Baruch Halpern | The University of Georgia (original) (raw)
Papers by Baruch Halpern
MAARAV, Sep 1, 1979
an early attempt on the marzeah contrast published in Ras Shamra Parallels v 1.
"And in length of days, understanding..." Festschrift for Thomas E. Levy, 2023
For a copy, email xapwn@uga.edu. Israelite identity is accessed through proxies, abstract as we... more For a copy, email xapwn@uga.edu. Israelite identity is accessed through proxies, abstract as well as physical, 4 but its socialization, activation and propagation were conceptual and complex in 5 effect. Its nature defies static definition, and the later, royally-imparted narratives of 6 its development, and the development of its parts, can only be understood as narra- 7 tives against the background of the early landscape and how it was remembered. 8 Key moments of conflict involving Israelite coalitions register in Judges 5–9. From 9 the latter begins a thread on ethnic conflict that forms a secondary, peripheral plot 10 line through 1 Kings. In both episodes, however, the identity serving as literary 11 proxy for collective actions is the tribe. A general Iron I background accommodates 12 both, and as a curated artefact, the Song of Deborah permits the localization of sev- 13 eral tribes. In doing so, it speaks to the nature of Israelite identity, and its implied 14 history, in ways complementary to Judges 9. It suggests that Israel before the 15 Conquest did not define itself as a polity, but as an ethnic group, defined by alle- 16 giance to Yhwh of Sinai, with likely sociological implications. 17
In the texts, Deborah hovers like the mother of a fresh consciousness, a frame- 18 work for the identity, and her role remains underappreciated. Key contrasts involve: 19 an Israel with/without a Conquest; with/without a land; with/without entanglements 20 in local politics; administrative systems versus labor; emblems versus value. But 21 above all, thought about Israel: what was “folly in Israel” when there was no land of 22 Israel? Israel as a culture versus Israel as a polity. At the least, we can trace a line 23 notionally from Deborah and Abimelek to Saul and David, and the inaugural state- 24
building process.
MAARAV, Dec 1, 2013
Liability in the Covenant Code's case of the slain burglar still rests with the burglar
The Fire Signals of Lachish. Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin ed. I. Finkelstein et al. , Jul 21, 2011
Yarimuta is the destination for sales of impoverished households from Byblos in the Amarna archiv... more Yarimuta is the destination for sales of impoverished households from Byblos in the Amarna archive. This article narrows down the options for its location. In subsequent research, I have reached the conclusion, though it is still tentative, that Yarimuta was the district in the Beqaa Valley overseen from Kumidi.
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 1992
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel, 1981
A reconstruction of Judaean royal installation, its components and governing mythology, Chap. 5 ... more A reconstruction of Judaean royal installation, its components and governing mythology,
Chap. 5 of The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel.
The Journal of Religion, Oct 1, 2014
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1, 2010
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1, 1987
The Israelite ruler, ia-ui-a (once, ia-a-ui), son of Omri, is named as a tributary in the inscr... more The Israelite ruler, ia-ui-a (once, ia-a-ui), son of Omri, is named as a tributary in the
inscriptions of Shalmaneser III. A recent study proposing to identify this figure not,
as has been usual, with Jehu, but with Jehoram, Ahab's son, has evoked several
responses convincingly defending the more traditional view. However, philological
problems remain, both with the Assyrian transcriptions and with the Hebrew name,
Jehu. These difficulties can be surmounted by treating the transcriptions as reflec-
tions of Assyrian scribes'efforts to decipher a written Vorlage. The evidence suggests
further that a revised construction of Jehu's name is in order.
The poetry of Isaiah ben-Amoz, the doyen of classical Israelite prophecy, rushes mincingly with r... more The poetry of Isaiah ben-Amoz, the doyen of classical Israelite prophecy, rushes mincingly with rococo alliteration, melodic refrains, and rhetorical repetition. Its very elegance, however, sometimes bars rather than facilitates understanding. This has in particular bedevilled exegetes of the refrain found in Isa 28: IO, 13~~•aw lii:;iiw ~•aw lii:;iiw qaw liiqiiw qaw liiqiiw ze cer slim zecer siim. The import of this formulation for the broader literary context seems opaque. And even its relationship to the verses immediately adjoining can at best be termed translucent. Thus, Isa 28: 1-4 pronounce doom on "the crown of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim"; the succeeding verses predict a time when Yhwh will be "the crown of beauty" for the "remnant of his people". Thereafter comes a transition: "These. too, have staggered because of wine", and Isaiah accuses priests and prophets of inebriation and solipsistic "seeing". He convicts them, in effect, of hallucinations~of mediating visions not from Yhwh, but from their wine. Indeed, their tables are a congestion of excrement and vomit (vv. 7f.), The relationship between 28:1-6 and vv. 7ff. is complex, and not especially direct. Both deal with drunkards, in one way or another "consumed" (vv. 4, 7). But the object of the prophecy is different in each case. In vv. !ff., the Ephramite upper classes are the target; after v. 6, the leading lights of Jerusalem stray onstage. And the concerns expressed in the indictment change radically in vv. 7ff. At any rate, v. 9 asks, "Whom does he teach knowledge?" Then comes the refrain in question here (v. I 0).
BRILL eBooks, 2010
In the works of the early Deist challengers of unitary Mosaic composition of the Pentateuch, the ... more In the works of the early Deist challengers of unitary Mosaic composition of the Pentateuch, the narratives of Samuel and Kings played an important part. In early analyses of the composition of Kings, starting with Eichhorn, the attempt was made to take the Pentateuchal sources, such as they had thus far been discerned mainly in dialogue with Jean Astruc, as having been assembled in their present form rather late, possibly by Ezra. The analysis of source materials was carried through, at least impressionistically, to the end of the Former Prophets. Martin Noth's emphasis was on the historiographic qualities of the Deuteronomistic History, and of its principal author. The canonization of Amos and Hosea, probably at almost exactly the same time, also reflects the Hezekian line on Israel. Keywords: Deuteronomistic history; Ezra; Hezekiah; Israel; Samuel-Kings
THE NARRATIVE OF Judges 9 presents some of the more intriguing puzzles of the early Deuteronomist... more THE NARRATIVE OF Judges 9 presents some of the more intriguing puzzles of the early Deuteronomistic History, largely because it is so comprehensive of its subjecL It stands apart, for a variety of reasons, from the Gideon epic (Judges 6-8) and histories of salvation which precede, and from the list of minor judges (IO:l-5; 12:7-15) and Jephthah cycle (10:6-12:6) which follow. Scholars have long recognized that the chapter is anomalous. Sellin (1922), for example, suggested that it detailed how Shechem became an Israelite city. Others (see, e.g., Mayes, 1977, p. 316; Malamat, 1971, pp. 147-151) have held that the account deals fundamentally with Canaanite, rather than Israelite, concepts and traditions. At the same time, little doubt as to its historicity has been mooted. Richter (1963, pp. 286-292) has even argued that the literary origin of Jotham's fable (9:7-20) is in the earliest period of the Divided Monarchy. Nevertheless, significant questions remain to be answered. While the literary and historical associations of Judges 9 with the Gideon saga have been explored at some length (see especially Richter, 1963, pp. 247-318), it is not clear from what source Judges 9 itself stems. Was it an independent document incorporated with only minor changes into the Deuteronomistic edition of the book? Or was it an integral part of some longer, pre-Deuteronomistic source now present only in an attenuated form? What, in fact, does it reveal about Northern politics of the Judges era? And how does it relate to the historical phase reflected in the preceding narratives?
Congress Volume, Oslo 1998, 2000
Argument prior to 2020-2021 publication of Iron Age Megiddo gate area tying gate to VA/IVB and de... more Argument prior to 2020-2021 publication of Iron Age Megiddo gate area tying gate to VA/IVB and defending a connection to the United Monarchy
Elements of corroborated citation in Biblical historiography
Harvard Theological Review, Oct 1, 1983
Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is and has traditionally been one of the foci of biblical study. A... more Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is and has traditionally been one of the foci of biblical study. Artistically, it evinces a consummate skill, with a series of powerful scenes and strong stanzas. Literarily, it has broad import, particularly in that it is one of the oldest integral texts in the Hebrew Bible. Few scholars dissent from the proposition that the poem is premonarchic. As a result, it represents also a virtually unimpeachable source for the study of early Israel.
Festschrift for Peter Machinist, Nov 22, 2013
Evolving theories of imperium over social location and time -- updating the perspective from Halp... more Evolving theories of imperium over social location and time -- updating the perspective from Halpern, _The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel_ (1981).
The Creation of Sacred Literature, 1981
A thematic argument to a Hezekian edition of Kings, available to the Chronicler, independent of H... more A thematic argument to a Hezekian edition of Kings, available to the Chronicler, independent of Helga Weippert's initiative, but feeding into Steven McKenzie's Chronicler's Use of the Deuteronomistic History and Graeme Auld's fascinating Kings Without Privilege.
TRADITIONS IN TRANSFORMATION Turning Points in Biblical Faith Edited by Baruch Halpern Jon D. Lev... more TRADITIONS IN TRANSFORMATION Turning Points in Biblical Faith Edited by Baruch Halpern Jon D. Levenson The following former students of Frank Moore Cross, have contributed to this work in honor of the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages at ...
MAARAV, Sep 1, 1979
an early attempt on the marzeah contrast published in Ras Shamra Parallels v 1.
"And in length of days, understanding..." Festschrift for Thomas E. Levy, 2023
For a copy, email xapwn@uga.edu. Israelite identity is accessed through proxies, abstract as we... more For a copy, email xapwn@uga.edu. Israelite identity is accessed through proxies, abstract as well as physical, 4 but its socialization, activation and propagation were conceptual and complex in 5 effect. Its nature defies static definition, and the later, royally-imparted narratives of 6 its development, and the development of its parts, can only be understood as narra- 7 tives against the background of the early landscape and how it was remembered. 8 Key moments of conflict involving Israelite coalitions register in Judges 5–9. From 9 the latter begins a thread on ethnic conflict that forms a secondary, peripheral plot 10 line through 1 Kings. In both episodes, however, the identity serving as literary 11 proxy for collective actions is the tribe. A general Iron I background accommodates 12 both, and as a curated artefact, the Song of Deborah permits the localization of sev- 13 eral tribes. In doing so, it speaks to the nature of Israelite identity, and its implied 14 history, in ways complementary to Judges 9. It suggests that Israel before the 15 Conquest did not define itself as a polity, but as an ethnic group, defined by alle- 16 giance to Yhwh of Sinai, with likely sociological implications. 17
In the texts, Deborah hovers like the mother of a fresh consciousness, a frame- 18 work for the identity, and her role remains underappreciated. Key contrasts involve: 19 an Israel with/without a Conquest; with/without a land; with/without entanglements 20 in local politics; administrative systems versus labor; emblems versus value. But 21 above all, thought about Israel: what was “folly in Israel” when there was no land of 22 Israel? Israel as a culture versus Israel as a polity. At the least, we can trace a line 23 notionally from Deborah and Abimelek to Saul and David, and the inaugural state- 24
building process.
MAARAV, Dec 1, 2013
Liability in the Covenant Code's case of the slain burglar still rests with the burglar
The Fire Signals of Lachish. Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin ed. I. Finkelstein et al. , Jul 21, 2011
Yarimuta is the destination for sales of impoverished households from Byblos in the Amarna archiv... more Yarimuta is the destination for sales of impoverished households from Byblos in the Amarna archive. This article narrows down the options for its location. In subsequent research, I have reached the conclusion, though it is still tentative, that Yarimuta was the district in the Beqaa Valley overseen from Kumidi.
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 1992
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel, 1981
A reconstruction of Judaean royal installation, its components and governing mythology, Chap. 5 ... more A reconstruction of Judaean royal installation, its components and governing mythology,
Chap. 5 of The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel.
The Journal of Religion, Oct 1, 2014
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1, 2010
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1, 1987
The Israelite ruler, ia-ui-a (once, ia-a-ui), son of Omri, is named as a tributary in the inscr... more The Israelite ruler, ia-ui-a (once, ia-a-ui), son of Omri, is named as a tributary in the
inscriptions of Shalmaneser III. A recent study proposing to identify this figure not,
as has been usual, with Jehu, but with Jehoram, Ahab's son, has evoked several
responses convincingly defending the more traditional view. However, philological
problems remain, both with the Assyrian transcriptions and with the Hebrew name,
Jehu. These difficulties can be surmounted by treating the transcriptions as reflec-
tions of Assyrian scribes'efforts to decipher a written Vorlage. The evidence suggests
further that a revised construction of Jehu's name is in order.
The poetry of Isaiah ben-Amoz, the doyen of classical Israelite prophecy, rushes mincingly with r... more The poetry of Isaiah ben-Amoz, the doyen of classical Israelite prophecy, rushes mincingly with rococo alliteration, melodic refrains, and rhetorical repetition. Its very elegance, however, sometimes bars rather than facilitates understanding. This has in particular bedevilled exegetes of the refrain found in Isa 28: IO, 13~~•aw lii:;iiw ~•aw lii:;iiw qaw liiqiiw qaw liiqiiw ze cer slim zecer siim. The import of this formulation for the broader literary context seems opaque. And even its relationship to the verses immediately adjoining can at best be termed translucent. Thus, Isa 28: 1-4 pronounce doom on "the crown of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim"; the succeeding verses predict a time when Yhwh will be "the crown of beauty" for the "remnant of his people". Thereafter comes a transition: "These. too, have staggered because of wine", and Isaiah accuses priests and prophets of inebriation and solipsistic "seeing". He convicts them, in effect, of hallucinations~of mediating visions not from Yhwh, but from their wine. Indeed, their tables are a congestion of excrement and vomit (vv. 7f.), The relationship between 28:1-6 and vv. 7ff. is complex, and not especially direct. Both deal with drunkards, in one way or another "consumed" (vv. 4, 7). But the object of the prophecy is different in each case. In vv. !ff., the Ephramite upper classes are the target; after v. 6, the leading lights of Jerusalem stray onstage. And the concerns expressed in the indictment change radically in vv. 7ff. At any rate, v. 9 asks, "Whom does he teach knowledge?" Then comes the refrain in question here (v. I 0).
BRILL eBooks, 2010
In the works of the early Deist challengers of unitary Mosaic composition of the Pentateuch, the ... more In the works of the early Deist challengers of unitary Mosaic composition of the Pentateuch, the narratives of Samuel and Kings played an important part. In early analyses of the composition of Kings, starting with Eichhorn, the attempt was made to take the Pentateuchal sources, such as they had thus far been discerned mainly in dialogue with Jean Astruc, as having been assembled in their present form rather late, possibly by Ezra. The analysis of source materials was carried through, at least impressionistically, to the end of the Former Prophets. Martin Noth's emphasis was on the historiographic qualities of the Deuteronomistic History, and of its principal author. The canonization of Amos and Hosea, probably at almost exactly the same time, also reflects the Hezekian line on Israel. Keywords: Deuteronomistic history; Ezra; Hezekiah; Israel; Samuel-Kings
THE NARRATIVE OF Judges 9 presents some of the more intriguing puzzles of the early Deuteronomist... more THE NARRATIVE OF Judges 9 presents some of the more intriguing puzzles of the early Deuteronomistic History, largely because it is so comprehensive of its subjecL It stands apart, for a variety of reasons, from the Gideon epic (Judges 6-8) and histories of salvation which precede, and from the list of minor judges (IO:l-5; 12:7-15) and Jephthah cycle (10:6-12:6) which follow. Scholars have long recognized that the chapter is anomalous. Sellin (1922), for example, suggested that it detailed how Shechem became an Israelite city. Others (see, e.g., Mayes, 1977, p. 316; Malamat, 1971, pp. 147-151) have held that the account deals fundamentally with Canaanite, rather than Israelite, concepts and traditions. At the same time, little doubt as to its historicity has been mooted. Richter (1963, pp. 286-292) has even argued that the literary origin of Jotham's fable (9:7-20) is in the earliest period of the Divided Monarchy. Nevertheless, significant questions remain to be answered. While the literary and historical associations of Judges 9 with the Gideon saga have been explored at some length (see especially Richter, 1963, pp. 247-318), it is not clear from what source Judges 9 itself stems. Was it an independent document incorporated with only minor changes into the Deuteronomistic edition of the book? Or was it an integral part of some longer, pre-Deuteronomistic source now present only in an attenuated form? What, in fact, does it reveal about Northern politics of the Judges era? And how does it relate to the historical phase reflected in the preceding narratives?
Congress Volume, Oslo 1998, 2000
Argument prior to 2020-2021 publication of Iron Age Megiddo gate area tying gate to VA/IVB and de... more Argument prior to 2020-2021 publication of Iron Age Megiddo gate area tying gate to VA/IVB and defending a connection to the United Monarchy
Elements of corroborated citation in Biblical historiography
Harvard Theological Review, Oct 1, 1983
Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is and has traditionally been one of the foci of biblical study. A... more Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is and has traditionally been one of the foci of biblical study. Artistically, it evinces a consummate skill, with a series of powerful scenes and strong stanzas. Literarily, it has broad import, particularly in that it is one of the oldest integral texts in the Hebrew Bible. Few scholars dissent from the proposition that the poem is premonarchic. As a result, it represents also a virtually unimpeachable source for the study of early Israel.
Festschrift for Peter Machinist, Nov 22, 2013
Evolving theories of imperium over social location and time -- updating the perspective from Halp... more Evolving theories of imperium over social location and time -- updating the perspective from Halpern, _The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel_ (1981).
The Creation of Sacred Literature, 1981
A thematic argument to a Hezekian edition of Kings, available to the Chronicler, independent of H... more A thematic argument to a Hezekian edition of Kings, available to the Chronicler, independent of Helga Weippert's initiative, but feeding into Steven McKenzie's Chronicler's Use of the Deuteronomistic History and Graeme Auld's fascinating Kings Without Privilege.
TRADITIONS IN TRANSFORMATION Turning Points in Biblical Faith Edited by Baruch Halpern Jon D. Lev... more TRADITIONS IN TRANSFORMATION Turning Points in Biblical Faith Edited by Baruch Halpern Jon D. Levenson The following former students of Frank Moore Cross, have contributed to this work in honor of the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages at ...
Cultural Contact and Appropriation in the Axial-Age Mediterranean World: A Periplos, 2016
A review of the contents and issues addressed in the volume Cultural Contact and Appropriation in... more A review of the contents and issues addressed in the volume Cultural Contact and Appropriation in the Axial-Age Mediterranean World, ed. myself and Kenneth S. Sacks
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1994
Page 1. Law and Ideology in Monarchic Israel Edited by Baruch Halpern and Deborah W. Hobson Page ... more Page 1. Law and Ideology in Monarchic Israel Edited by Baruch Halpern and Deborah W. Hobson Page 2. Law and Ideology in Monarchic Israel Edited by BaruchHalpern and Deborah W. Hobson Page 3. JOURNAL FOR ...
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1994
The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1992
... 194 Finding the Haystack: H(Dtr) in the Reconstruction 197 The Historian as Historian: An Age... more ... 194 Finding the Haystack: H(Dtr) in the Reconstruction 197 The Historian as Historian: An Agenda 199 Notes to Chapter 8 201 PART 3 Conclusions: Bible and Babel; The Languages of History in Israel 205 Chapter 9 The Grammar of History in DtrH 207 The Sources of DtrH ...
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel, ch. 2. Harvard Semitic Monographs, 25, 1981, 1981
The theories of dynastic grant, conditional and unconditional, in Samuel-Kings, relate to two dif... more The theories of dynastic grant, conditional and unconditional, in Samuel-Kings, relate to two different objects: Davidic sovereignty over Israel is uniformly constitutional. Sovereignty over Judah, focused on Jerusalem, is inalienable, a pattern of land allocations paralleled in several other West Semitic polities. As a comparandum, see now J. Lauinger, Following the Man of Yamhad, on Alalah VII landholding patterns. This explanation relieves a seeming contradiction used by others as a point for distinguishing the pre-exilic edition from the exilic edition of the Deuteronomistic History.
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel, 1981
The birth of the West stems from the rejection of tradition. All our evidence for this influence ... more The birth of the West stems from the rejection of tradition. All our evidence for this influence comes from the Axial period, 800-400 ВСЕ. Baruch Halpern explores the impact of changing cosmologies and social relations on cultural change in that era, especially from Mesopotamia to Israel ...
Mohr Siebeck eBooks, 2009
Verö entlicht auf Englisch. Für die Entstehung des Westens war die Achsenzeit (800-400 v. Chr.) u... more Verö entlicht auf Englisch. Für die Entstehung des Westens war die Achsenzeit (800-400 v. Chr.) unentbehrlich. Baruch Halpern untersucht den Ein uß sich verändernder Kosmologien und sozialer Beziehungen auf den kulturellen Wandel dieser Epoche und insbesondere auf die Gebiete von Mesopotamien bis Israel und Griechenland, aber auch über den Mittelmeerraum hinaus bis Ägypten und Italien. Der Autor zeigt einen enormen Anstieg internationalen Handels und Austauschs: eine Renaissance, die zu einer Neude nition des Selbst in verschiedenen Kulturen führte und damit zu einer Reformation beitrug. Dieser Prozeß beschleunigte unausweichlich eine Aufklärung. Er ist seit jeher Teil der Geschichte und ndet periodisch in wissenschaftlichen oder kulturellen Bereichen statt. Er stellt die Basis für eine Modernisierung oder Verwestlichung dar, wo immer sie in irgendeiner Form statt ndet.
An academic directory and search engine.
An academic directory and search engine.
Essential point is all in this abstract: The goals of the study are two: first, to isolate the s... more Essential point is all in this abstract: The goals of the study are two: first, to isolate the structure of the accession process in Israel, and to coordinate it with the sacral concepts that informed it; second, to isolate from the sacral realm the actual political processes by which the monarchy was governed. The first task is a necessary prelude to the second. One must first understand the conventions and doctrines underlying the text before one can appraise Israel's historiography. However, the appraisal of that historiography (and the light it sheds, conversely, on the sacral conceptions) is more eristic. Israel's kingship, despite the early scholarly discussion, was an internal development, governed by forces innate to Israel's society. Where the more gross sacral conceptions are, as Engnell, Gaster, Cross and others have shown, a shared Semitic, or even Near Eastern heritage, political structures in the area bear only a general resemblance to one another. Demes evolve in similar, but different ways. Thus, it is appropriate to appeal to regional mythologies in order to extract a common structure in myth, to corroborate the existence of such a structure in Israel. But in treating the cult more specifically, one must jettison regional parallels to accommodate local nuances. The same principle applies even more stringently to politics. These considerations have structured the work at hand. The first chapter addresses a philological problem that flows into a question of religious and constitutional conceptualization. Specifically, it defends the view that the term nāgîd denoted originally Yhwh's designee for the throne. The second chapter investigates two other " divinely " endowed royal positions, those of king proper, and of dynastic patriarch. Distinguishing the royal covenant (which governed the transition of a candidate from nāgîd to king) from the dynastic covenant (which governed the transition of a king from king to dynastic patriarch) clarifies some issues much beset in Israelite theology; it also underscores the diversity in doctrine concerning dynasty in monarchic Israel. From the biblical materials, three views emerge, each of which pretends or seeks to govern the process of succession by appeal to historical circumstance and by ascription of intent to Yhwh. Chapters 3–5 explore the mythic, cultic, historiographic and ritual paradigms associated with kingship in biblical thought. There emerges a concurrence of evidence on the mythos of royal accession, involving a given structure of events and the contractual participation of the assembly. In this matrix, the doctrines discussed in chaps. 1–2 must be located. Moreover, the work of Victor Turner (especially his Drama, Fields and Metaphors) and, more recently, of anthropologists such as Gustav Thaiss and Michael Fischer on the ulama in Qom indicates such paradigms become powerful vehicles for historians and those who characterize contemporary event by reference to them, and for directing actors themselves in historical drama. It is also imperative to appraise historiography on the basis of social and ideological paradigms. Thus, the results of chaps. 3–5 tend to shore up the source criticism, which is pitched as much as possible on a formal, inductive level, of chap. 6. But both the source criticism and the analysis of
Harvard Semitic Monographs
narratives about kingship use the term for king-designate: the king-designate as a concept in ea... more narratives about kingship use the term for king-designate: the king-designate as a concept in early monarchic and pre-Dtr ideology
coexistence of conditional and unconditional dynastic theories; ideas developed a bit further in ... more coexistence of conditional and unconditional dynastic theories; ideas developed a bit further in First Historians, but evolving still (2017)
Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 1991
Journal of Church and State, 1998
The Journal of Religion, 2014
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2002
Page 1. Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield edited by Ziony... more Page 1. Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield edited by Ziony Zevit, Seymour Gitin, and Michael Sokoloff Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Of Related Interest Pomegranates and Golden Bells Studies ...
The Journal of Religion, Oct 1, 1989
Micah for the Contemporary Church-McMaster Divinity College Not only does Isaiah 40-55 form a uni... more Micah for the Contemporary Church-McMaster Divinity College Not only does Isaiah 40-55 form a unity of thought and emphasis centered in the restoration from. There are differences in historical interest: I Isaiah is concerned with Assyria as the dominant power. Appeals are also made to tradition. Micah and Isaiah : a form and tradition historical comparison The Formation of the Hebrew Bible:
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1994
Journal of Biblical Literature, Sep 1, 1983
... The Jews in Babylonia during the Chaldean and Achaemenian periods: According to the Babylonia... more ... The Jews in Babylonia during the Chaldean and Achaemenian periods: According to the Babylonian sources. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Zadok, Ran. PUBLISHER: None (Haifa : University of Haifa, 1979). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1979. PUB TYPE: Book. ...
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1, 2002
Page 1. Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield edited by Ziony... more Page 1. Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield edited by Ziony Zevit, Seymour Gitin, and Michael Sokoloff Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Of Related Interest Pomegranates and Golden Bells Studies ...
Journal of Church and State, 1998
Ajs Review-the Journal of The Association for Jewish Studies, 1995
164 BOOK REVIEWS formulas for approaching antiquity lack the nuance, the suppleness, that actual ... more 164 BOOK REVIEWS formulas for approaching antiquity lack the nuance, the suppleness, that actual attempts to grapple with history should and sometimes do evince. Perhaps the most tangled issues involved are the epistomological ones: what do we know, what ...
Ajs Review-the Journal of The Association for Jewish Studies, 1985
CJO Search Widget (AJS Review) What is this? ... Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online too... more CJO Search Widget (AJS Review) What is this? ... Download a branded Cambridge Journals Online toolbar (for IE 7 only). What is this? ... Add Cambridge Journals Online as a search option in your browser toolbar. What is this? ... Robert G. Boling and G. Ernest Wright. Joshua. ...
Journal of Religion, 1989
Journal of Religion, 1989
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 1986
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 1989
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 1992
... Letters of the Time of Jeremiah, by Naphtali H. Tur-Sinai (Harry Tor-czyner), edited by Shmue... more ... Letters of the Time of Jeremiah, by Naphtali H. Tur-Sinai (Harry Tor-czyner), edited by Shmuel Ahituv. ... are particularly moot since Y. Yadin has made such a persuasive case that the ostraca were drafts of letters sent by the com-mandant of the Lachish garrison to Jerusalem ...
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1984
COLOUR TERMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ATHALYA BRENNER ... COLOUR TERMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ATHALYA B... more COLOUR TERMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ATHALYA BRENNER ... COLOUR TERMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ATHALYA BRENNER ... JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SUPPLEMENT SERIES 21 Editors David JA Clines Philip R Davies David M Gunn ...
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1998
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1990
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD …, 1996
Law and Ideology in Monarchic Israel, ed. B. Halpern and Deborah Whitney Hobson, 1991
The doctrine of individual divine judgment advanced by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, rejects the proverb,... more The doctrine of individual divine judgment advanced by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, rejects the proverb, "The fathers ate sour grapes...," and of punishment for ancestral sin as in Kings or even the Ten Commandments. It reflects the culmination of a process in which the role of old, landed kinship corporations (here, "lineages") were politically marginalized with the overall connivance of the royal court. Thus, by the 8th century, a full-blown Renaissance -- a vast expansion of the cultural canon -- was underway throughout the Levant, because of heavy exposure to trade, and an enormous explosion of wealth (which incidentally proceeded from Phoenician exploration and expansion, from trade itself, and from post-Bronze Age political economics). Among cultural conservatives, it seemed that the royal establishment in a relatively remote capital was aping foreigners and abandoning ancestral ways. The elite Sprachkritik that surfaces in 8th-century prophetic books was that elite's reaction, and was directed at popular religion: it denied the equivalence of a symbol with its referent -- sacrifice with social justice, icons with divinity, subordinate deities with the High God, Yhwh. Assaults on communion with the dead (especially for divination) preceded 701, to urbanize the population for invasion. But 722's and 701's mass countryside deportations, and renewed 7th-century fervor, led to attacks on ritual as a mere show rather than an internal prostration (cf. the behavioral preferences of the 8th-century prophets), to rejection even of symbols like the ark, to the attribution of all subordinate gods to the Canaanites, to the destruction of "patriarchal" sanctuaries such as that at Bethel (and probably outside Beersheba), or of Solomonic shrines left intact in 701 and after, and even to the desecration of graves under Josiah. This extreme Reformationism, identified with Axial thought, accompanied both urbanization and industrialization and specialization (especially in response to Assyrian administration) and thus the operation of comparative advantage. The political, demographic and economic situations broke the status of the old lineages (cf. 6th c. Athens). And, especially in Deuteronomy, the royal establishment attempted to banish any notion of loyalty to kin above the nation, or any unlicensed cultic articulation of kinship solidarity. The prophetic critique, thus, anticipating its many subsequent imitations and variations, ushered in an idealistic Reformation that would lead both to a philosophical monotheism and to an empirical approach to nature, a modern consciousness. To this, the birth of the individual was an indispensible component. (The article contributes evidence to the view that Axial eras are necessary to modernization.)
Judaic Perspectives on Ancient Israel, ed. J. A. Neusner, B. A. Levine and E. Frerichs, 1987
Self-conscious Israelite monotheism arose from the rejection of gods now identified as alien. It... more Self-conscious Israelite monotheism arose from the rejection of gods now identified as alien. It did not evolve from an absorption of powers by the high god, Yhwh, taken over from lesser beings -- although all unnatural agency is subordinated to his own agency. What led to the denial of others was his alienation even from gods regarded as his subordinates and servants. This alienation was the outcome of a reformationist or Axial critique: the symbol is mere appearance, and like icons and ritual, like the high places (I add here), like the temple and ark in Jeremiah: between the symbol and the Real falls the shadow. The Axial critique did not address the practical monotheism of devotion to a high god, and the universal classification of other deities as his agents, which is why even philosophical, or self-conscious, monotheism, like that of Deutero-Isaiah (per Saul Olyan's work), can accommodate their appearance. But the ideal of monotheism, monotheism as a form of distinctive identification, seems to arise principally in anticipation of pre-Socratic controversies about the identity of the one and the many, already in 7th-century works -- precisely the era of Judah's Reformation.
Fs. J. Brian Peckham
Practical canonicity inspires midrash, interpretation without regard to authors' intentions. The... more Practical canonicity inspires midrash, interpretation without regard to authors' intentions. The reason? What is canonized is less the text, still less the text's author, but the community of interpreters in relation to their interlocutors. Every interpretation canonizes its object; only communities canonize interpretations.
Megiddo IV, 2006
The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel A. Confederacy and Kingship An Anglican clergyman, the... more The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel A. Confederacy and Kingship An Anglican clergyman, the story goes, once taunted Salisbury with the argument that a bishop had more authority than he. "A judge can say only, 'Be hanged.' A bishop has the power to say, 'Be damned.'" Salisbury conceded, "That be true. But when a judge says, 'Be hanged,' you are hanged." It is all very well to isolate the mythopoeic conceptions of kingship in Israel. But how are they integrated into monarchy itself? How did they bear on the daily function of the executive? Was the covenant between king and assembly the sort of lopsided agreement apparently earned by Marduk? Or were more mundane controls placed on monarchic imperium? There are two issues subsumed within this framework. The first is, what was the monarchy in theory? The second is, how did it function in practice? At first sight, the dichotomy appears simple, and the answer to both questions relatively simple to obtain. The appearance, however, is deceptive. The case of Naboth's vineyard is in point. Ahab, king of Israel, covets the ancestral legacy possessed by Naboth, s Jezreelite. He offers Naboth a fair exchange, and meets flat refusal (1 Kgs 21:1-3: the attitudes of both Naboth and Ahab in v 3 are not to be taken as gospel; the story, however, may boast in general a certain verisimilitude). Shortly thereafter, Naboth is indicted an charges of blasphemy and treason. On sufficient evidence (21:10, 13; cf. Dt 19:15-21; 17:6-7), the assembly convict and execute sentence (21:13; the narrator accuses the urban assembly of complicity in the plot). Ahab then appropriates the property (21:16). 1 Now, perhaps, the Israelite king is not empowered to expropriate outright the citizen's land. But does that apply to this or to all instances? It is clear that the royal family is compelled to lend legitimacy to the acquisition, in this case by enforcing a judicial murder. But is the rather circuitous route run in order to satisfy some legal limitation on monarchic authority, or perhaps simply to maintain the relative standing of the crown among the commoners? In other words, it is possible to conclude from this episode (and from an understanding of lend-tenure rights in Israel) that royalty had no prerogative to seize privately held lends. Similarly, it might be maintained that the king could not execute private citizens except on good and sufficient grounds. One might go 1 On the chap., see recently Gray,
The Royal Ritual 3 See above, Chap. 1, pp. 3, 8-9 on 1 Kgs 14:7ff. 4 See my "Sectionalism" 519-32... more The Royal Ritual 3 See above, Chap. 1, pp. 3, 8-9 on 1 Kgs 14:7ff. 4 See my "Sectionalism" 519-32. Though the historian does not draw the connection between the building program and Ahijah's sedition, this in no way prejudices the thesis. 5 See above, Chap. 2, n. 119. 6 See above, Chap. 2, p. 11 and n. 4. 7 See Ishida, Dynasties 175-76, where Gileadite sectionalism is cited. Jehu's subsequent policy and Elisha's affiliation with Joash also corroborate the report. For the idea that 1 Kgs 22 represents a variant of this record, see
The Pattern for Mundane Leadership in Israel Can any ritual, historical, or historiographical imp... more The Pattern for Mundane Leadership in Israel Can any ritual, historical, or historiographical implementation of the myth of Yhwh's enthronement be found within Israelite society? Some indications have already been presented. 1 However, with regard to the kingship, the earliest period must logically be regarded as that most likely to have fixed subsequent programs. For this reason, it is appropriate to look to the period from which the monarchy grew. 2 The book of Judges has in the last twenty years been the subject of painstaking research, again on the part of Wolfgang Richter. In two masterful monographs, Richter has investigated the literary unities and disunities present in the text-precisely the sort of study to which his talents are best suited. 3 And, typically, he has produced stunning results. Richter's results may be summarized in rough outline as follows. Judg 2:11-19 contain catch-phrases and a concept of historical causality that were worked systematically into the narratives about Ehud, Deborah, and Gideon. So, for example, the Ehud story originally began with Judg 3:15b: the formula of Judg 2:16; 3:9; 4:3ff., 6:6b has bean introduced in the context of a secondary exordium. 4 Proceeding along these lines, Richter restricts the original "Retterbuch" to Judges 3-8(9) (beyond which the "Ruhe-und-Beuge" formula does not occur; cf.
The Conceptual Background of the Ritual of Kingship A. Kingship Renewal in Mesopotamia The conten... more The Conceptual Background of the Ritual of Kingship A. Kingship Renewal in Mesopotamia The content of the ʿēdût has little direct bearing on the reconstruction of the ritual of coronation. It does, however, shed light on the conceptual background of that ritual: the enthronement of the king carries with it the assurance that the monarch will enforce the laws of the realm on his subjects. That these laws are divine in origin is in Israel's case transparent. The king's function, then, is primarily the preservation of order, divinely ordained. 1 In this connection, the bestowal of the ʿēdût ("charter") provides a fitting culmination to the election of the monarch, prior to his enthronement (2 Kgs 11:12; note vv 17-20). An enlightening parallel occurs in CH 1:27-53: inūmišu ḫammurapi rubam naʾdam pāliḫ ili iāti mīšaram ina mātim ana šūpîm raggam ù ṣēnam ana ḫulliqim dannum enšam ana la ḫabālim kima šamši (d UTU) ana ṣalmāt qaqqadim (SAǦ.GI) waṣêmma mātim nuwwurim Anum ù Enlil ana šīr nišī ṭubbim šumī ibbû ḫammurapi reʾum nibīt Enlil anāku... At that time, Hammurabi, pious prince, gods-fearer, me, to promote justice in the land, to destroy the evil and wicked so that the strong not oppress the weak, to go out like Šamšu to the black-headed, so as to light the land-Anu and Enlil, to improve the people's lot, called my name. Hammurabi, shepherd called of Enlil am I. Here, as in Israel, the vocation (= divine designation) of the monarch has as its aim the establishment of the proper religio-legal order. 2
Theories of Dynasty in Israel A. Anointment and the Kingship Ritual The fact that the first three... more Theories of Dynasty in Israel A. Anointment and the Kingship Ritual The fact that the first three n e gîdîm in Israel are explicitly said to have been anointed (1 Sam 10:1, 16:13, 1 Kgs 1:35-39; 1 Chr 29:22) confirms the conclusion that the nāgîd was Yhwh's designee for the throne. 1 The rite of unction in Israel was invariably tied to sacral, rather than secular appointment. 2 A number of passages do employ the impersonal term, "they anointed him" (as 2
The Nāgîd in Monarchic Israel The title nāgîd describes the office to which Samuel first anoints ... more The Nāgîd in Monarchic Israel The title nāgîd describes the office to which Samuel first anoints Saul in 1 Sam 9:16; 10:1. 1 The term, therefore, is of some importance for the understanding of Israel's metamorphosis from league to monarchy. Nevertheless, it remains an enigma. Not only has a convincing etymology to be established for it, 2 but the function of the office has yet to be satisfactorily pinpointed. The normative view was established by A. Alt in a paper produced in 1930. 3 Alt regarded the nāgîd as one designated to be king by Yhwh. 4 Adopted by M. Noth ("the man destined for a future office") 5 and H. Wildberger ("designierter Anwärter auf die Königswurde"), 6 among others, Alt's construction has survived intact more than a generation of scholarship. 7 It draws strength from the fact that of eleven 1
Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of P. Kyle McCarter, Jr. Ancient Near Eastern Monographs, 27, 2022
(2020): The historiographic significance of Shechem's destruction by Abimelek, and the likely id... more (2020): The historiographic significance of Shechem's destruction by Abimelek, and the likely identification of the Mt. Ebal "Joshua's Altar" site as Migdal Shechem, in Judges 9, illuminate the date of the text's tradition and the history of the development of an idea of a Conquest, whose beginnings lay in the Hivite problem that persisted from Abimelek to Solomon, at least. The evidence calls for less reflexive responses to Biblical ethnology, and to variety in Israelite identity, most obviously in the pre-state era.