DEUTERONOMY–KINGS AS EMERGING AUTHORITATIVE BOOKS
DEUTERONOMY–KINGS ASEMERGING AUTHORITATIVE BOOKS
Ancient Near East MonographsGeneral EditorsEhud Ben ZviRoxana FlamminiEditorial BoardReinhard AchenbachEsther J. HamoriSteven W. HollowayRené KrügerAlan LenziSteven L. McKenzieMartti NissinenGraciela Gestoso SingerJuan Manuel TebesNumber 6
DEUTERONOMY–KINGS ASEMERGING AUTHORITATIVE BOOKSA CONVERSATIONEdited byDiana V. EdelmanSociety of Biblical LiteratureAtlanta
Copyright 2014 by the Society of Biblical LiteratureAll rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or bymeans of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permissionshould be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, Society of BiblicalLiterature, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA.Library of Congress Control Number: 2014931428The Ancient Near East Monographs/Monografias Sobre El Antiguo Cercano Orienteseries is published jointly by the Society of Biblical Literature and the Universidad CatólicaArgentina Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Políticas y de la Comunicación, Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente.For further information, see:http://www.sbl-site.org/publications/Books ed on acid-free, recycled paper conforming toANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) and ISO 9706:1994standards for paper permanence.
To the memory of my father, Arthur T. Vikander, who wasso proud of my scholarly pursuits and accomplishments.The final editing of this volume was completedduring our last weeks together.
ContentsAbbreviations .ixIntroductionDiana V. Edelman.1The Authority of DeuteronomyPhilip R. Davies .27Rereading Deuteronomy in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods:The Ethics of Brotherhood and the Care of the PoorChristoph Levin.49Why “Joshua”?E. Axel Knauf .73The Case of JoshuaSerge Frolov.85Who Was Interested in the Book of Judges in the PersianHellenistic Periods?Yairah Amit .103Memories Laid to Rest: The Book of Judges in the Persian PeriodSusanne Gillmayr-Bucher .1151–2 Samuel and Jewish Paideia in the Persian and HellenisticPeriodsThomas M. Bolin .133
viiiCONTENTSWhat Made the Books of Samuel Authoritative in the Discoursesof the Persian Period? Reflections on the Legal Discourse in2 Samuel 14Klaus-Peter Adam .159The Case of the Book of KingsThomas Römer .187On the Authority of Dead KingsJames R. Linville .203Contributors .223Bibliography .225Primary Sources Index .257Modern Authors Index .273Subject Index .279
TAnchor BibleAnchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. 6 vols. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1992.Anchor Bible Reference LibraryAnalecta biblicaAlter Orient und Altes TestamentBiblical ArchaeologistBulletin of the American Schools of Oriental ResearchBeiträge zur Erforschung des Alten Testaments unddes antiken JudentumsBibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensiumBiblicaBiblical InterpretationBeiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten (und Neuen)TestamentBeihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche WissenschaftCahiers de la Revue bibliqueContributions to Biblical ExegesisCatholic Biblical QuarterlyGrundrisse zum Alten TestamentGesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Edited by Emil Kautzsch.Translated by A. E. Cowley. 2nd. ed. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1910.European Seminar in Historical MethodologyForschungen zum Alten TestamentsForms of Old Testament LiteratureForschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten undNeuen Testament-ix-
rs theologischer Kommentar zum Alten Testament.Harvard Semitic MonographsInternational Critical CommentaryIsrael Exploration JournalJournal of Biblical LiteratureJournal of Hebrew ScripturesJournal of Jewish StudiesJournal of Northwest Semitic LanguagesJournal of the Royal Asiatic SocietyJournal for the Study of the Old TestamentJournal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement SeriesJournal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement SeriesKurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten TestamentLibrary of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament StudiesLibrary of Second Temple StudiesNew Century Bible SeriesNew International Commentary on the Old TestamentOrbis biblicus et orientalisOld Testament LibraryOld Testament Pseudepigrapha. Edited by James H.Charlesworth. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1983–1985.Oudtestamentische StudiënPalestine Exploration QuarterlyQuaestiones disputataeState Archives of AssyriaStuttgarter biblische Aufsatzbände, Altes TestamentSociety of Biblical LiteratureSociety of Biblical Literature Ancient Israel and Its LiteratureSociety of Biblical Literature Symposium SeriesStudies in Biblical TheologySeptuagint and Cognate Studies SeriesScandinavian Journal of the Old TestamentSociety for Old Testament Studies Monograph SeriesStudies in Theology and Religion
TZARZAWZBKATxiSuhrkamp Taschenbuch WissenschaftSuomalainen Tiedakatemie Toimituksia, Sarja B.Theologische BüchereiTheologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament. Editedby G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1970–2006.Supplément à TranseuphratèneVetus TestamentumVetus Testamentum SupplementsWord Biblical CommentaryWissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten undNeuen TestamentZeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische RechtsgeschichteZeitschrift für die alttestamentliche WissenschaftZürcher Bibelkommentare Altes Testament
IntroductionDiana V. EdelmanThe existence of a “Deuteronomistic History,” consisting of the books ofDeuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, is under review.1 Is thisscholarly construct an accurate understanding of what ancient writersof the Hebrew Bible conceived to be a coherent sequence of books thatshould be read together? Did the books ever form an independent collection, without Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers prefixed, or without Genesis-Numbers prefixed? If we are not as certain as past generations thatthey ever formed a recognized literary unit,2 why ask what was deemed1. For convenient summaries of the history of the theory of the existence of Deuteronomistic historiography, see Douglas A. Knight, “Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomists,” in Old Testament Interpretation Past, Present, and Future: Essays in Honourof Gene M. Tucker (ed. James L. Mays, David L. Petersen and Kent H. Richards; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995), 61–79; Thomas Römer and Albert de Pury, “Deuteronomistic Historiography (DH): History of Research and Debated Issues,” in Israel Constructsits History: Deuteronomistic History in Recent Research (ed. Albert de Pury, ThomasRömer, and Jean-Daniel Macchi; JSOTSup 306; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,2000), 24–141.2. For essays and studies dealing with various aspects of this debate, see conveniently, A. Graeme Auld, Joshua, Moses and the Land: Tetrateuch-Pentateuch-Hexateuch in a Generation since 1938 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1980); Claus Westermann,Die Geschichtsbücher des Alten Testaments: gab es ein deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerk? (TB 87; Gütersloh: Kaiser, 1994); James R. Linville, Israel in the Book of Kings:The Past as a Project of Social Identity (JSOTSup 272; Sheffield: Sheffield AcademicPress, 1998), 46–73; Reinhard G. Kratz, The Composition of the Narrative Books of theBible (trans. J. Bowden; New York: T&T Clark, International, 2000), 1–5, 153–221;Albert de Pury, Thomas Römer, and Jean-Daniel Macchi, eds., Israel Constructs itsHistory: Deuteronomistic History in Recent Research (JSOTSup 306; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000); Christian Frevel, “Deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerkoder Gechichtswerke? Die These Martin Noths zwischen Tetrateuch, Hexateuch und-1-
2DEUTERONOMY–KINGS AS EMERGING AUTHORITATIVE BOOKSauthoritative about these five books in the late Persian and early Hellenistic periods, by which time it is generally agreed they existed close to theircurrent final forms?The purpose of the present volume is not to focus on the importantdebate about the status of the so-called Deuteronomistic History, thoughthe results might contribute toward framing arguments on one side or theother. Instead, it is to try to understand the element of authority in relationto each book, which can be construed in two different ways. On the onehand, it can lead us to ask why we have each of the five individual booksand what concerns led to their creation using which older materials toaddress those issues, because these earlier traditions carried some weightof authority for the community of scribes who penned the narratives aswell as for their implied target audience(s). Currently, the dates of composition for the various books are generally assigned to the late monarchic period, the Neo-Babylonian period, or the early Persian period. In allthree cases, a second question naturally arises then that needs a reasonedresponse: once created, why would the concerns addressed have had ongoing relevance and resonance for audiences in the late Persian and earlyHellenistic periods?On the other hand, the concept of authority can lead us to ask why thefive individual books gained authoritative status, regardless of the age orof the materials in them; why was it desirable to give authority to writtennarratives about YHWH’s relation to the people of Israel? Many of theessays in the volume emphasize the close connection between authorityand group identity, where the texts can help define a group by servingas a written, authoritative depository of valued social memories that areEnneateuch,” in Martin Noth: Aus der Sicht heutiger Forschung (ed. Udo Rüterswörden;biblisch-theologische Studien 58; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 2004),60–94; Philippe Guillaume, Waiting for Josiah: The Judges (JSOTSup 385; London:T&T Clark, 2004), 227–36; Eckhard Otto and Reinhard Achenbach, eds., Das Deuteronomium zwischen Pentateuch und deuteronomistischem Geschichtswerk (FRLANT206; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2004); Markus Witte et al., Die deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk: redaktions- und religionsgesichtliche Perspektiven zur“Deuteronomismus”- Diskussion in Tora und Vorderen Propheten (BZAW 365; Berlin:de Gruyter, 2006); Thomas B. Dozeman, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid, eds.,Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? Identifying Literary Works in Genesis throughKings (SBLAIL 8; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011); Konrad Schmid andRaymond F. Person Jr., eds., Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch, Hexateuch, and the Deuteronomistic History (FAT 2/56; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012).
EDELMAN: INTRODUCTION3to be learned and passed on by those considering themselves to belongto the group. In this case, the book of Deuteronomy had audiences inboth Samaria and Yehud/Judea who considered themselves to belong toIsrael, while Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings eventually were consideredauthoritative only for Judean-rooted Israel. Thus, the volume is primarily concerned with the issues of authority, identity, and social memory,though only that of authority is addressed directly in each contribution.The other two will surface in varying degrees as each scholar seeks toanswer “why” their book gained authority.The five essays by C. Levin, Y. Amit, E. A. Knauf, K.-P. Adam, andT. Römer were initially presented at the European Association of BiblicalStudies Meeting in Tartu, Estonia, July 25–29, 2010, in a session of theresearch program “Israel and the Production and Reception of Authoritative Books in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods,” co-chaired by EhudBen Zvi and myself. The announced theme was “What made these booksauthoritative within the discourse of Persian Yehud/early HellenisticJudah?” It was worthwhile to commission a second set of essays on eachbook from scholars who would not likely agree with the first group, as a wayof teasing out issues and beginning a conversation about why the books ofDeuteronomy–2 Kings became authoritative as individual compositionsand, it was hoped, secondarily, as part of a larger grouping, whether thatbe conceived as a Deuteronomistic collection or the traditional “Deuteronomistic History.” Ehud had many other commitments at the time, andthus I took full and sole control of this project. The current volume is theresult of my efforts. The authors of the first five papers were encouragedto make any necessary revisions to ensure they engaged directly with thethematic question while the second group was being assembled. The mostsuccessful conversations have been initiated when both essays on a givenbook have focused the majority of their discussion on the central theme.The contributors were asked to focus on a single book as an individualunit, though they were encouraged to explore links between their bookand the other four. Two essays are devoted to each book. What was deemedauthoritative in or about Deuteronomy? Joshua? Judges? Samuel? Kings?Individual scholars have been encouraged to state whether they believe theauthor of their book also wrote one or more of the other books, or whetherone or more editors joined together independently created compositionsto create a larger, intentional literary unit. Like the debate about the existence of a “Deuteronomistic History,” the compositional and redactionalhistory of these books is not the primary focus.
4DEUTERONOMY–KINGS AS EMERGING AUTHORITATIVE BOOKSA case has been made for seeing a set of theologically coherent ideasand certain idiomatic words or phrases in these five books, suggestingthey formed a literary unit or subunit.3 Yet, ultimately, Judaism identifiedthe first five books, Genesis-Deuteronomy, as a literary unit and joinedJoshua-Kings with the ensuing collection of prophetic books to create aunit dubbed “The Prophets.” Taking a closer thematic look at the initialnine books in the Hebrew Bible, it can be argued that Exodus-Deuteronomy comprise a “biography of Moses,” a “Quatrateuch,” to which a narrative about the forefathers was prefaced—Genesis—creating the authorized“Pentateuch.” But it has also long been debated whether originally, a Pentateuch was envisioned by the ancient authors or a Hexateuch that includedJoshua, since the promise of the land is a prominent theme in Genesis thatonly finds it final fulfilment in the occupation of Canaan in Joshua.4 Stillothers propose that Genesis–Kings comprises a single, coherent narrativethat should not be subdivided, because Judges, Samuel, and Kings cannotstand independently from what precedes. They, too, exemplify the themeof the Promised Land, justifying its eventual loss for the repeated failure ofthe people of Israel and its leaders to keep the terms of the covenant madeby YHWH with the ancestors. It has even been suggested that an original Pentateuch included Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Joshua,with Deuteronomy being placed in its current position later on, when theEnneateuch was created, to extend the original narrative later in time, tothe exile.5In these many debates, Deuteronomy plays a pivotal role, creating abridge between the ancestors and a series of divine covenants made outside the land and the failure to observe the terms of many of the covenantsonce inside the land. It becomes somewhat moot whether the book ends3. See the classical formulation of the hypothesis of the existence of a Deuteronomistic History developed by Martin Noth in The Deuteronomistic History (2ded.; JSOTSup 15; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991; German original Überlieferungs-geschichtliche Studien I [Halle: M. Niemeyer, 1943]). For a list of allegedlyDeuteronomic phraseology, see Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the DeuteronomicSchool (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992), 320–65; idem, Deuteronomy 1–11: ANew Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 5; New York: Doubleday,1991), 35–37. For unifying techniques amongst the books, see e.g. Richard D. Nelson,The Historical Books (Interpreting Biblical Texts; Nashville: Abingdon, 1998), 70–77.4. For an evaluation of the Hexateuch hypothesis, see, for example, Frevel, “Deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerk oder Gechichtswerke,” 80–86.5. E. Axel Knauf, Josua (ZBKAT 6; Zürich: TVZ, 2008), 18.
EDELMAN: INTRODUCTION5a plot-line that began in Genesis or begins a new plot-line that ends inKings, with exile.6 Endings are beginnings; the introduction of idiomaticlanguage that will recur throughout the story developed in Joshua, Judges,Samuel, and Kings can come at the beginning of a new direction in whichthe plot moves or can be anticipated already in the ongoing plot beforedramatic new events unfold. After all, there is arguably a single story beingnarrated from Genesis-Kings, whether a preconceived one meant to bedeveloped over a multivolume project or an ad hoc one that evolved overtime as individual compositions that worked with similar themes, motifs,and concerns were placed side by side, resulting in the emergence of aseries of successive, discrete periods.7 Bearing this in mind, it is possible to examine the five books of Deuteronomy–2 Kings as a subunit of alarger whole, whether or not one chooses to designate them officially bythe scholarly moniker, “The Deuteronomistic History,” with all the presuppositions that label and construct entails.AuthorityThe ten contributors have understood authority in different ways. Theseinclude: a socially constructed interpretative framework into which a readership places texts they consider to embody truths or insights consideredto be necessary or valuable resources for public discourse on socially sig-6. One should take note with E. A. Knauf of how the end of Kings is a very weakconclusion to the proposed Enneateuch but serves well as an opening to a continuinghistory instead, consituting an excellent introduction to the prophetic books (“Does‘Deuteronomistic Historiography’ Exist?” in Israel Constructs Its History: Deuteronomistic History in Recent Research [ed. Albert de Pury, Thomas Römer, and Jean-Daniel Macchi; JSOTSup 306; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000], 388–98 [397]).As such, it could be seen to occupy a pivotal role, similar to Deuteronomy.7. An interesting question is whether the literary technique of inter
LHBOTS Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies LSTS Library of Second Temple Studies NCBS New Century Bible Series NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis OTL Old Testament Library OTP Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Edited by James H. Charlesworth. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1983– 1985.
6. Survey of Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32 24 7. Survey of Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 13:1-14:29 29 8. Survey of Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 15:1-16:22 33 9. Survey of Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 17:1-19:21 38 10. Survey of Deuteronomy - Deuteronomy 20:1-21:23 43 11. Survey of Deuteronomy -
6 Deuteronomy 13:7-12 s 7 Deuteronomy 13:13-19 s 8 Deuteronomy 14:1-2 s 9 Deuteronomy 14:3-8 s 10 Deuteronomy 14:9-10 s 11 Deuteronomy 14:11-21 p 12 Deuteronomy 14:22-27 s 13 Deuteronomy 14:28-29 s 14 Deuteronomy 15:1-6 s 15 Deuteronomy 15:7-11 s 16 Deuteronomy 15:12
1 Kings 2:19-4:19 1 Kings 4:20-7:39 1 Kings 7:40-9:9 1 Kings 9:10-11:25 1 Kings 11:26-13:34 1 Kings 14-17 1 Kings 18:1-20:25 1 Kings 20:26-22:36 1 Kings 22:37-53; 2 Kings 1:1-4:28 2 Kings 4:29-8:15 2 Kings 8:16-10:24 2 Kings 10:25-14:10 2 Kings 14:11-17:18 2 Kings 17:19-
Deuteronomy 19 179 Deuteronomy 20 184 Deuteronomy 21 190 Deuteronomy 22 197 Deuteronomy 23 207 Deuteronomy 24 214 Deuteronomy 25 222 Deuteronomy 26 231 . Fragment from the preface to Commentary on Psa
Deuteronomy 9:22-12:32 Deuteronomy 13:1-16:8 JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. Deuteronomy 16:9-19:21 Deuteronomy 20:1-23:14 Deuteronomy 23:15-27:10 Deuteronomy 27:11-28:68 Deuteronomy 29:1-32:14 Deuteronomy 32:15-34:12; Joshua1:1-9 Joshua 1:10-4:24 . Zechariah 1:12-
21Galatians 3:15-29 Deuteronomy 19; Galatians 3 Deuteronomy 19-21; Galatians 3 22Galatians 4:8-31 Deuteronomy 23; Galatians 4 Deuteronomy 22-24; Galatians 4 23Galatians 5:1-15 Deuteronomy 27; Galatians 5 Deuteronomy 25-27; Galatians 5 24Galatians 6 Deuteronomy 28; Galatians
Deuteronomy 19 98 Deuteronomy 20 102 Deuteronomy 21 106 Deuteronomy 22 110 . References to these accounts are provided, but commentary from the previous books will not be repeated. The book of Deuteronomy includes strategic guidelines for the nation of Israel to enable them to
Deuteronomy 25 - 26 Sanctification of the Kingdom. Firstfruits and Tithes. Deuteronomy 27 - 28 Alternatives for a God-Related People. Blessings and Cursings. Deuteronomy 29 - 30 God's Covenant. Ultimate Restoration. Deuteronomy 31 - 32 Passing the Baton. Song of Moses. Deuteronomy 33 - 34 Blessing the 12 Tribes.
