic Message in Light of Leviticus 26 Tova Ganzel Risa Levitt Kohn 1075

Part 10 Reading for Unity, Reading for Multiplicity -Theological Implications of the Study of the Pentateuch's Composition

Introduction Benjamin D. Sommer 1087

Book or Anthology? - The Pentateuch as Jewish Scripture Benjamin D. Sommer 1091

Methodological Reflections on a Theology of the Pentateuch Marhts Witte 1109

The Dynamic of Closure in the Pentateuch Jean-Pierre Sonnet 1121

Narratives, Lists, Rhetoric, Ritual, and the Pentateuch as a Scripture James W. Watts 1135

Contributors 1147

Ancient Sources Index

Hebrew Bible 1151

Ancient Near Eastern and Epigraphic Texts and Papyri 1190

Deuterocanonical Works 1192

Second Temple Literature 1192

Texts from the Judean Desert 1192

New Testament 1194

Rabbinic Works 1194

Early Christian Writings and Greco-Roman Literature 1195

Medieval Writers 1195

Author Index 1197