An Introduction to the Old Testament E-Book

David M. Carr

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 561

Beschreibung

This comprehensive, introductory textbook is unique in exploring the emergence of the Hebrew Bible in the broader context of world history. It particularly focuses on the influence of pre-Roman empires, empowering students with a richer understanding of Old Testament historiography. * Provides a historical context for students learning about the development and changing interpretations of biblical texts * Examines how these early stories were variously shaped by interaction with the Mesopotamian and Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic empires * Incorporates recent research on the formation of the Pentateuch * Reveals how key biblical texts came to be interpreted by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths * Includes numerous student-friendly features, such as study questions, review sections, bibliographies, timelines, and illustrations and photos

Leseprobe

Contents

List of Figures

List of Maps

List of Boxes

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Overview of the Historical Period

Timeline

Prologue: Orientation to Multiple Bibles and Multiple Translations

Chapter Overview

The Different Scriptures of Judaism and Christianity

Basics on Bible Translations

Chapter Review

Resources For Further Study

Appendix 1: Translation And Paraphrase Comparison Of Isa 52:13–15

Appendix 2: Characteristics Of Select English Translations Of The Bible

1 Studying the Bible in Its Ancient Context(s)

Chapter Overview

The Geography and Major Characters of the Biblical Drama

Major Periods in the Biblical Drama

Multiple Contexts, Multiple Methods

Conclusion

Chapter One Review

Resources for Further Study

Appendix: Israel’s History and Empires

2 The Emergence of Ancient Israel and Its First Oral Traditions

Chapter Overview

Imagining Early Israel

Problems in Reconstructing Early Israel

Traces of the Most Ancient Israelite Oral Traditions in the Bible

Focus Text: The Song of Deborah

The Creation of “Israel“ Through Cultural Memory of Resistance to Domination

Chapter Two Review

Resources for Further Study

3 The Emergence of the Monarchy and Royal and Zion Texts

Chapter Overview

Imagining Early Monarchal Israel

The Rise of the Israelite Monarchy and Resistance to It

Influence of Ancient Empires on Early Israel’s Monarchy and Writings

Echoes of Near Eastern Royal Theology in the Royal and Zion Psalms

Chapter Three Review

Resources for Further Study

4 Echoes of Past Empires in Biblical Wisdom, Love Poetry, Law, and Narrative

Chapter Overview

Echoes of Past Empires in Writings Attributed to Solomon

Uncovering Echoes of Past Empires Elsewhere in the Bible

Focus Text: The Garden of Eden Story

Conclusion

Chapter Four Review

Resources for Further Study

5 Narrative and Prophecy amidst the Rise and Fall of the Northern Kingdom

Chapter Overview

Setting the Stage: The Rise of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Its Texts

Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy

Amos, Prophet of Justice

Hosea, the Northern Prophet, Calling for Israel’s Devotion to Yahweh Alone

Conclusion

Chapter Five Review

Resources for Further Study

6 Micah, Isaiah, and the Southern Prophetic Encounter with Assyria

Chapter Overview

The Historical Context for Micah and Isaiah

Micah, a Southern Prophet, Predicting Judgment for Judah and Jerusalem

Isaiah’s Vision of Hope for Jerusalem/Zion Embedded in the Book of Isaiah

Conclusion

Chapter Six Review

Resources for Further Study

Appendix: Comparison of a Zion Psalm (Psalm 46) with Micah 3:9 – 12 and Isa 1:21 – 6

7 Torah and History in the Wake of the Assyrian Empire

Chapter Overview

The Seventh Century: The Space Between Empires

The Deuteronomic Torah of Moses and the Phenomenon of Hybridity

The Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy–2 Kings)

Focus Text: Deuteronomy 6:4 – 9

Chapter Seven Review

Resources for Further Study

8 Prophecy in the Transition from Assyrian to Babylonian Domination

Chapter Overview

Nahum

Zephaniah

Jeremiah

Focus Text: Jer 31:31 – 4

Conclusion to the Pre-Exilic Period

Chapter Eight Review

Resources for Further Study

9 Laments, History, and Prophecies after the Destruction of Jerusalem

Chapter Overview

The Sixth Century: The Neo-Babylonian Destruction of Jerusalem and Exile

The Exilic Edition of the Deuteronomistic History (and Jeremiah)

Ezekiel

Second Isaiah (also called “Deutero-Isaiah”)

Focus Text: Isa 52:13 – 53:12

Chapter Nine Review

Resources for Further Study

10 The Pentateuch and the Exile

Chapter Overview

The Lay Pentateuchal Source (L)

The Priestly Source (P)

History and Fiction

Focus Text: Gen 12:1 – 3

Conclusion on the Torah (Pentateuch) and Exile

Chapter Ten Review

Resources for Further Study

11 The Torah, the Psalms, and the Persian-Sponsored Rebuilding of Judah

Chapter Overview

History: Persian-Sponsored Building of a Temple and Torah-Centered Judaism

The Formation of the Torah

The Book of Psalms as a Torah-Centered Collection of More Ancient Psalms

The Introduction to Psalms in Psalms 1 – 2

Chapter Eleven Review

Resources for Further Study

12 Other Texts Formed in the Crucible of Post-Exilic Rebuilding

Chapter Overview

Texts Closely Associated with the Rebuilding of the Judean Community

Texts Emphasizing God’s Favor Toward Foreigners

Focus Text: Isa 56:1 – 8

Scriptures in the Post-Exile

Chapter Twelve Review

Resources for Further Study

13 Hellenistic Empires and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible

Chapter Overview

Judaism and Hellenism before the Hellenizing Crisis

The Crisis over Hellenizing Jerusalem and the Book of Daniel

The Hasmonean Kingdom and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible

The Hellenistic Period as the Setting for Other Hebrew Bible Texts

Focus Text: Daniel 10 – 12

Conclusion

Chapter Thirteen Review

Resources for Further Study

Glossary

Index

This edition first published 2010

© 2010 David M. Carr

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Carr, David McLain, 1961–An introduction to the Old Testament : sacred texts and imperial contexts of the Hebrew Bible / David M. Carr.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978 -1- 4051- 8468 -7 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978 -1- 4051- 8467-0(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T. – History. 2. Bible. O.T. – History of contemporary events.3. Bible. O.T. – Introductions. I. Title.BS1130.C37 2010221.09–dc222009041256

FIGURES

0.1One of our earliest manuscripts of the book of Isaiah.0.2Scholarly edition of the same text as in Figure 0.1.2.1Part of the hill country of central Israel.2.2Typical pillared house of the Israelites.2.3Tablet containing a letter from Abdi-heba.2.4Stela listing Egyptian conquests.2.5Animals feeding on trees.3.1Artist’s reconstruction of Solomon’s Jerusalem.3.2Scribe standing before the king of a small neighboring kingdom.3.3Student exercise tablet.3.4Letters inscribed into the surface of a stone.3.5The “Gezer Calendar.”4.1Copy of the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope.4.2The Hammurabi stela.4.3Tablet of the Gilgamesh epic containing the flood narrative.4.4Titian’s painting of Adam and Eve taking the apple.5.1One of the ivory carvings found in Samaria.5.2Detail from a wall-sized panorama of the defeat of the town of Lachish in Judah.5.3Panel from the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III.5.4Ivory spoon found at Hazor.5.5Drawing and inscription found at a desert trading post called Kuntillet Adjrud used by eighth-century Israelites.5.6Pillar figurines of a sort common in archaeological remains of the eighth century.6.1The Sennacherib prism.6.2Judean seals from the time of Isaiah and Micah.7.1Seals and other images from the late seventh century.9.1Ashes and arrowheads left from the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem.9.2Reproduction of part of the magnificent temple of Ishtar.10.1The exilic L Source or Lay Source is much like this conglomerate rock.10.2Silver amulet, dating to just before the fall of Jerusalem.11.1Relief from the Persian capital of Persepolis.11.2The Cyrus cylinder.13.1Copy of the Hebrew book of Ben Sira found near the Dead Sea.13.2Coin from the time of the Hasmoneans.

MAPS

0.1The ancient Near East.1.1The land of Israel and its surroundings.1.2The major routes of the ancient Near East.1.3The reach of three of the major empires that dominated Israel and/or Judah.2.1Areas of the hill country occupied by the Israelites and Judeans.3.1Areas ruled and dominated by David and Solomon.5.1The divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah.7.1The Judean kingdom after the fall of the north.9.1The journey to Babylon.11.1Judah as a province of the Persian empire.13.1The expanding kingdom of the Hasmoneans.

BOXES

basicsWhat is a Basics Box? These boxes give a brief overview of basic information about a biblical book or other major text under discussion. This includes an outline of the book or text, information about the time(s) in which it was written, and (usually) a discussion of a major issue in interpretation of the book or text.

Jacob Story

Book of Psalms: Part 1

Song of Songs

Ecclesiastes/Qohelet

Book of Proverbs

Book of Amos

Book of Hosea

Book of Micah

Deuteronomy (and the Ten Commandments)

Book of Joshua

Book of Judges

Books of Samuel

Books of Kings

Book of Nahum

Book of Zephaniah

Book of Jeremiah

Book of Lamentations

Book of Ezekiel

Second Isaiah/Deutero-Isaiah

L Source

(Hypothesized) P Source

Book of Leviticus

Book of Genesis

Book of Exodus

Book of Numbers

Book of Psalms: Part 2

Book of Haggai

Book of Zechariah

Book of Job

Book of Jonah

Book of Ruth

Book of Isaiah

Book of Daniel

Books of Chronicles

Books of Ezra–Nehemiah

Book of Esther

What is a More on Method Box?

These boxes give a brief introduction to methods used to interpret the Hebrew Bible. They detail the sorts of questions that each method attempts to answer, give an example of how the method has been applied, and include a reference to an article or book with more information about the method under discussion.

Textual Criticism

Tradition History and Transmission History

Poetic Analysis

Comparison with Non-Biblical Texts

Source Criticism

The Joseph Story and Literary Approaches

Postcolonial Criticism

(Study of) Intertextuality

Insights from History of Religions

Form Criticism and Genre

What is in Miscellaneous Boxes?

These boxes offer extra information relevant to the broader discussion. Some pull together relevant dates for a period, while others show parallels between texts, or summarize information on a theme or question that relates to the topic at hand. This information is not optional or superfluous. Instead, these boxes highlight topics that are worth focused attention.

Contents of the Hebrew Bible/Tanach/Old Testament

AD, BC, BCE, and CE

Bible Abbreviations, Verses, and Chapters

The Origins of Verses and Chapters

Overview: Order of Main Discussions of Biblical Books

The Name of Israel’s God: Yahweh/the LORD

What Was Earliest “Israel” and Who Were “Judges”?

History and the Books of Joshua and Judges

The Name “Israel”

Timeline: Rise of the Monarchy

Labels (e.g. “Psalm of David”): What They (Don’t) Tell Us

Significant Dates: The Northern Kingdom (“Israel”)

Hosea and the “Book of the Twelve Prophets”

A View from the Assyrian Imperial Court: The Annals of Sennacherib

Significant Dates: Judah under Assyrian Domination

Isaiah 6 and the “Call Narrative”

Overview: The Three Pilgrimage Festivals in the Covenant Code and Deuteronomy

Proverbs and Deuteronomy

Overview: The Covenant Code and Deuteronomy

The Conquest and Ancient Holy War

Forced Labor for Exiles Under Nebuchadnezzar

The Divine Council

The L Source: Terms for It and Pictures of Its Formation

The Story of Jacob at Bethel as an Example of the Exilic Addition of Promise to an Older Story

Which Texts Were Once Part of the P Source?

Significant Dates: The Persian-Sponsored Restoration of Judah

The Emergence of “Judaism”

Significant Dates: The Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom

PREFACE

This book introduces students to the books of the Hebrew Bible as shaped in the crucible of the history of Israel and Judah, as well as in the varied interpretations of later Jewish and Christian communities. A prominent theme throughout is the way the books of the Bible reflect quite different sorts of interaction with past and present empires that dominated the ancient Near East. At first both students and professors may find this approach jarring, since I do not begin with Genesis and do not proceed through biblical books in order. The group of texts introduced early on in this textbook is quite different from the Bible they now know. Moreover, this textbook incorporates advances in Pentateuchal criticism over the last decades that are unfamiliar to both students and many professors. Yet I can say on the basis of my and others’ experience teaching this approach that the picture of the Bible’s development comes into focus as the narrative of its formation unfolds. By the end students should find meaning in aspects of the Bible that they once overlooked, even as they also understand that much of the power of the Bible has been its capability to transcend the original contexts in which it was written. Moreover, through discussion of the history of Jewish and Christian interpretation of focus texts at the end of each chapter, students will gain a taste of how faith communities have used the Bible in creative, inspired, and sometimes death-dealing ways to guide and make sense of their lives.

I have been helped by many people in writing this textbook, first and foremost my wife, Colleen Conway. Versions of these chapters were originally written for a combined introduction to the Old and New Testaments that is co-authored with her, Introduction to the Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts (also published by Wiley-Blackwell), and so she has read multiple versions of them, taught them in her courses, and offered many suggestions for improvement. Several colleagues – Benjamin Sommer, Kent Reynolds, Mark Smith, and Marvin Sweeney – went way beyond the call of duty to read and suggest revisions to excerpts from the manuscript relating to areas of their expertise. I cannot say that I incorporated every revision that they suggested, and they only looked at parts of earlier draft manuscripts, but I can affirm that this book is much stronger thanks to their gracious help. In addition, my students over the last two years have read earlier drafts of this textbook and suggested corrections. Some students and teaching assistants who have offered a particularly large volume of helpful corrections are Mary Ellen Kris, Candice Olson, Lizzie Berne-DeGear, Laurel Koepf, Meagan Manas, and Todd Kennedy. My thanks to all for their generous help in this project.

The date framework given in this textbook follows that of Anson Rainey and Steven Notley’s The Sacred Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World (Jerusalem: Carta, 2005). In many cases specific dates are uncertain, but Rainey and Notley provide a recent, solid framework to start from on an introductory level. Unless otherwise indicated, the Hebrew translations here are my own.

As with any such textbook, particularly a first edition, there is plenty of room for improvement. In particular, I am acutely conscious of the multiple ways in which virtually everything that is written here could be footnoted, qualified, and balanced with other perspectives. At particular points, such as my treatment of Pentateuchal source criticism, I explicitly summarize alternative perspectives that students may encounter when reading other resources. But inclusion of all alternative perspectives would have turned this into quite a different book, and one – I suggest – that would be much less suited for introducing students to academic study of the Bible. This introduction provides one general outline of the Hebrew Bible, which students can then supplement, correct, and balance in their future studies. All that said, I certainly invite all possible suggestions for correction and improvement so that any future edition of this textbook will be better.

David CarrNew York

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyrighted material in this book:

Figure 0.1© John C. Trever, Ph.D., digital image by James E. Trever.Figure 0.2Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, edited by Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph, Fifth Revised Edition, edited by Adrian Schenker, © 1977 and 1997 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. Used by permission.Figure 2.1Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com.Figure 2.3bpk/Vorderasiatisches Museum, SMB/Gudrun Stenzel.Figure 2.4Jürgen Liepe.Figure 3.1© Lloyd K. Townsend.Figure 3.2William Schniedewind.Figure 3.3akg-images/Erich Lessing.Figure 3.4Courtesy of R. E. Tappy and The Zeitah Excavations Photograph by B. Zuckerman and M. Lundberg Overlay by P. K. McCarter, Jr.Figure 3.5Z. Radovan www.BibleLandPictures.com.Figure 4.1© The Trustees of the British Museum.Figure 4.2The Granger Collection/Topfoto.Figure 4.3akg-images.Figure 4.4Image by © Francis G. Mayer/CORBIS.Figure 5.1Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com.Figure 5.2akg-images/Erich Lessing.Figure 5.3Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com.Figure 5.4Stiftung BIBEL+ORIENT.Figure 5.5Stiftung BIBEL+ORIENT.Figure 5.6Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.Figure 6.1Image by © The Gallery Collection/Corbis.Figure 6.2Stiftung BIBEL+ORIENT.Figure 7.1Stiftung BIBEL+ORIENT.Figure 9.1Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com.Figure 9.2akg-images/Erich Lessing.Figure 10.1© The Natural History Museum, London.Figure 10.2Stiftung BIBEL+ORIENT.Figure 11.1Image by © Gianni Dagli Orti/CORBIS.Figure 11.2akg-images/Erich Lessing.Figure 13.1Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.Figure 13.2Courtesy of Carta, Jerusalem.

The Pharaoh Merneptah hymn in Chapter 3, page 65, and the Cyrus cylinder text in Chapter 11, page 210: PRITCHARD, JAMES; ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN TEXTS RELATING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT – THIRD EDITION WITH SUPPLEMENT. © 1950, 1955, 1969, renewed 1978 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

At points throughout the book extracts have been used from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

ABBREVIATIONS

ANETJames Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.GeorgeAndrew George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.LivingstoneAlasdair Livingstone (ed.), Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. State Archives of Assyria, 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1989.NJPSThe New Jewish Publication Society Tanach Translation. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985.NRSVThe New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. New York: National Council of Churches, 1989.NTNew TestamentOTOld TestamentOT ParallelsVictor Matthews and Don Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East (3rd revised and expanded edition). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2007.

For Bible abbreviations, see the Miscellaneous Box on “Bible Abbreviations, Verses, and Chapters,” in Chapter 1, p. 18.

Asterisks after Bible citations, e.g. “Genesis 12–50*,” indicate that only parts of the cited texts are included.

// indicate that the texts before and after the slashes are parallel to each other.

OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL PERIOD

This shows major periods and corresponding texts covered in this book.

TIMELINE

Important texts are noted in boldface.

Map 0.1 The ancient Near East. Redrawn from Adrian Curtis (ed.), Oxford Bible Atlas (4th edition). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007, page 67.

PROLOGUE

ORIENTATION TO MULTIPLE BIBLES AND MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS

Chapter Outline

Chapter Overview

The Different Scriptures of Judaism and Christianity

Basics on Bible Translations

Chapter Review

Resources for Further Study

Appendix 1: Translation and Paraphrase Comparison of Isa 52:13–15

Appendix 2: Characteristics of Select English Translations of the Bible

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter answers the questions: “What are the biggest differences between the scriptures revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?” and “What should I know about in choosing an English translation of the Bible?” By the end of this chapter you should know the differences between the Bibles of Judaism and Christianity, as well as the relationship of the Muslim Koran to both sets of scriptures. You will also learn about how study of different readings of ancient manuscripts of the Bible, “textual criticism,” and advances in knowledge of ancient languages have led to major progress in translation of the Bible since the King James Version was completed in 1611. Finally, you will learn some basic things to look for in choosing an up-to-date English translation of the Bible.