Levenson content outlines

Levirate marriage, Gen 38

2 narratives recount application of levirate law (Judah/Tamar, Ruth/Boaz), but are both divergent from case presented in Deut 25 and occur at crucial junctures in genealogy of David - Connection to Davidic line and context of levirate marriage easier to understand in context of Lyke's "Women with a cause" topos - Matt 1.3-5 recognizes topos of "woman with a cause" by naming both Tamar and Ruth - Judah and Tamar: Gen 38 does not follow prescriptions of Deut 25, but presumes them - Tamar's motive is to secure her dead husband's lineage // "women with a cause" - Twist on law, but Tamar's vindication only makes sense if law is presupposed - 1 Chron 4.21 mentions the name of Shelah's first son as Er, presuming that levirate marriage was followed here - Linguistic connections to Deut. 25 - In Deut 25, the woman goes to elders at the gate, but in Gen 38 Tamar goes to Judah

Marzeah in the HB

2 occurrences of term usually translated as revelry or mourning: 1. Jer 16.5-8: "Do not enter the bet marzeah or go to lament or bemoan them..." - Command to Jeremiah accompanied by command not to marry or procreate in order to model how Judah's punishment should not be mourned 2. Amos 6.4-7: "Woe to thos who lie on beds of ivory...and [eat] calves from the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp...who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils...Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the mirzah of the sprawled out ones shall pass away." - Couches, stall-fed calves, music, wine from bowls, and precious oil all part of marzeah - Bronze bowl from Salamis (Cyprus) depicts this same scene (Iron II) - Isaiah 28 may parody the marzeah celebration

Monotheism: Job 1-2

Job 1-2 depicts divine council assembled before YHWH - Beginning of development of a specialized figure, Satan - Parallel to Baal in Ugaritic epics where Baal intercedes before El on behalf of earthly king - Developed further in Zech 3.1-7 where figure accused high priest Joshua but is rebuked by YHWH (thus still a member of YHWH's council under his control by Zechariah's time) - Becomes more specialized post HB period

Childs's proposed interpretive method

Childs's approach has been called "canonical criticism," a term he rejects because he understands the appreciation of canon a precondition of any exegesis, not as one among many possible approaches (historical criticism, form criticism, etc.) *Childs's scriptural interpretation prioritizes the final form of the text - it is the final, canonical form of the text that should be considered by interpreters *interpreters should always be aware that text a religious document that expresses the theology of ancient Israelite community *interpretation should examine text's complex internal relationships in a synchronic fashion and not prioritize a diachronic perspective *But - Childs does not reject conclusions of historical criticism; uses concepts like "the Deuteronomistic Historian" and describes how the DTR H used earlier sources in presenting history of premonarchic period *Childs does not find HC approach methodologically flawed but mistakenly prioritized

Relationship of pre-exilic cultic prophecy and the classical prophets

Classical prophets may not have been one group, some being cultic and some not (Richard Coggins) - Some were cultic prophets (Nahum, Joel, Obadiah), possible other writing prophets were as well - Absence of criticism of the cult combined with the nationalistic nature of his prophecy suggests that Nahum was a cultic prophet (Blenkinsopp) - That Habakkuk is the only pre-exilic prophet identified as a nabi' in the superscription implies he is a cult prophet (Blenkinsopp) - Habakkuk's obvious familiarity with psalms (or the association of a psalm with his prophecy) suggests he was a cult prophet; same argument applies for Joel, whose prophecy is a mixture of oracle and psalm (Mowinckel) - Haggai's support of the temple as well as his willingness to ask the priest a question and defer to his answer suggests to many that he was a cult prophet - Zechariah's imagery (candelabra, temple oil; cultic cursing; purification rites; days of fasting) and worldview comes from the cult, and his chief aim was to see the temple completed and the cult re-established (Mowinckel) *Others (that is, classical prophets who were not necessarily cultic) produced oracles of the diwan type (loosely linked sayings on all manner of subjects)

argument for spring new year festival

Ex 12:2 law of Passover explicitly connects it with spring New Year: Passover in head of months=1st month - J. B. Segal and I. Engnell argued Passover originated as a spring New Year's Festival on the basis of parallels between New Year festivals in ANE and Israel's Passover. - Passover date fixed (between the two evenings of 14th day of Abib (1st month)=probably full moon of spring equinox) like Babylonian New Year's festival (1st of Nisannu in spring) - Counterargument: dates for Passover are from P and Ezek 45:21 (late) - All males participating in the Pesah meal required to wear costume (Ex 12:11)—similar to New Year's festivals of other countries (but in Egypt only a sole representative of the nation wears it) - Very late text that historicizes the festival to make it a commemoration of the Exodus - Passover shares characteristics w/ other New Year festivals in the ANE: ritual cleansing, fasting, a solemn sacrifice, recital of epics of tribal ancestors, processions, a ritual exodus into the open country, feasting and the removal of social taboos - These rituals are common to all Israelite hags, not just Passover - Segal does not deny that Israel might have once celebrated a fall new year or that Sukkoth might have been the New Year festival—he in fact draws many parallels between the two days, parallels which he attributes to the fact that they both mark equinoxes. - DJA Clines argues that the ancient Israelite New Year could have begun in the spring: - Festal calendars (Ex 23; Deut 16; Lev 23) all list the spring festival Passover first. Before assuming that these lists follow the agricultural year, but in the earliest calendar, Ex 23, Abib is designated as the month of the feast of unleavened bread because it is the significant month (1st month of the year) - Counterargument: easier to fix date of Passover; other two festivals had variable timeframes - Numbering of months from the spring is prima facie evidence of a spring new year. Although argument can be countered by postulating the adoption of the Babylonian spring calendar earlier than the first reference to the numbering of months (Jer 36:9, if the references in 1 Kgs 6:1, 38 are removed as glosses), Clines argues it is improbable that the months should be numbered from spring by a society that still used and always had an autumn calendar.

More myth: Exodus and shift in pantheon from old to young toward end of LBA (1200)

Exhibits similarities with (world)-wide shift in pantheon (from old to young) toward end of LBA (1200) - Babylon, Enuma elish, storm-god Marduk triumphs over Tiamat - Greece, Cronus is supplanted by his son Zeus - Hatti, Kumarbi supplanted by his storm-god son Teshub - Aryan India, sky-god Dyaus supplanted by his storm-god son Indra - Ugarit, Prince Sea/Judge River, with the support of high god El, threatens the storm-god Baal, who triumphs is acclaimed king of the gods Reflexes of this shift are found in AI and the exodus story - E and P describe a new revelation of YHWH, so like other ancient religions at end of LBA, Israel began to worship a new deity, or a new manifestation of an ancestral deity -Exod 6:2-3 (P) says during the patriarchal period the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was El - YHWH also has the characteristics of storm god (i.e. Baal); he "rides upon the clouds" (Ps 68:4; he reveals himself on a mountain in the midst of a storm (Ex 19:16-18) - Mythic pattern in which the storm-god defeats the primeval waters and then creates the world is found throughout the bible (Ps 89, Ps 114, Isa 51), esp. Exod 15: YHWH uses wind (nostrils) to roil the sea - Myth is historicized; in appropriating the myth of the storm god and the sea, Ex 15 demythologizes it; some mythic elements remain, such as the acclamation of YHWH as the supreme deity and his enthronement in this new home (Ex 15:11, 17-18), although enemy is not the sea but a human king

Edom/Esau in exilic and post-exilic biblical texts

Exilic and post-exilic literature express sense of betrayal by Edom's assisting the Babylonians in their destruction of Jerusalem - Chronicler records Edom as taking advantage of pressure on Ahaz in the 8th C (2Ch 28.16-19) - Amos 1:11 "He [Esau] chased after his brother w/ the sword, and he cast aside all pity; His anger ripped at his prey, and his wrath stormed forever. - Isa 34: Judgment on Edom - Psalm 137.7: "Remember, YHWH, vs. the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, 'Raze it, raze it! Do to its foundations!'" Num 20: Edom refuses to let Israel pass through; Moses addresses Edom as brother Jer 49.17: Judgment on Edom Lam 4.21: Tells Edom to rejoice, but Israel's cup (punishment) will pass to Edom Joel 3.19: Egypt and Edom will become desolation for violence done to Judah Ezek 25.12: YHWH condemns Edom for taking revenge on Judah - Nabateans pushed Edomites into Negeb, region that became Idumea - Obad. 1:10 "For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you [Esau], and you shall be cut off forever." - Malachi 1:2-3: "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you [Israel] say, "How have you loved us? Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" says the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. I have laid waste his hill country and left his homeland to jackals of the desert."

Dating of the Patriarchs: Post-exilic period

- Post-Exilic Era (Liverani) - Patriarchal narrative = ideological fables originating in post-exilic returnees for purpose of arguing that the religiously pure returnees should peacefully integrate with the remainees - Ammon and Moab's origins in incest prohibit them from entering into covenant community - Preferred marriages take place between cousins, so returnees should marry remainees

Earliest stage of Sukkot

(J and E): referred to as the Feast of Ingathering *oldest festival calendars are Exod 34:18-23 (J) and Exod 23:14-17 (E); E calendar appears in "Book of the Covenant," which is often thought to be an independent ancient document *J and E present roughly the same information regarding the festival: accompanies the end of the autumn harvest but has no fixed date, either at beginning of year (Exod 34) or end of year (Exod 23), depending on the harvest; to be celebrated at a sanctuary rather than locally - already a step removed from agricultural origins *Judges depicts it as a celebratory feast that involved drinking (cf. Eli's accusation that Hannah was drunk in 1 Sam 1) and the worship of Baal-Berith. Men of Shechem abandoned Yhwh and reverted to worship of Baal-Berith: "they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank..." (Judges 9:27). *Transformed into a festival for Yhwh but without severing it from its agricultural base

Brevard Childs and critique of historical critical method

*Childs significantly impacted 20th cent biblical scholarship, esp. "canonical criticism" in his work An Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. *historical criticism concerned to discover information that lies behind the text, but this information not particularly important to the believing community seeking to interpret the Bible today *historical criticism treats texts as artifacts rather than as product of a reflective living tradition and fails to appreciate the effect that tradition has had on shaping the texts

Biblical names for Sukkot

*Feast of Ingathering (Exod 23:16, 34:22) *"The Feast" or "The Festival" (1 Kgs 8:2, 8:65, 12:32; 2 Chron 5:3, 7:8) *Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (Lev 23:34, Deut 16:13-16, 31:10; Zech 14:16-19; Ezra 3:4; 2 Chron 8:13) *Feast of Yhwh (Lev 23:39, Judges 21:19) *Festival of the seventh month (Ezek 45:25, Neh 8:14) *"A holy convocation" or "a sacred occasion" (Num 29:12)

Wisdom and Sirach

*Sirach/Ecclesiasticus/Ben Sira a deuterocanonical work dated to ca. 180 BCE (due to panegyric on Simon son of Onias, probably Simeon II, high priest from 219-196 BCE) *identifies Wisdom with law of the covenant (Sir 24:23), describes Wisdom as a creature of God who plays a role in creation reserved for divine beings (as in Prov) *In Sirach, Wisdom searches for place to dwell and finally, at God's command, settles in Jerusalem - Sir 15:1 "he who fears the Lord will do this; he who is practiced in the law will come to wisdom" - Introduction connects wisdom with the "fear of the Lord," a Dtr phrase meaning "religion" (=observing the commandments); suggests that the two are equivalent, cf. 1:20 - Wisdom's self-praise (24:8): God says to wisdom, "in Jacob make your dwelling, in Israel your inheritance," which we must connect with 24:23, "all this is true in the book of the most high's covenant, the Law which Moses enjoined on us" - Ben Sira nowhere cites a commandment/Decalogue in discourse on proper treatment of parents (ch 3) - Ben Sira's reliance on the Torah simply assumes that it supports his traditional sapiential morality - If wisdom and torah were competing camps, then Ben Sira neutralizes this opposition by absorbing much torah, although he still maintains the wisdom tradition Most scholars do not think wisdom and law converged until Ben Sira - Mosaic Torah, formed during or at the exile on the pattern of the earlier Deuteronomistic legislation, brought together older legal, hortatory, sapiential and narrative materials. Jewish people of the early STP had a variety of religious traditions (prophetic, priestly, sapiential, polytheistic), so it was not a foregone conclusion that the Torah would become the dominant force - J. Crenshaw considers Mosaic Law absent from the wisdom corpus.

Cult of the Dead

*Tombs found with structural provisions for offering of food and drink, e.g., a small, curving shaft leads into the chamber of Tomb 2 at Beth-Shemesh; probably served to carry food/drink to the dead; dead especially needed liquid refreshment, for realm of Death understood to be very arid*Deut 26:14 prohibits third year's tithe being given to the dead, attests to the practice as late as Deut; prohibition of offering the tithe to the dead seems to suggest offering other foods to them is okay *Conjuring and consulting dead ancestors is prohibited in Deut 18:10-11; Lev 19:26-32; 20:6, 27 *The (probably) late books Job (14:21) and Qoh 9:4-6, 10 present a sharp contrast to 1 Sam 28 - no credence is given to necromancy; dead do not know affairs of the living and have no ability to grant favors *Obligation to mourn for ancestors and importance of male offspring both relate to conserving the patrimony of a family through maintenance of proper relations with dead ancestors *Albright's study of the high places determines that the standing stones associated with burials (Gen 35:20) are a feature of the high places - he inferred that these sanctuaries functioned as mortuary shrines, part of the cult of the dead *National cult of Yhwh made slow progress against the cult of the dead, which as a family affair was divorced from national sphere; Yahwism demythologized death - the dead were declared to be out of the reach of God's cult (Ps 88:3-12) and divorced from him; they no longer needed services from the living as they were in a state of rest

James Barr's critique of Childs

*criticizes Childs for failing to consider the historical process of canonization *inaccurate to assume the Hebrew Bible represents the "scripture of ancient Israel" (possibly the scripture of Second Temple Judaism) *Childs does not deal with the text as a succession of competing, historically distinct canons which he must choose among as the authoritative text for his own theological interpretations (e.g., different Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic canons) *Fishbane points out indicators within the text of the historical process of scripturalization - signs of inner-biblical exegesis that challenge Childs's view *Childs's view restricts interpretation of HB to religious people (specifically to Christians, as he prefers to understand the Hebrew Bible as the "Old Testament," in the same canon as the New Testament) *Barr points out the problems of transforming a historically indexed, linguistically-other text into a norm for modern theology

The origins of Sukkot

*originally a Canaanite harvest festival, adopted by Hebrews as they became sedentary dwellers in Palestine *Hebrews added to it a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Ark *Sukkot remained an occasion for thanksgiving and rejoicing in the yearly harvest (gifts of Yhwh) *secondarily took on significance as commemoration of Yhwh's leading the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land

Biblical evidence for spring new year

- All OT passages with months denoted by ordinal numbers are easily explained if the year begins in the spring. This new nomenclature was probably introduced after Josiah's death (reform assumes fall new year) and before the capture of Jerusalem (whose dating assumes a spring new year). - Points to adoption of Babylonian calendar and is explained by the historical circumstance that under Jehoiakim, Judah became a Babylonian vassal state. Israel's pre-exilic fall calendar changed to spring new year when Babylonian calendar was imposed in Assyrian provinces constituted after the conquests of TPIII in 733. Spring new year was a Babylonian innovation adopted before Babylonian names of the months. - 3 annual feasts in oldest liturgical calendars (Exod 23, 34): Unleavened Bread, Harvest, & Ingathering: Order may indicate that the year begins in the spring - Phrase "return of the year" (2 Sam 11.1=1Chr 20.1, 1Ki 20.22, 26) connected to military activity, which Assyrian annals indicate usually occurred in the spring - Jeremiah's scroll read to Jehoiakim in his winter house where he was warming himself because "it was the 9th month" (Jer 36:22), which suggests a spring new year - 2 Kgs 25:8=Jer 52:12, temple was destroyed in 5th month, at same time (August) the ST was destroyed (Josephus & Jewish trad.); Zech 7:3 records a fast in the 5th month—presumes spring new year. - Ex 12:2: Passover occurs in the 1st month of the year, but insistence suggests it's emphasizing something new (spring new year).

Marzeah and archaeology

- Bowls associated with drinking at the marzeah - Bronze bowl from Salamis (Iron II) depicting marzeah scene - Carinated bronze bowl from the sanctuary at Dan (8th C) - Phoenician fluted bronze bowl (4th C) - Kuntillet 'Ajrud speculatively may have been a site for marzeah celebrations (Isserlin) - Similarities between marzeah and Greek symposium, an all-male drinking party that involved music, discussion of ideas, telling of myth, and sex acts

Does Childs reject diachronic (historical critical) interpretations?

- Claim that Childs rejects diachronic (historical critical) interpretations in favor of synchronic (pre-critical) ones deliberately distorts his position - Childs himself was 1st-class critic and canonical method requires use of historical critical methods - One cannot understand the significance of the synchronic readings without considering the diachronic ones, and thus they are hardly irrelevant - Childs's interpretation of Deuteronomy builds upon its historical origins in the late monarchic era, but he seeks theological meaning in its canonical placement alongside works from a different era (Pentateuch) - Point can be appreciated by communities (religious/academic) other than Childs's - Follows MT/canonical order of Tanak, not LXX/Christian order, b/c of historical considerations - Childs's emphasis on synchronic readings is a reaction against the distorting hegemony of diachronic methods and salvages the HB as a document revered by a religious community - Childs targets religiously engaged audience (Intro to OT as Scripture) - Seeks to refocus task of biblical scholarship, not reject HC or return to pre-critical methods - Does not privilege the "original" meaning over meanings that it held to later communities - Original meaning can only determine what text meant, not what it means - Cannot answer the range of questions whose answers a community seeks from Scripture

Criticism of von Rad, Joseph as narrativized wisdom literature

- Crenshaw challenges theory on grounds that the story lacks indicators of specifically Wisdom influence - Donald Redford claimed that many of Joseph's characteristics actually contradict Wisdom ideal: Joseph is erratic (without control of emotions), lacks modesty, and treats brothers with spite at first - Fox rejects Joseph story as didactic text cued to Wisdom literature, whose ideals it is meant to exemplify and inculcate - Must distinguish between human knowledge, wisdom, and a well-defined literary genre of instruction, Wisdom - Proverbs are meant to offer explanations and guidance in all life's situations, so it's insufficient to find a passage in Proverbs that can be applied to Joseph's behavior - Any wise man would rebuff the advances of Potiphar's wife, but the episode does not reinforce Wisdom's ethical teaching because Joseph's moral stance brings no lasting benefit, but rather punishment - He does not prosper because of his virtue, but in spite of it - No causal connection between Joseph's wisdom and his success (God controls his success) - His excellence in the service of Potiphar is unrelated to his later rise to power - Joseph's rise to power were based on unlikely and unpredictable circumstances and not a good model for young men - Foresight and prudence (7 years of famine) are not limited to Wisdom, and Joseph's foresight was based on extraordinary information - Idea that humans intend for evil, but God for good is not limited to Wisdom literature

Origins of Deuteronomy

- De Wette (1805) found a correspondence between the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah and the legislation of D - Prior to Hezekiah's efforts at centralized worship (2 Kgs 18:4, 22), places of worship throughout Israel were indispensable for religious life (for Elijah, destroying altars of YHWH = slaying his prophets (1 Kgs 19:10, 14)) - D = 1st law code to demand for cult centralization, D becomes a model for reforms of Hezekiah/Josiah - In addition to centralization, D's shared concerns with Hezekiah/Josiah include - prohibition vs. pillars in worship of YHWH (16:22), which is legitimate and even desirable in older sources (Gen 28:18; 35:14; Exod 24:4; Josh 24:26) - References to "astral worship" ( Deut 4:19; 17:3), which is not mentioned in the earlier parts of the Pentateuch and seems to have been introduced into Judah thru Assyrian influence in the 8th C BCE (Weinfeld) - Correspondence between the manner of celebrating Passover in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30) and Josiah and the prescription in Deut 16:1-8. 2 Kgs 23:22: Passover not celebrated since the times of the judges - Style not seen before 7th century, but quite common after it - Vassal treaties of Essarhadon (672) with which Deut shares affinities - Similarities between the vocabulary (e.g. Horeb) and theological themes of E and D suggest a shared northern provenance (document probably carried south by priests to Jerusalem after destruction of Samaria) - Emphasis on covenant and obedience to it - Elevation of figure of Moses - Warnings of the danger of idolatry to the integrity of the covenant people - Leadership of prophets as counterbalance to pretensions of royalty to absolute power

The alleged role of Deuteronomy in the Josianic Reform, with special attention to the interpretation that Josiah gave the book (if he knew of it)

- De Wette argued that book found in 2Kgs 22t was written as a pious fraud to support Josiah's reforms - Northern origins of book argue against this - D (re)discovered in days of Josiah, but main layout of book was likely already existent in time of Hezekiah - Not known what existed at time of Hezekiah and what existed later (Weinfeld) - Discovery of book inspires Josiah's reform (many similarities to Hezekiah's short-lived reform) - Book found during the time of an internal revolt within Assyrian empire - Josiah has prophet seek word of YHWH concerning book - Makes new covenant - Removes bamot, matsebot, asherot, Nehushtan, purges temple - Celebrates the Passover - Josiah's interpretation - Substitutes dependence on an earthly lord (Assyrian king) with a divine lord (covenantal form of D) - Initiates a political program in which the community is invited to participate - Expands territorial borders - Whereas Hezekiah is trying to throw off the Assyrian yoke, Josiah is trying to assert Judah's power in the changed political landscape that sees the Assyria empire about to fall

The role of the Deuteronomic School in composing or redacting other literature

- Deuteronomistic school has increasingly been seen as playing a part in the editing of many books - Perlitt's criticized Mendenhall's thesis that covenant was ancient because the idea of covenant as an obligation is developed by Dtr, whom he dated to 8th C at the earliest; this argument prompted scholars to see Dtr editing as much more pervasive (Wilson) - Dtr's influence in the HB - Deuteronomy and the DtrH (Former Prophets) according to the original theory proposed by Noth - Pentateuch - influence of D outside of Deut was originally thought to be minimal, although suggestions that it's more pervasive have been offered (Rendtorff, Blum) - Major Prophets - Substantial Dtr in Jeremiah, parts of Isaiah, links with Ezekiel (Coggins summarizes this trend) - Minor Prophets - Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah have similar introductory verses connecting them to kings known from Dtr - Some Psalms - Books without signs of Dtr seen as rebelling against Dtr (Job, Ecclesiastes) - 8th-3rd C activity has been seen for the school, but there is no external evidence for such a wide-ranging and influential movement (Coggins) - Early attempts to associate the Deuteronomists with specific, known groups - Levites (von Rad) - Part of or heirs to the prophetic tradition (Nicholson) - Associated with the wisdom schools (Weinfeld) - More recent movement toward taking the Deuteronomists on their own terms - A reforming party with members from multiple group (Clements) or individual(s), like Baruch or/ and Jeremiah (R.E. Friedman) - Charges of Pan Deuteronomism (Wilson) - many scholars saw Dtr as the final redactor and editor of HB - Robert Carroll argued that whole prophetic corpus reflects the realities of exile and not pre-exilic times, making Deuteronomism responsible for the creation of Israelite prophecy - However, prophecy well-attested in ANE - not invented by Dtr (Wilson) - Problems with Pan-Deuteronomism (Wilson) - Scholars don't agree on criteria for Dtr - Linguistic analysis is promising for establishing such criteria, but what if Dtr prose only reflects a common dialect? Dtr's vocabulary is small and necessarily shared with other parts of HB - Thematic criteria for Dtr are also shared with other groups (covenant, for example) - Scholars have been unable to reconstruct a coherent account of Deuteronomism, especially one that explains their involvement in editing - Dtr was either more diverse and variegated or it is a category that should be abandoned (Wilson)

3 categories of election

- Elect - God's chosen people, Israel - Anti-elect - those few groups deemed to be the enemies of God (Amalekites, Canaanites, Midianites) - Even ethnic Israelites can be portrayed as anti-elect (Achan) - suggests that the purpose of election in Joshua is not to maintain ethnic boundaries but communal order - Non-elect - vast majority of foreign individuals and nations who are fully part of the divine economy

exclusive vs. universal views of election

- Election theology often seen as polarizing groups in AI (Hanson, Dawn) as exclusive vs. universal, but these two views of election are two sides of the same coin (Joel Kaminsky) - Scholars frequently attribute texts that treat foreigners with tolerance as originating with an alternate stream of Israelite religion that rejects the ideal of Israel's special election - Tendency to blur the biblical distinction between non-elect and anti-elect by measuring all texts on a scale from "inclusive" (tolerant universalism) to "exclusive" (intolerant particularistic nationalism) - Inclusive and exclusive texts both flow from the particularistic notion of Israel's election - Texts dealing with non-elect display range of attitude from inclusive to exclusive - Inclusive texts still assert chosenness of Israel - Exclusive texts not as intolerant as often portrayed - Fair treatment of idea of election requires looking at larger context - Same theology of election that calls for destruction of anti-elect elsewhere gives rise to sensitive ideas about the treatment of aliens; these texts have not transcended Israel's theology of election - Texts dealing with the non-elect are far from systematic

Sacrifice/Dedication of First-born sons in Law Codes

- Exodus 22:28-29 commands the sacrifice of the 1st born on 8th day: yield of vats, sons, cattle - De Vaux denies that a law commanding sacrifice of first born or any child - Cattle/flocks are sacrificed, but humans sons are redeemed (Ex. 34:19-20) - Represents theological ideal (Levenson), like Hammurabi's Code, may represent an ideal, even if the law is not actually carried out - Theology of Ex. 22:28b: 1st born sons, like 1st-born animals and 1st fruits: all belong to YHWH - Ex. 13:13: First-born of humans & beasts dedicated to God w/ the specification to redeem first-born males

Extra-biblical evidence for fall/spring new year

- Gezer calendar begins with the month/season called "ingathering," contrary to natural order ("sowing"). Civil year originally considered to begin in the fall. - ANE calendars suggest a fall new year early on - Mesopotamia originally had a fall new year. - Babylon had long had a spring new year by the Iron Age, 7th month of the Babylonian spring year is named Teshritu, "beginning;" which supports original fall new year - 2nd millennium Assyria had a fall new year; it switched to the Babylonian reckoning of the year in the 1st millennium and then took on a spring new year.

Marriage covenant and YHWH's relationship to Israel

- Institution of marriage = covenant (Mal 2.14), and Deut sees YHWH's selection of Israel as a treasured possession as a passionate affair of the heart that defies logic (Levenson) - Knowledge of YHWH: covenantal and sexual term (superiority of suzerain, intimate relationship) Scholars trace influence of covenant renewal ceremony and its formulary until the time of the disappearance of the DSS community, assuming that these institutions did not survive into the rabbinic era (Levenson). - True that idea of covenant was not central in rabbinic religion, but should not be minimized - Shema a statement of covenantal monotheism and used in rabbinic liturgy

Patriarchal narratives do not foreshadow struggle against pagan religion

- Israel's relationship to other Canaanite nations is partially delineated in Genesis - Israel's genetic relationship to the Moab and Ammon (Lot's children/grandchildren), the Ishmaelites, Edom, the Arameans (Laban) is delineated by the book of Genesis, but their customs of worship are not. - Patriarchal narratives do not even reflect YHWHistic religion as described by the legal statutes of the Pentateuch since they break numerous laws (and thus suggesting they weren't written during time of P) - Patriarchs construct and worship at a multitude of altars - Abraham plants a sacred tree in Genesis 21:33 (cf. Deuteronomy 12:2-3) - Jacob consecrates sacred pillars in Genesis 28:18 and 35:14. - Break later Israelite sexual taboos - Genesis 20:12 Abraham admits to marrying his half-sister (Lev 18:11) - Genesis 29:21-30 Jacob marries two sisters (Lev 18:18 ) -Judah, Simon, and Joseph all marry foreign women (Deuteronomy 7:3) - Abraham/Isaac/Jacob break inheritance law by not giving first-born double portion (Deut 21:15-17)

Other extra-biblical texts with marzeah

- Kuttamuwa stela (8th C) claims to contain the "soul" or the dead individual - Raises question of eating and drinking at site of ancestor's stela - Panammu Inscription seems to reference marzeah - "May the soul of Panammu eat with you, and may the soul of Panammu drink with you." - "Deed of Removal" (Trans-Jordan, 7th C) describes deity/deities confirming to someone that "the marzeah and the millstones and the house belong to you." - Marzeah refers to structure, bet marzeah - 3 Phoenician texts mention marzeah (Marseilles Tariff, Piraeus inscription) - Elephantine ostracon mentions a man asking another for money for the marzeah - Nabatean text mentions "Obaidu son of Waqihel and his companions, the marzeah of Obodas the god" - Nabatean kings were deified after death - Palmyrene texts mention marzeah in connection with a deity and the priests of Bel - Term denotes an organization and a periodic feast lasting several days - Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Sifre Numbers interpret the incident at Baal Peor as involving the marzeah - Madaba Map (6th C) refers to the house of marzeah

Deuteronomy: Wisdom and Law

- Law collections contain more than legal enactments Deuteronomy a watershed in which legal and sapiential traditions flow together (Blenkinsopp, Levenson) - Scribal character and likeness to a state document - Insistence that the laws be studied, explained, and taught (1:5; 4:1, 10, 36; 5:1) as a God-given discipline (4:36; 8:5; 11:2) and that their study and observance is the way to wisdom (4:6) - Moses presented as a teacher and scribe - Elucidates law and provides motivation for its observance, "that you may live long in land" - Exhortations to take heed, to recall experiences of past, to acknowledge truth of what is being said - Tone reminiscent of the style of the sages in Proverbs and other sapiential compositions - Combination of sapiential and legal modifies sense of the law as a purely objective and extrinsic reality - Presenting legal compilations under the broader character of instruction mitigates the sense of the law as bald, divine command hedging in the autonomy of the individual addressed - 'Sapientializing' of the law suggests that it is to be internalized by an activity which unites learning and piety in the pursuit of a goal freely chosen -Deut 4.1-40, an exilic insertion (Levenson), suggests that the commandments are an intensification and consummation of something found among all peoples, Wisdom (Levenson) (cf. Ben Sira) - Torah is the intersection and consummation of the particular and universal, fruit of faith and reason - Just as wisdom literature originates as an instrument of diplomacy, law/Torah/covenant as formulated at Sinai appears as an instrument of diplomacy, the suzerainty treaty

ANE mythological parallels to Prov 8:22-31

- Literary form, in which something/someone is created before a series of other things (8:22-6), is clue to the mythic character of this representation - Cf. the opening line of Enuma Elish and the intro to the Eden myth - Since Wisdom is begotten at beginning of time, myth functions as theogony (genealogy of a group or system of gods), attested in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece - Closest parallel from is Egyptian myth of birth of goddess Maat from sun god Re; his favorite child, she came down to humankind at beginning of time as embodiment of cosmic order/preserver of law and justice; during Hellenistic period Maat was identified with Egyptian goddess Isis, whose cult was popular in the Mediterranean world, esp. in Ptolemaic empire, to which Judah belonged during the 3rd C BCE (plausible date for borrowing poem)

Contrast between "universal" and "particularistic" religion is simplistic and grossly misleading (Levenson)

- No one biblical position on this theological issue (corpus from many authors, many times) - Strata identified with one extreme do not entirely align - God is a universal creator in P, and his creation lacks particulars (places and people unnamed) - Contrast with Enuma Elish, where Marduk's creation of world culminates in Babylon - Marduk's power not limited to Babylon, but his special relationship with particular community is imbedded in structure of cosmic order - Sabbath is the only particular in creation - Prestige of origins belongs not to a place but to a way of organizing time (Levenson) - Israel has no particular status by birth, only through history - All of humanity has universal laws of Noahide Covenant - Noahide Covenant mentioned nowhere else in HB, but assumes greater importance in Rabbinic Judaism, where it served as equivalent of natural law, specifying 7 commandments incumbent on all mankind - Greater role of Noahide covenant in rabbinic rather than biblical Judaism calls into question the notion that rabbis had abandoned the universal dimension of biblical theology in favor of ethnocentricity - God universally available, a fact never displaced by particularistic theologies - Wisdom literature especially inclined to speak of god in non-national terms - Wisdom cosmopolitan (wisdom of Solomon attracts Queen of Sheba who is not portrayed pejoratively) - Wisdom writers likely thought of YHWH as similar to pagan gods, but by a different name - Adaptation of Egyptian Instruction of Amen-em-opet in Prov 22.17-24.22 - Election of Abraham is without explanation in HB (contrast with Rabbinic tradition) - Election predates existence of a people Israel, making the theology earlier than people underscores the nation's greatness as owing to the greatness of god (Israel only exists because of God's choice and would not exist at all apart from god_ - Reasons for election cast in monarchic/royal language and reflect concerns for future, not past - Hammurapi elected to protect the welfare of his people - Abraham elected to fulfill his dynasty's future - Chosenness serves a larger purpose: the chosen do not withdraw from the human family, but exercise a special place within it, but failure to serve that purpose did not cancel election (II Isaiah) - Singling out of Israel only partly grounded in universals; the reasons remain a mystery - Deut 7.7-8: not because Israel was more numerous than other nations, but because YHWH loved Israel (choice grounded in passion) - Israelite particularism is not destined to disappear but to reach its full horizon; Israel does not disappear into the nations, but draws nations to cosmic center in Jerusalem (Isa 56.2-8)

Changing position of Edom/Esau in history of Israel (& date of J)

- Original story (J) may date from 10th century with an addition to the blessing being inserted after Edom's freedom from Israel in Solomonic era -Edom originally "older brother" and more powerful (during period of Judges) but then in 10th century BCE, David unified tribes and conquered Edom (2 Sam 8:13-14; 1 Kings 11:15-16; Psalm 60; 1 Chr. 18:12-13) - Provides chronological clue about date of narratives of conflict (i.e., during the reign of David) - By the end of Solomon's reign, the Edomites had overthrown Israelites - Stolen blessing story suggests author unaware of events of Solomonic era "May God grant you the dew of heaven and the bounty of the earth, with much grain and wine. Let other peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you." (Gen. 27:28) - Esau's belated blessing may know of Edom's resurgence in Solomonic era - Isaac blesses Esau: "By your sword you will live, and you will indeed serve your brother; but then it will happen that you will break loose and throw his yoke from off your neck." (Gen. 27:40) - Story may have undergone change or been created to reflect Edom's resurgence after a period of domination

Explanations for difference between pre- and post-exilic prophecy

- Post-exilic prophets accepted the codification of the Torah so would not reject the cult (Wellhausen) - Post-exilic prophets were "cultic prophets" officially employed by the temple while pre-exilic prophets were independent figures on the margins of society denouncing it from outside - Pre-exilic prophets not so opposed to cult (because stark opposition between pre/post is unlikely) - Pre-exilic prophets prioritize social justice over sacrifice - Opposed to ritual when offered by those with hands polluted by crime (cf. Isa 1:15, "When you stretch out your hands I will hide my eyes from you...your hands are full of blood") - Opposed to the implications of certain types of sacrifices; most condemned the type of sacrifice that results in feasting (usually shelamim); might just disapprove of feasting and self-indulgence

Prophecy/cult connection: Pre-exilic pentateuchal sources

- Pre-exilic pentateuchal sources closely connect prophets and cultic functions/sanctuaries - the first band of prophets mentioned in HB comes from a high place (1 Sam 10:5 (DH)) - Elijah offers a sacrifice on Mt Carmel (1 Kgs 18:16ff (DH)) - prophetic organizations are based at cultic sites: Ramah (1 Sam 19:19); in Bethel (2 Kgs 2:3); Jericho (2 Kgs 2:5); Gilgal (2 Kgs 4:38) (DH) - Balaam must 1st build an altar and offer sacrifices before he can prophesy (Num 23 (JE))

Prophecy/cult connection: Pre-exilic prophets

- Pre-exilic prophets show hostility to cultic religion in practice in 7/8th C, esp. sacrificial element: - Amos 5:21-22 "I hate I despise your festivals..." - Hos 6:6 "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings" - Mic 6:6-8 "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams...what does the Lord require of you but to do justice" - Isa 1:11-13 "I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats...bringing offerings is futile" - Jer 7:22 "On the day I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices" cf. Amos 5:25 - Cf. Isa 66:1 "Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, what is the house you would build me, and what is the place of my rest" (post-exilic text, but seems to support pre-exilic view)

Evidence for cultic prophecy in pre-exilic Israel

- Prophets in Sam and Kgs seem associated with cultic functions, but how far they engaged in strictly cultic activity is a conjecture - Idea that they gave oracles during liturgical observances is mainly based on form-critical arguments about the Psalms rather than direct evidence (cf Ps 20; Ps 60:8-10 possibly an oracle) - Oracles against foreign nations (Amos 1-2 oldest) might rest on cultic practice: the ritual denunciation of the enemies of Israel as a means of ensuring their downfall (Bentzen); then Amos was parodying such a practice by constructing a chain of oracles that culminated in Israel's downfall - Classical prophets don't refer to themselves as nabi' (apart from the disputed texts Amos 7:14, Jer 28:8) but refer to "the prophets" disparagingly as a group distinct from themselves; whether they are referring to "cultic" prophets is uncertain

scholarly debate about cult of the dead

- R. de Vaux assumes that AI was distinct from the rest of the ANE (which did have cults of the dead) and reads all texts pertaining to death rituals as referring to funerals rather than subsequent memorials -No soul/body distinction in AI mentality, so a living man is a living "nephesh" and a dead man is a dead "nephesh" (Num 6:6; Lev 21:11). As long as the body exists and the bones at least remain, the soul exists in a condition of weakness in Sheol, which accounts for the care bestowed on the body and the importance of proper burial (or does the cult of the dead account for it?) - A. Lods (1932) posited a cult of the dead on the basis funeral rites, obligatory mourning rites for parents, and the emphasis on male offspring - Herbert Brichto (building on the arguments of N. Coulanges [1864, The Ancient City]) also claimed the existence of "domestic religion" (=cult of the dead) b/c it explains many AI values. Texts as late as exilic prophets prove belief in afterlife in which the dead, though without material substance, retain personality characteristics and knowledge of what happens to their living descendents. Dead still concerned about the fortunes of their descendants, for they are dependent on them, the family land, and their performance of memorial rites, for a good afterlife. Cult/belief not to be confused with immortality only in their posterity, nor with a vague hope that the dead continue as names in the memory of later generations. - The family as a religious unit that sacrifices to the dead was transmitted through male line, hence the importance of a son and the seriousness of adultery (though the living might know it not, the family unit could die out and the ancestors receive no peace). - Property essentially a religious concept (it was the burial place). Laws of primogeniture, succession and inheritance rights, indivisibility and inalienability of real estate and the sacrilegious crime of moving a landmark all reflect this. - Cave of Machpelah, the burial place of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, is a shrine for sons of Abe "until this day." Insufficient to bury Sarah in the cave; he must buy field as permanent property (cf. Naboth's vineyard). The reburial of Jacob and Joseph in land of their fathers shows a need to be buried with fathers in land of their children = an ongoing relationship between the living and the dead - Importance of levirate institution and simultaneously the reluctance to perform it (jeopardizes redeemer's afterlife) - Food offerings for the dead condemned (Deut 26:14; Ps 106:28), yet biblical narratives describe family shrines and yearly sacrifices for all the family (I Sam 20:6) that trump royal ones (i.e. David's use of this excuse to leave Saul's table at the new moon)

D source (as opposed to P)

- Rebirth of nationalism during reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah, in which D was presumably active - Focus on Israel among the nations - a great and wise nation - Revises Exod 18 so that the national judiciary was not a foreign idea - Conception of the extent of the promised land - expanded borders north into Israel, uses ideal borders from Gen 15 - Herem against the Canaanites - Absolute separation between Israel's devotion to YHWH and the practices of Israel's neighbors/predecessors - Priests = Levitical priests - Emphasis on holiness of the people of Israel (Deut 7.6) - Almost no purity rules, no detailed sacrificial rules - Commands centralization of sacrifices, although centralization removed sacrificial worship from daily life and made it remote. Put observance of law (social justice) in place of sacrificial worship. - Uses cultic verb 'bd to describe obedience to law - Little concern about central sanctuary except as pilgrimage site - Temple was not God's home, but at best a symbolic representation for the presence of God's name - Ark has no cover or cherubim on whose extended wings the deity might appear - only a storage chest for the Decalogue (this is why D calls it the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH) - Temple sacrifices do not make a pleasing odor; D says almost nothing to say about sacrifices - only that the meat is to be shared with the powerless (an instrument of public charity (Weinfeld)) - God abstract and distant, did not dwell on earth - abode was heaven, temple only housed his name - Overriding concern for welfare of the powerless

Levirate marriage and Ruth

- Ruth only loosely follows prescriptions of Deut 25, but story presupposes the essentials of levirate marriage and the topos of woman with a cause, in which levirate law is presented - Redeemer who refuses levirate obligation doesn't follow law of Deut 25, but still associates the reluctant redeemer with a missing sandal - Ruth 4.10: Boaz says he will marry Ruth to maintain the name of the dead on his estate so that his name is not removed (cf. Deut 25) - Elders express hope that Boaz's house be like Perez's, born of Tamar to Judah - In Ruth, Boaz goes to the elders at the gate (cf. Deut. 25 where the woman does this)

Dating of the Patriarchs: Sixth century

- Sixth Century (John Van Seters) - Prominence of Ur/Haran suggests Neo-Baby period (Nabonidus' reign) when both cities at height - Depiction of household with slaves/animals (esp. camels) not compatible with 2nd mill. nomadism - Amorite used in Neo-Assyrian period as archaic designation for all people of the West who settled in Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, and Transjordan, and should be understood thus in Gen 15.18 - Use of "Hebrew" doesn't indicate early period (Albright) but distinction b/t Israelite/non-Israelite - Abraham's purchase of cave of Ephron // "dialogue document" scheme of late Ass., Neo-Bab., and Persian period, which is 1st time sale documents contain the conversations of parties involved.

The Main Theological point of the Book of Jonah

- The theological point here is human understanding of divine justice A caricature of humankind in general: Jonah parodies the sins of pious particularism, the self-righteousness of the elect, and intolerance by parodying a devout prophet (FMC) - Satire casts humor/irony on the self-righteousness of the devout - Jonah portrayed as more self-righteous than righteous, more passionate than compassionate - Jonah less righteous than the pagan sailors whose lives he endangers - Jonah made happy by a vine provided by God, but throws a fit when God kills it - Jonah has more compassion/interest in a plant than in 120,000 people - Everything is big, overblown: the wind, the storm, the city of Nineveh, the fish, Jonah's joy for the vine - Jonah uses God's own words/description (a gracious, compassionate god, patient and faithful, and abundant in mercy) as an accusation and asks to be killed because of the iniquity of God's justice

Judges as charismatic leaders

- Weber (Ancient Judaism) argues that judges were charismatic leaders who held life-long, non-hereditary positions of authority in ancient Israel - Weber frequently misunderstood: charismatic authority of judges = a descriptive term, not explanatory - An individual who succeeds outside the bounds of institutional authority has charisma, a person who fails does not - Scholars, like author of above quote, use Weber's term to explain theology, which was not Weber's intent - Cites the Edomite kingdom as a parallel example of non-hereditary succession // judges - Claims that Edom had a series of 10 successive rulers prior to being conquered by David, but that they did not succeed one another hereditarily, thus indicating the "purely personal charismatic character of the position of the rulers"

Historical reconstruction of D and P

- Wellhausen placed D (neo-Assyrian period) earlier than P (exilic or later) - D doesn't seem to fit perfectly into time frame of neo-Assyrian period - Many of the laws seem to presuppose a decentralized population of farmers (not urban) - Laws about how to plant a vineyard, plow a field, or about runaway farm animals - No laws about business contracts, landlord/tenants, or other urban concerns - Kaufmann argued for the antiquity of P - D may have known P (Moran, Milgrom, Japhet) - Although D knows nothing of Korah's role in the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram - Both D and P composed over long time, so parts of P are earlier than parts of D and vice versa (Brichto) - P and D differed not so much in time as in viewpoint, which means these 2 sources are grouped too closely to support evolutionary schema (Kugel)

Lady Wisdom vs. Foreign Woman

- Woman Wisdom forms a reverse image of the Outsider Woman - Both offer love (but of different kinds); can be addressed as lover or bride (7:4); can be grasped or embraced (3:1, 8; 4:8; 5:20); have houses to which she invites youths (but for different purposes) - But contact with one is life-enhancing and the other death-dealing - Wisdom not presented as a goddess, but possible that she was conceived as a counter to the influence of the Foreign/Outsider Woman who would therefore be the primary symbolic figure in these chapters (2:16-19; 5:3-23; 6:24-35; 7:5-27; 9:13-18); the Woman Wisdom embodies the sages' teaching and as such function precisely to counter deviant and transgressive religious and moral conduct - Given the frequent association in the HB between sexual immorality and idolatry (1 Kgs 11:1-9; Hos 1-3), the portrait of the femme fatale also stands for the allure of the foreign cults and therefore warns against religious infidelity

Monotheism: 1 Kgs 22

1 Kings 22 Micaiah ben Imlah in divine council (cf. Isa 6): Divine assembly and its relationship to prophecy 1Kings 22:19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' Then one said one thing, and another said another, 21 until a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' 22 'How?' the LORD asked him. He replied, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then the LORD said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.' 23 So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has decreed disaster for you." - Host of heaven sends out lying spirit, 2 messages, one true and one false: monotheism or dualism? - Monotheism - both messages come from YHWH - Dualism b/c messages clash (is 1 god w/ conflicting spirits different from 2 gods in 1 pantheon?) - Compare 1 god who destroys world with flood and then changes mind and vows never to do it again, 1 god or 2? - Does worshipper conceive of plurality w/i God in asking God to remove anger, show favor (Ps 85)? - Look beyond terminology: Israel's conception of YHWH not so different from polytheistic experience

Biblical narratives depicting child sacrifice

1. Akedah (Gen. 22) offers both ritual and narrative appropriation of child sacrifice - Not an etiology of about sacrifice of animals replacing child sacrifice (Levenson) - Possibly an etiology about the location of a sanctuary/shrine - Possible etiology re: Jerusalem? (Ps 128 plays on both yare' and ra'a (unrelated to name Jerusalem) 2. Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:29-40) 3. King Mesha of Moab (2 kings 3:26-27)

Afterlife

1. Biblical evidence for afterlife: numerous references to Sheol in HB, but few descriptive details of the place: one "goes down" to Sheol (lowest place imaginable; contrasted with "highest heavens" in Amos 9:2), often associated with water images (Jonah 2:3-6), place of no return (Job 7:9), land of darkness (Job 17:13; Lam 3:6), inhabited by "Rephaim" *Sheol likely the habitation of all dead, righteous and wicked *graphic description of Sheol's inhabitants greeting King of Babylon in Isa 14:9-21 *Samuel's ghost has identifiable features, retained consciousness, memory, speech, and role as Yhwh's spokesman

Canaanite vs. Israelite kingship

1. Canaanite and Israelite kingship compared - Royal theology of Ps and 1Kgs 8 indicate that king had sacral function /special relationship w/ deity - Fusion of palace and temple resembles ANE structure - Alt thought David's administrative apparatus, inherited from Jebusites, was Canaanite (vs. FMC) - Dynastic succession (byt dwd, bit Humri) seen in Epics of Kirta and Aqhat 2. Canaanite and Israelite kinship contrasted - Basic socio-political structure of Canaan as the city-state, not the territorial state (Amarna, Ugarit) - Covenant tradition with Israelites, not simply king, modified royal authority. - Hosea et al. may suggest a rejection of monarchy as an institution - Cf. Transjordanian nations w/ presumed covenant relationship to their deity ('am Kemosh) - Canaanite city-state under Egyptian hegemony for most of LB - Kingship could be a response to military threat and not the development of urban elite Both pro-monarchic and anti-monarchic impulses are attested in early Israel; neither need be foreign - Early Israel an amalgam of many groups, so one expects different views on social organization - Israel theology uneasy w/ kingship: question of loyalties and rise of prophecy as critical of institution

Exod 15, Isa 51, Job 38-41

1. Exodus and Parting the Sea Song of the Sea and Canaanite Myth share several elements: Divine warrior combats Sea, building of sanctuary on cosmic mountain, eternal kingship of God - Seems to celebrate creation (thus, Passover may be the New Year's festival) 2. Isaiah 51 Isa 51: God's mythic victory must be interpreted in light of historical experience, the liturgical affirmation of God's absolute sovereignty and the empirical reality of evil triumphant and unchecked - God's ordering of reality is irresistible but not constant or inevitable - Task is to awaken exilic community to dawn of new aeon 3. Job and Leviathan and Bounding the Sea Job 40 preserves remnants of cosmic warfare between God and Leviathan: divine challenger still exists - Babylonian Akitu festival stresses the imposition of order as the result of Chaoskampf - Sea present as continuing to exist although within circumscribed boundaries (cf. Ps 104, Job 38) - Sinister force that without God's commands/boundaries would emerge again Job 38-41 means that Job must not make claims vs. God because to do so is to throw away the yoke and be like Leviathan

Dating of the Patriarchs: LBA and Iron Age I

1. Late Bronze Age - Archaeological surveys find decreased density in the Transjordan (19th-13th C), which Cyrus Gordon relates to the destructive campaign in Gen 14 - Hurrian Nuzi texts from 1500 depict customs reflected in patriarchal narratives (Speiser, Gordon), although many connections later proven false, those that weren't could just as easily reflect 1st mill. - Adoption of a slave as an heir - Provision for a surrogate by a barren wife 2. Iron Age I (Judges/Early Monarchic Period) (B. Mazar, followed by Stager) - Same cultic sites - Jacob erects pillar at Bethel in Gen 35:14, also a central shrine in Jdg 20:18, ISam 10:3 - Hebron a focal point for patriarch (cave of Machpelah) and important at beginning of Davidic monarchy - Similar worship customs - Heber the Kenite pitches tent at a sacred site and worships (Jdgs 4.14), // Isaac (Gen 31:25) - Genesis 49 cannot date from early 2nd millennium - An early 2nd millennium text would not reflect Canaanite shift (later than 14th C) - Poem preserves archaic forms (cf. Song of the Sea/Ugaritic poetry (1400-1200), suggesting that the independent sayings that make up the poem circulated during the era of the judges - Affixed י added to the construct state in אתנו בני - Third masculine singular suffixed ה on עירה

Laws about levirate marriage

1. Lev 20:21 prohibits a man from marrying his brother's wife; Deals with issue of taking the wife of another "If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless." 2. Deut 25.5-10 commands a brother to marry sister-in-law if brother dies with heirs; Taboo becomes a moral and legal obligation Deut. 25:5 When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband's brother to her, 6 and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man has no desire to marry his brother's widow, then his brother's widow shall go up to the elders at the gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me." 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, "I have no desire to marry her," 9 then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, "This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house." 10 Throughout Israel his family shall be known as "the house of him whose sandal was pulled off." - Synchronic method requires harmonization of the conflicting laws (must be allowed to marry sister-in-law for the institution of Levirate marriage in Deut 25.5-10) - Diachronic interpretation is irreconcilable with synchronic reading - Two texts originate from different sources (H and D) from different periods/social sectors

2 methods used to investigate the origins of kingship in Israel

1. Literary investigation of HB (Alt) - Alt noted dynastic succession in the Southern Kingdom, charismatic in North (until Omri) - Saul's charismatic kingdom a response to Philistine threat (kingship = result of external pressure) - Israel's monarchy most similar to that of Ammon, Moab, Edom (not yet investigated) - When combined with HB's anti-monarchic statements, Alt's view suggests monarchy is alien - Wright thought Solomon's provincial system gerrymandered tribal sodalities, thus suggesting that the kin-based tribal confederation had been supplanted by a hierarchical state (1 Kings 4) - Statements interpreted as anti-monarchic from DtrH and the prophets often assumed to represent the egalitarian ideals of early Israel, which were lost with the rise of the monarchy 2. Social scientific approach, using anthropology (Frick, Coote, Whitelam, Hauer, Stager) - Rise of monarchy not due to external pressures alone but combined with internal pressures - Highland farming methods required long term (royal) investments that required centralization - Despite Wright's argument about the gerrymandering of tribal sodalities, much evidence exists for the survival of the clan structure well into the monarchic (past it, according to Stager) period - Demise of monarchy into N-S, continuing threat of House of Saul, need for approval from N & S tribes for David/Rehoboam, Samaria Ostraca (8th C) recipts showing the persistence of clans - Notion that a hierarchical state supplanted an egalitarian, kin-based tribal confederation assumes that the tribe was egalitarian and that tribalism and monarchy could not coexist (cf. Mari) - Tribes had leaders and elders, so not perfectly egalitarian - Tribalism within a patrimonial kingdom could wax and wane depending on external circumstance and threats from other tribes (Stager - Patrimonial Kingdom) - Structurally, always a place under the deity and above the tribal rulers for a patrimonial ruler - Weberian nested households seen in terminology: byt YHWH, byt-hammelek, byt-'ab - Attested extra-biblically: byt dwd, bit-Humri - David Schloen's study suggesting that kingship in Bronze Age city-states was patrimonial

Dating of the Patriarchs: MB I and II

1. Middle Bronze Age I - Amorite names - "Amorite Hypothesis," based on Noth's conclusion that "historical core" of the traditions goes back to the migration of the "Proto-Arameans" in the early 2nd millennium (Albright its major supporter) - Absence of archaeological evidence at Shechem (important city in Patriarchal tales) between MB I and Iron I suggests Abrahamic traditions must date to MB I (Glueck) 2. Middle Bronze Age II (Wright, cf. Bright) - Amorite names - Patriarchs connected to Amorites, but based on excavations at Shechem, Amorites date to MB II

Monotheism: singularity vs. plurality of deity in HB

1. Plurality - Israel called God by names other than YHWH - Exod 6.2: YHWH=El Shaddai, which suggests it originally was not so (effort to subsume El Shaddai to YHWH (CMHE)) - HB speaks plainly of other gods - Decalogue (Exod 20.3: "no other gods before me") doesn't deny existence of rival deities. - "Who is like you YHWH among the gods?" (Exod 15.11): No one, of course, but praise is meaningless is other gods don't exist - Constant repetition of monotheistic assertions show threat - Rashi translates "gods" as "the mighty" for theological, not philological reasons 2. Affirmations of a singular deity - YHWH is only God stated unambiguously many times in HB - Deut 4.39: YHWH is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other."

Funerary customs

1. Preparation for burial: dead were probably buried fully clothed - pins and ornaments have been found in excavated tombs; Samuel came up from Sheol with his cloak around him; Ezek 32:27 says soldiers were buried in their armor: "whose swords were laid under their heads, whose shields are upon their bones..." 2. Interment: corpses were buried rather than being cremated; burning a body considered an outrage, only for notorious criminals (Gen 38:24 - Judah commands Tamar burned; Lev 20:14 - man who sleeps with woman and her mother - all 3 to be burned) or enemies (Amos 2:1 - Moab). Exception: men of Jabesh-Gilead take down decapitated body of Saul and his sons from Philistine wall of Beth-Shean and burn the bodies, bury bones (1 Sam 31:12-13), omitted in Chronicles account *Tomb was a chamber dug in soft rock and was used by family for generations. The poor were buried in the ground in common burial site (Jer 26:23 - King Jehoiakim kills prophet Uriah and throws him into common burial ground) *Site of the tomb marked by a pillar, such as Jacob set up over Rachel's tomb (Gen 35:20) *Personal belongings and pottery put by the corpse 3. Mourning rites: tearing clothes, wearing sackcloth, taking off shoes and headdress, veiling the face, putting dirt on head and sitting in ashes, fasting, refraining from washing or using perfumes *shaving the head/beard and making cuts on body were condemned (Lev 19:27-28, Deut 14:1) but still practiced (Jer 16:6) *neighbors brought mourning bread and the "cup of consolation" to relatives of the deceased (Jer 16:7; Ezek 24:17). *chief funeral ceremony was lamentation for the dead, usually a sharp cry "Alas! Alas!" ‏הוֹ־הוֹ (Amos 5:16) *note the qinah sung by David for the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1:19-27)

Prov 8:22-31

22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth— 26 when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world's first bits of soil. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

dating of the Exodus

According to HB, Exodus occurred c. 1446 BCE (1Kgs 6.1: exodus 480 yrs before 1st temple's construction - Ramses is anachronistic (only becomes a royal name c. 13th-12th C) - Philistines in Exod are anachronistic since they entered Canaan only after Rameses III's 8th year, 1178 - Absence of recognizable Israelites in the Amarna letters (unless they are the Habiru) - Merneptah Stele (1208 BCE), erected by Rameses II's son Merneptah is a ceiling date for the Exodus [wouldn't have been later than this] - Hyksos period is an attractive date for exodus (cf Josephus), but this leaves entire LBA (1550-1200), when Egyptian controlled Canaan, covered by Judges, which contains no hint of Egyptian influence - exodus/settlement can be dated as early as the early 13th C under Ramesses II (1290-1224), but highland settlements of 13th-12th C show continuity of culture not with Egypt, but rather with Canaan (Dever) - No archaeological traces of exodus at all: no Egyptian records and no evidence of journey in Sinai

Disputed historicity of the patriarchs: arguments against 2nd millennium date

Arguments against a 2nd Millennium Date (Thompson/Van Seters) - Names of the patriarchs cannot be used to date Patriarchs since these names appear in documents throughout the 2nd and 1st millennium - Names in Execration Texts are more similar to those from Byblos/Alalakh than W. Semitic - MB I/II text don't suggest Amorite migration into Palestine but an already existent Amorite culture, so Abraham's migration from Haran is not part of this movement - Mari texts show migration of people from south to Haran, reverse of Abe's sojourn (Thompson) - Nuzi customs no closer to patriarchal customs than other texts of 2nd/1st millennium BCE - Adoption text about slave heir not actually about a slave and also requires inheritance to be shared should a natural heir arise - Wife not adopted as sister, rather contract transfers parental rights over her to husband's family Anachronisms - Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen 11.28), who did not rule Babylon until 626 - Dan instead of Laish (Gen 14.14), which is renamed in period of Judges - References to camels otherwise lacking from archaeological record (Gen 14.9) in this period - Philistines not in Palestine until 12th C (Gen 21.22) - Arameans do not appear until 12th C (Gen 25.20)

Biblical evidence for fall new year

Biblical Evidence is contradictory and produces rabbinic claim for four different starting points (Mishnah Rosh Hashannah 1.1) - 3 annual feasts in oldest liturgical calendars (Exod 23, 34): Unleavened Bread, Harvest, & Ingathering; Ingathering occurs at the "going out/rising" of the year, suggesting a fall new year - "Return of the year" refers to the halfway point when the calendar returns from winter to summer, suggesting a fall new year (not the strongest argument) - Celebrating of the Passover after completion of Josiah's reform in the 18th year suggests a fall new year because all the reform measures could not have been carried out within the same year before the Passover - Ex 23 and Deut 16 place Passover in the month of Abib in the fall year. By P's time, the date of the feast wasn't altered, but the calendar was changed.

Cult of Molech and child sacrifice

Cult of Molech involved child sacrifice (through burning) - HB denunciations of rites at Tophet describe burned children but don't describe birth order or gender - Excavations of Tophet show animals remains in urns (probably as substitute, not replacement) - Animals don't replace child sacrifice (Stager & Wolff: no development from child to animal sacrifice) - From Punic inscriptions, Eissfeldt argued that Molech is name of type of sacrifice (donate child through immolation) rather than the name of a god - Whatever the case elsewhere, Molech in HB seems to represent a rival deity to YHWH - Cognate Malik occurs as name of underworld deity in extra-biblical texts) - Biblical Molech probably chthonic deity honored through sacrifice of children - Carthage excavations (Punic) demonstrate importance of child sacrifice to cult practice for neo-Phoenicians - 20,000 urns from 400-200 BCE (100 urns/year) w/ remains of charred children

Disputed historicity of the patriarchs: arguments for a 3rd/2nd millennium date

Dates/historicity of the patriarchs remains disputed (following a long period in which the 2nd millennium was held as the consensus view) and many different dates have been proposed 1. Third Millennium: Proposed on the basis of similarities between Israelite place names and those of the Ebla archives - Supported by D.N. Freedman and M. Dahood, but this date has been widely rejected 2. Second Millennium - Patriarchal names accord well with 2nd millennium Amorite names - Abram with Aba(m)rama in Dilbat tablets - Abraham with Aburahana in the execration texts - Jacob with Ya'qub-il from Chagar Bazar, etc. - Zebulon with Zabilanu from Egyptian and OB sources - Benjamin with the (Mare-)Yamina of the Mari texts

Differences between Deuteronomy law and Covenant Code: general differences and slave laws

Dtn marks transition from narrow casuistic and statutory law corpus to humanistic law code (Weinfeld) - CC has laws concerning civil damages that are entirely lacking in Dtn - Dtn interested in protecting family, family dignity, individual, and needy people 1. Hebrew Slave law - CC (Exod 21.2-11): Slave set free after 6 years of service; Maidservant not entitled to manumission after 6 years of service; Concerned with wife and child of slave; Takes place at local sanctuary - Deut 15.12-18: Both male and female slaves set free after 6 years; Slave must be provided with gifts to help him - Wife and child lacking because master has no command over private life of slave - Slave a citizen (brother) who sells his service, not his person, to master - Totally free; not bound by wife or children to be free - Takes place at home (secular) - Ties is to land sabbatical making one single year of release 2. Female slaves - CC (21.8): Says slave-owner can't sell undesirable maidservant to a foreign kin - Duet 21.14: Forbids selling of a captive woman no longer desired by her warrior-husband who had brought her back from wars - Bride Price and Bride - CC (22.15-16): Seduction of virgin = father's financial loss - Deut 22.29: Concerned with righting moral and personal wrong of the maiden and not with financial interests of father - Man has to take her as his wife and cannot divorce her - Fine, not compensation for father's loss, is paid - Mohar (bride price) never used in Dtn - Stray animal - CC (23.4): Stray animal must be returned to owner - Deut 22.3: Extends law to garments, all kinds of lost articles - Exhorts finder not to ignore lost object, but to take it home and store it for owner - Lending - CC (22.25-6): Creditor who's taken debtor's garment as surety must restore it at sundown so that he will have something to cover himself with - Deut 24.6/17: Creditor must return garment and also cannot select what item he wants as surety - Also cannot enter debtor's house to collect it - Resident Aliens - CC (22.20-2, 23.9): Forbids Israelite to wrong or afflict resident alien - Deut 10.19: Israelites can't discriminate against resident alien, and also must love him and look after his welfare - Dietary laws - CC (22.30): Israelites cannot eat anything torn by beasts; inedible food cast to dogs - Deut 14.21: Torn beast should be given to resident alien (indigents) - Sanctuary - CC: Only males are obliged to make pilgrimage to behold the face of YHWH - Many place of worship - Firstborn male domestic animal offered to God at local sanctuaries (Exod 22.29-30) - Deut 16.16: Extends pilgrimage obligation to everyone - One centralized place of worship (Deut 12.5-14) - Chosen place seems to be to provide nutrient to poor, tithes for the poor, sabbatical year also to help the poor, also festal pilgrimages and joyful celebrations seem to be for the poor, Sabbath law so that servants can rest (5.15)

views regarding outsiders in E, D, P, and Ezekiel

E Source - Oldest legal code, Covenant Code, offers protection for resident aliens (Exod 22.20) D Source - Commands the annihilation of Canaanites (exclusivist) - Several commands to love aliens and protect their rights (Deut 10.19, 24.17-22) (inclusive) P Source - Standard view considers these texts ethnocentric and intolerant of non-Israelites - H contains the commandment to love the alien as oneself (Lev 19), but also makes clear that there are distinctions between Israelites and aliens (Lev 25.39-48) Ezekiel 40-48 - Usually seen to be narrow in its definition of Israelite identity - Book of Ezekiel as a whole sees Israel as union of many factions: exiles, those who remained in land, Judahites, those from north = single people of God (HGM Williamson) - Author opposed by parties like those behind II Isaiah (Hanson, Dawn) - Ezek 44.5-9 prohibits aliens from temple, but 47.21-22 provides lands and treatment as natives for aliens

Edom/Esau in Genesis

Esau/Edom in Genesis deals with origins Esau the ancestor of Edom (aetiology) and the brother of Jacob (Israel), and both will be great nations - Likely reflects historical reality at the time of authorship - Brotherhood suggests a closes relationship between Edom and Israel - Esau described as being red ('adom), which sounds like Edom (etymology) -Esau is also hairy (sa'ir), which sounds like Seir, Edom's great mountain Three primary stories in Genesis about Jacob & Esau, and in all three, the younger overtakes the older - Story of their birth (25:19-26) - Esau's sale of birthright to Jacob (Gen 25:29-34) - Jacob's acquiring a fatherly blessing intended for Esau (Gen 27)

Mythological features of the Exodus

Exodus fraught with two major myths - Ugaritic myth of the storm god (Baal) defeating the sea/river god (Judge River/Prince Sea) to establish his kingdom over mankind/creation - Primordial battle between Air/Water, Order/Chas, for dominion over the land is recapitulated in HB as YHWH's wind dries the Reed Sea to rescue his people and defeat his enemies; later he will do the same for the Jordan (cf. Priestly creation and conclusion of Noah's Ark; YHWH's battle @ the sea = 3rd creation account) - Mythic antinomy underpinning the mutually perceived contrast between the Egyptian elites (wealthy, literate, militarily secure, culturally static, dependent upon alluvial river water) and the people on their borders (semi-nomadic, poor, marginally literate, subject to incursions and cultural flux, dependent upon highland rainwater) - Texts from Egypt and Palestine bespeak each region's hostility toward the other

authentic Egyptian coloration in Exodus account

Exodus narratives contain much authentic Egyptian coloration, although it may only prove the narrator's familiarity with Egyptian culture - Descent of Israelite shepherds into Egypt to avoid famine has analogy in Papyrus Anastasi VI, which reports passage of Edomite Bedouin tribes from into Egyptian delta "to keep them and their cattle alive" - Conscription of Israelites on state projects correlates with the tradition preserved by Diodorus Siculus that Rameses II preferred to conscript foreigners rather than natives for his building program - The Israelites were said to build Pithom and Raamses, P(r) 'Itm and P(r) R'mss, both built by Rameses II on the Nile Delta - The mention of "birth-stools" seems to correlate with Egyptian traditions of labor and delivery—the Egyptian hieroglyph for birth is a kneeling woman. - The story of Moses' birth and exposure reflects the widespread motif of the abandoned hero, known from the ANE and classical world; the Egyptian analogy is the concealment of Horus from Seth - The name Moses (Ex 2:10) is of Egyptian origin and frequently appears in proper names, usually with a divine element but sometimes without it - Promised Land is described for the first time in Ex 3:8 as "a land flowing with milk and honey," which matches a description of the land found in the Egyptian tale of Sinuhe and the Annals of Thutmose III - The exception role of wonder-working in the early Exodus narratives must be viewed in light of the extraordinary place of magic as an essential part of daily life at all levels of Egyptian society - The turning of water into blood is mentioned in Egyptian compositions ("The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage" and the story of "Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire"; a phenomenon similar to the plague of darkness is found in the "Prophecies of Neferti"

etiological functions of Exodus narrative

Explanations of religious practices and institutions - Origins of Passover (Exod 12:1-27), infant circumcision (Exod 4), prophecy (Exod 19), and priesthood - Relations with neighbors, like lasting contention with Amalekites for unprovoked war on Israel (Ex 17) - Place names, like waters of Marah (bitterness), waters of Massah (test/trial) and Meribah (contention) *Theological explanations from Exodus narrative which signify God's proprietorship of Israel and Israel's inescapable bond to its God. - Enthronement of YHWH and the glad acceptance of his endless reign by those he saved, Israel -Divine "enthronement" in ANE involves pattern of victory and acclamation (cf. Ex 15:17-18, Ps 93) - Basis for the covenant/Sinaitic law - "Decrees, laws, and rules" of Deut 6:20-25 (part of the Passover Haggadah) are not laws of Passover but of "this whole instruction," whose observance defines/gives meaning to Israelite life - Relationship of obedience to YHWH and observance of his commands is covenant (between suzerain and vassal) - Israel's faithfulness to covenant lies in gratitude for YHWH's deliverance of them from slavery and death in Egypt and at the sea (deliverance = how YHWH acquired Israel) - Dedication by consecration (Israel free from bondage b/c dedicated/consecrated to service of YHWH) - Rejects modern liberation theology (vs G. Pixley, a Christian Marxist) which views exodus as paradigm of a liberation from bondage/class system without acknowledging that Israel's freedom from slavery in Egypt results in slavery to YHWH

Genesis patriarchal narratives foreshadow subsequent Pentateuchal narratives

Foreshadowing of subsequent Pentateuchal narratives through themes that are indicative of the historical experience and chosen status of the nation Israel. - Abraham's destiny foreshadows that of his descendents: - Gen 15:13: "...your offspring shall be aliens...and shall be slaves there...for 400 years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve and...they shall come out with great possessions." - After promise, Abram and Sarai go to Egypt (Gen 12); Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house; God judges by bringing plagues on Pharaoh; Abraham and Sarai leave with the great possessions - Theme of exile and return can be found throughout Genesis in stories of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph - Theme of beloved son (chosen vs the norms of birthright) can be found in Jacob, Levi, Joseph, Judah

Monotheism and problem of evil

God is sole creator and is presumably good, so why does evil exist? (Levenson, Creation and...) - God not to be understood in classical (Greek) philosophical terms, but in relational (thus covenant) - Omnipotence in potential - Creation not ex nihilo but from chaos - Psalm 44 speaks of God becoming king as a reality that now, in contrast to the recent past, is coming to be (instead of always is) - Related to issue of monotheism: God did not create everything, but God created good (light) and places a boundary from the bad (darkness) - Prophets change this and assert that he created all - God's creation of everything does not entail that his creation is good and will endure forever, but that it is under his control and unable to resist him when he reactivates his omnipotence

How Deuteronomy gets its name

Hebrew Mishneh Torah > Greek to deuteronomion > Latin Deuteronomium - Title based on Deut 17:18, Josh 8.32 - "repeated law" or "second law" - Deut is a (revised) repetition of large part of the law/history of Tetrateuch - Deut constitutes a 2nd covenant besides the Sinaitic one (28.69), concluded on plains of Moab

Mythological background of Gen 1

Heptadic structure (recurrence of the number 7) distinguishes from ANE parallels - Babylonian akitu festival perhaps a parallel to creation in multiple days New Year's festival lasted 1st 11 days of vernal month Nisan On 4th day, Enuma Elish was read in reactualization of primordial events narrated in poem - Priestly 7-day creation has precedent in autumn and spring New Year's festivals of early Israel - 7-day festivals for Tabernacles and Passover known before P - P plays down New Year, designating no day as Rosh Hashannah, lending cosmogonic significance to Sabbath - Makes it Sabbath, and not New Year festival, on which creation is completed and reenacted - Annual renewal of world becomes weekly event

Hezekiah's reform

Hezekiah, king of Judah (715-687), son of Ahaz, father of Manasseh: 2 Kgs 18:3-6 [King when Assyrian Sennacherib attacks Jerusalem in 701 BCE] Biblical perspective (Kings and Chron) presents his reform as doing "right in the eyes of YHWH" - Religious reform included removal of Bamot, matsebot, asherot, and refurbishing of the temple - Destruction of Nehushtan associated with Moses (2 Kings 18:4) - absent in Chron because of the dominance of the Aaronides over the Mushites in the post-exilic period (see Cross) - Reinstitution of Passover celebration (Chron) - Invitation to Northern remnants and establishment of covenant - Short-shrift given to reform in Dtr may be the result of Josianic redactor who did not want to have too many comparisons drawn between the two reigns Archaeological evidence for reform - Lmlk jars - indicate control over border lands sufficient to enact reform - Jerusalem expansion (influx of northerners perhaps triggered the reform

Transformation of child sacrifice

Impulse to sacrifice the first-born in HB never died but was transformed in 2 primary ways (Levenson): 1. Ritual substitutions: Paschal lamb, Levitical service, monetary ransom, Naziritehood, (circumcision) 2. Narrative sublimations (particularly in Genesis narratives) - 1st-born (or beloved son) is "alive by legal fiction" (p 59) but undergoes a symbolic death - Beloved son "marked for both exaltation and humiliation" - "Special status of first-born associated w/ theology of chosenness" a. Jacob - Humiliation (exile from land) comes immediately after exaltation (father's blessing) - Exile substitutes for death at hands of Esau - Not merely biography but national history (underscored through name "Israel") - Assigned status of 1st-born through reversal (presumed period of less fixity re: 1st-born as described in Deut. 21:15-17) b. Joseph cycle (Gen 37-50) - Similarity btwn Moses & Joseph (shepherds, separated from family, marry daughters of foreign priests, have two sons, leave Egypt together, Moses taking Joseph's bones) - Lowest becomes the highest - Literal shepherd becomes metaphorical shepherd // to David, the other shepherd in HB - Image of king as shepherd suggests king as servant of the people: service legitimates his rule - Symbolic death in form of threefold downward movement Salvation of a nation hinges on a father's willingness to surrender his son - Jacob hands over Benjamin & thus saves the family from starvation - Mesha, king of Moab, breaks Israelite siege through sacrifice of his son - Jubilees draws connection also w/ Passover

Prophetic literature (6/7th C) dealing with child sacrifice

In 6th-7th century prophetic texts, child sacrifice seen as emblematic of idolatry - Jeremiah 19:5-6: "They...put their children to the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded, never decreed, and which never came to my mind..." - Levenson suggests threefold denial "protests too much" - People in Jeremiah likely doing a literal reading of Ex. 22:28b, thinking it faithful YHWHism - Ezekiel 20:25-26 suggests that YHWH did give the command but only in order to desolate them so as to bring about their recognition of God as the only God - Micah 6:6-8

Elements of Theological/Political Satire in the Exodus

Irony in narrative points to divine role in orchestrating the events of the story - Pharaoh decrees destruction of Israel by drowning, which becomes the fate of the Egyptian oppressors - Reeds secure and save Moses' basket; the Sea of Reeds dooms the Egyptians - Daughter of pharaoh rescues the one who will liberate those oppressed by the pharaohs - Princess bestows the name "Moses" on the baby; in Hebrew this is interpreted to mean "he who draws out (from the water)"; she unwittingly gives him a name that foreshadows his destiny Satire mocks religious belief/political maneuvers - Egyptian magicians cannot match YHWH - Golden calf episode parallels Jeroboam I setting up golden calves at Bethel and Dan; suggests displeasure with Aaronide priesthood (as do conflict stories in Numbers)

von Rad: Joseph story as narrativized wisdom literature

Joseph story functions to bridge gap in chronological scheme of Pentateuch (puts Jacob's family in Egypt) - Novela-like story doesn't fit in with rest of Genesis; more like Succession History - Von Rad (1966) found parallels between Joseph story and Egyptian short stories, and concluded that it is narrative wisdom literature depicting Joseph as an ideal wise man - Wisdom teaches young men how to rise to power/authority and Joseph story provides a model - Court literature: Joseph demonstrates outspokenness and good counsel (wisdom qualities) - Joseph's modesty, learning, courtesy, and self-discipline impart nobility of character. - Wife of Potiphar = strange woman - Prov. 24:29: Do not say, "I will not do to him as he has done to me..." - Learned through humility - Little reference to God: only two references (Gen. 45:5ff and 50:20) - God in control but his will is a mystery - Prov. 16:9: "A man's mind plans his way, but Yahweh directs his steps." - Joseph advises Pharaoh to find a wise man and has the foresight to prepare for the famine - Influence of Egyptian wisdom (Tale of Two brothers cited as similar) - Cf. Daniel and Esther - Joseph story closer to Daniel than Proverbs - Wisdom in Joseph sotry is affiliated with the pietistic and inspired wisdom of Daniel, not the ethical and practical Wisdom of wisdom literature - Shemaryahu Talmon claims Esther written by a sage who wanted to demonstrate the rewards of combining wisdom and integrity

Josiah's reform

Josiah King of Judah (640-609); 2 Kgs 22-23 Kings present it as a reform vs. foreign and Canaanite cult practices, whereas Chron only vs. Canaanite ones - Begins in context of internal revolt of Assyrian empire if we follow Chron, revolt is detailed in the Babylonia chronicle - Josiah substitutes dependence to an earthly lord with dependence to the divine lord (Deut covenant) - Leads to a political program in which the community is invited to participate (see Jer 3:12-13) - 3 main features of reform, focusing on a single god in a single temple - Purge of the temple - Destruction of high places in Jerusalem and Judah - Destruction of old northern sanctuaries (indicating some territorial advance - plausible given Josiah's control of N. Philistia) Escapes criticism of DtrH, like David - Similar mention of Passover in both Josiah and Hezekiah if one follows account of Chron for H. - Strong material indication that the kingdom of Judah spread between Bethel and Beer-Sheba but there is no clear indication that it went north of that point or to the Mediterranean coast

Levenson building on Childs

Levenson builds on Childs, noting that the price of recovering the historical context is the erosion of the larger literary context of scripture that undergirds the traditions that claim to be based on them - Multi-textuality of the HB has been a source of dissension in modern times; polemics between religious traditionalists and historians can be reduced to the issue of which context shall be normative - Historical critics committed to single context (ANE) at time of composition - Religious traditionalists are committed to another set of contexts, minimally the rest of scripture and maximally the entire tradition, including their own religious experience; their goal is not to put the book in the past but to ensure its vitality in the present and future - The hegemony of any interpretive method, whether religious or academic, cannot likely be sustained (Brueggemann), and Childs/Levenson have proposed a method that forms a compromise between diachronic and synchronic approaches, but is this approach relevant for those who do not want to make the same metaphysical assumptions that they do? - Sean McEvenue, in his extended review of Childs, suggests a method that do not - For example, in interpreting the Ark Narrative, he notes its original meaning (YHWH free from human manipulation and can freely choose Jerusalem), its new meaning when spliced up and included in Story of the Rise of David (stresses YHWH's choice to depose Saul and replace with David), and its meaning within the DtrH (functioning as a contrast to the events of Manasseh)

Women in wisdom literature

Linkage, through transmutability of Zion and Sinai and the equation of Torah (Sinai) and Wisdom, and Wisdom with woman, enables the theology of love that attributes great power and wisdom to women (Lyke) - Linkages are made through language and imagery of women, wombs, wells, wisdom, water - Psalm 1 = wisdom psalm: compares man wise in Torah to tree planted beside stream - Garden of Eden contains imagery/language of water, fecundity, nakedness, shrewdness, knowledge - Proverbs 5: instructs men to avoid foreign women (= wells) - Proverbs 3.19 and 8.22: young man (Israel) instructed to be faithful to wife (Wisdom), in reversal of prophetic metaphor (YHWH husband, Israel wife) - Sirach 24: Identifies Wisdom with Torah as creation from God's mouth (God creates thru. speech) - Apostasy from obedience to law // rejection of wisdom - Wisdom literature understands Wisdom, in its association with water and women, as a means of maintaining the welfare of God's people

Larry Lyke and theology of love

Lyke explores the theology of love in the HB and its connection to women and wisdom. His interpretation of Song concludes that human sexuality is the vehicle by which God relates to humans, an assumption that makes religious allegorical interpretation of a sexually explicit, "secular" poem possible - Women, wisdom, temple, and Torah linked - Levenson points out connection between temple and Eden (Ezek 28.13-14) - Part of identification of temple with Eden relies on imagery of fertility: Gardens with fresh water (Ps 92.13-16, 36.6-11), which is often associated with the fountain of life - Ezek 47.1-12: the waters of the temple sustain the world, and the temple renews Eden - Temple, understood as a woman and womb, is also associated with Eden and origins of human life - Safe haven from which humans derive sustenance, redemption - Torah linked with Eden, water, and fertility - Interpretation of Beer-Sheba as "well of oath" or "well of the seven (ewes)" links wells, women, and sheep as symbols of fertility - Evolution of imagery of women/wombs, wells, and springs and their variations that traces the emergence of the association of women, wells, and Torah

"Woman with a cause" in biblical narrative

Lyke identifies a "Woman with a cause" topos, in which women seek king to protect loved ones - Esther (cf. Judith) comes to royal court for adjudication to save her people - Esther, not her husband has final word (about Purim and destruction of anti-Semites) despite his original decree to prevent precisely this - Vashti's insubordination renders her powerless; Esther's subordination renders her powerful (Levenson) - Tekoite comes to royal court seeking adjudication to save son (note Joab actually tells her what to say) - Tekoite falls into category of "narrative meshalim" (cf. Nathan's parable) that have been stitched into their surroundings and have an agglutinative quality - Genre of meshalim connects these narratives to wisdom traditions - Deut 25.11-12 law about people fighting in a field/open country, which //s Tekoite's mashal - Tamar, Ruth are prospective mothers who go to great lengths to preserve dead husbands' lineages - Deut 25.5-10 contains law of Levirate marriage, which inspires their motives, even though the narratives differ from the actual law - Both narratives are at crucial junctures in genealogy of David - Abigail petitions David during his rise to king in hopes of saving her husband, Nabal - Abigail saves husband from retribution for his inhospitality (he dies 10 days later, but not by David) - Tekoite's mashal relates to the sexual promiscuity element of the sibling rivalry topos (Amnon- Tamar-Absalom, Absalom-concubines-David, Adonijah-Abishag-Solomon, David-Abigail-Nabal, David-Bathsheba-Uriah), which connects this tale to levirate marriage - Issue at hand is taking another's wife and the consequences of such an action - Levirate marriage deals with a similar phenomenon, only in this case it's a moral obligation to take another's wife/widow (taboo becomes requirement) - Bathsheba secures her son's future before David's death // Sarah and Rebekah (wife convinces husband to support her favorite) - Sarah, Rebekah, and Bathsheba fall into the "two women and two sons" subcategory - 2 prostitutes with 1 living son remaining between them judged by Solomon, whose decision displays his divinely appointed wisdom - Samarian woman during siege by Ben Hadad agreed with another woman to kill and eat their sons, but other woman reneged after the first woman's son was eaten - Inversion of topos, and Joram renders no decision

Dynamic monotheism in HB

Monotheism in HB is dynamic, a drama not a treatise. Argument for polytheism/monotheism doesn't do justice to dynamic perspective in HB - HB acknowledges existence of other gods (makes no sense to talk of powerless gods), but if God is almighty, then there can only be one, which argues for monotheism - HB considers YHWH ruler of gods (Psalm 82.1) - not a theological/philosophical treatise but a document from a living community transitioning from polytheism to monotheism - Kingship/uniqueness in Psalm 82 is something won, not simply postulated - Bad things/ugly things challenge principle of monotheism; difficult to attribute bad things to god, theodicy/justice of god a problem for monotheists

Monotheism in other ANE cultures

Monotheism not unique to Israel but seen developing in other ANE cultures (Marduk) - however, exclusive worship of one god has no analogy in ANE (Levenson) - Levenson's 3 aspects of Israelite monotheism - YHWH's incomparability (emerging position in pantheon) parallels hymnic (Aten) and epic literature in ANE - Prohibition of worship of other gods or a situation that might lead to it paralleled in ANE suzerainty treaty - Polemical identification of gods with their icons (Jer 10.2-10), closest to genuine monotheism, but hyperbolic tone limits insight into author's beliefs - Although no other religion "discovered" monotheism, almost all elements of Israel's monotheism were paralleled elsewhere (contrary to the view of Kaufmann/Stager that Israelite monotheism was revolutionary, radical break with past, a breakthrough in the history of religions)

Prophecy/cult connection: scholarly debate

Most late 19th/early 20th C scholars saw priests and prophets in strongly antithetical terms (Protestant), but not a consensus - Wellhausen argued that the prophetic and priestly functions in early Israel were closely related and that prophets and priests were closely related - Mowinckel convincingly argued a theory of cultic prophecy - Difference between priest and prophet in AI was not very great as both responded to inquiries, offered instruction, and preformed sacramental and sacrificial functions. - Prophets are frequently related to priests and the temple, especially in Jerusalem. [Elijah offered sacrifices; priests and prophets are often mentioned together, suggesting some prophets were cultic personel, cf. Jer 23:11; 26:7; Lam 2:20; Zech 7:1-3; Mic 3:11] - Cultic prophets were later absorbed into a subordinate order of the Levites as temple singers but still possessed the power of prophecy - Divine speeches and oracles in the psalms as further evidence of prophetic functions within the cult; prophetic oracles were spoken to worshipers during rituals of national and personal lament, royal occasions, and great festivals Modern scholarship has shifted from antithetical approach, esp. A.R. Johnson, who built on Mowinckel, but advocating a close relationship between prophecy and cult required break with older prophetic research that assumed prophets condemned cultic religion - Johnson modified Mowinckel's view of post-exilic cultic prophets, who lost their prestige and status because they had proclaimed peace and favor up to the Babylonian destruction

Narrative texts about foreigners

Narrative texts produce a variety of perspectives about foreigners that are not always mirrored in law codes - Melchizedek, Pharaoh of Joseph, Jael, Hiram, Queen of Sheba, widow of Zarephath, Job, Cyrus, Rahab, Jethro, Uriah the Hittite - When juxtaposed w/ unrighteous Israelites, it suggests that elect can learn from non-elect - Ruth considered convert by some, but conversion implies modern conception of religious belief - Conversion was less the acceptance of a particular religious belief than adoption into a family or tribe - Conversion raises the issue of whether a genealogical connection to Jewish people constituted election, or was there a smaller subset, those who were true to YHWH, who were the truly elect? - Theological notion of a remnant begins to influence election theology

argument for a fall new year's festival

Norwegian Sigmund Mowinckel (1922) argued that 40+ psalms were used in a ritual enthronement of Yahweh as king during the fall festival (Feast of Tabernacles). The basic elements of this drama included: - A sacred procession around the temple by worshipers and priests carrying the ark-throne of Yahweh - Dramatization of YHWH's triumph over mythological/ historical enemies of creation and Israel, presented as a renewal of the original, primeval creation and as judgment over the nations of the earth - Proclamation/celebration of Yahweh's enthronement/kingship over creation, the world, and Israel. Mowinckel built on Gunkel's enthronement psalms (47; 93; 95-100), which most regarded as either proclaiming YHWH's eternal kingship or as eschatological hymns (influenced by prophetic preaching esp. of 2Isa). Gunkel argued that they referred instead to realization of Yahweh's kingship as dramatized/actualized in the celebrations of the fall festival. Mowinckel envisioned ritual drama which yearly re-enthroned YHWH in Jerusalem - Mowinckel cited anthropological studies of primitive societies which had stressed the importance of the cult in these societies. - And importance of religious festivals and the nature of cultic activities in other ANE societies A.R. Johnson posited fall new year festival, but differed in reconstruction the festival and its use of psalms - Emphasized the annual ritual humiliation and exaltation of the Davidic king, who suffered, was attacked by enemies, delivered by YHWH, triumphed over enemies, reinstated as God's vice-regent - Fewer psalms associated with enthronement ritual - Emphasized eschatological perspective and realization of a new era vs. Mowinckel's emphasis on the festival's orientation to the new year and revival of social units

The claim that Deuteronomy represents a secularizing, humanistic, and sapiential movement

Not known who D is (not a priest, not agent of king), but some connection to world of wisdom (Weinfeld) - God's laws in D are spoken of like wisdom is in Proverbs (cling to Torah, guard it, bind it as a sign) - Central wisdom theme of reward and punishment connects Israel's survival and material prosperity - Deut 4.5 - suggests that D's laws are the equivalent of collections of wise sayings elsewhere - Laws without parallel in Tetrateuch are paralleled in wisdom literature - Injunctions about "neither adding or detracting" from the word of God only in Deut and Prov - Injunction about removal of boundaries and falsification of weights/measures paralleled in Prov, Egyptian wisdom - Warning against vows and cultic commitments paralleled in Qoh. - Observance of commandments equals wisdom/understanding (Deut 4.6) - Leaders and judges must possess intellectual qualities (wisdom, understanding, knowledge), which characterize the leader/judge in wisdom literature (Prov) D's conception of history as a repository of eternal truths (vs. the etiological narrative of J and E) imparts to it an international perspective, which is also characteristic of secular wisdom literature - "Abomination of YHWH" found only in Deut and Proverbs, but paralleled in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian wisdom literature

The P source (as opposed to D)

P and D opposites: P is altogether priestly, and D somewhat secular P Source - Organizes the Israelite camp by tribes - Priests = descendants of Aaron only - Holiness involves sacrificial worship and ritual purity, but also includes moral and ethical strictures - matters between humans and god, matters between fellow humans - Holiness in P is where God is ("I am holy," Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26); the tabernacle is "holy" (Exodus 25:8); the holy must be protected from contact with impurity. - P (at least 1st half of Leviticus) originally an internal priestly document; its "publication" implies that holiness is not just for priests, but all Israel. H makes this idea explicit (Lev 19) - P has the command "be holy;" cf. D - Emphasis on holiness of land and central sanctuary - H establishes priestly holiness as an ideal for all people (Kugel) - Assumes centralization - Divine immanence was the only reality that counted - divine gaze did not extend beyond temple precincts - the rest of the land of Israel existed only insofar as it supplied tithes, produce, and pilgrims. Other nations insignificant for P - P's god was impersonal, an incorporeal kabod , but God was nonetheless right there, present in his temple. The holiest object in the temple=ark, the place where God tells Moses he will meet with him - Utterly divorced from real world, lived in reality of priestly ceremony and cultic abstractions

Last stage of Sukkot

P fixes the date and describes the ritual differently and in greater detail *Lev 23:24 says feast is to begin on 15th day of the 7th month (Tishri) of a year beginning in the spring, lasts 7 days, to end on the 8th day [Ezek 45:25 gives the same date] *first day is marked by a holy convocation and rest from labor; sacrifices occur every day *Lev 23:36 first mentions an added feast day (the 8th day) after the 7 days of Booths *Lev 23:40-41, the third and last stage in the redaction of the passage, explicitly commands people to live in leafy huts: "And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days." *Booth tradition connected with Exodus: "You shall dwell in booths for seven days; and all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt" (vv. 42-43). *Interpretation of booths is a historical afterthought. The Israelites lived in tents, not huts, during their desert wanderings (huts a custom among settled people) = "historicizing"

Prophecy/cult connection: Post-exilic prophets

Post-exilic prophets record prophetic approval for cult (but possibly criticizing its existing form) - Jeremiah and Ezekiel have overt connections to the cult as priests, though neither is said to perform priestly activities within the cult - Haggai and Zechariah are strongly in favor of rebuilding the temple - Malachi criticizes those who offer defective animals (Mal 1:8) - Joel 1:13 laments ceasing of sacrifices for lack of offerings and approves of "calling assemblies" - Cf. Isa 58's criticism of fasting and Joel 2:13, "Rend your hearts and not your clothing," which have been taken as anti-cultic

Is the historical-critical method universal and theologically neutral?

Presumption of scientific basis for historical critical method is problematic because claim of theological neutrality neglects two obvious caveats 1. Scholarly engagement in HC method requires one to act as a "functional atheist," regardless of religious affiliation - not "theologically neutral" b/c it assumes non-existence of a god and superfluity of theology 2. The methods, assumptions, and conclusions of the historical critical method usually align with those of Protestant theology (i.e., not theologically neutral) - Biblical theology in particular, as argued by Levenson, is a manifestation of Protestant tradition - Major works in field are reformation, post-reformation, and authored by Protestants - Sola scriptura =battle cry of Reformation and much modern biblical scholarship - Jews do not do biblical theology because the Protestant version take historical criticism as its starting point, which was born out of rejection of Mosaic authorship, which violates 8th principle of Judaism

Reuse of Exodus theme in Second Temple period

Prophetic concept of a "New Exodus" - Second Isaiah Tannaitic Judaism's conception of exodus as movement from slavery to freedom - Contrasts with the view of HB and biblical Judaism - Rabban Gamaliel II (1st C), who lived between the 2 Jewish revolts and whose words were incorporated in the Passover Haggadah, formulates the exodus as a movement from slavery to freedom, but most likely the freedom he envisioned was the freedom for Israel to serve YHWH. Later rabbinic thought rooted in STP consider slavery to freedom transition not to lack subjugation, but to produce subjugation to YHWH, which is realized in their glad acceptance of the life of Torah and commandments. - Rabbinic association of Torah with freedom opposes Pauline view that Law is one form of the slavery from which the Christian has been set free (Galatians 3) - Paul's view is also a movement from one form of slavery to another ("emancipated from sin, have become slaves of righteousness")

Marriage metaphor and the prophets

Prophets present Israel as YHWH's wife in a good marriage gone bad (Lyke) 1. Hosea marries Gomer, a prostitute - YHWH threatens to take away Israel's festivals, liturgical mileposts of Israel's covenantal relationship, and thus he will strip her of her identity/covenantal marriage - Wilderness wanderings = honeymoon - Exposes her nakedness 2. Jeremiah uses marriage motif to show how Israel has broken its vows through apostasy - Wilderness wanderings = honeymoon - Exposes her nakedness 3. Ezekiel 23 connects defilement of adulteress with defilement of temple - Israel and Judah depicted as 2 sisters, Oholah ("tent") and Oholibah ("my tent is in her") - YHWH covers Judah's nakedness, but eventually Judah turns apostate, so YHWH exposes her in front of her lovers 4. Nahum the one exception to this - Prophet promises that scoundrels will never again invade Judah (2.1) - Nineveh is ravaged (3.6-7), her nakedness exposed - Nineveh conceived as female, Israel as one of her male suitors Prophets link the defilement of Israel's adultery with defilement of the temple - Linkage of women with temple through imagery of fecundity

Speeches of Wisdom in Proverbs

Prov 1-9 often considered the work of the compiler of the several components of Proverbs and is the latest addition, placed at the beginning as a theological preface to the entire book, and corresponding to the acrostic poem on the 'valiant woman' at the end (Prov 31) - Wisdom, personified as a woman because term is grammatically feminine speaks twice in Prov 1-9: - 1:20-33: addresses the uninstructed marketplace/citygate; she speaks in her own person, yet for YHWH; her discourse is clearly modeled on prophetic speech and she herself is a prophet; (cf. Prov 1:24-26, 28 and Isa 58:9; 65:1) - 8:1-36: vv. 1-21 contains the same kind of speech, but deals largely with the workings of wisdom in the social and political sphere; the mixture of sapiential and prophetic in these passages is another indicator to the take-over of the prophetic role by the sages as a way of enhancing the authority of their teaching, cf. Job 4:12-21 & Ecclus 24:33

Wisdom's role in creation (Prov 8:22-31)

Prov 8:22-31 presents a second discourse by wisdom so different that several commentators have concluded that it embodies a more mature and advanced way of thinking, therefore interpolated - Wisdom declares she came into existence at the beginning of creation and that she was present with God during the work of creation - Deliberate ambiguity in speaking of how Wisdom came into existence, owing to the poet's taking over and adapting a theogony (genealogy of a group or system of gods) - Role of Wisdom played in creation unclear - Greek translator interprets end of the passage in the sense that Wisdom acted as God's agent and artificer, but this line of interpretation seems to ignore the context which conveys rather the image of a favorite child who delights her father and takes pleasure in what he has made - Obscurity is due to the inappropriate representation of YHWH as a god who begets offspring, which would have seemed inappropriate

Women and wells in Proverbs

Proverbs 5: Wisdom literature's understanding of the association of women and wells - Vv. 15-18 instruct men to avoid foreign women: "Drink the water of your own cistern..." - Discussion of foreign woman embedded in part of Proverbs that urges the young man to listen to his father and to dedicate himself to Wisdom. - In Proverbs 3.19 and 8.22, Wisdom is either the means of creation or the first thing created - Verses rely on association of wisdom/woman/water - May presume that the water at the origin of creation is the female principle called Wisdom - Prov. 5 presents remarkable reversal of prophetic marriage/adultery motif - Prophets: Israel is wife of God and her infidelity is whoring - Proverbs: genders reversed; Israel is young man instructed to maintain fidelity to his wife, Wisdom -Similar reversal in Nahum and his application of the nakedness-exposed motif to Nineveh

Wisdom and Proverbs

Proverbs reflects a "strictly sapiential [i.e., prudential] concept of commandments, which pays no attention to a covenant...a significant deviation from Deut, which blends the two theologies"; (Levenson, followed by Richard Clifford) - Terms Torah, תורה, and Command, מצוה, exhibit a wide semantic range, namely anything that suggests "judicial or cultic norms," yet somehow excludes jurisprudence, an integral component of the Mosaic torah, suggesting the law in Proverbs is both nonspecific and restrictive (Clifford) - Clifford makes unnecessarily rigid distinction between the familial/prudent and the cultic/judicial; sapiential "law" cannot be limited to either familial teaching or prudent advice (William Brown) - Prov 3:1-11: scope of Torah includes a collage of specifically covenantal themes: "loyalty and faithfulness" (3:3); "the fear of YHWH" (3:7), observance of the first-fruits offering (3:9); and "YHWH's discipline" (3:11)

Monotheism: Psalm 82

Psalm 82, from Elohistic psalter (dated late, but possibly earlier in YHWHistic form), set in divine council: Psa. 82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psa. 82:5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. Psa. 82:6 I say, "You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince." Psa. 82:8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you! - YHWH/God will judge gods in v. 1 b/c they did not support the poor, orphans, oppressed, needy, etc. - Originally based on Canaanite myths, which include motifs about a hierarchical assembly of gods with 1 head god, who assigns particular territories to lesser gods (cf. Deut. 32.8), and about the rise of a particular god to the head of the pantheon - God of Ps 82 assumes rulership of all territories when other gods killed - International and eschatological in scope - Canaanite motifs subordinated to divine court of justice - 3 traditional methods of interpretation (1) Religious-historical interpretation: Ps 82 draws on ANE myth and is not monotheistic; Assembly of El is known from Ugarit and ANE, Elohim can only refer to gods and not humans (2) Ps 82 condemns human judges/officials/kings who misuse office (assembly of the gods = assembly of YHWH = popular assembly of Israel (Num 27.17, etc) (3) Ps 82 does not create dichotomy between gods and human rulers but joins the 2; Social critique, divine king/pantheon analogous to earthly court and king (Gods in Ps 82 act like humans, so dichotomy between humans and gods false)

views regarding outsiders in II and III Isaiah and Ezra-Nehemiah

Second Isaiah - Generally supposed to be an inclusive strand of tradition, but far from universalistic or non-ethnocentric - Concept of Israel refers only to the exiles or some subset thereof that remained true to YHWH (less inclusive than Ezekiel) Third Isaiah - Different definition of who should be included/excluded (Isa 65.1-16) - Isa 63.16-19 = complaint from those excluded, but their exclusion is not condemned - III Isaiah permits individuals who embrace the Israelite way of life to attach themselves to the Israelite people -Isa 56, like Ezra, attempts to delimit community - people get left out, 2 books only differ in how many Ezra-Nehemiah - Generally considerate among the least tolerant, most exclusivistic books in HB - Prohibition against marrying foreign women (Ezra 9-10, Neh 13) - But, final verse ambiguous as to whether or not foreign wives were rejected - Neh 6.21 allows loophole by which outsiders can join Israel

Connection between Exodus and Law, Social Policy, and Covenant

Sinai narratives seem intrusive in the exodus story - J story of the Israelites at Kadesh (Ex 17-18) interrupted by the Sinai narratives (Ex 19-Num 9) and then resumes in Num 10; - von Rad's theory of the brief 3-part historical credo, which does not include the Sinai tradition, led to conclusion that Sinai is later and separate - Noth took up and elaborated von Rad's view, but John Bright criticized the assumption that separate literary strands had to represent separate historical events; Sinai Covenant not one of YHWH's great saving acts (like Reed Sea), but merely the place where the covenant is made - Prologues to international treaties do not mention granting of treaty as one of suzerain's beneficent acts -Law, social policy and covenant b/t Israel and YHWH (i.e. Decalogue, Book of the Covenant, commandments regarding the ark/tabernacle and priestly vestments/ordination, and Levitical laws) all placed within the context of the Exodus to lend them antiquity and, more importantly, to provide an unimpeachable rational for their observance: "I am the Lord your god who brought you out of Egypt"

Sirach 24 vs. Prov 8

Sirach 24 provides an extended commentary and elaboration of Prov. 8.22-9.18 - V. 3: Ben Sira, aware of Prov 8's claim that Wisdom was 1st creation and that God created everything by word in Gen 1, assumes that Wisdom came from God's very own mouth - Wisdom from YHWH's mouth covering the earth like a mist // the kisses of Song 1.2 by which YHWH gives his Torah/word - Vv. 8-12: Wisdom's tent associated with the tabernacle and Wisdom claims to be preexistent (Lyke identifies Temple and Torah as two poles of theology of love) - Vv. 13-17: Wisdom as seductive as the woman in Song, Sira's description of her is as sensuous as Song - For Ben Sira, and probably his contemporaries, Song of Songs seen as Wisdom literature - V. 23: Identifies Wisdom with Torah and compares the Torah with the great rivers of the world, mostly coterminous with the rivers of Eden

Song of Songs and love of God

Song of Songs reinterpreted as a representation of the most explicit and finest example from all of Scripture of God's love/devotion for Israel/Church 1. Rabbinic Judaism interprets Song of Songs in light of the exodus, Torah, and temple - Aesthetic of Song leads to theological interpretation - Song's aural quality produces an aesthetic that evokes the temple and scripture (Torah) - Attentiveness to language and imagery - Sexual metaphors a reference to the larger literary context of the HB 2. Early Christianity - Origen presumes theology of love in his interpretation of Song - Dependent on the history of interpretation of Prov. 8 and the association of the Song with Jesus as the Word - Word represents for Origen the same thing that Torah does for Jewish contemporaries - Sensual nature of the Song was understood to be integrally linked to the fecund world that Wisdom/Torah/Word had a hand in creating at the origin of God's work

Mythology: Genesis 1 and psalms

Stands in continuity with Psalm 104 as part of tradition whose origins lie outside Israel - ANE creation not cosmogony but rather decisive victory of forces of order over chaotic opposition - Not a theogony, but who is the "us" in "Let us make?" - Primordial: Cf. Psalm 82 where YHWH's rule is not complete because evil still exists - Psalm 74 has mythic substratum: God defeats sea monsters prior to ordering world - Waters in Gen 1 are likely primordial - Sea presented as continuing to exist although within boundaries (cf. Ps 104, Job 38) - Sinister force that without God's commands/boundaries would emerge again - Psalm 104 to Gen 1 shows trajectory from ANE myth to monotheism; creation without opposition

Scholarly debate: spring vs. fall new year

Supporters of an original fall new year include de Vaux, VanderKam and most other scholars D. Clines considers much of the evidence cited above to be tenuous or circumstantial. - Evidence such as Ex 23 and 34 might refer to the agricultural year only and not the civil year - Argument is weakened by the existence of the Gezer calendar—still, one does not know what the status of this "calendar" was and what purpose it preserved. - If spring year was retained when Babylonian month-names replaced ordinal numbers, then Neh doesn't make sense - Neh 1:1 and 2:1 the month of Kisleu and the following month Nisan fell in the 20th year of Artaxerzes, implying a fall new year. - de Vaux explains this as a textual corruption since Neh 1.1 strangely lacks name of reigning king (probably originally lacked year, which was probably added from Neh 2.1): Nehemiah would certainly have followed the Babylonian calendar.

Post-exilic traditions of Sukkot

Talmud prescribes reading last chapter of Zechariah for Sukkoth, where universal worship of Yahweh portrayed as remnant of the nations celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech 14:16-19) *Feast appears to have already taken on messianic significance *Nehemiah 8 portrays revival of feast after temple's reconstruction; celebration emphasized as joyful, but no indication of the meaning of the feast itself; reading of the Law leads to discovery of commandment about the booths, so people go out and gather various types of branches to construct them *Psalms likely accompanied formal worship in ancient Israel; Ps 29 explicitly connected with Sukkot in LXX title of the psalm; modern Jewish synagogue ritual assigns Pss 42-43 (originally one psalm) to Tabernacles *Mowinckel's royal/enthronement psalms (47, 93, 95-100) celebrating feast of Yhwh's Enthronement thought to be connected to New Year celebration of Tishri, which was the Feast of Tabernacles; so the Enthronement Psalms would be the Tabernacles Psalms *Myth and ritual school, going beyond Mowinckel, sees in Tabernacles the "enthronement of Yhwh" over the physical universe manifest in the bestowal of seasonal rains and the prosperity of the nation comparable to cult drama in ANE; but no evidence that ancient Canaanite harvest feast reflected in any detail the complex myth-ritual pattern of Babylonia on which Mowinckel's New Year celebration is based

Misinterpretation of Jonah plot

The Power of repentance - Haftarah for Yom Kippur, suggesting that it speaks to repentance/atonement - Plot device often mistaken, especially by Christians, for the point of the narrative: an archetype of the resurrection (contrast with Jerome who sees it as foreshadowing exile) - Great fish often used as a litmus test for fundamentalist faith - The sign of Jonah mentioned in Matt 12 is considered by the church to be the 3 days in the fish rather than Jonah's preaching - The sign of Jonah thus is turned from preaching into an archetype of the resurrection. - Grotesque and ironic distortion of Jesus' sermon against signs, changing the meaning of his words into their opposite

functions of later HB allusions to Exodus

The basic historical reason why Israel should accept and obey YHWH's covenant - Deliverance from slavery motivates following the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:2; Deut 5:6) - Indebtedness to YHWH because of deliverance from Egypt (Settlement narrative (Josh 24.5-7), stories of Solomon (1Kgs 8.51), DH, and Psalms (78)) - Motivation for Israel's proper treatment of each other and strangers (Sarna) (Ex 22-23; Lev 11) - Sovereignty of Israel's God (Jos 2:10; 9:9; Judg 11:13, Balaam/Balak in Numbers). - Initial dateline (though not necessarily numerically) for Israel's history (just as the Egyptians used to say x had not happened "since the founding of the land") (Judg 19.30, 1Kgs 6.1=dating of temple) - Basis for comparison for later events (Saul telling the Kenites to leave the Amalekites, (1 Sam 15:6) or simply to describe an event long past (Hos 2:15)

Theology of love in second temple period

Theology of Love in HB had 2 primary avenues of expression in 2nd Temple period - Temple and Torah = 2 central cultural institutions for love that can be traced in the evolution of the marriage/adultery motif of prophets - Prophetic anxiety about apostasy implies concern over penetration/defilement of temple - Transmutability of Sinai and Zion as locus of God's presence (Levenson) - Welfare of Temple = Welfare of Israel/people - Wisdom literature understands Wisdom, in its association with water and women, as a means of sustaining God's people

Ben Sira on women

Trenchard does not find Ben Sira's positive statements about women to act as a counterbalance to his negative ones and discusses several categories of women in Ben Sira: - Good wife is the property of her husband, and her praises are traditional quotes copied by Ben Sira - Ben Sira sometimes places positive material in such a way that it is rendered negative by its setting. - Woman as mother is depicted as a second class parent (always mentioned as "father and mother") - Woman as widow category limited to remarks about widows reflect conventional wisdom - Bad wife is most developed category, and he changes traditional material to reflect negatively on women - Adulteress and prostitute obviously depicted negatively - Daughter is his most negative category because daughters are a financial and emotional burden

Marzeah in Ugaritic texts

Ugaritic texts (14th C) contain the first references to marzeah - Term designates a socio-religious organization whose members, mt mrzh were led by a rb - Member's ownership in society's holdings (vineyards, fields, storerooms, house) passes to his sons - Rarely, term could also designate a place (abbreviation of bet marzeah) - Drinking appears as a primary activity based on El's behavior and the ownership of vineyards - Organization also engaged in contractual agreements - Drinking festivals often associated with funeral feasts, but not always (Lewis) - Contra Pope, who claims the feast was connected to cult of dead // Mesopotamian kispu ritual in which dead ancestors were to participate - Mari texts suggests kispu ritual invoked name of the deceased and involved food offerings

Historicity of the Exodus? scholarly debate

Until mid-19th C, most scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, cf. John Bright, D. Redford) considered Exod 1-19 as essentially historical, but this view has been questioned - Archaeologists (I. Finkelstein, Z. Herzog, Dever) regard Exod as non-historical, w/ only germ of truth - Minimalists (Davies, Lemche, Thompson) regard the Exodus as ahistorical/legendary - Position cannot explain how and why exodus narrative was invented (if that was the case) and why a nation would invent an embarrassing tradition (slavery in Egypt) and use it as the basis of a national consciousness that it would become paramount in its religion, shape all its basic intuitions, and dominate its conception of God - Cannot explain what was the cohesive force welding heterogeneous groups into a unified nation (if the tradition of a shared experience in Egypt and the belief in the covenant between God and Israel)

Wisdom Psalms

Wisdom Psalms has strong connection to Deuteronomic conception of wisdom and Torah (Levenson); Psalm 119 presents Torah as general maxims rather than the covenant stipulations of the Pentateuchal codes - Author knows the Pentateuch, but doesn't seem to limit the Torah to it - Similar to Ben Sira, who sees the Pentateuch as the Jewish particularization and supreme exemplification of something larger, Wisdom, but did not seek to limit wisdom to the Pentateuch/HB - Psalmist does not mention specific Pentateuchal laws such as the Sabbath, love of one's neighbor, dietary laws, the pursuit of justice; instead, the miswa of Psalm 119 is close to that of Proverbs, where it indicates the council of a sage rather than juridical or cultic norms, cf. Prov 13:13-15 - No evidence for a period in which the Pentateuch (or any other part of the HB) alone held the allegiance of all Jewish groups, to the exclusion of contemporary prophecy, inspired wisdom, the enactments of legal authorities - Commandments not product of historical events but an extension of cosmic order into human society

Myth and Wisdom in Prov, Hebrew Bible

Wisdom has cosmic dimensions: existed before the rest of creation, active beyond confines of space and time - suggests a mythological origin Wisdom originally a goddess? a Canaanite or Israelite deity? Prov 8:22-31 contains the reflective use of mythological themes and constructs to draw conclusions which retain their vitality outside the world of myth - Use of myth by Israel's sages should not be surprising, as Proverbs introduces mythological motifs at many points: tree of life (11:30), fountain of life (13:14), Wisdom's house with its 7 pillars (7:6, 8; 9:1)

Middle stage of Sukkot

represented in Deut 16:13; date of feast is determined by progress of harvest, to last 7 days *Jeroboam I is said to have changed the festival's date in 1 Kgs 12:32-33, celebrating a festival on the 15th day of the 8th month, 1 month late = date not yet fixed, at least in Israel *Deut 16 calls it "feast of booths," alluding to the characteristic feature of the feast - constructing and dwelling in huts made of branches (not certain that booths had cultic value in early festival) *Some scholars (Mowinckel) explain practice of cultic booths connected with divine enthronement and sacred marriage themes, part of the Semitic ritual pattern. Better explanation: early Canaanite peasants constructed shelters in fields so they wouldn't need to return home every night and could watch over harvest *Deut 31:10-13, Moses instructs Levites and elders to read the Law at public assembly every seven years; but connection between feast of Tabernacles and readin the Law is extrinsic and rather late because the feast is annual and reading septennial (and thus a secondary development); likely part of Josiah's reform