Joshua 24 has long been recognized as a crucial chapter for source-critical studies and for the reconstruction of Israel's early history. The present volume summarizes and evaluates previous (often contradictory) efforts to explain Joshua 24 on the basis of literary criticism, the role of covenant concepts in Israel's history writing, form-critical comparisons with treaty texts, archaeological approaches to the Shechem traditions, structural analysis and textual criticism. '...[a] comprehensive and formidably documented volume ...' Christopher T. Begg, Old Testament Abstracts.
Joshua 24 has long been recognized as a crucial chapter for source-critical studies and for the reconstruction of Israel's early history. The present volume summarizes and evaluates previous (often contradictory) efforts to explain Joshua 24 on the basis of literary criticism, the role of covenant concepts in Israel's history writing, form-critical comparisons with treaty texts, archaeological approaches to the Shechem traditions, structural analysis and textual criticism. '...[a] comprehensive and formidably documented volume ...' Christopher T. Begg, Old Testament Abstracts.
We have been honored to work with a multitude of gifted thinkers, writers, and editors. We present these essays as their offering-and ours-to the blessed ministry of preaching." -From the introduction by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor --Book Jacket.
This volume, based on recently published Old Latin material, provides fascinating information and discussion on the textual pluralism attested by the Hebrew texts and versions of the books of Kings, an intriguing page in the history of the biblical texts.
This book deals with the so-called "Blessing of Jacob" (Genesis 49) in all its aspects, discussing philological, literary and historical problems. After an introductory chapter a thoroughly discussed translation of Genesis 49 and an analysis of its poetical structure are presented, followed by the discussion of the genre-definition "tribal saying" (Stammesspruch), and a synchronic and diachronic analysis of Genesis 49 in its literary context (Gen. 47:29-49:33). The remarkable results of this analysis are finally discussed in relation to Israel's history. It is suggested that only part of the "Blessing" functioned within the (originally much shorter) deathbed account (Gen. 47:29-49:33*), reflecting the historical situation of the time of origin. Afterwards it was thoroughly worked up into its present shape to meet the conditions of later political development.
The title, Marbeh Ḥokmah, meaning “increases wisdom,” reflects the fact that Victor Avigdor Hurowitz was a scholar who increased wisdom and who continues to increase the wisdom of scholars throughout the world even after his untimely death at the age of 64. The book was edited by five of Professor Hurowitz’s colleagues: Profs. Shamir Yona and Mayer I. Gruber of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Edward L. Greenstein of Bar-Ilan University, Peter Machinist of Harvard University, and Shalom M. Paul of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The two-volume collection contains 49 groundbreaking essays written by 53 distinguished authors from various institutions of higher learning in Israel and around the world. The authors include Victor’s teachers, colleagues, and students, and the essays deal with a great variety of subjects. The breadth of subject matter featured in Marbeh Ḥokmah is a most appropriate tribute to Victor Avigdor Hurowitz, whose published scholarship encompassed a wide variety of fields of interest pertaining to the study of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East: Wisdom Literature, Psalmody, prophecy and prophets, the priesthood, eschatology, historiography, ancient inscriptions, medieval Hebrew biblical exegesis, religious rites, building and architecture, temples, the art of warfare, Semitic philology, Sumerian proverbs, epigraphy, rhetoric and stylistics, poetry, lamentations, the interconnections between Hebrew Scripture and the ancient Near East, the cultures of ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia, innerbiblical parallels, and many other subjects.
Exegesis starts with the delimitation of the pericope to be interpreted. Yet the principles for selecting passages which form the part of departure for the exegete are seldom made explicit and if one compares various commentaries and Bible translations, it soon becomes apparent that this lack of methodical transparency gives rise to a lot of confusion and dissent. In this work the authors make use of text divisions found in ancient Hebrew, Greek and Syriac manuscripts of Isaiah 40-55 (Deutero-Isaiah). For the first time the poetic structure of the text is based on controllable evidence which is roughly 500-1000 years older than the medieval Masoretic manuscripts on which all modern editions are based. The results are astonishing and raise the question why this type of evidence has been largely neglected thus far.
The 18 essays by members of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies published in this volume showcase the work of leading authorities on ancient Israelite and Jewish historiography as it intersects with the phenomenon of prophecy. A deep divide exists between the traditions of historiography and prophecy in the academic study of the Hebrew Bible, and the concern of the contributors is to close that gap, to expose the close relationship between these two traditions in the literature of the Hebrew Bible. The first section of the book explores prophecy and prophets in ancient Israelite and Jewish historiographic books (Torah, Deuteronomistic History, Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah, Second Temple Jewish historiography). The second section surveys historiography in Israelite and Jewish prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Book of the Twelve, Daniel, 1 Enoch). The contributors engage diverse methodological perspectives in these studies, the goal first being to show the role that the prophets played within the great Hebrew historiographic works and, second, to demonstrate the role that historiography plays within the great Hebrew prophetic works; this makes it clear that the influence is bidirectional. Prophets, Prophecy, and Ancient Israelite Historiography will be of value for advanced students and scholars working on historiographic and prophetic materials in the ancient Israelite and Jewish traditions, featuring the best of research and analysis and interacting with many major ancient literary traditions of historiography and prophecy.
The Deuteronomic or, more properly, Deuteronomistic History is a modern theoretical construct which holds that the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings constitute a single work, unified by a basic homogeneity in language, style, and content. This construct owes much to the influence of Martin Noth’s classic study of the Deuteronomistic History, contained in his larger Uberlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien. According to Noth, the Deuteronomist incorporated the deuteronomic law into the beginning of his work, framing it with speeches by Moses. The Deuteronomist then added other sources, such as tales of conquest and settlement, prophetic narratives and speeches, official annals and records. While this larger thesis has stood the test of time, there is much disagreement among contemporary scholars about a wide variety of issues. The present collection attempts to provide readers with an understanding of the important developments, methodologies, and points of view in the ongoing debate. Both current essays and some older, classic essays that have shaped the larger debate are included. Ten are newly translated into English. Each essay is prefaced by a detailed foreword by one of the editors that summarizes and places the essay in its appropriate context, making the volume ideal for use in seminars or courses, as well as for individuals wishing to become familiar with the state of discussion on the Deuteronomistic History.
