Showing papers in "Journal for the Study of the Old Testament in 2002"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight the following issues: the Philistine seranim, the pentapolis, Goliath's armour, the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the origin of the Philistines.
Abstract: The biblical references to the Philistines do not contain any memory of early Iron I events or cultural behaviour. A few texts, such as the Ark Narrative and stories reflecting the importance of Gath, seem to portray late Iron I and early Iron II memories. Most of the Philistine material, even if historically stratified and containing seeds of early tales as well as evidence for more than one redaction, is based on the geographical, historical and ideological background of late-monarchic times. Especially important are the allusions to Greek and west Anatolian mercenaries who served in the Saite army and were probably stationed, among other places, in Philistia. Chief among them were Carian, Ionian, Lydian and apparently also Cretan hoplites. This article highlights the following issues: the Philistine seranim, the pentapolis, Goliath’s armour, the Cherethites and the Pelethites and the origin of the Philistines.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the deuteronomic law, like the Book of the Covenant, differs from ancient Near Eastern law codes in adopting the second person singular form of address (SSA).
Abstract: This article asks why the deuteronomic law, like the Book of the Covenant, differs from ancient Near Eastern law codes in adopting the second person singular form of address. It also considers the ...
26 citations
TL;DR: This article examined aspects of the hymn's rhetoric and literary metaphors, and discussed, among other things, the themes of Merneptah's transcendent greatness and his mythic roles as savior of Memphis, universal mediator of divine grace and guardian of peace.
Abstract: This article discusses the nature of the association that can be established between the Merneptah stele and the later history of the region of Palestine and biblical Israel. This study examines aspects of the hymn’s rhetoric and literary metaphors, and discusses, among other things, the themes of Merneptah’s transcendent greatness and his mythic roles as savior of Memphis, universal mediator of divine grace and guardian of peace in terms of his divine ability to control destiny. In the hymn’s central movement, these stock tropes center on the theme of renewal. The final movement is not a song recounting Palestine’s conquest, but rather closes the hymn of victory over the Libyans with an idyllic portrayal of the ‘peace’, with which Merneptah has reestablished creation. His song of the nine bows celebrates the pharaoh’s universal patronage with illustrative reference to the region and towns of Palestine: Gaza, Ashkelon, Gezer and Yeno’am, which now belong to Egypt. Israel, metaphorically portrayed as the l...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this form, the myth appears to be a retrojection of the land claims of the dominant Judaeo-Babylonian elite during the early Persian period reflected in certain biblical texts as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Since its inception with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798, archaeology in the Middle East has always been involved in politics. Nowhere in the region is this more in evidence than in Palestine/Israel, beginning with the preliminary stage of mapping the land and renaming settlements and physical features taken over from the resident Arabs. A major expression of the political ideology underlying this activity has come to be known as ‘the myth of the empty land’. During the Hellenistic period, when interest in ethnic origins was running high, it provided justification for the initial Israelite occupation of and exclusive claim on the land. In this form, the myth appears to be a retrojection of the land claims of the dominant Judaeo-Babylonian elite during the early Persian period reflected in certain biblical texts. An examination of some recent writing on the archaeology of the region during the Neo-Babylonian period suggests that the myth still exerts its influence.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine two Genesis narratives, the stories of Lot's daughters (19.30-38) and Tamar (ch. 38), and find that the female characters in these stories are tricksters, characters of low status who improvise.
Abstract: This article examines two Genesis narratives—the stories of Lot’s daughters (19.30-38) and Tamar (ch. 38). The female characters in these stories are tricksters, characters of low status who improv...
20 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that this chapter is more concerned with garments or personal objects than any in the Joseph narrative, and therefore deserves examination alongside chs.
Abstract: In a previous issue of JSOT, Victor Matthews treats the garment motif in the Joseph story, but does not include the Judah/Tamar story (Gen. 38) in his analysis. I argue that this chapter is more concerned with garments or personal objects than any in the Joseph narrative, and therefore deserves examination alongside chs. 37 and 39. In all three chapters, garments play a pivotal role in plot development as markers of status and authority by which identities are revealed or concealed. The motif is manifest in a variety of ways: deception through loss or removal of garments, deception through forced recognition, and authority signified via possession of garments or personal items. The Judah/Tamar episode in ch. 38 demonstrably shapes in various ways the reader’s understanding of garment-related events in these chapters.
20 citations
TL;DR: The problem of the unity of the book of Job has been an issue since the rise of historical criticism as discussed by the authors, and it has been studied in a variety of ways: historical-critical analyses, final form literary approaches, and deconstructive readings.
Abstract: The problem of the 'unity' of the book of Job has been an issue since the rise of historical criticism. Historical-critical analyses, final form literary approaches, and deconstructive readings eng...
16 citations
TL;DR: The theme of Yahweh acting for the sake of his reputation in the face of cynical adversaries appears in a large variety of biblical texts as mentioned in this paper, including Deuteronomy 32 and carrying through to Deutero-Isaiah and Ezekiel.
Abstract: The theme of Yahweh acting for the sake of his reputation in the face of cynical adversaries appears in a large variety of biblical texts. This idea appears to derive from a conception that viewed the military successes or failures of a given people as reflecting the power or impotence of its patron god. The issue of Yahweh’s need to protect his reputation was most often expressed in the context of a liturgical appeal by the party in distress. However, beginning with Deuteronomy 32 and carrying through to Deutero-Isaiah and Ezekiel, the same issue appears as a concern of Yahweh himself and as part of his rationale for delivering Israel.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of how Psalms 1 and 2 are integrated reveals that both have as their central theme the identical royal and Joshua-like figure who is given absolute victory in battle.
Abstract: An analysis of how Psalms 1 and 2 are integrated reveals that both have as their central theme the identical royal and Joshua-like figure who is given absolute victory in battle. The principal focus of Psalm 1 when read in concert with Psalm 2 is not Torah nor wisdom, but rather this individual of kingly and military trappings. These ascriptions of Psalm 1 are made explicit in Psalm 2, where he is portrayed in close relationship with Yahweh as his anointed king and son. His opponents are the scoffing wicked of Psalm 1, identified more specifically as the conspiring earthly kings and nations in Psalm 2. This cabal revolts against Yahweh and his anointed, an action which elicits the question ‘Why?’ from the speaker in 2.1 because of the promise in 1.5, 6. Yahweh and his anointed respond appropriately to the earthly scoffing with laughter and derision from heaven. Psalm 2 then concludes with a reaffirmation of the same judgment promised at the conclusion of Psalm 1.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors proposed a new translation of Gen. 4.8 rendering v. 8a as: ‘And Cain spoke against Abel, his brother.’ The two parts of the verse are thus felicitously aligned in aesthetic balance, with the measured sonority of repetition, so characteristic of biblical style, given prominence to the advantage of both the sound and the sense of the passage.
Abstract: This article proposes a new translation of Gen. 4.8 rendering v. 8a as: ‘And Cain spoke against Abel, his brother.’ The two parts of the verse are thus felicitously aligned in aesthetic balance: Cain spoke against Abel, his brother, and Cain rose against Abel, his brother. The measured sonority of repetition, so characteristic of biblical style, is here given prominence to the advantage of both the sound and the sense of the passage. This understanding of the text depends neither on fancy nor on Freud, but on ordinary failings of human nature familiar to every reader. The interpretation has the supplementary recommendation of doing no violence to the MT; no words need be added, subtracted or construed with unique meanings.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored Qohelet's conservatism hidden within a facade of dissidence, and explored the blindspots, instances of closure and presence in his text, places where the text resists mastery and reveals its own Otherness against Qohlet's intentions.
Abstract: While previous scholars have noted an affinity between the persona ‘Qohelet’ and postmodern Deconstructionists, this essay will explore his blindspots, instances of closure and presence. Employing a Derridian method, this article explores Qohelet’s conservatism hidden within a facade of dissidence. Qohelet assumes the same retributive schema of his peers but in a different form. He employs the same dichotomous conceptualization of human morality. He ultimately attempts to master the chaos inherent in the cosmos, though his detection of disorder is keener than his peers. He also assumes the same typical misogyny of his time, another form of mastery. Finally, this article explores instances of differance in his text, places where the text resists mastery and reveals its own Otherness against Qohelet’s intentions.
TL;DR: This paper argued that source-critical and deconstructive methods are post-modern movements, and both share an interpretive methodology (insofar as it is correct to speak of a deconstructionive methodology).
Abstract: When classifying the array of interpretive methods currently available, biblical critics regularly distinguish between historical-critical methods, on the one hand, and literary critical methods, on the other. Frequently, methods on one side of the divide are said to be antagonistic to certain methods on the other. This article examines two such presumed antagonistic methods, source criticism and deconstructive criticism, and argues that they are not, in fact, antagonistic, but similar: both are postmodern movements, and both share an interpretive methodology (insofar as it is correct to speak of a deconstructive methodology). This argument is illustrated with a source-critical and a deconstructive reading of Exodus 14.
TL;DR: The people's reticence expressed in Hag. 1.2 has been interpreted by some interpreters as reflecting the belief that Yahweh had not yet authorized the temple's reconstruction, rather than as a rationalization for the community's misplaced priorities as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The people’s reticence expressed in Hag. 1.2 has been understood by some interpreters as reflecting the belief that Yahweh had not yet authorized the temple’s reconstruction, rather than as a rationalization for the community’s misplaced priorities. However, exegetical, text-, form-, literary- and ideological-critical considerations cast doubt upon this reading. Rather, the text’s redactor presents Haggai as a successful prophet whose words of reproach pierce the people’s recalcitrant hearts. In the light of broader ancient Near Eastern parallels, it is, nevertheless, plausible that objections to the temple’s reconstruction on ideological grounds did exist in Early Persian Yehud. Haggai 1.2 may demonstrate the selectivity with which a historical context may be portrayed, and provides an example of the difficulties of using prophetic texts in historical reconstructions.
TL;DR: The book of Qohelet has a seven-fold refrain in which the author calls for joy as mentioned in this paper, and these texts are dependent upon the Egyptian ‘heretic’ Harpers’ Songs of the New Kingdom.
Abstract: The book of Qohelet has a seven-fold refrain In it Qohelet calls for joy These texts are dependent upon the Egyptian ‘heretic’ Harpers’ Songs of the New Kingdom The ‘heretic’ Harpers’ Songs agree not only in the content and reason for joy, but also in the use of idioms, phrases and themes, which occur not just in the key texts but also elsewhere in Qohelet The ‘heretic’ Harpers’ Songs were transmitted to Israel together with the Egyptian love songs, probably already in premonarchic times
TL;DR: This paper found in Job 3.1-31 a response to catastrophic suffering that is paradigmatic for both the linguistic construction of meaning and the reading of biblical texts, which exposes a fissure between human experience that does not conform to traditional understandings of a divinely ordered world and language constitutive of tradition.
Abstract: This rhetorical and intertextual study of Job 3.1-31 finds in Job’s ‘curse’ a response to catastrophic suffering that is paradigmatic for both the linguistic construction of meaning and the reading of biblical texts. Job’s crisis exposes a fissure between human experience that does not conform to traditional understandings of a divinely ordered world and language constitutive of tradition. The resulting loss of coherence calls for a radical reordering of reality. Job recasts the schema of the Priestly creation account and convokes 16 jussives against the agencies of his birth—a pattern repeated in his Oath of Innocence—to conjure a world of reversals. Creation is dismantled even as its rhetoric provides the context for new meaning. A return to [UNKNOWN][UNKNOWN][UNKNOWN] (40.4) signals that the rift between experience and language may have begun to heal.
TL;DR: The Elohistic Psalter was constructed in order to invoke a "magic triangle" (comprising God's name, the number 42, and a blessing) for some apotropaic purpose.
Abstract: This article asks why the Elohistic Psalter (Pss. 42–83) was commissioned. It is suggested that the Elohistic Psalter was constructed in order to invoke a ‘magic triangle’ (comprising God’s name, the number 42, and a blessing) for some apotropaic purpose. It is argued that this theory gains credence from two areas: first, the importance of numerical organization of large groups of Psalms; and, second, the history of the number 42, which in biblical times was a number of disaster, and in later Jewish tradition became associated with a protective name of God.
TL;DR: In this article, a chi-square test was used to identify significant differences within Genesis chs. 1-4, 6-9, 12-13, 16-21, 26-28, 28, 30-33, 39 and 41-43.
Abstract: Syllable–word frequency pattern analysis, using the chi-square test, identifies significant differences within Genesis chs. 1–4, 6–9, 12–13, 16–21, 26, 28, 30–33, 39 and 41–43. The statistical results are interpreted to suggest that to an extended composition by an initial Yahweh writer (J2–4, 6–8, 12–13, 16) four other Yahweh writers successively added J18–19, J26, J28–33 and J39–43. In a second major stage of development an Elohim writer expanded chs. 2–3 (using the dual divine name as a distinctive introductory signature mark), wrote chs. 20–21 and enhanced the stories in chs. 7–8, 28, 31, 33. A second Elohim writer added the punishments in 3.14-19, enhanced chs. 30–32 and expanded the Joseph story of ch. 41. Finally, a first P writer composed 1.1–2.3 to introduce a third major version of Genesis and also enhanced chs. 6–8. A second P writer added 1.11, 22, 28-30 and ch. 9, a third P writer composed ch. 17 and a fourth P writer edited the narratives of chs. 12–36. Thus the analysis argues against the e...
TL;DR: In this article, two competing views of Biblical memory are examined in two distinct pericopes: Numbers 10 and 11, and the effects of the juxtaposition of these distinct materials results in a more complicated understanding of memory, both of its limitations and of its usefulness.
Abstract: Numbers makes memory, its reliability and limitations, a predominant focus of concern. Two competing views emerge. Biblical memory is a stabilizing force, unifying the people in a harmonious relationship with God under priestly leadership. Yet memory’s elusiveness is also recognized as a serious threat to the ongoing life of the nation. These different conceptions can be observed in two distinct pericopes: Numbers 10 and 11. The effects of the juxtaposition of these distinct materials results in a more complicated understanding of memory, both of its limitations and of its usefulness. The juxtaposition of chs. 10 and 11 also has thematic repercussions, creating the starkest of choices for the generation liberated from Egypt but not yet in the Promised Land.
TL;DR: In this article, a noticeable pattern of "interpretative license" emerges when Joab's conduct is analyzed through the numerous vicissitudes in the course of the narrative, and this interpretative license is acutely seen in 2 Samuel 11, where Joab receives David's letter outlining the manner in which Uriah is to be killed, yet proceeds to implement his own version of the king's plan.
Abstract: Throughout the David story, Joab is a complex and intriguing character. He frequently disregards or undermines the king’s authority, yet it is possible to argue that his actions are crucial for David’s hold on power to continue. A noticeable pattern of ‘interpretative license’ emerges when Joab’s conduct is analyzed through the numerous vicissitudes in the course of the narrative. Such interpretative license is acutely seen in 2 Samuel 11, where Joab receives David’s letter outlining the manner in which Uriah is to be killed, yet proceeds to implement his own version of the king’s plan. This act of ‘reader-response criticism’, as it is rather playfully appropriated in this study, is consistent with a number of Joab’s other (mis)deeds in the narrative. While his interpretative license arguably benefits his employer, in the end it would appear as though this kind of hermeneutical creativity has lethal consequences for Joab once Solomon enters the scene.
TL;DR: This article examined the significance of recent attempts to identify the apocalyptic unit comprising chs. 5-35 and the relationship of this to chss. 40-55 to which it has been joined.
Abstract: The ending of the Isaiah scroll in Isa. 66.24 has consistently appeared out of keeping with the broader theme and character of the scroll. This feature reflects the wider problem that evidence of literary structures within the scroll correspond only partly with critical attempts to identify the literary units from which it has been constructed. This article examines the significance of recent attempts to identify the apocalyptic unit comprising chs. 5-35 and the relationship of this to chs. 40-55 to which it has been joined.
TL;DR: In the Hebrew Bible and New Testament there are nine such narratives that follow a specific format and include six common elements as mentioned in this paper, including a relationship between Yahweh and Hagar in Genesis 16.
Abstract: The concept of 'covenant', the dominant ideology describing Yahweh's relationship to humanity, ultimately fails to include Yahweh's association with women. However, some forms of covenantal behavior and language exist within the literary form associated with women known as the 'birth narrative'. Yahweh's relationship to Hagar in Genesis 16 is an example of this specific type of contractual relationship. In the Hebrew Bible and New Testament there are nine such narratives that follow a specific format and include six common elements. Yahweh's contractual connection with Hagar, formulated and established in Gen. 16.7-15, serves as the foundation for all future associations between Yahweh and potential child-bearing women which eventually culminates in the New Testament pericope of the impregnation of Mary.
TL;DR: This paper used the book of Judges as an informative ethnographic analogy for archaeological data, and found that the Bible can be used to explore the relationships between human beings and the natural world by correlating the text with the material culture.
Abstract: Current debates between traditional and revisionist scholars have centered on the veracity of the biblical text. Another more recent trend is to focus on establishing, or refuting, the 'ethnicity' of the ancient Israelites. Both of these currents in biblical scholarship fail to address the potential usefulness of the Bible in elucidating ancient cultures. Suggesting that the Bible can be an informative ethnographic analogy for archaeological data, this article sees the book of Judges as a case in point. Beginning from the reports on excavations and surveys from Iron Age sites, it explores the relationships between human beings and the natural world by correlating the text with the material culture.
TL;DR: The authors discusses the particular literary significance of opposed and contrasted verb forms in Gen. 3.11-14, the series of God's speeches and curses to the man, the woman, and the serpent, respectively, after the sin in Eden.
Abstract: This article discusses the particular literary significance of opposed and contrasted verb forms in Gen. 3.11-14, the series of God’s speeches and curses to the man, the woman, and the serpent, respectively, after the sin in Eden. In the narrative, discourse syntax analysis can assist interpretation so that analysis of form can have implications for the narrative’s content and meaning, in the relationship between syntax and semantics or text-interpretation in clauses and larger textual units. Once the elements of contrast, tension, and reversal are established within the unit, the narrative at the beginning of Genesis can be read in contrast and counterpoint to larger intertextual patterns, specifically the blessing of Moses to Israel at the end of Deuteronomy.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the prophet language is dark, stammering, secretive, secretive, shadowy, chaotic, chaotic and colossi-colossal in the sense of a baroque language.
Abstract: Taking issue with a view of literature as artfully-crafted, smooth discourse, and questioning Romantic and New Critical readings of prophetic language, this article argues that prophetic language is better understood as baroque. I take my cue from Hermann Gunkel’s 1923 essay ‘The Prophets as Writers and Poets’ and argue that there is something about the prophets that is ‘dark’, ‘stammering’, ‘secretive’, ‘shadowy’, ‘bizarre’ and ‘colossal’. Whereas Wisdom literature conceives of words as choice delicacies to be savoured or as soothing ointment, the prophetic word describes itself as fire, metal or sword. Whereas Wisdom has most in common with an Augustan aesthetic of ‘what oft were thought, but ne’er so well expressed’ (Pope), prophetic language has more in common with the strange disjunctive images of an ‘anti-literary’ figure like John Donne. Like Donne’s poetry/sermons, prophecy creates heterogeneous, counter-intuitive linkages and makes itself felt through the skin and through the flesh. What Donne and prophecy have in common is the desire to split and disrupt language—a desire that, in prophecy, represents the speech of God as a mind-bending, wor(l)d-bending force.
TL;DR: The authors identified a split in narratorial focus after 6.6 in the passage of Judg. 6.1-7.14, and the reader's attention oscillated between the two warring factions of Israel and Midian (with their allies).
Abstract: This article identifies a split in narratorial focus after 6.6 in the passage of Judg. 6.1-7.14. Two separate strands portray events in two separate locations. The reader's attention oscillates between the two warring factions of Israel and Midian (with their allies). The two strands recombine in a night-time reconnaissance mission (7.13-15) which precedes the final battle. The author's arrangement, along with the distant and sparse coverage of Midian's activity, affords a period of anxiety in which a reader might join.
TL;DR: Gitay characterizes the entire work of the Seminar as having a redaction-critical focus as discussed by the authors, and argues that to characterize my article as representing a redact-critical approach is to misunderstand what others and I were doing as participants in the Isaiah seminar.
Abstract: This article provides a response to an article by Yehoshua Gitay, ‘Prophetic Criticism—"What are they Doing?": The Case of Isaiah—A Methodological Assessment’ (JSOT 96), in which he assesses the articles in the volume, New Visions of Isaiah. These articles were originally delivered as papers to the Formation of the Book of Isaiah Seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature. Gitay characterizes the entire work of the Seminar as having a redaction-critical focus. I argue that to characterize my article as representing a redaction-critical approach is to misunderstand what others and I were doing as participants in the Isaiah seminar. My article was in fact a critique of redaction criticism and its author-centred approach to textual meaning.
TL;DR: In The Idea of Biblical Poetry, James Kugel dismantles attempts to find a meter in biblical parallelism as mentioned in this paper, and implicitly locates the distinction between sacred and secular texts in th...
Abstract: In The Idea of Biblical Poetry, James Kugel dismantles attempts to find a meter in biblical parallelism. In the process, he implicitly locates the distinction between sacred and secular texts in th...